Going Fishing - Backyard Fish Growing

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Tezza, Apr 17, 2004.

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Going Fishing - Backyard Fish Growing

  1. Hello to you all again..Just a quicky. Can anyone help me find information on Back Yard fish growing

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  2. Live South west of Australia (inland) Ive tried the www but everything is geared to making money for

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  3. Thanks in anticipation

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  4. Tezza

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  1. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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  2. Chook Nut

    Chook Nut Junior Member

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    Hi Tezza,

    I would recommend speaking to someone at Uni who has done, or is currently doing marine biology. They can recommend good species selection for you land, dam and climate etc. and like to have a project they can physically do some hands on study with.

    One of my mates, who did this, has just moved to the States and told me to get rid of the fish i had in my pond b/c they were the wrong selection.(they were eating frogs eggs) I now have fresh water crayfish(Yabbies where i come from), which are a lot easier to raise and breed than an eating fish. I dont see myself going onto fish b/c i love yabbies and are easy to look after.

    You could also try your local fisheries dept. ,DSIRO or DPI and see what they recommend for your area.

    This is no way near complete, and others may be able to provide greater detail and help for you, just a starter for you.

    Cheers.... Dave
     
  3. Gardening Rob

    Gardening Rob Junior Member

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    Hi Tezza,

    I once saw a set-up which was an igloo shaped glass house (plastic house really) in Canada. They grew figs and tomatoes in it. It was warmed by huge black plastic ponds in the middle (big plastic drums) filled with water, in which they grew fish. The fish grew fairly big in what looked (to me) like too small drums. The whole thing was about 6 metres round, with the drums in the middle, so it didn't take up much space. In a milder Australian climate you could have the drums and ponds without the glass-house.

    Rob
     
  4. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    Hi Thnx for the responces the reason i want to grow fish is that i love fish, and Crustations seam to upset my digestive system i get ill and throw up.I only wish to grow say 50 to a 100 fish 1 each for me n wife every week for a year.Wanting to start with fingerlings then grow on to eating size.Just want something to do after my meditating under my shady trees with a little 3 foot fishing rod,Maybe then i might learn to be able to catch some fish,as in my areas its nearly all fished out
    maybe i should grow some potatoes nearby so i can have fish n chips for tea,ive got the lemon tree allready :O
    Tezza
     
  5. Meg

    Meg Guest

  6. Alexis Anderson

    Alexis Anderson Junior Member

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    Hi Tezza,

    there are some people doing some research into aquaculture at Murdoch University in Perth, using Rainbow Trout (i think). I have seen their set ups that use ponds & solar pumps to keep the water clean. Only problem is that you have to feed them food made using the remains of ocean caught fish, so it doesn't solve the problem of ocean harvesting. Good tasting fish though.
    The Chinese use a lot of carp in their integrated aquaculture systems (combining a methane digester for livestock waste, and algae pond, a fish pond & fertilsed water onto food plants), and they can be fed on plant material. However it is illegal to grow carp in WA (maybe acroos oz) due to the problems they can cause if they get out and into the river systems.

    I can't recall the names of the aquaculture people at the uni, but maybe try searching the Murdoch Uni website or giving them a call 08 9360 6000 for the front office. The crew at the Environmental Technology Centre (next to the campus) may also be able to give you advice as most of them are seasoned permies.

    There is a plethora of info about integrated aquaculture, etc at the library at murdoch, and although you can't really take it out if you are not a student you can go in and photocopy, and browse through journals. If you can get onto the right person they might be able to point you in the right direction of a text that is relevant to the scale that you want.

    Good luck,

    Alexis
     
  7. muttabuttasaurus

    muttabuttasaurus Junior Member

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    There was a good book that came out ten years ago or so by a professional aquaculture designer type who was sympathetic to permaculture principles but somewhat sceptical about some of the gee whiz good ideas. For example, this guy questioned the practicality of growing trees over ponds because in spite of the benefits of shade and shelter that Tezza mentioned, you have the problem of somewhat uncontrollable nutrient drop in the form of leaves and fruit which can make managing the oxygen levels problematic. fish especially being very sensitive to such sudden changes in water quality. I think this guy was saying that the ideas in the permaculture texts werent absolutely crazy, but that in his experience there was no such thing as a self managing aquaculture system, which is sort of implied by some of the passages in the p/c texts.
    I can't remember the name of the author or the book... It was something like "Farming in Small Ponds and Dams". I think the guy was from Victoria. Pretty sure that it was distributed by the Permaculture International Journal, so someone on this board must know what I'm talking about. Sorry I can't be more specific but I think that would be a very useful book for you, Tezza.
    Its a pity you can't stomach the crustaceans, since you have those delightful marrons over there in the Southwest. They are about the tastiest yabby I've ever eaten. fried in garlic and butter. oh yeah.
    ps do you have catfish in your local area? they should be reasonably easy to stock... just catch and release enough pregnant females. once established they will breed so you won't need to restock unless you fish them all out or have an extinction event, and the latter wouldn't be too likely since they are pretty hardy I believe. I think they taste wonderful myself, even though my Mum will swear blue that they are poisonous.
    pps one day, when I have a fish pond I'm going to make one of those cantilever style fishing nets common in se asia. I have some photos if I just knew how to post them. I'll throw out some chum (whatever I have to hand - chicken guts, stale bread etc) every evening in the same spot and then when I want to eat a fish I will drop the net and then throw out the chum. I just can't get enthusiastic about sitting in one spot forever undoing tangles in nylon wire etc. Of course, this may change as I get older...
    ppps YOu know tezza, even if you don't like eating them, you may want to consider stocking your pond with some kind of crustacean; fresh water prawns or other kinds of yabbies - as food for your fish... that of course is part of the challenge of designing and developing a self maintaining aquaculture system - finding a balance between a diversity of organisms that will make up an ecosystem that allows you a sustainable harvest.
     
  8. Jemes

    Jemes Junior Member

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    Aquaculture thrives here in Thailand. Catfish, eels, frogs, toads, Tilapia, and many others. Mind you, Thais also have no minimum size for when a fish (or anything) is edible. Anything from 1cm long upwards is fair game.

    Just about every household will have several smaller water features such as urns with fish and plants in them. Thais love having water around the house in many different forms. They will often also have some concrete tanks about 1m cubed, where they will have different fishes and frogs growing. Larger aquaculture dams are common in the country areas. Fish are also often released into the flooded rice paddies. They eat up the insects that might attack the rice. Then when the field is drained to harvest the rice, they get a free feed of fish at the same time.

    What always surprises me is the relative lack of sophistication in their methods of aquaculture, and yet they are highly successful at it. In Australia we would get in a tizzy about water quality, what feed to give them, how much, interspecies competition, turbidity of the water etc etc. They pretty much just chuck a few fish in a pond and they thrive. They often set up lights overhead which they turn on for a couple of hours at night. The insects the light attracts feeds the fishes underneath. Like most things Thai, clever and simple.

    Tilapia are an amazing fish. I have seen them thriving in the most unlikely places. Roadside storm water drains with dumped old car bits and tyres. There will be a bountiful population of tilapia swimming around. They get fished out regularly, though I would be a bit worried about their accumulated toxicity levels.

    I loved the fish/frog pond setup that Jeff has at his place. In keeping with good passive solar design, the pond is inside a greenhouse against the side of his house where the warmth of the low winter sun is reflected into his house. The feature I loved most was that he has placed porthole windows below water level, into the house. So you can sit inside and watch the fish and many green & gold frogs swimming around. Very cool.

    "I'm going to make one of those cantilever style fishing nets common in se asia. " muttabuttasaurus

    When I first saw one of those I was sitting on the bank of a Thai reservoir trying to figure out what the heck it was. Looks a bit like an upsidedown umbrella made of bamboo and netting. It was propped up in the air over the water at the time. I waited there for a while until the fisherman to come back and showed me how to use it. Clever little device.
     
  9. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    Bumped up just to show how times change In just 2 years we have Aquponics


    Tezza
     
  10. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    Did you ever get your fish, Tezza? 8)

    9anda1f
     
  11. Tezza

    Tezza Junior Member

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    Actually 9 I have .I got my yabbies underway Jn 1st 06.

    Also working on Fish before spring either Trout or Perch..

    Also Marron are being offered to me So yes its all go...

    Aquaponics is the way...Its So Permaculture

    You being new may not realise that the inventor is a guy who posts in here.

    If you se a link to "Backyard Aquaponics' clik on it

    Tezza
     

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