Kinds of Aquaponics Fish for a Perfect Aquaponics System

Fish are the highlight of the aquaponics system. It is not only useful for providing rich nutrients for the plants to grow but it also provides you with clean, fresh, protein-rich fish to eat for you and your family. Not only it serves as a great food, the tank full of fishes carrying attractive colors will also serve as a great spot to lurk around for people who visits your home.

Choosing the best aquaponics fish is a daunting task to some especially to those who are still new to it. However, you don't have to worry about it because keeping fish in the tank for aquaponics system is very simple and practical compared to aquarium fish-raising if you already have the idea on what you need to consider when making a choice of fish for your tank. As long as you follow the simple guidelines for growing fish and cultivating fruits and vegetables, from its fingerling stage of life until it is ready for harvest and consumption, aquaponics is will never be a difficult task.

Here are the lists of aquaponics fish and a few details about them:

1. Carp. It is one of the best species that's perfect for aquaponics system. It is the most widely cultured aquaponics fish throughout the world especially in Asia. However, due to its capability to reproduce fingerlings at a higher rate, it has become a noxious species to the natural waterways.

2. Catfish. There are lots of catfish species that's best for an aquaponics system. Channel catfish is one of them. Catfish is a meaty, popular, and most widely farmed fish for aquaculture in the US and in many regions in Australia. It does not have scales but has whiskers analogous which are the same to that of a cat - hence its name "catfish".

3. Tilapia. It is a well-known cultured fish in every parts of the world. It is excellent for aquaponics system for several reasons. It is fast growing, easy to breed, and can withstand cool temperatures. It has an omnivorous diet and its meat is a great source of protein for the humans. There's one thing about this fish, though - it cannot breed in very warm waters. If you place them in cool environment, you can surely harvest great amount of tilapia since they breed faster and grow faster. But because it breeds at a very rapid rate just like the carp, tilapia species are considered pests to some other countries abroad.

4. Silver perch. It is a kind of fish that is native to Australia. This species can grow very well in different conditions. Like tilapia, silver perch are omnivorous and loves to eat green scraps like duckweed. However, unlike other types of species, perch is not fast growing. It takes 12 to 18 months for perch from fingerlings to grow into a plate size fish.

5. Barramundi. Barramundi is one of the most majestic species of edible fish which yields a decent harvest. It is mostly grown in the aquaponics systems in warm months every year. It is the kind of fish you can harvest with delicious, tasty, clean and crispy meat if harvested fully grown. Growing Barramundi will entice other people and make them want to grow theirs too.

These are the types of the most popular aquaponics fish that you can grow aquaponically. There are still a lot of easy-to-grow species of fish that are not mentioned above which you can raise as an aquaponics fish. What's important is that you know the guidelines in choosing the fish, the dos and don'ts in growing your own aquaponics fishes and be fully satisfied with your fish product harvests.