Since you asked... Backyard Channel Cat Farming?

I recently mentioned that I was looking for a home for my trio of Florida White meat rabbits since I was ready to take a break from the rabbits and try raising catfish instead. MaggieJ suggested I use the Other Animals forum to update folks on my progress.

So I thought, "Why not just document the whole process, for better or worse?" This project might work, or it might result in a few false starts, or it might go down in flames. But whatever the end result, if no one objects, I'll detail my research, explain my equipment and methodology choices and provide photos along the way.

My postings may be a bit sporadic as I'm self-employed and at times simply may not have time to post updates for a while.

If it does work, and if others have an interest in raising fish for their table, it might save them some time, effort and expense.

I'll probably buy most of my equipment, since my time is too limited to justify a lot of DIY stuff. But I'll also try to offer suggestions for DIY equipment and supplies for those who prefer that option.

QUESTION for the moderators... Is is okay to include links to product or info pages? (I'll have no association, financial or otherwise, with any of them.) Or should I just upload photos of those items? Or do you prefer I just include the actual name of the product and anyone interested can do their own web search?

Anyway, if I proceed with this it may turn into a long thread. So I'd like to know you're all okay with that and want to make sure I don't break any rules.

Thanks!

Randy

I think it's an awesome idea!

I was considering this several years ago, and might consider it again.

rtower":3smaobst said:

QUESTION for the moderators... Is is okay to include links to product or info pages?

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It is absolutely okay! As long as you're not a spammer, we have no problem with product links.

I'm very interested in following your journey, although I have never even eaten catfish.

I do know that they are voracious feeders though, and that got me to wondering about whether or not they are going to eat their eggs (providing they are egg layers, not live bearers) or fry. Will you need a brood tank as well?

I actually did this about 5 years ago .... ~1700 gallon tank had a couple hundred catfish & tilapia in it , used a 128 cubic foot hydroponics garden as a filter system , worked great until I started having mechanical issues and the Texas weather , hot as hades in the summer and freezes killing fish off in the winter .... pumps going out , timers not working properly , heaters failing .... If it wasn't one thing it was another.

The theory behind it is solid , feed the fish , their waste fuels the garden which did provide spectacular results.

If I have any advice to give , start small and see if you want to dedicate the finances , time & effort before going much over 75 gallons and a couple dozen fish.

We live on catfish here... or, at least, we used to, until catfish coming into fashion made it too expensive for the locals. :angry: Now it goes on "sale" for $5.99/lb. Gee, thanks for the favor! :?

I don't think I've ever had channel catfish, but I really have no idea.

Miss M":c6132avo said:

It is absolutely okay! As long as you're not a spammer, we have no problem with product links.

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Great. Thank you!

MamaSheepdog":c6132avo said:

I do know that they are voracious feeders though, and that got me to wondering about whether or not they are going to eat their eggs (providing they are egg layers, not live bearers) or fry. Will you need a brood tank as well?

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Catfish are egg layers. Channel cat lay their eggs in burrows in the sides of rivers. That's how the noodlers catch them when they're guarding the nests.

In private ponds people will usually use buckets or clay tiles. But I don't plan to keep any breeders. I've found a couple of fish farms that aren't too far away (under 5 hours one-way). I've already called and they'll sell me small quantities of fingerlings if I pick them up.

Ramjet":c6132avo said:

I actually did this about 5 years ago .... ~1700 gallon tank had a couple hundred catfish & tilapia in it , used a 128 cubic foot hydroponics garden as a filter system , worked great until I started having mechanical issues and the Texas weather , hot as hades in the summer and freezes killing fish off in the winter .... pumps going out , timers not working properly , heaters failing .... If it wasn't one thing it was another.

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Sounds like you went all-out. And did it right. I've researched the hydroponics route fairly extensively and, although I really like the idea it's just a bit too complex for me for the time I have available to tend to it.

Also, I'm going to try channel cat first because they can tolerate colder water in winter. Just have to cut way back on feeding so as not to foul the water. And I agree with you about starting small at first. I'll be using bio-filters and it's critical to establish stable water parameters before introducing too many fish.

Miss M":c6132avo said:

I don't think I've ever had channel catfish, but I really have no idea.

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Actually, I think most of the catfish sold at retail these days is farm-raised channel cat. It might vary in different parts of the country but I'm pretty sure that's true in the southern states.

Thank you All for your comments. I'll likely start posting my plans tomorrow.

Randy

Miss M":3qg6f75e said:

We live on catfish here... or, at least, we used to, until catfish coming into fashion made it too expensive for the locals. :angry: Now it goes on "sale" for $5.99/lb. Gee, thanks for the favor! :?

I don't think I've ever had channel catfish, but I really have no idea.

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I was reading an article about this happening with many foods. In fact things like quinoa and acai berries were very important staple foods for enough nutrients and calories of the poor in those areas. Many children are showing up with malnourishment because the US fads for "superfoods" are raising the prices too high for locals who need them to balance their diet.

Catfish is plentiful here but finding it properly cooked if you don't fish your own is difficult. Overall Iowa cooks crappy fish in restaurants. I have never had good fish except one diner growing up and then I had forgotten just how tasty it was. There are a few places near the Mississippi and large rivers going into them that you can get whole grilled or fried catfish that tastes great. In fact the dishes I used to get at restaurants I couldn't eat after one place in the quad cities because the difference was huge. I'd have to say the wild caught stuff if handled right is far better than the farm raised on processed food. If you can feed small fish, insects, and invertebrates it's kind of like comparing chicken eggs on various diets. Granted it can go the other way easily if the river is rather dirty and you catch rather old catfish. They can be salvaged if you clean them out well in clear water before butchering but you need a large bubbler at minimum to keep the catfish alive that long. Clean ponds that are still big enough and stocked to have a variety of life so it makes a full ecosystem results in the best catfish. All natural diet. We don't catch very many big ones in those situations though so we usually end up doing catfish nuggets instead of fillets or whole.

akane":1iyq887n said:

I'd have to say the wild caught stuff if handled right is far better than the farm raised on processed food. If you can feed small fish, insects, and invertebrates it's kind of like comparing chicken eggs on various diets.

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I think you're probably right about that. We keep a few chickens for fresh eggs and we let them free-range during the day for that very reason. They do have commercial pellets available free-choice in a feeder and they do eat some of those pellets but mostly they spend the day either scratching for their own food or dusting under some of the evergreen trees.

We do keep scratch grains out for them at all times and, at least once a day we'll hand-feed them dried mealworms. They will chase you down for those mealworms. Makes it really handy when I want to get them into the coop in the evening. As soon as they see me carrying that sack of mealworms they come charging at me and will follow me anywhere!

I can buy fathead minnows for the catfish. Now you've got me wondering how hard it would be to set up a second small pond specifically for raising fathead minnows to supplement the catfish feed.

Also, I've looked into raising redworms in the past. That could be another great "natural" food source.

Hmmm... More research!

Thanks!

Randy

rtower":250sqerh said:

I've looked into raising redworms in the past. That could be another great "natural" food source.

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Best keep a couple of rabbits then, to provide bunny berries for the worms!

My compost bin, dog pen, and every other available patch of dirt has been spawning 1000's of redworms since I introduced them to the bin a few years ago.
Sorry ecosystem, I wasn't aware that they were able to adapt to -20 f winters.

I'm grateful that you would be willing to document your experience for us.

MamaSheepdog":ngrlsaej said:

Best keep a couple of rabbits then, to provide bunny berries for the worms!

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Hmmm... Decisions, decisions... :?

Zass":ngrlsaej said:

I wasn't aware that they were able to adapt to -20 f winters.

I'm grateful that you would be willing to document your experience for us.

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I didn't know redworms were that hardy either! But good to know.

It's nice to have a place to organize and clarify my plans. Thanks for putting up with me! :fishing3:

rtower":1a11i7r4 said:

Actually, I think most of the catfish sold at retail these days is farm-raised channel cat. It might vary in different parts of the country but I'm pretty sure that's true in the southern states.

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So it is! I didn't realize that. It is native here, but it's been picked up for farming in other places.

rtower":1a11i7r4 said:

I've already called and they'll sell me small quantities of fingerlings if I pick them up.

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One of the feed stores about 30 minutes from me used to have a truck with fingerlings come around to sell in their parking lot. They had several different kinds of fish.

akane":1a11i7r4 said:

I was reading an article about this happening with many foods. In fact things like quinoa and acai berries were very important staple foods for enough nutrients and calories of the poor in those areas. Many children are showing up with malnourishment because the US fads for "superfoods" are raising the prices too high for locals who need them to balance their diet.

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Yes, I've read about that, too. It's sad.

Crawfish has gone up in price as well, but not as badly as catfish. These used to be the foods the poor people ate in these parts. Then they became popular with people more well-off, but the price was still low. Then, suddenly, everybody wanted catfish, all over the country.

akane":1a11i7r4 said:

Overall Iowa cooks crappy fish in restaurants.

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Yeah... I learned not to eat seafood if I'm not close to water.

akane":1a11i7r4 said:

Granted it can go the other way easily if the river is rather dirty and you catch rather old catfish.

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Yes, river catfish can taste a little muddy, depending... thankfully, the nutrient profile is pretty close for farmed catfish.

rtower":2xk54sdv said:

Sounds like you went all-out. And did it right. I've researched the hydroponics route fairly extensively and, although I really like the idea it's just a bit too complex for me for the time I have available to tend to it.

Also, I'm going to try channel cat first because they can tolerate colder water in winter. Just have to cut way back on feeding so as not to foul the water. And I agree with you about starting small at first. I'll be using bio-filters and it's critical to establish stable water parameters before introducing too many fish.

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The aquaponics system is really not all that complex and is self sustaining (just feed the fish). It is basically one big bio filter. The tricky part is getting a bell siphon to operate properly on an acceptable schedule , it takes a bit of tinkering.

I didn't use anything fancy for the substrate , just pea gravel in a raised bed with a pond liner , filler & bell siphon with the tank sitting slightly lower than the bed , gravity does the rest.
Its really pretty simple , I built the entire thing from scrap parts - minus the pump , timers & heater and solar panel that powered it.

I had other idea's for a "bed" such as instead of using a rectangular bed , using 4 inch pvc filled with gravel & saddles cut in it for individual plants , a filler tube on one end and the bell siphon on the other , just have to make sure you have a slight bit of fall in the right direction for the water to flow properly thru the bell siphon.
I made a scale version of that design and it worked very well ....

I did use channel cats purchased from a local fish farm .... they are fairly expensive even for fingerlings.
Most of my frustrations were the electronics going out & the weather wreaking havoc.

The garden part was a huge success .... the fish , not so much. I might do a similar project in the future .... on a smaller scale , maybe 100gal , using the pvc pipe method instead of the bed and just use disposable fish ....with no intention of eating them , cheap koi or something.

Ramjet":1a26f953 said:

The aquaponics system is really not all that complex and is self sustaining (just feed the fish). It is basically one big bio filter.

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I agree. And, if I lived in an area with milder winter temps I'd be strongly inclined to try it. But if I did use aquaponics with what I'm planning to do I would lose my bio-filter with the first frost.

Because of the way I built the original shadehouse I'll have the ability to insulate the walls in the winter. If I can maintain temperatures inside the shadehouse above 45 degrees F, at a minimum, my bio-filters may continue to work. And if I can maintain water temperatures above 60 degrees F, the catfish may continue to feed and grow. Obviously that will be at a much slower rate but I do hope to keep everything going through the winter so I don't have to restart the nitrogen cycle in the Spring.

Don't know. The first winter will be a learning experience. But I'm planning to have at least 2,000 gallons capacity in the pond and I'll start with just thirty 6" to 8" catfish until the pond cycles. Probably won't exceed 50 fish total for the first year. Fewer fish = fewer chances for catastrophic failure. (I hope!) :?

I have some considerations on aquaponics, and was thinking of using Yellow Perch rather than Tilapia-(already adapted to my climate, no need for a heater). I did find, in my explorations, that some people are raising crawfish in their hydroponic systems-- of course, that means the plants are growing in net pots- no substrate for their roots.

Will love to watch how your project gets on, I am going to try sturgeon down here in Florida this year. Esp. as I catch all the salt water hard head catfish we can eat now we are on hte coast. Was going to try the catfish growing in a pool in the back yard until we moved.

Good luck!

This is funny because I went catfishing yesterday! Have Iowa's ocean not far away . They were biting so good I think I could have stocked a pond in one night! Never bought catfish meat and if it is 5.99 sounds like I never Will! So rtower are you going to sell live fish or the meat? How big Will you raise them? Do you need a licences or permit to sell them? And channel cats Will spawn in any cavity, hollow log, barrels, upside down bathtubs. Man I love talking fish especially catfishing. I'm going right now to see if there is a catfishing forum :lol: :lol:

GBov":f6lehrum said:

Will love to watch how your project gets on, I am going to try sturgeon down here in Florida this year.

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Sturgeon? I don't know a lot about them but guessing that would require a sizable tank or small pond.

Frosted Rabbits":f6lehrum said:

I have some considerations on aquaponics, and was thinking of using Yellow Perch rather than Tilapia

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I think the Yellow Perch would work great. Would likely grow pretty rapidly in an intensive system like this. Just have to have good bio-filtration and good oxygenation. I'm going to be running two bio-filters plus another circulating pump that will direct water spray onto the surface of the pond to help with off-gassing and keep dissolved oxygen levels up.

Dwc77":f6lehrum said:

So rtower are you going to sell live fish or the meat? How big Will you raise them? Do you need a licences or permit to sell them?

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Don't plan to sell anything. Just growing for our own use. Thinking about 1 1/4# to 1 1/2# harvest size. No license needed if I buy fish from a fish farm/hatchery.

Also, I've learned about a Channel Cat/Blue Cat hybrid that is much hardier and grows much faster. Unfortunately, only suppliers are in south Texas (Houston area mostly). They cannot ship and that's too far for me to pick them up.

I'm also playing around with the idea of growing Hybrid Striped Bass (Wipers) as they are a proven producer in an intensive fish farming operation and may reach table size faster than the Channel Cat.

This first year will be a learning experience. If it works, I may set up another pond next year so I can grow two species.

Randy

Dwc77, where are you fishing? I am in eastern Iowa. I've never had any luck around the coralville lake except one night we managed to be in the right spot at the right time of the year. I mostly look forward to bluegill spawning season and we throw an extra line out deeper on the off chance we catch catfish. In Cedar Rapids trout are all the rage because of the multiple cold, underground springs feeding various locations. I haven't gotten my license to try out the fishery or Coldwater stream yet. It would also require the cost of a trout license.

Well, I found a good home for my Florida White trio. Set them up with eight cages, feeders, water bottles, a month's worth of Timothy hay and pellets... Everything they need to care for the bunnies and their litters. They were glad to get the rabbits and equipment and I was happy to clear out the rabbitry. (For now...)

Here's what the shadehouse rabbitry looked like with the cages and rabbits installed. The exterior view shows the lower 2/3 of the shadehouse and the door covered with white greenhouse plastic for the winter. That's air conditioning ductwork suspended above the cages.

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Started digging the pit for the fish pond yesterday. Finished it today. It's 5' wide by 12' long at the top with a very slight taper down to 4 1/2' wide by 11 1/2' long at the bottom. One end is 4' deep with a slope to the other end that is 4 1/2' deep. It's close to 1,800 gallon capacity.

I had planned to dig it 5' deep... Until I discovered how much work it is to shovel heavy, wet sand up high enough to clear the top of the wheelbarrow from the bottom of that hole! Decided 4' deep looked pretty good.

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Here's the same hole with the underlayment and EPDM liner installed. I'm standing barefoot in about 12" of water, working out any folds in the bottom of the liner. Makes it a lot easier to clean if the liner is smooth on the bottom.

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And here's the "pond" partially filled.

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And here's the pond fully filled with the liner edges 'rough-trimmed'. Still have to decide how I'm going to edge the pond.

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My equipment is beginning to arrive but I won't likely have time to do much work on this for the next few days.

I have found one source who says he could ship me 1" Hybrid Catfish fry around June 1st but I'm not confident they would survive the trip.

I've also found a source for 4" to 6" Hybrid Striped Bass (Wipers). I would have to drive about 6 hours one way to pick them up. Think I could make that work using an extra-large cooler (which I already have) but will need an oxygen tank to keep the dissolved oxygen levels high enough during the trip to keep them alive.

So, we've got the project started. Now I've got to have things ready for the fish by the first of May.

Will update again when I've made a little more progress.

Randy