New in Dallas

[ghostridergt]

I'm extremely new to this hobby and have been up since 2am for the last sseveral days reading and digesting as much info as possible. The big issue I'm having right now is figuring out what edible fish to grow here since are summers are horrific and winters are to cold for tilapia. Looking for advice from anyone local or in the same climate. Non edible fish are out of the question since there is no way the wife will go for it without there being a full edible benefit for the family(to many pets as is). I'll more than likely be powering this with a couple of solar kits from harbor freight...in theory. Thanks everyone!

[davidstcldfl]

Hi ghostridergt...before Urbanfarmer gets the chance to say it..."Welcome to the addiction"...
Catfish aren't 'cute'...but they do grow pretty fast.

[urbanfarmer]

Greetings Earthling, and welcome to the addiction!

[ghostridergt]

Catfish is fine since my goal is food not cute lol. Will they survive in north Texas with no heater? Looking at getting a ~250 gallon tote for my tank any and all feedback is more than welcome.

[alex281]

Welcome!

[bcotton]

I have used catfish and perch in my systems here and dallas and they survive the winters well.. Obviously you cannot let your fish tank freeze into an ice cube but a top sheet of ice isnt a big deal. catfish grow considerably faster than perch, are less picky eaters, but unless you have a 1000gallons fish tank (or more) you probably wont be able to have much success reproducing your own.

The one thing i have noticed about catfish is that they are very very sensitive to chlorines and choramines.. tilapia and even perch seem to have a fair level of tolerance but adding untreated tap water to your system can be fatal for catfish.

you can keep catfish and perch in the same fish tank. The catfish tend to keep to themselves at the bottom and the perch tend to stay away from the bigger fish.


Brian.

[stucco]

hello and welcome.