Orthodon microlepidotus Sacramento Blackfish

[Matt Sandoval]

Hello All !

I am in Northern California and am wondering if anyone has any experience with the Sacramento Blackfish in an AP system? Thanks!

[TCLynx]

Hum, sounds interesting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_blackfish

[Tyler Albrecht]

I am interested too.  From what I have read they appear to be able to live in warmer water and seem to be filter feeders.

[TCLynx]

What I didn't see in the wiki was what their temperature range was.

[George]

Never heard of it until now.  You're in or near their native range so it certainly seems to be an interesting native fish possibility for your system.  You may need to create your own supply.  Good luck.

[Chi Ma]

Pro Aqua in Northern California carries them.

http://www.proaqua.com/media/65/Photo-Gallery/Fish

[Chris Schup]

Sounds like a contender—they do best in 71-82 degrees. So, anyone seriously considering blackfish?

[Chip Pilkington]

The Blackfish is certainly available, though I'm not quite sure why it is raised commercially. It appears Asian markets in NoCal move some, but for personal use? I'm curious - what is the interest/attraction to this fish for AP?

Proaqua's largemouth program looked interesting...though bass are not high on my list for food quality. I raised both smallmouth and bluegill when I lived in NW CO - the bluegill were great in all aspects, it just takes too long to grow them up. The smallmouth was a small-scale experiment and I never fully succeeded in getting them off of live food. Neither species required heaters, however you pretty much didn't feed through winter.

I do have peacock bass available here in Bangkok and have thought about it...but once again, I'm not a big on eating bass of any variety.  

If I still lived in the States, I think I'd be looking for a way to get Crappie to eat pellets. Sounds like the Proaqua folks did it with the largemouth. You'd really have something if you could get crappie on commercial feed. They live everywhere in the States, including water that freezes over, so you'd only need to heat if you wanted better growth through the winter.

I'm guessing you all have probably discussed potential AP species dozens of times....please don't mind the new guy :)

I'm curious - has anyone had any success with crappie?

[Chi Ma]

Crappie stunt when they are crowded. They need room to move around.

[Matt Sandoval]

I will try these fingerlings, has anyone experimented with these in the long term?

Otherwise, I think it will take much research on my own to dial this in.

[Daniel Judy]

I've had 50 small (4") Sacramento Blackfish in my system for about 6 months. I've been feeding them Koi pellets ground up into a powder in a coffee grinder. They don't seem to be growing much, though I grew a whole bunch of Basil this summer and it grew very well. Have you had any luck? I've been looking for something different to feed them so they will grow faster, but haven't found anything.

Matt Sandoval said:

I will try these fingerlings, has anyone experimented with these in the long term?

Otherwise, I think it will take much research on my own to dial this in.

[Jon Parr]

Hey Daniel, I was hoping to get some feedback on those blackfish. Mine are scarcely larger now than when I got them over a year ago. I like having them around, but they are filter feeders, and let's face it, not appropriate for AP because we don't cultivate plankton. They are very tough fish though, and would be great forage fish for a pond. If any are interested, I can supply Sac Blackfish, as well as other California natives like Sac perch (spring), white sturgeon (in stock now), and trout (soon). So far, Sturgeon are the best AP fish I've used.

[TCLynx]

Jon,

Perhaps you would start a discussion about Sturgeon in Aquaponics.  I don't know much about growing them and would be interested in hearing about what conditions they need and your experiences growing them in aquaponics.

Jon Parr said:

 So far, Sturgeon are the best AP fish I've used.