If an aquaponic system is going to work and result in a good yield, there is going to be a balance of nutrients coming from the fish to the plants.
Fish feed is a major contributing factor to how well your plants and veggies will grow.
That means you really need to pay attention to what the fish are being fed.
In addition, with the whole GM (genetically modified) fish food concern, it can only benefit you to go with organic fish food in your aquaponics system.
So, what is the best organic fish food for aquaponic use?
Well, here is an important point: In order to best understand the value of the different types of organic fish food, we need to understand how fish feed works.
Classification of Fish According to What They Eat
Fish can be classified into three types based on their diet:
- Omnivorous fish – Eastern Cichlids, Mollies, and most of the Guppy family eat both plant and animal matter.
- Carnivorous fish – Lake Malawi Mandarins (botanically, ichthyologists consider them carnivorous) because they will not eat dry and it’s an unfinished fish meal and they only eat insects, small fish, meat, etc. etc.
- Herbivorous fish – plant material is sushi, aquatic plant, product you could human consumption, vegetative zooplanktons and seaweeds.
| Type of Fish | Examples of Fish | Suitable food |
|---|---|---|
| Omnivorous | Catfish, Carp, Koi, Goldfish | Pellets, vegetables, algae, insects, soldier fly larvae |
| Carnivorous | Trout, Barramundi, Yellow Perch, Bass | Pellets, insects, worms, smaller fish |
| Herbivorous | Tilapia, Plecos, Silver dollars | Zooplankton, duckweed, pellets, vegetables, other aquatic plants |
Different fish and what they’ll eat
Most fish are opportunistic feeders, meaning they’ll eat whatever happens to be available at the time.
Some are omnivorous as fry, like Tilapia, but they become totally vegetarian in adulthood.
Types of Organic Fish Food for Aquaponics
Basically, an aquaponics owner has two options when it comes to feeding fish.
These are:
- Do-it-yourself(DIY) feed
- Commercial feed
DIY feed
DIY feed means hand-made or home grown feed, it’s ideal for small scale aquaponics.
You also must have self motivation and ingenuity to successfully feed your fish with home grown feed.
Some common sources of DIY feed include:
- insects and worms grown from home
- aquaponic plants (kales, lettuce, duckweed)
- made-from-scratch fish flakes
Benefits of DIY Feed
Home-made feed offers the following benefits:
- They are cheap to produce
- You know what goes into your aquaponics
- Offers natural and balanced diet
Commercial feed
Research has taken a lot of time to come up with the best nutritional requirements of aquaponic fish as prepared foods like pellets.
This type of feed is great for large aquaponic systems because of their simplicity for feed applications, and require little preparation.
However, it can be difficult to know what is a good commercial feed for your fish, and some may contain GMO feed ingredients.
Benefits of Commercial Feed
When you feed your aquaponic fish some commercial feed, you’ll get the following benefits:
- The fish receive a balanced amount of nutrients, which is important for maximizing their performance.
- Commercial feed has been optimized, which limits extra waste.
- Pellets are palatable and are well digested, so you don’t spend so much time feeding them!
5 Best Organic Fish Food for Aquaponics
Your options for high-quality organic fish food in an aquaponics system will ultimately depend on whether you want to grow it yourself, or purchase it commercially.
Below are some of the best fish feed:
- Commercially prepared pellets and granules
- Insects and worms
- Vegetation
- Small aquatic animals
- Aquatic plants
1 – Commercial Pellets and Flakes
This commercially-made granule is the most commonly used fish food for aquaponics and aquariums.
These granules are a balanced nutritional supplement that is a no-brainer when it comes to feeding. It is similar to adding cereal with milk to a bowl in the morning… So simple!
There are several different brands that produce commercial fish feed that comes in pellets, granules, and flakes. The main two types of commercial feed are pellets that sink and pellets that float.
The floating pellets stay suspended in the water while the sinking pellets settle to the bottom of the tank. The floating pellets are preferred by people because it is easier to determine whether the fish have eaten anything when feeding with floating pellets.
Caution: If, after two or more feedings, too many of floating pellets remain on the water surface, then you know that something is wrong with your fish.
2 – Insects and Worms
You might want to consider providing some home-grown insects, larvae, or worms to these carnivorous fish because every bit of nutrition isn’t contained in commercial reptile pellets.
These insects, larvae, or worms are sources of proteins, oils, and minerals unavailable in traditional fishmeal based pellets.
Insects, larvae, or worms can be gathered from your local area, or you can purchase industrial larvae to rear.
In the case of industrial larvae, you have an advantage on protien and are doing so in a consistent and sustainable manner by rearing it all from one cumulative source.
You have options to feed carnivorous fish:
- Black soldier fly and larvae
- Crickets
- Cockroaches
- Earthworms
- Black worms
- Wigglers
- Termites
- Grasshoppers
- Houseflies
3 – Vegetables
You’ll save money feeding your fish because you can grow the vegetables in the aquaponics grow bed.
The vegetables you can grow include lettuce, kales, spinach, peas, zucchini, watercress, broccoli. Fish will eat fruits, including apples, grapes, pears, papaya, watermelon rind, mangoes, and bananas.
But these types of food works only for omnivorous and herbivorous fish.
Also, fish, even herbivorous fish, need protein feeds as well, so you will always need to supplement these vegetables with commercial pellets or organic sources such as, but not limited to, soybean, canola, and barley.
4 – Small Aquatic Animals
You could see carnivorous and omnivorous fish species feasting on little animals in the water, which would include juvenile fish, crustaceans, fish eggs, crayfish, frogs, and water beetles.
Fish like bass and trout have a hard time feeding on pellets because they prefer the protein of their natural food source.
It’s good news: If your carnivorous fish won’t take pellets, just feed them little water animals as a supplement to the pellets.
5 – Aquatic Plants
Aquatic plants are a good nutritional source for herbivore and omnivore fish species. They are a protein, mineral, vitamin and oil rich source of nutrients, and they grow super fast! Usually the common aquatic weeds for aquaponic fish is duckweed and azolla.
Duckweed is a common floating genus of plant that grows in freshwater and has a high protein absorption. It can be grown separately or with the fish, and makes a good substitute for the commercial pellet.
Azolla is also a floating water plant, Azolla actually takes the gaseous nitrogen in the atmosphere, it can transform it into a protein that is available to the fish.
The aquatic fern can then become a good substitute and protein source for your aquaponic fish, Azolla is a solid and mostly widely used organism in aquaculture.
Less known fact: the species does better grown away from the aquaponic system as it needs little light, sometimes, and a little sluggish or slow water flow.
Conclusion
You can choose to feed your aquaponic fish home-made or commercial feed.
Both choices have their pros and cons and both feed types are organic fish food options to provide the nutrients to grow your fish!
Commercial feed offers a well balanced nutrient profile and includes pellets and flakes.
Home-made fish feed includes plants, vegetables, insects, worms, and small aquatic animals.