Hello from CA.

[tikifrog]

Greetings All,

I live in the East Bay and I'm planning to get something up and running. I'm also trying to convince my wife that it's ok to culture fish in the yard to eat :D

Is it better to start small with aquariums? How about a 300 gal stock tank? Can I raise fish to eat with my koi in a 3,000 gal. pond?

Many, many more questions to come!

John

[davidstcldfl]

Hi John....welcome... :D
The 300 gal stock tank would be good. If your doing tilapia....in the pond, they may start breeding un-checked and out of control. Of course, the bigger ones will be eating the smaller ones.

Were you planning on converting the koi pond to an aquaponics system.....instaed of conventional filters....your going to start using ,some form of grow beds for your filters ...?

[tikifrog]

Thanks for the reply.

I've got an old 300 gal rubbermaid sitting around that needs to be put to good use. Sadly it's littered with drainage holes half way up the sides. It once was a salamander habitat. I guess I could get a pond liner.
Wouldn't a tilapia tank need to be heated? I thought they were more tropical than temperate?
I was wondering about diverting water from the koi pond through some grow beds and see how that would work. I have some of the water running through a bog right now and thought of pulling the emergent pond plants and growing a crop in there. I don't think my wife would like the look of crops over the papyrus etc.

[davidstcldfl]

Sadly it's littered with drainage holes half way up the sides. It once was a salamander habitat. I guess I could get a pond liner.
I was given one with a crack near the drain. I wonder if fiberglass resin and matting would work ?

I'm not familure with the climate around the bay in CA. Your right, generally tilapia like 70 and above...they can survive down to 50-ish F water.

John, you may already be aware of this....
(Maybe someone else can add to this)....doesn't CA have a law, where only certain parts are allowed to raise tilapia...?

You could use your water from your pond. Might want to pump it a little ways 'away' to some other grow beds...to keep the 'charm of your koi pond'.....remember the old saying...."if momma isn't happy....no body is happy"... :lol:
If the beds had a little height, they should be able to gravity feed back.

Hope this helps....gives a few ideas.

[tikifrog]

My pond got down to 48 two winters ago so I think the tilapia would have to be inside. I've thought about blue gill type fish or maybe crayfish as well.

I'm sure there's a law against everything in Ca. somewhere, I'll have to research it. There's laws restricting most fish in Ca. if they are considered native, game or nuisance fish they won't let you have them anyway. Ca. has way to many unneeded regulations!

I have an area on the south side of a bamboo planting that would not be seen from the house. I could pump water there and have it drain back. I have 4 55 gal drums I was going to cut in half length-wise to plant stuff in.

[JCO]

Welcome to the show....pull up an easy chair, relax and stay awhile. New voices are always a welcome addition to our family..! Whatever questions you have on you mind, this is the place to get the answers. :mrgreen: