From start to finish, those fish grew and were harvested. At just over 7 months they were about 1lb each.
The first batch were not terribly tasty - i'm going to try just letting them soak in an overpowering marinade and see if that makes them better.
The second batch smelled good at least - haven't gotten around to eating any yet. Likely because of the higher quality pellet food I was giving them.
Man, though. They have hard heads! It was a tough job knocking them out, and then beheading.
I've got a few pics, including their teeth. Pretty interesting stuff. At the size they were, they became fairly docile as they were the last in the bucket. Probably as a result of oxygen starvation.
So, improvements for next year
: definitely get hydroponics attached. It is way too hard to keep them alive in clean water without something taking the nitrogen out.
: better heating system. Very dangerous, precarious setup that ultimately failed in the last week and cost me a 300 watt heater.
: better food. A good part of their flavour is the crazy vegetation they eat - nuts, etc. So, get some home made food into them.
Warning - Gruesome pics follow.
Got a little excited and missed one of the measures |
From the demonstration of our friends Dayna and Chad, so I'll remember how to clean a fish in the future |
Learning by doing |
Not a bad size |
Check out those teeth!!! |