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stucco
10-04-2012, 02:49 PM
i didn't get any where near the same plant growth using catfish than i did with tilapia. the water had a smell similar to the slime on the fish... even when i first added the cats to the 1100 gallon system as fry. i have no scientific backing this is just my redneck observation... catfish are funky and i will try and avoid them in the future.

davidstcldfl
10-04-2012, 04:34 PM
Do you think they have less 'waste', per the amount of food they eat ?

stucco
10-04-2012, 05:12 PM
i think that it had to do with their slime coat but again I'm no scientist. things are great now with only tilapia but with winter coming I'm considering koi. i know when it comes time i won't be able to put a knife in a koi to see how they taste... big softie cant kill the purdy fish

PonicDan
10-04-2012, 06:54 PM
That's an interesting observation. I'm not near the agri specialist or chemist to put "science" to work here. I have wondered though about growth rates of the vegetation based on species of fish in FT.

davidstcldfl
10-04-2012, 06:58 PM
I haddn't noticed it....but then again, I have 'mixed' fish in the systems (cats and tilapia...or cats and blue gills)

urbanfarmer
10-04-2012, 10:06 PM
It could be anything, but I don't think it's the fish.

What discoloration or deformities are you noticing on the plants? How are your water parameters such as ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? What's the pH? What's the temperature and sunlight like for the plants? What plants are you growing? etc, etc etc...

davidstcldfl
10-05-2012, 04:13 AM
It could be anything, but I don't think it's the fish.

What discoloration or deformities are you noticing on the plants? How are your water parameters such as ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? What's the pH? What's the temperature and sunlight like for the plants? What plants are you growing? etc, etc etc...

Stucco, am I correct... is this your underground tank..?
If it is that tank....

'maybe' the concrete is effecting the water...?

'maybe' you have more of a smell because the surface of the water, in the tank isn't exposed to as much air ?
( guessing there aren't too many breezes across the water's surface 'underground' )

'maybe' the system's water doesn't have 'as high' an oxygen level as your 'other' systems ?

keith_r
10-05-2012, 05:39 AM
what are you feeding the catfish as compared to what you're feeding the tilapia?
tilapia seem to have a much higher metabolism to me, they grow fast so eat more.. and produce much more waste than any of my other fish.. might be worth looking up the digestive systems on the two fish..

stucco
10-09-2012, 07:19 PM
Ok, so here's the thing..
For those of you who do not know me well, I have been doing this for long enough to know what parameters I should have with respect to the fish and the system itself. It wasn't so much a question that I posed, but rather a statement of facts which came about thru the process of raising catfish after raising what I consider to be a much cleaner fish- tilapia- for many years.
1. Yes, this is my underground tank, however it is coated with a food grade potable water coating- so that is not a problem.
2. Yes, I am feeding them the same type of products as when I only had tilapia, so no difference there.
3. Yes, I pretty much grow similar items thru out the seasons just changing the variety, so there was no real change in that aspect.
4. The tilapia had no change in growth or habit when they were present.
5. The system is stationary so there is no change with regard to sunlight, etc.
6. No, I do not believe they had less waste for the amount of food they ate- and Yes, they did eat a lot and grew faster than the talapia so there should not have been a shortage of food for the plants-
However, my observation when there was only catfish was that there were some definite changes to the plants with respect to growth as well as production of fruit and the need for additional nutrients that had to be added over the norm we had set for the past 6+ years in growing talapia.
The water in the system permeated the smell of catfish slime, though the water quality was always right on the mark. Even when the system was down to only 6 catfish when we were clearing it for the next batch of tilapia- the smell was still present.
In addition to these observations, the flavor of catfish is just that- there is no change with water quality or food quality- while on the other hand we gladly eat our tilapia cevechi style any day of the week- the flavor is superb and nothing like that of market fish.
Take it for what you will- I won't be growing catfish again if I can help it.

davidstcldfl
10-10-2012, 04:30 AM
It wasn't so much a question that I posed, but rather a statement of facts which came about thru the process of raising catfish after raising what I consider to be a much cleaner fish- tilapia- for many years.

1st...No disrespect was ment Stucco.
Your statement raised questions with 'me', ( and probably some of the others)because I am raising cats with other fish.
I'm helping a friend set up a small system. We were considering doing 'just' cats.... So naturally...I wanted to ask and 'learn' as much as I could of what you observed.

At Sahib's, we have a (floating raft) system with 'just' cats. It's done 'kinda' OK.
I never was too thrilled with the 'location'. The beds are under/near a tree. I just figured it was getting too much shade. Now, you have me going ...Hmmmm ? :?

urbanfarmer
10-10-2012, 05:14 AM
1st...No disrespect was meant Stucco.

:oops: Me too; sorry buddy. Didn't mean it like that.

bcotton
10-10-2012, 06:10 AM
Stucco,

It's a valid hypothesis and i am glad you are sharing your experience. This is helpful information even if the idea should be vetted out more. I have raised catfish in aquaponics as well but like others always with other fish. I'm interested in further testing this to see if the behavior can be reproduced.

I have recently moved and i am still building my main system. it will probably not be until next year that i can setup a catfish only side system.

brian

stucco
10-11-2012, 08:15 AM
OH WOW! dewd... I wasn't offended at all. sorry if i sounded harsh. was it the way i numbered the responses??? i was only trying to answer in order and cover everything that was brought up.

urbanfarmer
10-11-2012, 01:05 PM
:lol: :lol: No worries. In retrospect, that's pretty funny.

stucco
10-11-2012, 03:22 PM
we need facebook style like buttons here :geek:

urbanfarmer
10-11-2012, 04:44 PM
I'm going to laugh at you if you click it before you notice... :lol:

Ike016
04-24-2013, 05:04 PM
Hello all,

I am trying to do as much research as I can before starting my first system in Odessa, TX. I just found out that Tilapia are a No-go here and was trying to find what would be the best warm water fish. Catfish seem to be a good choice but not getting a good fuzzy with success rates of other AP'ers. Really new and want to do the best I can at this. I know there is a huge learning curve but with so many people using forums these days this stuff makes if easier to get a good start.

dsrtlzrd32
04-24-2013, 05:45 PM
Hey Ike, you may have already looked at this page, but I for one have found the legal issues page on this site extremely helpful. State Tilapia Regulations (http://www.diyaquaponics.com/forum/showthread.php?636-State-Tilapia-Regulations/page3) is the link to the page with texas, says permit is required. I have not read the linked page as it has changed, but I know for me and learning about tilapia legal issues in california, being able to read the law itself, rather than just going off of hear say (even from fish and game officials, who may not really know the law other than their guesses) is a huge benefit. The law itself is the authority, not what someone else guesses it is. I had read on one site that said tilapia were illegal in ca only to read the law and see for myself, that only certain species are actually illegal.

Hopefully, if a permit is required for texas, it is not a large fee directed toward commercial enterprise.

Ike016
04-24-2013, 07:12 PM
I read in the Fish and wildlife that a permit was required also. Just not sure if it is worth the headache if Catfish worked just as well in SW Texas.

JCO
07-31-2013, 12:45 AM
Stucco, how's experiment going. Haven't heard from you in awhile...need and update and some photos. :mrgreen: