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Thread: BLUEGILL ?

  1. #1
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    BLUEGILL ?

    Well since everyone is talking fishy I was thinking about some local fish I know down the road I might go catch up with and borrow this summer for my second year trying out aquaponics

    Blue gill pee too so what the heck I think I will test them out.
    ""we are what we eat""

  2. #2
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    Re: BLUEGILL ?

    Actually I was only thinking of using them for the ammonia and nothing else however we have been eating them for over 40 years. We falay them so their is no bones you simply plop em in your mouth. Perch are harder to scale and more bones than bluegill but I like them better as far as a fish meal however this is just my preference.

    Talapia are great in local restaurants we go to, so if I had a choice I would eat talapia over bluegill however a good stripe perch is hard to beat.
    ""we are what we eat""

  3. #3
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: BLUEGILL ?

    Supposedly, you can make a hybrid of bluegill and green sunfish. Female sunfish, Male bluegill. The offspring are supoosed to be all male and grow bigger than the parents, faster too. Worth looking into. These guys don't grow as fast as tilapia by half, but they don't need heat.

    http://www.ksuaquaculture.org/Species/B ... Hybrid.htm
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

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    Re: BLUEGILL ?

    Question about getting fish to eat.

    I put two bluegills and a bass in my tank just to prime the biofiltration action and they are surviving fine. They will eat worms and such but won't eat the fish food (floating type such as for catfish) and even spit it out when they do give it a try. Do I just keep starving them and eventually they will be hungry enough to gulp some down and then realize just how wonderful it is?

    Also, just read of a researcher at OSU (ohio state) who is giving hormone treatments to male bluegill and getting them to lay eggs. The eggs have XY chromosome (male) and then are fertilized by another male (XY) and so 1/4 of the offspring are super-males with two X chromosomes. Then when these are bred with females, all offspring are XY (males). Apparently, the males grow much faster and larger than the females.

    It would be interesting to get these supermales growing and improve the breed to obtain some fast-growing blue-gills. I personally love bluegill, even if not filleted and even if I have to pick around the bones. Really good meat! I also (and this is true) really like the tails when I fry them whole. A bit of salt and the tails are really tasty as long as the bluegills aren't really large ones - then the tails are bony.

    Wes

  5. #5
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: BLUEGILL ?

    That is the idea with the hybid sunfish, but a lot easier and safer. Super Male technology isn't what it is cracked up to be, and the hormones are hard to deal with and dangerous.

    With the Green Sunfish/Bluegill hybrid you get better results and no hormones. Bluegills are pretty small, but the hybrids are almost twice as big. Check the link I posted before.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

  6. #6
    Members mpugh5@aol.com's Avatar
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    Re: BLUEGILL ?

    Quote Originally Posted by badflash
    That is the idea with the hybid sunfish, but a lot easier and safer. Super Male technology isn't what it is cracked up to be, and the hormones are hard to deal with and dangerous.

    With the Green Sunfish/Bluegill hybrid you get better results and no hormones. Bluegills are pretty small, but the hybrids are almost twice as big. Check the link I posted before.
    this is the kinda stuff i enjoy, no hormones and stuff like that to boot. it's the reason i want to raise my own.
    one life one love.

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    Re: BLUEGILL ?

    Pretty interesting... I wish they had more information about the growth rates relative to something like red ear sunfish, etc. I have those in my pond and they get pretty large.

    Wes

  8. #8
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: BLUEGILL ?

    My understanding is that it takes 2 years to get a 2 pound fish.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

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    Re: BLUEGILL ?

    Well, I got 100 hybrid bluegill in my greenhouse tank and the little buggers are doing just fine eating fish food I got from the grain elevator. I need to post again with pictures to show how I finally ended up setting up my biofilter, etc. Still not technically doing aquaponics but I am watering my greenhouse crops with the water from the fish tank and then making up with clean water.

    Wes

  10. #10
    Moderator wolfracer's Avatar
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    Re: BLUEGILL ?

    Looking forward to the pictures! I went with the catfish because they grow faster, but I first considered Blue gill and my still do some.

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