Comment

Comment by Sylvia Bernstein on October 27, 2010 at 7:01am

Jordan, there are folks in Australia that advocate switching between cold weather and warm weather fish depending on the season, but I don't know if anyone is actually doing it. The problem is that requires that each fish grows to marketable size in 6 months - which is a pretty tall order. From what I've seen and read, trout are marketable in 9 - 12 months from fry, and the fasted growing warm weather fish will take the same amount of time. Unless you can figure out how to grow them faster, or start with a bigger fish to begin with, you will have too much overlap between fish types to make seasonal adjustments viable. Sorry

Comment by Neal Westwood on October 27, 2010 at 12:56am

Jordan in my experience they did tolerate crowding so long as you provide sufficient oxygen levels (trout are more sensitive) However, my experience also says that if you are just running a home-hobby system .5lbs per gallon of any fish is to much. You can do it, but without extra filtration, the solids will plug up your grow beds. My next rotation for my personal system will be at 1/2 the density of the last time. At the lower levels the gravel beds are able to break down the solids and provide good filtration. Yields will be lower because there are few species that grow as fast as Tilapia, or that tolerate such a wide range of conditions as Tilapia, but in my experience, trout are a great second choice (and for hobby systems, I think a great first choice).

Comment by Sylvia Bernstein on October 26, 2010 at 7:04pm

Jordan, when I had my trout bin I just focused on springtime crops like you have indicated below. I"m pretty certain all those plants survive spring snow here, so you should be fine. You might want to add spinach and snap peas to your list!

Comment by Andy Smith on May 17, 2010 at 12:35pm

I have Tilapia in my system now but am looking into Trout as in Santa Barbara the water is hard to keep up to 75 Degrees. I can easily keep water at 65 degrees. I am looking into starting another 350 gal tank for the trout. There are several suppliers within 150 miles of my house, so stocking is no problem. What do I have to do to start trout--more aeration, ph, H2O circulation???
Thanks in advance Andy

Comment by kevin darcy on May 12, 2010 at 11:18am

Thank's s sylvia, that along with what the guys are talking about here is plenty to get me started.

Comment by Shawn on May 11, 2010 at 8:36pm

Trout are looking perfect for my area (zone 1- can't grow tomatoes without a greenhouse) as my water has been barely over 70 even after a week of full sun. I want to build another system out in the trees, and Chris has convinced me that Wasabi would be a good cash crop at my elevation. It's love of shade and cold running water makes it look to be a perfect match for rainbow trout. I'm resigned to only trying to grow cool weather/high elevation crops anyway- the standard garden fair just isn't working here.

Comment by Neal Westwood on May 11, 2010 at 6:51pm

They are great eating, the only downside is that plants like warmer termps, and cucumbers and tomatoes won't grow or set fruit below 68. But from a pure fish perspective, Rainbow Trout are my favorite to eat, and the grow fast. From what I've gathered, they can survive down to close freezing (although they won't eat.) and up to 77 , but like 50-64 the best. I'm trying to keep them 68-70, a balance between the needs of the plants and the needs of the fish. They do require higher O2 levels than many others, with 7-8ppm for good health and growth. In my case, I had to double the aeration in my system to get the O2 levels up.

Comment by Sylvia Bernstein on May 11, 2010 at 5:05pm

Hey Kevin,

Well, trout are carnivorous so they require a feed that is high in protein. They also like cool - cold temps (below 55F) and loads of oxygen. Anyone else with thoughts?

Comment by kevin darcy on May 11, 2010 at 12:59pm

hi everybody,
I haven't started to grow anything yet, (still fine tuning), as im in ireland i may be raising trout, it gets cold here. I would really appreciate any advice about trout, feeding, temperature, water, or any info that might help me, useful links would be great also, thank's.

Comment by Neal Westwood on May 11, 2010 at 8:23am

There are a couple of local national suppliers but the smallest quantity they sell is 50lb bags and I don't want the pellets to spoil, so I'm buying my food from Aquaticeco.com the F2C 1/8" floating and F2E 1/4" floating. they have smaller for fingerlings, but I bought my trout at 3-4" size. Right now they are over 2lbs and 14" or so long. I was concerned that they would not do well in the warmer water as summer comes, but I'm told by my supplier that they may slow down on eating but they will go through the summer fine. My system is in a greenhouse and last summer the tank temperatures stayed below 75. The tank has risen up to 72 degrees a few days this spring and so far the trout have coninued to feed strong (as the picture posted by Rupert shows). When you feed, be prepared to take a bath.

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