9 replies to this topic

[Sergio]

Hi guys

Thinking about relocating my silver perch (to my stomach) and putting some cichlids into my aquaponics system to try and breed. THinking electric yellows to start with.
Has anyone successfully done this? I plan on keeping the water heated over winter.
I'll cover the pump with a mesh to protect any fry from getting sucked in...

Couple of questions:
Do i need a substrate for electric yellow breeding?
What kind of rock structures do i need?
Will ey's eat their own babies? (i wont be removing eggs or separating the babies)

The plan is to not pay too much attention to them (cant really observe them with my aquaponics system...) and then just every 6 months or so, scoop out some to sell off...

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Cheers

[mattt]

no substrate needed for breeding
chuck in anything to provide cover for the fry, some will live some wont. rocks, pipe, wood, crates. not so much limestone dont wanna raise ph to much in your AP.
EY will eat fry but they are damn good at hiding if you provide cover

Covering the pump is a good idea, i was going to put a fine mesh around a milk crate and house the pump inside... never did. now i have to check every day to see if my inlets are blocked to my AP (and they have from time to time, i have ~1000 convicts in the AP setup) and maybe lost 20 or so to the pump.

you might find a nice power bill at the end of winter.... worth it ?

[werdna]

Only a few more months to wait till Rainbow Trout time
And I hear there is good stock this year.

[mattt]

woohooo....... my barra season was non existant... and the convicts dont put up much fight.

[mattt]

Also, wouldnt you prefer some fast growing eating / pooping machines to feed your AP

[Sergio]

Cheers Matt

Yeh just wanted to try breeding cichlids in the aquaponics... only a small system (one of those backyard aquaponics balcony ones) so shouldnt be too hard to get nutrients from the yellows even if they dont eat/grow much? I was thinking of starting with about 20-30 yellows?

What other cichlids would you recommend?
Convicts?

Power to heat the water over winter shouldnt be TOO bad given the size of the system... i think the one big 300Watt heater i have should do it.

[mattt]

I only threw convicts in cos i had no space for them and i missed out on barramundi.

balcony system has pretty thick plastic walls, might insulate okay.

Give the yellows a try see what happens

maybe just watch how much shelter you put in there, it may create dead spots that build up with poop

[Sergio]

Ok cool will give it a go!

...now I just gotta eat my perch.

[FishOn]

Hi Sergio,

How is the system running?

[Sergio]

Hey mate
Still just a thought at the moment...
Ended up getting some barra fry (very small) off a mate so the yellows will have to wait until I grow these up a bit and transfer them to the larger setup.

Cheers