Fish Sources

[Sylvia Bernstein]

where do you find your fish?  thoughts on who has been great and who should be avoided?  thoughts on cross-state-bourder shipping

[Sylvia Bernstein]

jeff, would you also post this to the notepad in the Tilapia Group under CA? I cut and pasted what you had reported there already. Thanks! Super useful info.

Jeff Givan said:

The State of California posts a list of approved Aquaculturists that one can sell fish retail to the general public. This list is in a pdf format that I would be happy to email anyone. Just send me a note here. In an earlier post I posted Imperial Catfish, they not only sell the catfish but also the approved Tilapia for California. I will be calling them soon to see about ordering for my pond! This list has everything from minnows, crawfish, bass of all kinds, catfish, trout, sturgeon and much more!

[Jeff Givan]

Not sure what you mean by the Tilapia group? I can email you this pdf as well if you want to post the whole thing.

Sylvia Bernstein said:

jeff, would you also post this to the notepad in the Tilapia Group under CA? I cut and pasted what you had reported there already. Thanks! Super useful info.

Jeff Givan said:

The State of California posts a list of approved Aquaculturists that one can sell fish retail to the general public. This list is in a pdf format that I would be happy to email anyone. Just send me a note here. In an earlier post I posted Imperial Catfish, they not only sell the catfish but also the approved Tilapia for California. I will be calling them soon to see about ordering for my pond! This list has everything from minnows, crawfish, bass of all kinds, catfish, trout, sturgeon and much more!

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Jeff, look up at the tabs at the top of the screen and there should be a "Groups" tab, and under that there is a Tilapia group that you should join. Then look in there for a notepad. Let me know what you find...my admin screens sometimes look a little different...

Jeff Givan said:

Not sure what you mean by the Tilapia group? I can email you this pdf as well if you want to post the whole thing.

Sylvia Bernstein said:

jeff, would you also post this to the notepad in the Tilapia Group under CA? I cut and pasted what you had reported there already. Thanks! Super useful info.

Jeff Givan said:

The State of California posts a list of approved Aquaculturists that one can sell fish retail to the general public. This list is in a pdf format that I would be happy to email anyone. Just send me a note here. In an earlier post I posted Imperial Catfish, they not only sell the catfish but also the approved Tilapia for California. I will be calling them soon to see about ordering for my pond! This list has everything from minnows, crawfish, bass of all kinds, catfish, trout, sturgeon and much more!

[Mike Elliott]

Hello everyone,

First post, new to the site and aquaponics in general. I have had a real hard time trying to find fish for my system (55g tank, 30g grow bed). After reading this whole thread about fish sources I decided to check out the DNR website my state, Michigan. What a mess.

After over an hour I did run across this:
Aquaculture Facilities Licensed to do Business in Michigan
http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1569_16979_21263-52067--,0...
and this:
List of Approved Species for Aquaculture Production in Michigan
http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1569_16979_21263-47291--,0...

I hope all of your other states have similar pages. Unfortunety I don't live anywhere near any of the hatcheries. I do live about 20 minutes from MSU however, so I think I might try to give them a call.

[TCLynx]

Sometimes facilities are equipped to ship fish while others won't. In many situations they are set up to stock farm ponds and such. They are generally used to dealing in large numbers so it might be difficult to get them to deliver such a small amount. The ones that will ship, will probably charge quite a bit extra for such a small order but it might still cost you less than making a 6 hour drive each way yourself.

Good Luck. I'm lucky to have found some suppliers within an hour drive of my place.

[Earl ward]

What type of fish do you want to do you want to keep? If you live near a lake you could try using hook and line. Just remove the barb from the hook.

Mike Elliott said:

Hello everyone,

First post, new to the site and aquaponics in general. I have had a real hard time trying to find fish for my system (55g tank, 30g grow bed). After reading this whole thread about fish sources I decided to check out the DNR website my state, Michigan. What a mess.

After over an hour I did run across this:
Aquaculture Facilities Licensed to do Business in Michigan
http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1569_16979_21263-52067--,0...
and this:
List of Approved Species for Aquaculture Production in Michigan
http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1569_16979_21263-47291--,0...

I hope all of your other states have similar pages. Unfortunety I don't live anywhere near any of the hatcheries. I do live about 20 minutes from MSU however, so I think I might try to give them a call.

[TCLynx]

challenge with many types of wild caught fish is how to train them onto pellet feed.

[Earl ward]

agreeded but if all fails it one way to try

TCLynx said:

challenge with many types of wild caught fish is how to train them onto pellet feed.

[Caroline]

Dennis at www.GardenPool.org sells tilapia raised in his aquaponic greenhouse here in Phoenix. Tonight I went to a presentation by Dennis and his wife on their sustainable greenhouse from a converted backyard swimming pool. They are eating their own tilapia about three times a week, and getting 8 eggs a day. (The chickens live over the pond.) They also grow all of their own fish food for the tilapia to eat! (Duckweed, soldier fly larvae and algae) They're here in Phoenix and doing tours and presentations now. If you live in Phoenix, (or even if you don't) you really should check out www.GardenPool.org!

[TCLynx]

Some fish farms will ship fish. You might look into where they are willing to ship. Though for 30-40 fish, you are likely to pay a huge amount for shipping and they might still charge a minimum.

Do some searching locally in ag papers and stuff to see if there are any fish farms in your area. I drive to a place about an hour from me. They seem resistant to bagging the catfish now days (they must have had a catfish puncture a bag in shipping at some point and had them die in transit) But we can usually still talk them into bagging the fish with Oxygen so we can transport them home, we just make sure to have bins or coolers with us in case there is a leak.

It is important to know that most fish farms don't seem all that good and keeping up with e-mail or even web sites so expect to phone them and keep trying since they don't spend much time sitting in an office to answer the phone. It takes some extra work to get small quantities of fish since these guys are used to loading up a transport truck with fish to stock large farm ponds. They are not used to Aquaponics.

[Daniel E Murphy]

Very cool indeed.


Caroline said:

Dennis at www.GardenPool.org sells tilapia raised in his aquaponic greenhouse here in Phoenix. Tonight I went to a presentation by Dennis and his wife on their sustainable greenhouse from a converted backyard swimming pool. They are eating their own tilapia about three times a week, and getting 8 eggs a day. (The chickens live over the pond.) They also grow all of their own fish food for the tilapia to eat! (Duckweed, soldier fly larvae and algae) They're here in Phoenix and doing tours and presentations now. If you live in Phoenix, (or even if you don't) you really should check out www.GardenPool.org!

[David Nabong]

One source I didn't see mentioned in this old thread is local Cichlid associations and Green water fish enthusiasts associations. The people here are great resources, and while they are primarily interested in keeping aquarium fish, they love breeding strange stuff. This is where I received my Oreochromis tanganicae, an uncommon Tilapian for the AP set. 50+ fry from a breeder who needed more space. Also check with your local soil and water conservation district, most have annual fish sales.