Monday, October 10, 2011

Fish To Use In Aquaponics

By Brandon Sharp


There are several freshwater fish that you can stock in your aquaponic holding tanks. Before choosing which fish to raise it is suggested that you research which fish are best suited to the weather, temperature, and general conditions of your location first.

Fish do not develop or grow identically. Some fish grow faster than others, and some are better suited for living in a closed-tank environment.

You may not want to get the kind of freshwater fish that does not reproduce in holding tanks. If you selected those fish, you would have to buy additional fingerlings after a harvest in order to begin the cycle anew, rather than maintaining a continuous cycle.

Tilapia is classified as an invasive species, but that doesn't mean they should be passed over. It merely means that you have to be extra careful not to accidentally release tilapia into the wild to prevent them from competing with native fish species. (Tilapia can negatively impact the growth and reproduction of native species.)

Tilapia is a group of cichlids that can be found all over the world. It is a freshwater fish with a mild flavor and can survive in holding tanks if some heating is given to maintain a consistent water temperature.

Tilapia mainly eats aquatic vegetation and can easily replicate in closed systems. Tilapia that has escaped into the wild can reproduce hybrid tilapia if they are able to mate with other tilapia species.

A Midwestern species, the white bass is an excellent edible fish species that you should also consider stocking. Unlike the tilapia, the white bass is carnivorous and it can feed easily on small crabs and smaller fish.

In the wild, a single white bass can lay as many 900,000 eggs during the active spawning season. No care is given to the eggs after the spawning. The adult white bass leave the spawning sites after the eggs have been fertilized. The white bass can grow up to fifteen inches, but the average size for this species is nine inches.

The meat of the white bass is often cooked through smoking and is a crowd favorite in the Midwest, due to the fact that white bass is not hard to catch at all, especially during the spawning season.

A third preference is the crappie because of its elegantly flavored meat and like the tilapia it can acclimate well to closed systems.

It is unfortunate that unlike other fish, crappies need at least two years before they are able to mate and reproduce. Once the female crappie lays her eggs, the male partner protects the spawning site from intruders. The fertilized eggs are hatched naturally in only ten days.

Naturally carnivorous, crappies should be fed insects and small fish if they are kept in a closed system like a fish tank. To avoid having crappies falling prey to larger fish such as walleyes, they should not be stocked with them. You wouldn't want to deal with larger fish nibbling on your crappies.




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