10 replies to this topic

[Moontanman]

What species of bullhead catfish would be best for hydroponics? Yellows seem to be a hands down winner but Browns in my area are fairly easy to catch and get larger. What do you guys think? Oh yeah, flavor would be a consideration as well... 

[centrarchid]

Brown would be my first choice.  Let us compare notes on this as things progress.  I will be setting up a tank by my barn.  Plants I am culturing are duckweed used as feed for confined chickens.

[lilyea]

Centrarchid - will the duckweed be in the same container as the bullhead? My brown bullhead eat the duckweed when I add it to their 500g pond.

[Moontanman]

Brown would be my first choice.  Let us compare notes on this as things progress.  I will be setting up a tank by my barn.  Plants I am culturing are duckweed used as feed for confined chickens.

 

May I suggest azolla instead of duck weed? It's more nutritious for the chickens and chickens and ducks both love it...   

[Moontanman]

Brown would be my first choice.  Let us compare notes on this as things progress.  I will be setting up a tank by my barn.  Plants I am culturing are duckweed used as feed for confined chickens.

 

BTW, this was asked of me by someone else, i don't have the space to do aquaponics where I am located. 

[Moontanman]

Centrarchid - will the duckweed be in the same container as the bullhead? My brown bullhead eat the duckweed when I add it to their 500g pond.

 

 

That is interesting, I wouldn't have thought that bullheads would be big fans of duckweed. I know carp and goldfish eat it with some gusto... 

[Ken Kilby]

It's interesting this came up because I was just thinking about it the past few days.  Inspired by all the old busted up stills along the creeks on our property.  I was thinking about putting a cattle tank arranged so that I could have an inflow and outflow feed by the creek.  I put it off because so much work and I don't really eat meat anyways and rarely fish or shellfish.

 

I thought channel catfish were the choice for raising food.

[Matt DeLaVega]

It's interesting this came up because I was just thinking about it the past few days.  Inspired by all the old busted up stills along the creeks on our property.  I was thinking about putting a cattle tank arranged so that I could have an inflow and outflow feed by the creek.  I put it off because so much work and I don't really eat meat anyways and rarely fish or shellfish.

 

I thought channel catfish were the choice for raising food.

Channel's may be choice for larger projects, but bullheads breed easily, so more sustainable than buying fingerlings. Better homestead fish.

[lilyea]

That is interesting, I wouldn't have thought that bullheads would be big fans of duckweed. I know carp and goldfish eat it with some gusto... 

 

I primarily use the duckweed as a natural cover for other small species that tend to jump or for natural light diffusion.  The duckweed is culled and added occasionally (monthly?) to the pond with the bullhead and it quickly disappears.  My observations of this behavior are limited to the bullhead population that I have been keeping for several years (most are F2s at this point).  Their eating habits also may be related to the fact that I surface feed with floating pellets and flake food.  

[centrarchid]

The duckweed I am currently using as poultry feed appears to be very tasty but when you dry it out, very little can be actual protein and energy.  I think that even it where nutritionally complete, most animals would have a hard time eating enough to actually grow.

[Moontanman]

The duckweed I am currently using as poultry feed appears to be very tasty but when you dry it out, very little can be actual protein and energy.  I think that even it where nutritionally complete, most animals would have a hard time eating enough to actually grow.

 

Azolla is considered by some as a very good feed for animals and maybe even humans... 

 

http://theazollafoun...-uses/for-food/