Keeping trout for a restaurant

[T.K.O.P. 8=X]

Oh forgot to mention use spring water no chemicals all natural setup if being eaten. Taints the meat & prob make someone sick.

 

[seaofdreams]

Agreed with what has been said already, nearly all commercially available dechlorinators and other fish related chemicals are not to be used on fish that are for consumption.
I was also think that if the fish never really get time to settle in and are constantly being shipped and moved, they would be at a much higher risk of becoming sick or at least looking stressed and unappetizing. I would think too that this might affect flavour.
It would also be important to consider that if your fish turnover is expected to be so high, would there be any sort of quarantining procedure put into place? Even if you are consistantly being supplied fish from one reliable source that breeds and raises fish for human consumption, there still could be a risk of new fish being sick, carrying parasites etc.
On the business side of things, you would also need to consider if the novelty justifies the cost. Setting up, electricity, water changes and other maintenance, shipping and of course the fish themselves are going to get quite costly, both in relation to time and money.

 

[Mummy Badgersford]

I am grateful for all of these comments and I am learning a lot. The lobster tank idea is a good one - a used tank should be readily available. I'm hoping that the tank would be a nice twist on the tropical fish on display idea in the restaurant. The restaurant will be located in a city in the Rocky Mountains, so we would be able to contract with local fishermen for stock, but it makes more sense to have a predictable, healthy stock of fish from a supplier. What other types of fish can I keep with them? Fresh-water salmon perhaps?

 

[12 Volt Man]

I see trout for sale like this in my supermarket all the time

and tilapia too. tanks of them. it can't be that hard..I think the advice here is good.

 

[paopanlilio]

we have setups like that here in the philippines being surrounded by sea
we have fresh fish in the tanks wouldnt last a week so no need to feed them pellets

just dont overstock and everything should be ok

 

[toolbox31]

I think thats a great idea. Your main concerns would be temperature, flow and oxygen content. Just a heads up, trout I have seen kept in captivity have had a kind of a ragged look and fat. The trout you keep will hopefully will turn over at a rate that will keep a nice fresh look.

 

[Pilze]

For trout, a river fish, you should have a tank at least 8 feet long with a 24 square foot footprint(8'x3'). If you have high stocking, a longer tank would be necessary. If you cannot quarantine new fish, I would recommend a 24/7 drip waterchanger hooked up to R/O water and a dosing pump hooked up to a super solution of your mineral mix. You should have at least 10x biological filtration and 10x mechanical filtration. Some additional powerheads would eliminate any remaining deadspots. If you are not running a 5star restaurant it just isn't worth it.

 

[12 Volt Man]

the trout I see in supermarkets are kept in probably 65g tanks. they count on a high turnover rate, so they don't give them optimum conditions for life (ie no 8x3 foot tank..)

 

[Blocks09]

Most standard dechlorinators are not meant to be used on fish meant for human consumption...

The old theory "you are what you eat" is true to an extent so therefore your fish will be heavily influenced by their diet. So a basic pellet diet would probably yield a fish that tastes poor.

A fish that sits idle will have a higher fat content than a fish that gets ample exercise... so providing ample space, high currents and stimuli will be important...

I ate tank raised / pellet fed Pacu once and it was horrible, despite it's claimed to be a nice tasting fish from the wild...

yeah i also heard dechlorination is bad for humans

 

[swede]

its already been stated, just use reverse osmosis to remove the chlorine. this is safe and effective