Yellow Perch or Walleye

[POC3442]

Since my aquaponics system will be in the house at a constant 70F. I was wondering if anyone had any luck with Yellow Perch or Walleye. I can get both fish from a local hatchey so thats not a problem. I know Walleye prefer 64F and Yellow Perch at 68-70F preferd. I was planning on keeping my PH around 6.7-6.9 because of all the nutrient information I have read that GaryD has posted. Anyone have any sugestions or experience with these two fish?

[Dufflight]

If Yellow Perch is the same as our golden Perch then they prefer live food. What does the hatchey say about keeping them in a tank?

[POC3442]

In the wild Yellow Perch eat whatever untill they are bigger...I was waiting to see what you guys thought before bugging the hatchery and having them tell me to bugger off lol!

[kellenw]

Walleye have widely varied growth rates from fry to about 8 inches. They will cannibalize heavily. You could stock 1,000 2 inch fish and at the end of the season, end up with 100 fat 5 inchers. They are extremely difficult to pellet train. They will take 2.5 years minimum for a SMALL harvest size fish.

Yellow perch are fairly easy to pellet train. They will also cannibalize heavily, BUT their growth rate is much more consistent from fish to fish, and this will help to prevent that problem... as long as you stock same size fry/fingerlings. A good sized perch can be harvested in a year to a year and a half. I would favor yellow perch over walleye for an aquaponics system by a long shot.

[Dufflight]

Do like the silver perch. Good all rounders. Have to do a couple of searches to see if anyone has had any luck with golden. I know guys at the fish farm thought it was funny when I asked about yellow belly grown in a tank.:D

[kellenw]

Do like the silver perch. Good all rounders. Have to do a couple of searches to see if anyone has had any luck with golden. I know guys at the fish farm thought it was funny when I asked about yellow belly grown in a tank.:D

Silver Perch and Golden Perch are Australian natives that I have not worked with before. They are different species than the Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) native to North America and the Redfin Perch (Perca fluviatilis)native to parts of Europe. Both yellow perch and redfin perch have been introduced to parts of Australia, so you could likely find some to use if you wanted. However, there are so many excellent fish for use in aquaponics that are native to Australia, I'm not sure I would want to bother with them. I understand Silvers are excellent fish for aquaponics, though I've never worked with them.

[Cecil]

Since my aquaponics system will be in the house at a constant 70F. I was wondering if anyone had any luck with Yellow Perch or Walleye. I can get both fish from a local hatchey so thats not a problem. I know Walleye prefer 64F and Yellow Perch at 68-70F preferd. I was planning on keeping my PH around 6.7-6.9 because of all the nutrient information I have read that GaryD has posted. Anyone have any sugestions or experience with these two fish?

I've only produced (from eggs) and grown out yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in ponds and floating cages, but I can tell you what I've learned about them. I have not had any experience with walleye but from what I've read, Kellenw is dead on with his information. I did see an ad once for a producer in Iowa that was selling feed trained walleyes.

Anyway, although the yellow perch is supposed to be a coolwater fish, I've not had any problems with them in cages with temps in the lower 80's (~27
C.) with the smaller fish, as in under 10 inches. In fact, they fed veraciously and grew rapidly in those temps as long as water quality was good. But, I've seen the larger fish --12 inches and up -- stressed by temps such as those, however, as soon as females can be sexed (and they are the largest and fastest growing of the two sexes) I release them into the pond from the cages. By doing so I reduce the stress that cages may cause to larger fish, and they can escape into deep cooler water during the maximum summer temps. I keep the males for broodstock and health testing.

Max growth for yellow perch is supposed to be about 77 F. ( 25 C.) I would think growth would still be O.K. at 70 F. ( 21 C.). There's more oxygen potential and less ammonia potential at 70 F. too.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a169/CecilBaird1/Img_1115_1.jpg

[kellenw]

Cecil, it's great to see you on here! Folks, I know Cecil from other fish and pond related forums. He is a pro when it comes to raising out amazing yellow perch, and probably grows out some of the best YP in the country.

Yellow perch make quality aquaponics fish. I would choose them over most US natives.

[Cecil]

Cecil, it's great to see you on here! Folks, I know Cecil from other fish and pond related forums. He is a pro when it comes to raising out amazing yellow perch, and probably grows out some of the best YP in the country.

Yellow perch make quality aquaponics fish. I would choose them over most US natives.

Thanks for the kind words Kellenw but I could only wish to live up to half that reputation. :p But I'm constantly learning and I enjoy sharing what I've learned.