Trout

[Murray]

I just can't get enough fish....
I would like to have a go at a small number of trout for the winter.
Nick says he would like to do a "share" in a small lot.
I would like to try 20 or 30, just to see how or if it will work here in SEQ.

Any one else interested in sharing a 100 or 150 trout ?

As I understand, they grow to plate size pretty quickly.
FF has raised some I think, perhaps he will give some advice.

[fishfood]

Yes i have 50 fingerlings they seem to have doubled in size in a month[ i feed twice a day have clean water and plenty of air 3 air stones and there15 deg atm] man you want to see the water boil at feeding time

[Murray]

FF, I do recall someone saying that the max upper temp for them is 20 deg....is that correct ?
And how many months to being small plate size ?

[fishfood]

Murray
I have had trout to 25 with air a few days ago , Was perging some once got to 28 some were ok [50%] .These ones as fingerlinges [1 monyh ago will be plate size by november down here i would cull at 24 deg

[fishfood]

Just got picture

[Murray]

I rang a hatchery in Vic today and they say trout will just not travel to Qld, too far.
I rang another at Ebor in NSW, they have no trout left. all gone in Feb.
Looks like the trout experiment might be off till next season.

[nick]

Dammit!!!!

[fishfood]

Ballarat fish farm has 17000 rainbows and12000 brown atm

[leja1965]

Do you have some contact details for Ballarat Fish Farms or any farms that provide trout?

[fishfood]

Hi ballarat is a long way from canberra and i dont think they send any how its a bit late for trout now once the water gets over 25 the cark it silver perch are a good all round fish 10 deg to 30 deg i currently have silvers and trout [ trout from march to november then silvers take over ] google fish in farm dams you will probley find a local supplier

[Outbackozzie]

Waaaay too late for trout now :(

Get them as fingerlings from early march - large plate size (1/2 kg) by early october.

Its too early for silver perch fingerlings - they dont translocate well under 20 deg c water temp.

I havnt found them to be a hard fish to look after, clean water, lots of water flow (i have no air stones) and sheetloads of food - they are awesome fun. They dont play nice with smaller fish though.

Use the time until next season to make sure your system runs perfectly 99% of the time - and your trout season will be enjoyable. A lot of trout this year have been killed by people trying to rush them into unstable systems.

[wey2go]

Hi! Attaching some photos of my rainbow trout in my backyard swimming pool. They seem to be quite friendly to the goldfish and silver perch.

Had them since May, 2007 from fingerlings (bought from Buxton Trout Farm).

BTW, I am in Melbourne.

[wey2go]

I have uploaded a short video to YouTube (not the best quality as it is taken with a still digital camera):
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=fEoDIG33ZKM

[Outbackozzie]

The behave as long as they are well fed.

[wey2go]

Went away for almost 3 weeks last month. Got my brother to feed them only once a week (same amount of what I am feeding them daily). They did not munch up any of the gold fish and Silver Perch are still OK too. :)

Wondering how many days can they go without food.

[GaryD]

Hi Wey2Go,

How many trout do you have in your swimming pool? Have you attached any growing systems to your pool yet?

Gary

[wey2go]

Only 4 trouts. Ate 1 few months back.
No growing system yet, still trying to find something that will grow in salt water (was salt water swimming pool water). Only water lilies doing ok in the pond.

[echidna]

Try beets - beetroot, silver beet, swiss chard, rainbow chard. Amaranth - both seed and leaf. Warrigal greens (NZ spinach). Asparagus, and possibly zucchini.

[Tony]

Hey FF.
How do you work out how much in pellets trout will eat in a day or week? I am hoping we can get this organic pellet thing working, but I'm not sure how much I'd need to order in one go.
With biopod, worms, and over supplies of greens, how much would say 150 trout eat?
I have just purchased a 4500lt tank and buried it by 1/3.. And no it won't be full. It was the best I could do. All other options here in TAS were quite exorbitant freight costs. I am thinking that I will put around 3000lt in, stock with 150 fingerlings, 3 months later another 100, and then 3 months later, another 50. This would allow for losses, growth, and removal for a constant supply. We have five hatcheries here so fingerlings aren't all that hard to get year round I don't think.
Cheers
Tony

[Outbackozzie]

They have close to a 1:1 Ratio, so 1kg of food will get up to 1kg of fish growth.

Between the 50 Trout and unknown number of perch / bream, I went through around 50kg of food.

300 big, fast, high eating fish = 150kg in the tank (500gm each, plate size) - 3kg of fish per 100 litres of growbed (flood and drain, much less for cont flow) = 5000 litres of growbed media volume. Your not going to have much water left in your tank.

Your pushing the limits - especially in winter when your fish are going to be huuuge, and the bacteria colony will be much reduced.

Personally - only get 50 Trout for starters - sort your system out first. Get the other fish once the system has established.

You will kill the fish if you stock 150 all at once in a brand new system.

[fishfood]

Hi same here i used 30 kg of food to grow out 35 trout

[wey2go]

Hi! Caught one more rainbow trout from my swimming pool today. 3 more in the pool.

Length approx. 48 cm. No weighing machine, I estimate it to be around 2+ kgs.

Bought as fingerlings of about 10 cms in May 2007 (Buxton Trout Farm).

[GaryD]

Way to go, wey2go.

It's got to be time for more fish soon?

Gary

[aussieap]

Interesting article in this month's Austasia Aquaculture mag on trout. Wheat farmers in WA are looking for alternative crop scenarios for their salt ravaged farms. Some are trialling trout in salt water filled ditches. The farmers thru decades of irrigation, have high water tables. They dig a ditch, wait for it to fill with water and grow the trout in cages in the ditch. The salt is not really a huge issue for the trout but temp tolerance is. Water temps get to 24C quite readily so it is all about upping oxygen levels and selecting for the most hardy of the fish.

I can really see trout adapting to warmer water temps, just as silver perch would seem to be able to adapt to cooler Victorian water temps over winter.

Anyone who would like to get this handy aquaculture mag can phone 03 6245 0064. It is put together in Tasmania, basically for industry, but is a cracking read for fish enthusiasts. I have no affiliation other than my subsription.

[wey2go]

My trouts survived last summer when temperature was around 30 degrees for some 3 weeks or so.

My guess is that oxygen level is probably more important even if temperature level is high. I only have a few trouts in a 30,000 litres swimming pool (and with the salt from the swimming pool).