Fish in 55 gallon barrels

[pinkfox]

the one wiht the koi pond actually swims in hers lol.

she has it set up as a "natural pool"
the shallow end is "walled" off with a low rock wall that about 6" shorter than the pool depth, this is the "planting bed", she also has these planting beds around the edges on the deep end this is the natural filtration...
they use straw mats in these areas too...

now its not usually reccomended to have fish in "natural pools" but she wanted hers to be a pond first with the option of swimming in it rather than a pool thats a pond as well...
(theres a bunch of info online if yoy search natural pools...

she liked the idea when she saw one with fish in australia...but noone here would help her everyone told her it couldnt be done with fish...
hers has been up and running for about 8 years now and its a very stable eco system, she swims in it almost daily in the summer and the koi dont seem to bother she bought 5 as 2" fish from a pet store for $8 a peice and there now valued at over $1500 a peice as adults, some are worth more due to thier markings...shes made quite a little living off the venture, she generlaly buys them as itty bitties or takes them form places like craigslist, grows them to the 12" range and then resels them at a profit and just keeps her favorties

 

[Denim Deb]

If you swim in any kind of natural body of water, you're swimming w/the fish, so why not?

 

[CheerioLounge]

Hmmmm, I just happen to have an above ground pool in storage... Something I might have to consider. However, "J" may miss it this summer when it's 115 in the shade!

He could always go swimming w/the fish-unless you're planning on raising piranhas.

There have been a few times I wished he was "swimming with the fishes"

 

[pinkfox]

absolutly and the fish will help keep the pool clean in my opinion....i mean fish are the under water clean up crew they will eat practically anything...
In a pool the fish would happily eat any sloughed skin cells.

 

[D1]

I have read the link on how to and havent read as much as I should on this topic,however my only question:

HOW LONG UNTIL YOU HARVEST THE FISH?


I mean if you have to feed commercial feeds for up to 90 days and HOPE the worms do well.....this isnt a money saving option for me that I can see,when my neighbors pond and the river down the road is full of catfish

 

[Denim Deb]

Not only that, but you have to keep changing water. If I wanted to raise fish, it would have to be in some sort of self sustain pond.

 

[Beekissed]

If one lived near a creek, it would be kind of cool to create a little side pond that was still fed by the creek but from which the fish could not escape. Many people around here do that with trout in the small creeks that run through their property....they just build a sort of trap, stock it with fingerlings and raise their own trout. They sure get mad when the Blue Cranes, Bald Eagles and such hit their stash!

 

[Bettacreek]

Not only that, but you have to keep changing water. If I wanted to raise fish, it would have to be in some sort of self sustain pond.

Exactly. It just doesn't seem efficient to raise fish in a barrel setup at all.

 

[FarmerChick]

it is about control

of what you want to eat, what you can't fish for locally, fastest to length on short time growing to yeild more, what pollutants or if the SHthf time, you got a system helping you in your backyard.



right now, I would not raise, but later in time it might become a necessity


so info is good to know and absorb

I love to fish. It is relaxing, fun, skill and just time off to me, so raising would be losing that right now but learning a bit on 'how to' for later if needed is good.

 

[Bettacreek]

I'm not just talking finances. Even in a SHTF situation, the water and time consumption is just crazy. Plus the electricity. Not to mention, if the crap really hit the fan, where are you going to be buying your fingerlings from? You don't have the room to breed them in a barrel. All in all, it is not a self-sufficient method, IMO. A swimming pool, maybe, but not a barrel.

As far as control, possibly. But they're talking about feeding commercial feed and then raising them on earthworms... Sure, earthworms are great bait, but truely nothing should really be raised on one source of feed for their entire growth. Commercial feed, sure, because it is formulated specifically for that task, but earthworms do not have everything a fish needs to truely prosper. That's saying that you don't want to eat like most Americans because they eat garbage, then feeding your livestock garbage. Not saying that earthworms are truely garbage, but they're not enough to be nutritionally sound all on their own.