Golden Perch

[Pugo]

I am paying about 35 dollars a 20 Kilo bag of floating feed, for my Tilapia. it seems a little large for them but they pick at it until it is soft and it is gone in no time. but I can only get that one size..

[ande]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Krups-203-42...7528370&sr=1-3

[Pugo]

LOL Good one ande

[GaryD]

Hi,

I noticed that the ammonia levels in the tank containing my golden perch were a bit elevated.

A search of the tank revealed the cause.....two dead fish. These are among the smallest of the fish in the tank.

I'm unsure as to why these have died but I've noticed that golden perch are very shy. I picked up one (about three times the size of these) a couple of weeks ago and it "fainted" in my hand - looked to be dead. When I returned it to the water, it just sank slowly to the bottom of the tank. When I reached into the tank to remove it, a few seconds later, it kicked a couple of times, righted itself and swam off.

Gary

[Geekay]

The Golden perch is a lovely fish...but I am new here....what do you guys intend doing with them? I assume sell the fingerlings commercially,...but to who? Unless you have a larger facility to grow them to plate size.

[GaryD]

Hi Geekay,

We are growing the fish for our own consumption.

Most Australian native species require fairly intricate manipulation of the environment.....and the use of hormones......to get them to produce fry. This activity is largely outside of the scope (and skill set) of the average backyarder

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

Here's the latest photo of our golden perch. These fish are generally pretty shy.

Gary

[Shane]

Its not hard to see who the food pigs are !!
Growth rates are all over the shop....just like Silver Perch are also.

[GaryD]

Hi Shane,

Yes.....they range from around 250mm down to 75mm.

Having said that, I could hardly claim that this bunch was representative of the species' potential.

For much of the time that I've had them, they've been in a system where the water quality conditions have been far from ideal......and feeding has been largely driven by water quality.....to the point where I'd describe these as very tough fish.

They're now in my new small system where things are much better and where they are fed more consistently.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

My golden perch are continuing to grow nicely......with one exception.

I found this poor little bloke hanging out of the mouth of one its much larger siblings.

While it was a bit too late for the small fish, I managed to save the much larger one who was trying to eat it but was finding it more of a mouthful than it could handle......until I netted it and shook the little fish loose.

This sort of situation often claims both the eater and the eaten. While it's a periodic occurrence with fish like Barramundi, this is the first golden perch that we've lost to one of its siblings.

Gary