Growing Fish in 55 gallon drums

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

These things are so cheap that I can't help considering using a bunch of them in a test system that I am designing. They only have a 24 inch diameter so can you grow blue gill, tilapia or trout in a barrel and expect them to get to marketable size? Would the fish do better if the barrel was laying on it's side?

[Glenn]

I am not sure about  blue gill or tilapia, but the trout I've seen in small containers vs. larger are not as tasty. I think they are much like other creatures and need the exercize they find in nature to taste the way they do in nature. And horizontal drums provide more flipper room sort of.

[TCLynx]

I never liked my barrel on it's side fish tank.  Blue barrels might work for breeding small aquarium fish but I wouldn't try going commercial AP with edible fish using blue barrels turned any way as fish tanks.

Also, used blue barrels might be cheap and appropriate for home personal aquaponics but are less appropriate for commercial food selling aquaponics, especially if you can't get written proof that the barrels were food grade and only had food in them.

Finally, blue barrels, for each barrel you have plumbing so take into account the additional need for plumbing fittings, grates, air stones, air fittings and tubing for each barrel when you might get a much larger fish tank that doesn't require all the additional extra parts.

They are cheap but are they cheap enough to make up for the extra hassle?