A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

feed:weight ratios

I've looked all over the internet and found TONS of information. I'm lost in cyber-world. I've searched the forum, but can't find the exact info I need, so I'm putting this question out there...

What is the feed rate to fish weight ratio? I realize this varies fish to fish, but as a general rule of thumb...? (FYI, I'm using Aquamax 4000) The package says something like, 3-4 lbs of food per 100 lbs of fish over 4" per day... I can't figure out the math on this one partial because I don't know how much my babies weigh and don't want to put them the stress of a weigh-in.

For:

Catfish: general fingerling weights? How much food per pound of fish?

Brim (similar to tilapia): weights per stages, and how much food/lb...

Currently giving them about 2 pellets per fish twice a day. I think this is too much. Can someone point me in the right direction? I have very small systems (40 gallon and 110 gallon). A 50 lb bag of food should last how long??

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Permalink Reply by TCLynx on August 17, 2011 at 9:09am

If you have enough media beds for your fish tank size and fish load, if you add some composting worms there is a chance you might never have to clean out your media beds. Murray did a blog post not too long ago about finally having to clean out a bed that had become anaerobic after about 7 years of continued operation but he had added a lot of rock dust into that bed which probably played a big part in the clogging.

I've had to dig out and replace a few lumber/liner grow beds and the fish wastes were not building up enough to cause any problems after two years and the only times I've experienced any clogging was due to aggressive plant roots.

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Permalink Reply by Allisyn Wood on August 17, 2011 at 12:13pm

I saw that! Very inspiring! I am adding worms to the beds as I find them in my compost pile. Make them do the work! Work smarter, not harder.

I am not using liner, but rather the Tuff Tubs or Rubbermaid stock tanks so the roots can't push through and cause leakage, although I know they can get into the siphons and reek havoc. I would like to have an "aquaponic orchard" one day, but for now, I'm hoping that the worst of my root problems will be from the tomatoes which should (mostly) come out once the plants run their course and are removed.