Raising Catfish in a Barrel
 

What a cool concept, does anyone here have any experience doing this?

http://www.kurtsaxon.com/foods007.htm

http://www.kurtsaxon.com/images/catfish01.jpg

Re: Raising Catfish in a Barrel
 

Wow, what a really great idea!!!!! I think I'd like to try this with bluegill....yum. :ok:

Re: Raising Catfish in a Barrel
 

Thanks for the post. I will look into this a bit further for sure.

Re: Raising Catfish in a Barrel
 

How about Aquaponics?

http://www.aquaponics.com/catalog.htm

Re: Raising Catfish in a Barrel
 

The article says that a 1# fish yields 10 ounces of meat??:452: I beg to differ. I would expect a 40% yield tops....... unless they're eating the belly flap and half the entrails. :bear_w00t:

Re: Raising Catfish in a Barrel
 

Lately I've been thinking alot about setting up a aquaponics system. By your username I assume you've done this or are pursuing this. I think I'll start very small scale just to get my feet wet and then upsize and perhaps start selling fish if it makes sense to do so. I like that the pond or trough that I would keep them would function as an emergency supply of water if needed. I've read that talapia have a very efficient feed conversion ratio and can sell for as much as $10/lb. Also that you can have 1/4lb fish per gallon of water and for a couple hundred bucks of pond liner you could have a 2000 gallon pond that can grow 500lb of fish (about 1lb per adult fish). That some decent income, but I'm not sure what the maintenance level is.

Do you have any suggestions/recommendations on books, other websites, etc?

Re: Raising Catfish in a Barrel
 

I'm starting slow and bought a set from them for a few thousand $. I'd like to get into it more, but the upfront costs are high, so I'm going slow. I'm going in with a friend whose Asian and is talking to Asian restaurants in our area. We'd like to get a specialized business going.

Re: Raising Catfish in a Barrel
 

It's called an aquarium and there are shops all over the country catering to that hobby. But why raise garbage eaters? Why not raise real fish for human consumption, like tilapia?

Yes, I know a lot of people eat catfish. But it's not the only choice.

Re: Raising Catfish in a Barrel
 

The field of aquaponics combines aquaculture, which is the growing of fish for harvest,
and hydroponics, which is the growing of vegetables using water.

In an aquaponics system, the fish produce ammonia as a waste byproduct.
Enzymes within the system convert the ammonia first into nitrites and then into nitrates.
The plants absorb the nitrates and return clean water back to the fish.

Plants thrive in an aquaponics system and tend to grow much more rapidly.

Shown below is a picture of the "Barrel-Ponics" system created by Travis Hughey.

The do-it-yourself Barrel-Ponics Manual is available at the following website:
http://www.fastonline.org/content/view/15/29/

This system still requires you to feed the fish, so the solution to that problem is to raise Black Soldier Fly larvae.
There is a great composting device in which you throw your food scraps and the larvae digest the food.
When the larvae are ready to pupate, the crawl out and fall into a bowl which you then dump into the fish tank.
Read more about it at the Black Soldier Fly Blog.