I'll be the first to admit this is very geeky, but I must be that kind of geek. For anyone who may be interested, I present my backyard fish in a barrel.
I was able to jump through all the licensing hoops from the Department of Agriculture and DWR (thanks for the help Drew) and have set up my own fish pond/aquaponics garden.
The fish feed the vegetables plants clean the water for the fish.
There are 100 rainbows, a dozen cats, and soon a handful of bass living in an old hot tub in my greenhouse putting on weight to feed me in the fall.
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Good set up! That looks like a lot of fun. Keep us posted on how it all works out.
Are you planning on just raising the trout in the winter/spring or do you have a chiller?
I'm another geek!
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MAN! That gives whole new meaning to HARVESTING! You are like a rancher, but WITH FISH!!! How cool. No mercury or other crap, no muddy taste, man that is awesome.
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Man that is really cool. Thanks for sharing. Keep us updated with pics and stuff. I also want to have backyard "fish in a barrel" setup but I'm hoping it is in the form of a 1.5-3 acre farm pond full of bluegill, largemouth bass, and channel cats. Just gotta find the money first...[cool]
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Curious where you purchased your fish and what you feed them?
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Thats called aquaculture nice man
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Wow, that's pretty cool...
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[quote flygoddess]. . . No mercury or other crap, no muddy taste, man that is awesome.[/quote]
Just a touch of chlorine maybe. Add a little sodium, some sugar - ready for the smoker!
Is a hot tub really big enough to support 100s of fish? Once they get growing. And yeah - I wonder about temperature control. I presume you got a filter or pump moving the water. Trout like that.
I have a garden pond - with fish in it, but mostly the gold variety. It's a bit more rustic, but a fun hobby. It's cool in that you can check the pond for a barometer of fish activity.
Well done getting through the hoops and hurdles with the DNR. Congrats - and have fun with it!
That is a cool set up. How big do you expect the fish to get?
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I have the same question as Coyote....are they really going to be able to grow much in that size environment?
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Wag - you are in the wrong state for a 1-3 acre pond full of good fish. you know that. we left the best place on earth for those types of dreams. but if you get it figured out, let me know. I'll bring a shovel, cooler of beer and some red wigglers...
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saw this in bio dome. with pauly shore. lol nice
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HA! Dude if I get that pond and land situation figured out...it'll be a long trip to East Texas. I know it would be a lot of hoops to jump through to get a pond going like that. My brother-in-law has one up in Idaho but he only has cutbows, browns, and tiger trout in there. In other words, trash fish. I'M KIDDING! Don't want to get shot. He had to pay for sterile fish and had to get a hatchery out of Wyoming to stock it for him. Phew. Too much work for me
Good news is that in my mind (which is the only place I'll ever have acres of land with a huge pond) there will be good fishing and plenty of BBQ to go around on the wagpond. [
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I expect the fish to get around 12-14" before we harvest some, let a few get bigger for brood stock.
The rainbows came from a hatchery in Payson, feed them pellets and worms. They boil when you sprinkle some pellets on the water.
There is no chlorine in the system, otherwise it will kill the bacteria that the plants need. And there is no separate filter because the gravel plant beds act as a filter. Fish feed the plants, plants filter the water for the fish.
The fish have grown roughly 1-2" in about 4 weeks on a pretty heavy diet, and the plants are all growing really well.
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