Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
instance a kiddie pool works well, as long as its capacity is the same or larger than the Fish
Tank. You will also need a Sump Pump to pump the water out of the Fish Tank and into
the Auxiliary Tank and then back into the Fish Tank again when you're finished harvesting.
You can use a high capacity fountain pump to move the water also. Then you get to move
the sump pump or fountain pump to the auxiliary tank to move the water back. It is up to
you how the water is moved.
Make sure the Auxiliary Tank is at
least
the capacity of the Fish Tank and is placed on a
level surface. Check it again. Be careful also that you have some way to keep the sides on
the kiddie pool (if this the auxiliary tank of choice) standing up until it has about 6 inches
of water in it to support the sides.
Place the Sump Pump into the Fish Tank and place the open end of the hose that is connec-
ted to the Sump Pump into the Auxiliary Tank and start the Sump Pump running to reduce
the water level in the Fish Tank.
This transfer takes a while so monitor it carefully. The fish will act confused, but they are
not terribly stressed. The water will simply become shallower a little at a time, and the fish
will tend to congregate along the edges of the fish tank.
Reduce the water level in the Fish Tank down to 1 ½” deep. By reducing the water to this
level, it allows you to easily see the fish you want to harvest. It also forces the larger fish
to lean over on their side and that slows them down considerably. Only harvest the fish 11
inches long and larger and leave the rest of the fish in the Fish Tank. The most important
aspect of this method is that the fish cannot swim away from the net nearly as fast when
the water is deeper. Almost any type of net works well for this method as long as the open-
ings in the net are an inch or less is size. Refrain from starting the actual removal of the
fish until the water has reached the predetermined depth. This water reduction method also
reduces the stress on of the fish and on the people involved in the harvesting.
After removing all of the full-sized fish from the Fish Tank, move the Sump Pump to the
Auxiliary Tank, place the open end of the hose into the Fish Tank and pump the water
back
into the Fish Tank
. Again watch this process closely to make sure as much water as pos-
sible flows back into the Fish Tank.
Harvesting the fish using this Method normally requires three rounds of harvesting over a
period of three months from the same batch of fish. There may still be a few fish that are
less than the 11” for harvest size that are left in the Fish Tank after the third harvest. You
can simply move them to a different tank (if you have other tanks) of similar sized fish,
