Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Pretty Unique Aquarium for Salmon

I thought some of you Aquarium guys/gals might think positive:
Salmon Ecosystem

Once you hit the link, scroll down and hit salmon.

Not complete info, but I like how they were able to fabricate this out of wood with the epoxy resin maintaining a safe barrier for the fish!

What do you think of the mini rockets (Coho) in the tank. That would be really cool. I wish I had a science teacher like that!!!

JKB,

That is cool.

I've thought of proposing to help set up an RAS for the nearby high school or even middle school if they are interested. I could even supply the fish free of charge. Perhaps even get them to grow them out for me which would benefits me too. It would be a great way to intertwine chemistry, microbiology, and physics in an interesting way for the kids.

One of the problems I see in schools today (when I've substituted) is the teachers are stuck to a science curriculum that bores the students to death as it doesn't seem to relate to the real world. It was the case when I was in high school too. Once I got to college and we had our own trout hatchery I couldn't get enough of science. I went from being a below average bored out of my gord high school student to the top 1 percent graduating with honors college grad.

A number of schools around here now have the Salmon in the Classroom programs.

My nieces hs class raised Brook Trout. She was going to become a DNR Officer, then she switched to forensic science. She said, "hey, there will always be criminals, so job security should not be a problem".

Funny they are raising salmon. If you talk to some purists, salmon are a non native exotic in the Great Lakes and they frown on them. When I commented to one of these purists that is a aquaculture prof -- that my college had been the first to hatch and plant Pacific Salmon into Lake Huron -- his response with a frown was, "Oh so you the ones?" I guess he would have preferred we figure out how to get the natives species going again after the lamprey debacle, i.e., lake trout and the whitefish species that each occupy a different niche in the lake ecosystem.

I think they are doing Coho (Pacific Salmon, Silver Salmon) because they are no longer on the VHS list, and not susceptible to VHS.

I have often wondered how Coho would do in an appropriate pond environment.

I'll have to dig out my Salmon Culture books and read up again.

It would be pretty cool to catch a 5-10 lb Coho out of a pond on a light rig. Certainly not a King (Chinook), but these little bullets are fast, and they run! Much more than a RBT, Brook or Brown will ever think of. Could be fun for the right pond!

There are some guys that sell salmon for ponds in MI. I cant remember who it was but a quick look at the State aquaculture list should turn them up. I have seen them advertise their landlocked salmon in the classifieds.

Cecil could tell you better but I think they have similar needs to trout.

I would think any of the salmon would do O.K. if the water has similar parameters as trout. Of course the cohos would only have a life span of 2 years.

I almost got some Atlantics for my trout pond a few years ago from Purdue that had been raised in an RAS for research. However the Indiana DNR refused to grant me a permit. They were afraid of the potential of ISA (Infectious Salmon Anemia) getting into my watershed from overflow from my pond even though they had been tested disease free from the original source.

True but grass carp would be just as good if not better. But come to think of it though, your MDNR prohibits even triploid grass carp. I love the irony of them saying they are not effective on vegetation while at the same time they are not allowed because they could devastate vegetation in natural waters if they got into them.

Yeah, Grass carp in MI is a 5 year stay at one of our fine "dont drop your soap" Hotels. Plus you pay off the 1/4 million fine the rest of your life.

I wonder however, if anyone has actually been prosecuted and sentenced for possession of grass carp in MI. It would be interesting to find out.

I would think a fine would be more likely than prison. At least that is what I usually see when people violate these kind of laws. But they are very hefty fines!

When I was on the grass carp providers lists here in Indiana I had a Michigan women call me and beg me to sell her grass carp. For all I know it was a set up. Anyway I told her no way no how.