Rags, I am wondering if you could give some advice on starting a small scale aquaculture set up using stock tanks for the ponds? I have a friend who is really interested in raising bass, talapia...pretty much anything other than catfish. I appreciate any direction you can send me in! Thanks.

-- Dreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), July 15, 2001

Answers

Yes. Don't. If you can't make a pond at least 150' by 50' and at least 10' deep, don't even try. The only exception is small, shallow ponds for prwns,shrimp, or crawdads.

Also, "bass, tilapia, anything but catfish" shows your friend probably hasn't read enough yet: bass are predatory fish; tilapia are grass and aquatic vegetation eaters.

Trying to raise fish in a barrel is more of a stunt than a practical way to produce food. Only someone with a Rube Goldberg kind of inventiveness would want to fool with all the variables of temperature, PH, disolved oxygen, nutrient level, light and so forth, for just a few fish.

I know a little bit about building ponds and getting them to grow fish, but I really couldn't advise someone trying to grow fish in a tank except to suggest they rethink the idea.

-- Rags (RaggedReb@aol.com), July 15, 2001.

Thanks, Rags. I KNEW I could count on you for an honest answer! So you know something about pond building....I have a leaker. The guy that dozed it for me reportedly knew something about building ponds, but I think I was taken again! Oh well. I will figure it out. Thanks again!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), July 16, 2001.

Here's a couple things for that leaky pond. Bentonite, also called driller's mud, can be found at industrial supply places and oil well suppliers. You county AG/Soil Conservation people can help you find it. It comes in powdered and prilled forms: powder is for application on the drained bottom; and the prilled form is for broadcasting on the surface of the water. The powder method is best if you can drain the pond.

Another method is to fence in some little pigs and broadcast their feed all over the bottom. Leave them in the drained pond for about a month, or long enough to wreck the soil structure on the bottom. The more pigs the better.

-- Rags (RaggedReb@aol.com), July 16, 2001.

A pool that leaks will leak it's worst at the waterline. If you cannot drain the pond, I have heard that if you scatter the corn at the waterline the pigs will improve the ponds ability to hold water by sealing along the waterline.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), April 08, 2002.

OOPS! I forgot I was surfing the archives (it's raining here)! I suppose that pond problem was solved last year! LOL!

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), April 08, 2002.

free info at http://journeytoforever.org

biofuel organic garding worming solar heating pond farming etc

-- grace james (grace_j33a@hotmail.com), May 31, 2002.

I have been looking for the same thing, look at :Raising talapia,on google, then: Fishing for profit. This web site is a good source of info.for raising fish in tanks.

-- Pat Clancy (tootieclancy@comcast.net), February 17, 2004.