crabs

[sirtoggle]

Has anyone tryed a system with fish and crabs? And I mean crabs that you can eat, or size enough to eat. I don't know a lot about crabs. I'm just trying to find out if I can put more then fish in to grow reproduce and eat into the system.

edit :

better yet here is a list of low mercury fish/sea life. Wondering what you can mix and match basicly.

Anchovies, Catfish, Clam, Crab, Crawfish, Flounder, Haddock, Herring, Mackerel, Mullet
Oyster
Perch
Pollock
Salmon
Sardine
Scallop
Shrimp
Sole
Squid
Tilapia
Trout
Whitefish

[sirtoggle]

I just noticed I might have posted this in the wrong thread. sorry :(

[badflash]

I don't think crabs are gregarious enough to work in aquaponics. You need critters like Red Claws that can be packed together without killing each other.

You also need to sort out fresh and salt water animals. Few plants worth growing like salt.

Dirty Jobs did a show on co-cropping hybrid striped bass and tilapia. That was what hooked me.

[sirtoggle]

cool, thanks :)

[wh33t]

When first starting you gotta take into account the entirety of the systems requirements, at least that's what I discovered for myself.

The ideal marine species has to fall into some pretty strict requirements in order for your Aquaponics system to be prolific with minimal effort ( I presume that's the goal for everyone ).

I find the ideal species has the following attributes:

1.) Can tolerate moderately high to high levels of nitrate, nitrite.
2.) Can tolerate moderately high to high frequency and range of water temperature shifts
3.) Has a high stocking density (can pile many into a small space) and still be content
4.) Has a wide dietary range
5.) Cheap in the monetary sense

When you apply those 5 credentials to Aquaponics there is certainly a few species that stand out from the Crowd.

So far in my novice experiences with AP I have decided on Goldfish as I don't intend to eat the fish. Goldfish have to be one of the hardiest species on the planet in terms of fresh water. They can eat a wide variety of stuff. Incredibly cheap (19 cents each!) and can tolerate the absolute worst water conditions and really excel in good environments and are pretty civil towards each other providing you feed them adequately.

I have tried freshwater Crayfish. They seemed to get along quite well until I needed to do service on my "current" pump (the pump in my tank that keeps the water turning and moving). When I turned off my current pump the Crayfish immediately started fighting each other and many big Crayfish arms were lost lol. I have since then returned them to the near by stream. I think it might be illegal to take them out of the stream anyhow... but all in the name of science right ;)

[sirtoggle]

@wh33t

Cool thanks for the info man.

[urbanfarmer]

All very good points wh33t :-D