Week 20 - The Trout Experiment Ends

[Tom OBrien]

I'm going to harvest the fish, clean the tanks and the grow beds, and get them ready for the winter growing season this weekend. This has been fun, and surprisingly successful for a first experiment, thanks largely to all the helpful experts here on this website. The fact that I kept several trout alive for 20 weeks exceeded my expectations. I was disappointed that I lost so many the first day, but pleasantly surprised that I only lost a few to other causes. The growth rates of the fish varied significantly and the total weight at harvest time will be a bit disappointing. I may not have fed them enough to get better growth because I was concerned about water quality. That may have led to the slow and uneven growth rates I saw. Trout behavior in the small tanks may have also contributed to the uneven growth rates because they spent time chasing and behaving aggressively toward each other and the largest fish got most of the food. We'll bring the goldfish in for the winter and I plan to get another batch of trout for the other tank and see how they do in an established system over the winter months where the water should stay a little cooler.