I currently raise Goldfish, a carp, but from what I've read, they are really bony, hard to fillet and hard to skin/scale. Does anyone have ideas about other cold water fish that might be able to be used in Aquaponics? These are the criteria I've set:
1. Grow out - I'd like a fish that grows out to marketable/edible size in 6 - months to a year (like Tilapia).
2. Weather tolerance - I'd like a fish that will survive freezing temps in the fish pond (Goldies can live under ice if you pump oxygen to them), as it gets to freezing temps under our building in the winter, and that's where I'd like to build some large tanks, then pump the water up into the living space where the grow-beds will be located. (Fresh veggies in the winter )
3. Choices - I know that Rainbow trout are a possible choice, but how about crappie, or others. Rainbows, from what I've read, are a two year grow-out before they are ready to eat.
4. Locale - I believe that most of the ones that have been mentioned in other topics (see # 7) would be good choices down South, but I'm in the frozen North
5. Disease Resistant - I would like fish that are fairly disease resistant, as I am determined to raise them organically.
6. Clean/Kosher - I would like fish that are Biblically "clean" or Kosher. To fit that description, they must have both fins and scales.
7. Thanks - Since I'm new to aquaponics, I will have to rely on your expertise as far as fish that are easy to raise, quick to grow out, and disease resistant. I know next to nothing about bass, crappie, perch, sunfish, etc. I don't even know if they can be "farm raised," or whether there are breeders that sell them.
8. Nothing hybrid - I am only interested in true fish, not something that has been hybridized by some scientist in a laboratory.