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Hi everyone!

What is the minimum tank depth that people have successfully grown full size fish in?

I'm looking at jade perch, but my 1200L stock trough is only 500mm deep, and then would only hold 450mm of water as it wouldn't be filled to the brim. (this is about 1.5 feet of water depth).

I don't want to limit my fish growth by not giving them enough water depth. If this isn't enough I'll pick up some IBCs.

 

Is 450mm/1.5 feet enough?

 

Thanks for your help!

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Hi Tim,

Usually the generally recommended FT depth for most AP'ers is approx. 4 ft deep. This has mostly to do with efficient oxygen transfer in water from the blower air bubbles. I have a 250 gallon FT at 1.5 ft deep and have grown Tilapia up to 3 pound in weight. I've grown a 1 pound fish in 6-7 months. If the fish are not crowded together and are well fed they will continue growing.

I've grown tilapia just fine in a large shallow tank with only about 1.5 feet of water.  I don't know how Jade perch would feel about that.

 

I'm currently growing bluegill in a 300 tank with only about 1.5 feet of water depth as so far so good but I've only had them 5-6 months so they are not that big.

 

I used to have channel catfish in that tank but I think it was too shallow for them and I definitely prefer 28-30 inches of water depth for the channel catfish and my big tank has almost 4 feet of water depth for growing the channel catfish out big.

 

You might have better luck asking on one of the OZ Aquaponics Forums about specifics for Jade Perch.

Thanks guys, some great points. I didn't consider the efficiency of the bubbler at all.

I spoke with Ausyfish who are the main supplier of jade perch in australia, and the guy there said he would be more worried about temperature variations in the shallow tank affecting the perch, given that where I live varies between cold and very hot throughout the year.He also mentioned that their growth may be limited.

It's good to hear that you've had success at this depth, but unfortunately tilapia are very illegal here in Melbourne, so I will probably chuck in some koi down the track as they are supposed to be pretty hardy. But I will definitely look into bluegill as well.

I think I'll pick up some IBCs for the perch.

Thanks again

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