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raiseing Catfish in my 650 gallon tank

I want to know the pro's and con's on raising catfish ver's talaipa the temp food feed and all of that could you let me know if you have any suggestion.

My partner says heat is of a less factor with catfish then talaipa and temp change please help me if you know any thing.

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Permalink Reply by Chi Ma on February 27, 2011 at 2:53pm

Channel Catfish can survive from the Low 40's to the mid 90's with the right aeration. Tilapia from mid 60's - mid 90's. Optimum temp for both is 75-80. This is from my own observations.

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Permalink Reply by David Waite on February 27, 2011 at 5:10pm

Al Catfish are tough and will take the heat and the food ect ect. But Tilapia are hardier in small closed systems. They will tolerate higher ammonia and water temps. The advantage of catfish is they will take the cold if you are in a climate that warrants that. You must keep your temps around 70 for the plants so plan for that.

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Permalink Reply by JD Sawyer on February 27, 2011 at 8:43pm

Al, you could stock with mostly Tilapia and have a few cats for bottom feeding and tank cleaning. And since you have a GP style system with shallow grow beds, I would keep the stocking density extremely conservative at 1 fish per 10 gallons to start. There's not much biofiltration in those grow beds.

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Permalink Reply by TCLynx on February 27, 2011 at 10:44pm

Channel catfish will thrive in a far wider range of temperatures and in central Florida the channel catfish have grown much bigger much faster than my tilapia did. I've had catfish survive water down into the 30's. And plants can definitely grow in water cooler than 70 F. Winter with water temps between 50-65 F seems to be when many of my plants are doing great. Catfish still eat at those temperatures though not as much as when the water is over 70.