Looking for participants in a under floating bed prawn culture experiment

Posted by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on March 26, 2011 at 8:31pm

Greetings. This is in follow up to an earlier conversation regarding freshwater prawns in aquaponics, and thanks to Rachel for her suggestion we post this to the group. In summary we would like to provide freshwater prawns (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) to aquaponic farmers that use floating beds for the plants and tilapia in the tanks.  We are interested in seeing how well they will do under the beds and if they would be a viable crop for local producers. The size of the system large or small is of less concern than the culture method that is used. We will provide the prawns and expertise at NO cost. That’s it.  We expect to have some prawns available in the next month so if you are interested, let us know. Ok, lets hear the questions.

 

DrB

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Replies

  • Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. April 19, 2011 at 5:00pm

    Sorry been on travel. Be back to all of you later in the week.

     

    DrB

     

  • Steven C van Olffen April 10, 2011 at 8:43am

    It is best to contact me by cell phone @ 602.647.8901.

     

    Thanks,

     

    Steven!

  • Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. April 4, 2011 at 1:51pm

    Greetings. The prawns are on order. However I need to get a better understanding of how many animals I will need to dedicate to your systems. If possible I would like take a look at what you have going. Please contact me regarding some possible times and dates.

     

    Thanks.

    DrB

  • Rachel March 31, 2011 at 12:06pm
    Cool, they are definitely more fun to look at. One plus to the gambusia is that they survived all winter with no heat, including under an inch-thick sheet of ice for four days. :)
    • Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. > Rachel March 31, 2011 at 2:36pm
      When I last did this we used guppies, sword tails and sail fins and found for some reason they got really REALLY colorful under these conditions. This suggested a secondary market for these fish was possible. Also since there is not much difference between a post larval prawn and a mosquito larvae in size, the guppies were easier to work with than the gambusia because they were not as aggressive. Nursing the prawns however to a larger size before stocking however solves this problem.
  • Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. March 31, 2011 at 11:38am

    I like guppies better also.

     

    G

  • Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. March 31, 2011 at 7:59am

    Greetings Chloe. Yes. With the gambusia however we will have to start with a larger prawn. Beyond that sounds good. See above.

     

    DrB

  • Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. March 31, 2011 at 7:58am

    Good morning all. Thank you Steven and Rachel. Seeking to judge how many prawns we will need for this first go-around. Expect to have them available within 4 weeks. All who are interested please get back to me. More later.

     

    DrB

    • Rachel > Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. March 31, 2011 at 11:10am
      I don't have floating beds on any of my systems. I have one that's flood and drain aquaponic and the other is still just a 500 gallon pond (still trying to figure out which way to go with it) with no filtration of any kind yet (it currently just has some gambusia to keep the mosquitos away). I'm open to some suggestions/experiment ideas from you though.
    • Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. > Rachel April 1, 2011 at 2:08pm

      Rachel, I have an idea for you. I need to see your system first.

       

      DrB

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