Comment

Comment by Ned Berndt on August 24, 2012 at 5:23am

Hi George,

Actually, I just remembered we had another name for them...Kivvies...don't know where that came from.  When we finally passed the "tipped over canoe water safety test" administered by my Dad, we could go and fish in the canoe alone...them we could catch the pickerel, yellow perch, rainbow trout, hornpout/bullheads/ catfish and the large mouth bass...much more fish per bone...

Comment by George on August 23, 2012 at 10:31pm

In other words. . . .boneless

Comment by George on August 23, 2012 at 10:30pm

Your experience is different from mine.  I usually fillet them.

Comment by Ned Berndt 10 hours ago Bluegill, when I was akid we called Sunfish...way to many bones

Comment by TCLynx on August 23, 2012 at 7:22pm

yea, having a fish tank slosh around in your sleeper might be a bit problematic.

Comment by George Johnson on August 23, 2012 at 6:44pm

As a teen in the early 70's I enjoyed catching bluegills but only kept those a thick as an adults hand. The bones were no worry as one that cleaned plenty I knee my way around them well. I have not started my aquaponics system as of yet. Can't do that in a semi over the road. Retiring soon though.

Comment by TCLynx on August 23, 2012 at 6:31pm

so far my catfish have done fine in water up to almost 90 F.  If the water is really really bathwater warm I will reduce feed a bit and make sure there is plenty of extra aeration for them.  One season I even had catfish in a tank that was getting water from a Monster grow bed pumped back to them and that water tended to be over 90 F in the extreme hot early days of the summer of 2008 and those fish survived and grew fast.  That tank was getting a fast change over of water though.

More normally the water only gets up to maybe 86 F in my tanks and probably fluctuates by up to 10 degrees F between day/night on the more extreme seasons.

If you have catfish in a tank of at least 300 gallons, then I think they will do fine as long as you shade the tank and your system design doesn't cause excessive heating of the water.  (don't go running your water through the solar heaters during summer!)

Comment by Ned Berndt on August 23, 2012 at 11:41am

Bluegill, when I was akid we called Sunfish...way to many bones...only good for chowda (pronounced like"hoppa")

TCLynx...what temp range will work for catfish, I am in Miami and it's pretty hot here.

Comment by TCLynx on August 23, 2012 at 10:07am

Bluegill are great eating fish, only drawback is you have to clean more fish and deal with more bones when you make a meal of bluegill since they do tend to be smaller.

Tilapia are over rated, especially for outdoor systems outside of the tropics.  Florida is too hot for trout.

I really like catfish because I'm kinda lazy and they grow big enough to have really nice fish tenders to eat without the trouble of bones.  In my experience with aquaponics the catfish and tilapia taste very very similar, as in they are so mild they take on the flavor of however you cook them.  The catfish grew bigger faster because they keep eating when the water is below 70 F.

Bluegill are really good eating, they just tend to be smaller and grow a bit slower but like catfish, they can handle very warm water and they can also survive cool water, unlike the tilapia who will require heating in the winter just to keep them alive let alone eating.

Comment by George on August 23, 2012 at 10:03am

Deanna, trout wouldn't be an option for you - too warm.  I've had bluegill for 8 months and they are doing well.  Plan to begin eating them spring 2013.

Comment by wes on August 23, 2012 at 9:50am

Blue Gil work just fine or you could go the Koi route and then sell them when they get real big and pretty!!! Just a thought.

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