[Sc-aquaponics] Food Sources & Duckweed

[Tiu, Laura]

Jeff,
I'm no expert on goldfish or shebunkins, but I thought I'd get the conversation started.  Others, please chime in.  In my opinion, I would guess that the goldfish would do well on a diet formulated for catfish or tilapia.  The pellet size would be dependent on the size of fish you have.

One of the difficult things in Ohio is even getting access to reasonably priced commercial fish food in small amounts.  If you buy floating pellets, it can be expensive to buy small amounts at a pet store.  In my experience, it's often easiest to buy Purina Fish Foods, which come in 40 or 50 pound bags, as they have a wide distribution model and are available in nearly every small Purina Dealer in the state.  The challenge is, many of the Purina dealers don't currently carry fish food or know how to order it, so you may have to work with them.  Your local Purina dealer typically needs at least 2 weeks to get your specialty order, so be sure to plan in advance.  They may have to work with their supplier to get the correct numbers for ordering.  You can go to the Purina website here http://aquamax.purinamills.com/ and find a dealer an choose your product.  Educate yourself about protein levels and pellet size to be sure and get the right product for you needs.  

This is not an endorsement of Purina products, I think all of the major manufacturers of fish feeds have great products.  However, it does seem to me that Purina has the best distribution and availability for the small grower.

Given that for small systems, it will take a long time to use 50 lbs of food, you should have a plan to properly store the food. Please see the attached fact sheet for additional information.  

I'd love to hear what others have to say about their experience.

Laura

Laura Tiu, PhD Aquaculture Extension Specialist
740-289-2071 x.121 Office | 800-297-2072 x. 121 Office
tiu.2 at osu.edu 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Bracken [mailto:bracken5 at columbus.rr.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 6:03 PM
To: Tiu, Laura; sc-aquaponics at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Food Sources & Duckweed





What kind/brand of food source would you recommend for comet goldfish and shubunkins in a 275-gallon IBC aquaponics system?  Most of our 18 fish are between 4-6" in length.

Has anyone grown duckweed as their primary (or exclusive?) food source for their fish in an aquaponics system?

I've read online about the use of duckweed, but I'm really wanting to learn more from those who might have done this.

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

Jeff Bracken
bracken5 at columbus.rr.com
Chemistry Teacher
Westerville North HS
Westerville, Ohio




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