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Catfish Growers

That is a 12 inch air stone next to that catfish in the picture.

Members: 151
Latest Activity: Nov 13, 2017

Discussion Forum

Average price for the catfish fingerlings

Started by William Kohut. Last reply by David Mar 4, 2015. 6 Replies

Just wondering what do you(s) sell the fingerlings for or how do you scale as value?Continue

Catfish suppliers

Started by William Kohut. Last reply by Phil Slaton Aug 5, 2014. 5 Replies

HelloEveryone I am looking for a Catfish supplier. I see that most places sell tilapia bluegill and other various fish but not catfish. Are the fish out of season or too expensive to raise? I am…Continue

Lots of Fish Waste in grow beds

Started by Dan Ponton. Last reply by Bob Campbell Jun 20, 2014. 1 Reply

My system is over 2 years old now and I have a lot of fish waste in the gravel beds.Even…Continue

Nitrite spike

Started by Bill Hider. Last reply by Casey Haas Jun 2, 2014. 10 Replies

I have since last Wed gotten a Nitrite spike, rising from less than .15 ppm to 3 ppm.  I think it may be due to over feeding, although I don't find much food residue on the bottom of the tank.  Not…Continue

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Comment by TCLynx on April 16, 2012 at 9:20pm

Catfish and bluegill are both good eating in my experience.

And you don't have the disadvantage of needing to heat the water the way you do for tilapia in all but the most tropical climates.

Comment by Max In Missouri on April 16, 2012 at 8:43pm

Just now joined the Cat Group, wanting to learn/read more from you all.. I live in Missouri and we have a local vendor that delivers Catfish as well as Crappie, blue-gill, etc... I am not a big fan of Talapia, back home (Hawaii) we considered it to be bad eating, so I am wanting to grow something a little more appetizing. Thanks in advance, for all that I have read thus far

Comment by TCLynx on February 4, 2012 at 7:29pm

I'd be feeding them the Aquamax 4000, what they will eat withing 15 minutes and remove any they don't eat.  (providing your bio-filter can keep the water quality good at that feed amount, keep up with your water testing since poor water quality or overfeeding at this temp can cause disease outbreaks.)

Channel Catfish are warm water fish though they can survive cold water, they will not eat as much when the water is cool.  Water between 65-86 F is Great for them no worries, they will eat more as the water gets warmer but if it gets really hot you will probably need to reduce the feed as water temperatures near 90 F.

Comment by TCLynx on January 26, 2012 at 5:03pm

You are totally right about needing to make our own decisions.  We just should try to be informed about them.

I'll aim for trying to keep my water quality high since so many of the treatments for fish are questionable when talking about using it in a food system.

Comment by Larry Reinhardt on January 26, 2012 at 4:45am

I've used it for over 40 years as a basic medication to treat fish. It does ruin a bio filters effectiveness and takes a week or so for it to recover. Also you need to provide aeration, this is not a problem since I run my system by air and moving water adds air as well. Most of us fish farmers/hatcheries have it on hand, my focus is on the well being of the fish. I've added a few lines from the 'wiki' on it below.

  • KMnO4 is employed to treat some parasitic diseases of fish, in treatment of drinking water, as well as an antidote in phosphorus poisoning. In Africa, it has been used as a disinfectant for vegetables such as lettuce.

This link is a statement from the University of Florida http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa032.

On my fish farm I grew plants in my stream filters and since I had many occasions to treat fish I never seen any adverse effects on the plants. I will use it in my system when an occasion comes along where I need it. But to each his own.

Comment by TCLynx on January 25, 2012 at 8:48pm

I know what you mean.

Comment by RupertofOZ on January 25, 2012 at 8:43pm

Darn... formatting is just so difficult here...

Comment by TCLynx on January 25, 2012 at 8:37pm

Your details are always much appreciated Rupert

Comment by RupertofOZ on January 25, 2012 at 8:30pm

Potassium Permanganate is an extremely aggressive oxidising agent...

 


Potassium permanganate is highly reactive under conditions found in the water industry. It will oxidize a wide variety of inorganic and organic substances

 

... Is detremental to plant uptake of Iron & Manganese...

 


A primary use of permanganate is iron and manganese removal. Permanganate will oxidize iron and manganese to convert ferrous (2+) iron into the ferric (3+) state and 2+ manganese to the 4+ state.
The oxidized forms will precipitate as ferric hydroxide and manganese hydroxide (AWWA, 1991).
The precise chemical composition of the precipitate will depend on the nature of the water, temperature, and pH

 

... Will mess with your pH... or at least remove the carbonate buffering from your system...

 


The classic reactions for the oxidation of iron and manganese are:
3Fe2+ + KMnO4 + 7H2Oè 3Fe(OH)3(s) + MnO2(s) + K+ + 5H+
3Mn2+ + 2KMnO4 + 2H2Oè 5MnO2(s) + 2K+ + 4H+
These reactions show that alkalinity is consumed through acid production at the rate of 1.49 mg/L as
CaCO3 per mg/L of Fe+2 and 1.21 mg/L as CaCO3 per mg/L of Mn+2 oxidized. This consumption of alkalinity should be considered when permanganate treatment is used

 

... Has some anit-bacterial properties... but depends on pH...

 


Alkaline conditions enhance the capability of potassium permanganate to oxidize organic matter; however, the opposite is true for its disinfecting power. Typically, potassium permanganate is a better biocide under acidic conditions than under alkaline conditions (Cleasby et al., 1964 and Wagner, 1951). Results from a study conducted in 1964 indicated that permanganate generally was a more effective biocide for E. coli at lower pHs, exhibiting more than a 2-log removal at a pH of 5.9
and a water temperature of both 0 and 20°C (Cleasby et al., 1964). In fact, Cleasby found that pH is the major factor affecting disinfection effectiveness with potassium permanganate.

 

... And isn't as effective as widely supposed... especially for treatment of columnaris in catfish...

 


PP is used to treat ponds of catfish showing signs of external columnaris (gills and skin). Its efficacy has never been scientifically demonstrated. In flow through systems with relatively low organic loads, empirical evidence indicates it reduces the prevalence of environmental or bacterial gill disease. It may be effective to treat eggs infested with Saprolegnia spp., but this has not been systematically evaluated. Its effectiveness to treat infestations of Ichthyopthirius or other external parasitic infestations in actual production environments is assumed but has not been critically evaluated.

 

... and is potentially dangerous...

 


However, this dark purple/black crystalline solid can cause serious eye injury, is a skin and inhalation irritant, and can be
fatal if swallowed. As such, special handling procedures include the use of safety goggles and a face shield, an MSAä/NIOSH approved dust mask, and wearing impervious gloves, coveralls, and boots to minimize skin contact.

 

>http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/mdbp/pdf/alter/chapt_5.pdf

 

http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/aadap/PDF/Potassium%20Permanganate%20W...

It can potentially suck the oxygen out of your system, particularly in hot weather when DO is already low....

 

I would not advise using it in AP systems

Comment by TCLynx on January 25, 2012 at 7:10pm

What does the potassium permanganate do to the bio-filter?

I think there are actually only a couple feed based antibiotics that are labeled for use in food fish to treat columnaris and I wouldn't want to use the antibiotics in the AP system.

 

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