Comment

Comment by Maureen Hope Wall on April 19, 2014 at 5:30pm

I would be splitting hairs if I said they were tastier. Taste depends on what they are fed and the water conditions. Charr are a red/pink (depending on water conditions) fleshed trout, rare and sought after. All the eggs in the US for arctic charr are from Washington State. Outside the US Canada is the only other producer of eyed eggs. Our Pacific Northwest weather is much different from your weather Jim. We do not have those cold winters, I have never seen 20 below zero here and we have much milder summers. If you are doing well with the (rainbow) trout then why change? Especially if the fingerlings are going to be hard to find. Sounds like you have a nice system there.

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 19, 2014 at 4:05pm

Hey guys and TY for your replies. Still asking :are charr any tastier than trout? If not I see no point in chasing them down since trout are doing so well here and we love the taste. I will try to find the NC hatcheries as they must be near here in the mountains we share with them. I had not heard of such so that is exciting. I greatly prefer to make the trip myself and they can't be far from here.

As to why we chose trout: we have a hatchery 1/2 hr's drive away. They are native and we have always loved the taste and the ease of cleaning, the fast growth rate, the show at feed time (I can always give a visitor a shower by feeding the mid size tank), and we pay from 40 cents to 50 cents a piece depending on size (3" to 6") and rarely purchase more than 50 at a time. We have 5 IBC FTs , 2x330g and 3x275g. I keep them separated by size and by purchasing them about every month or so we keep well stocked.

Our GH is 24' x 24' with the fish room partitioned off from the hothouse side for temp control. I designed and constructed the system 2 yrs ago shortly after the addiction set in. I related to AP the moment I saw it. So far we have 5 IBC GBs and we are in the midst of building a 12' x 42" raft bed and will add another row of media beds down the S side asap. I was shooting for a 2 family size system and seemed to hit it square on.

Our temps here range from 20F below zero to mild 80's but the 250 ft deep artesian well water (no need for a pump here!) runs from 50F to 55F year round so it is great to control temp swings. The system water ranges from say 48F low to about 70F high and the Trout seem very at home and hungry in that range. Charr might not tolerate that high a temp I realize so I might have to keep it cooler.

Our weather here is simply awesome most of the year and Winters are short when compared to our last home in N Maine where we heated about 9 mos. We heat with our own wood and hard woods are abundant as Shady Valley is considered one of the top locations in the US for hard woods. (all that moisture flowing in from the Mid West turns to rain when it hits our mtn. range and pushes up into our cooler air.) I heat the GH with a wood gasifier stove of my own design and of course do Winter and Summer plantings although some crops like lettuce, kale, Swiss Chard, etc do great year round. I screwed up twice this Winter and the GH dropped to 16F twice over night but we lost NOTHING after the glass like leaves thawed. PHEW!!:-) I was simply amazed and pleased with our Winter choices. We have Swiss Char and kale that are over 2 yrs old now and still cranking out the dinners. Got to love AP.

I pay for the entire system by helping others with bell siphons, etc. at our Ebay store under fiskfarm. Otherwise private, non commercial system for now. We have shipped siphons all over the world and some even to AU where it all started. Odd. Seems other countries, even GB, do not have the plethora of plumbing items we are blessed with here in the US. I have seen a 100.00 order cost the buyer 200.00 after shipping and import duties. Kind of sad really. Boy are we spoiled and lucky to live here in the US. I hope the banksters in Washington don't  destroy what we have. We are on the brink of becoming those other countries that don't even have plumbing parts. I have sent 5 to GB this week alone at considerable cost to the buyers and they are quick to tell me they just don't have the choices of parts at any price there. All for now.

Comment by Maureen Hope Wall on April 19, 2014 at 1:37pm

Jim, Troutlodge here in Washington State supplies eyed eggs of Arctic Charr. They ship in January (smallest shipment is 1000 eggs, the spring shipment from Canada is min. 10,000 eggs) anywhere in the country. find them online. I had good luck raising them in my aquaponics system they are now about 2". There are aquaculture places in North Carolina raising charr. Maybe some online investigation will lead you to them, where you could purchase smaller quantities. Charr are in/of the trout family so the water conditions are similar. Charr have shown to grown well in the captive conditions of aquaculture. For me choosing the arctic charr was a challenge and a way to maybe raise the profitability of commercial system aquaponics.

Comment by Lloyd Booth on April 19, 2014 at 12:49pm

Morning Jim,

I don't know the economics of where you are, or why you've chosen trout (other than great taste). Here, in the land of many newly rich Internet millionaires, there are many options. Seattle and Portland allow a wide open gateway to the far east as well, through their relatively large ports and active trade.

I personally raise goldfish and Koi as my dominant species, not to eat, but because as they get BIG they're somewhat valuable by the inch or pound as trophy pond-fish. Another near me raises trout, like you do as a commercial venture, largely ignoring the benefits of aquaponics. I have raised tilapia, which are mild white fish, but they do NOT like cold and it was heat them or eat them. So, I will admit they were tasty, and grew quickly to table size. Unable to compare to trout for growth speed though as I have not raised trout.

My tanks are in the ground, and ground temp in mid winter is in the low 50's. The green house stays about that warm all winter allowing me to grow "spring vegetables" easily all winter. So salads and peas, etc. Very tasty. I'm not commercial, more semi subsistence as my greenhouse is small, roughly 10x20 feet (200 sqft is county maximum without plans, for non-residence). I do use lights and the expense is significant. I probably lose money each month, but the hobby value is good. And as Koi and large Goldfish sell, there is a good reimbursement.

The weather patterns are very different from much of anywhere else in the country due to the huge effect of the Pacific Ocean and the Mountains. This Maritime effect goes up into Canada and down through much of Oregon, but only West of the Cascades. We are much more often overcast and moderate temps than most anywhere else. We cannot expect sun except from mid-July through mid-September, roughly 2 months. So, crops that expect sun like corn, wheat, etc. can do well only on properly sited very mini-ecosystems. And rain and moisture are semi-constant. There's a reason there are rain-forests near us.

I'll be glad to help, but not sure what specific topics you might want. Do you use your fish for Aquaponics? What do you grow?

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 19, 2014 at 10:11am

Not getting notifications on this group. I joined months ago because we are in a very similar climate here in the mtns. of NE TN. I'll ck into that.

Great to hear about luck with charr as we are totally invested in trout now and having great luck growing them. Of course this is big trout country with some of the best trout fishing around so that makes sense.

We have had very bad luck here with cats and BGs. Fin fungus on the BGs and cats are down to one survivor. Meanwhile we have had many a trout feast and we were reluctant to try them starting out having heard how difficult they were to raise.

What is the best way to get a hold of charr fingerlings? and are they any more flavorable than trout? Is it worth the cost of transport (Canada as far as we can tell) or should we be happy sticking to trout. Any opinions?

Comment by claude saunders on March 25, 2014 at 9:26pm

Interesting. That's pretty much what happened to me. It was weeks before they even started to eat, and even then they would only eat if I left the room and turned the lights off. They only ever ate a couple small pellets each every day - just basic sustenance. But probably good for a steady low-level of ammonia and solids.

Comment by Linda Logan on March 25, 2014 at 4:23pm

My water is 68, a little warmer than I wish but my heaters are on thermostats and that's as low as I can get it.  At first they didn't seem to eat.  They aren't like goldfish that's for sure.  They are eating now but I wouldn't say they are big enough to be eaten.  I don't care about that.  I've heard from Jon Parr (N California that Sac Perch are great for AP) you could contact him to get some as he sells fish and ships.

Comment by claude saunders on March 25, 2014 at 4:05pm

Thanks Linda for the pointers. Wondering if others have had good experience with Bluegill? Mine seemed really unhappy in Chicago (nervous, edgy, hated lights, ate little, grew little), even though they looked quite healthy. But I liked that I didn't have to heat water much. Maybe it was just that batch of bluegill??

Comment by Linda Logan on March 25, 2014 at 3:57pm

My neighbor has a source for bluegil.  Bruce Mock might have tilapia.  Anne Phillips knows where to get bluegil

Comment by claude saunders on March 25, 2014 at 3:25pm

Hi. It's been a while, but I'm finally back in business and have my new indoor system (250 gal, 2 grow beds) almost completely cycled. Very excited. Does anyone have suggestions for where best to get fish in Portland area? I'm open to any "edible" fish, but have only done Bluegill and Tilapia before. I can look up the fish hatcheries, but I thought maybe a fellow aquapon might have some spare :) ...

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