A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Purchasing Farmed Fish

I live in the Bremerton area and I am trying to locate the closest business that will sell baby rainbow trout. I found a place in Olympia at www.nisquallytrout.com but was hoping for something a little closer. Any ideas?

0 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Maureen Hope Wall on January 28, 2014 at 1:39pm

Goldfish can handle the colder water they will go dormant in the winter but they are still breathing. If you can keep the water at 50 degrees or more they may not even go dormant. I have goldfish in a tank in my greenhouse and the salad over wintered just fine with goldfish sleeping. In my experience the "pond" in your greenhouse will have unstable water temperatures, 70's in the summer and 50's in the winter. This is not a great way to raise a trout. My opinion. If you can start you garage system with a simple gold fish thats good. I think you should choose the battles one at a time.
Or just put two or three of Phil's one pound trout in your tank. He's really close by you.

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Cook on January 31, 2014 at 9:34am

I sincerely appreciate everyone's feedback! It has been most helpful in the development of my project!!!

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Cook on January 31, 2014 at 11:44am

Ok... I'm almost ready to buy my fish. Approximately how many fish will I need per square foot of growing space? I can and will expand the fish tank as required.

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Cook on January 31, 2014 at 11:50am

My winter project & early spring starts :)

Permalink Reply by Maureen Hope Wall on April 15, 2014 at 4:00pm

Jeremy Are you still interested in purchasing some arctic charr babies? They are four months old now and growing rapidly. Let me know if you are interested.

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Cook on April 16, 2014 at 9:33am

I am absolutely interested provided the price is right. At four months how big are they? I am currently expanding my pond to approximately 800 gallons (4' wide x18' long x 1.5' deep). I have 2 each 30 gallon temporary holding tanks that I can keep them in for a little while until the expansion is complete.

I would like to know a few things about handling and care first: your feeding cycle (what you are feeding them and how often), compatability with other fish (ie. goldfish & koi), and any other recommendations. Also, what type of aquarium chiller do you use (if any).

I'm looking forward to your response.

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Cook on April 16, 2014 at 9:54am

Hi Phil, I'm sorry but I don't understand your reply. I understand that baby salmon are called fingerlings but I'm confused about the rest of your statement. Please forgive me and elaborate.

Permalink Reply by Maureen Hope Wall on April 16, 2014 at 10:06am

Thanks for that information Phil. The fingerlings are about two inches now. I do not use a chiller because of the way I have constructed my system. My water is at 50 degrees now and wont go much above 55 the coldest part of the winter the temp. was 45. I don't know if these fish are compatible I keep koi and gold fish in separate systems. Maybe Phil knows?
I am feeding them a baby fish food still, eventually they will eat pellets or anything your koi eat. Worms, grubs, duckweed... I feed them four times a day at this point.
Price- how many do you want? one, two, three? ten? I feel a bit like Phil now. Raising these guys from eggs is really allot of work, time and money. Funny how people shirk from paying for that. Unless its from petco of course. Let me know.
I have a video of them on This is Odd my facebook page.

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Cook on April 16, 2014 at 12:09pm

Phil, thank you for your feedback!

Maureen, after researching the conditions that Arctic Charr can live in I should also be good without a chiller. They can live in waters anywhere from 32 degrees to 75 degrees and with my pond being partially doug in I should be able to maintian temeratures similar to yours which is ideal.

I would like to start out with about 12 fish to start with. I know that raising anything from egg or seed brings a sense of accomplishment and one would expect to pay a bit more. I also know that the majority of commercial purchases are quite high due to delivery costs... I don't expect you to deliver to me so that should reduce the overall cost. What do you feel is an appropriate price for a dozen fish?

P.S. It appears that you have an AMAZING set-up in my home town!!! I am definitely looking forward to a future tour :-)

Permalink Reply by Maureen Hope Wall on April 16, 2014 at 12:47pm

Phil, I purchased eyed eggs from Troutlodge in January. I posted videos of the process on my facebook page. (the one I listed in an previous reply) It was a real experience. But I'm sure its old news to you seeing how you have so many rainbows. Had I known that I could have purchased trout from you Phil. I may have saved myself allot of time. Unfortunately I joined this group after I had committed to the charr. I wanted a fish that would do well in cool water.
Jeremy message me on Facebook we can chat without filling up other peoples emails, I saw that your are from Port Angeles! imagine that.

Attachments:

IMG_0890.jpg, 2.9 MB

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Cook on April 28, 2014 at 2:44pm

Maureen, thank you so much for the tour and the fish! I was successful at adjusting the PH levels and they seem to have settled quite well. It was quite fascinating to learn of your operation. Thank you so very much for letting me pick your brain! Your knowledge and expertice will go a long way.

Phil, once my larger pond is up and running I may want to purchase some of your rainbows if you're interested in selling. How much do you charge per fish and how big are they?

Permalink Reply by Jeremy Cook on April 28, 2014 at 3:23pm

Excellent... I've got your contact information. Hopefully I'll be up and running soon :)