Frequently Asked Questions
A. Orders are shipped from Narrabri NSW between Sunday’s and Thursday’s. We use different shipping companies depending on your location to ensure your fish arrive quickly and safely. When your order has been shipped you will be sent an email with tracking information, if you require delivery on a specific date please put this into the notes section of your order.
Orders may at times be delayed leaving the hatchery due to purging before shipment and/or the outside temperatures are too hot as this will put all species in danger.
Adelaide orders: pick up from Virginia only, service is in a refrigerated truck – this service only runs when we are able to fill a pallet (approximately every 8 weeks). (24/7 transport pty ltd – 42 Alfred Road Virginia 5120)
QLD orders: Tamex Freight offer a pick up service to their depot at Sumner, Toowoomba and Goondiwindi however if your order isn’t urgent, we do a monthly drop off to Aramex Couriers in Brisbane where they can send to most QLD areas overnight, depot collection is preferred for areas that are not overnight.
Country VIC orders (and other VIC areas that our couriers cannot get to): pick up from Kane baker transport, 115 Wedgewood road Hallam, Albury NSW (2 day service) or Wangaratta.
Q. Will my fish and yabbies arrive alive?
A. We take extra care to ensure all your fingerlings and yabbies arrive alive, less are packed per box if they have further to travel and ice packs are included in hot weather. We offer a 100% money back guarantee on our fish and yabbies. If your livestock arrive in the bag dead please immediately take a photo in the shipping bag and send it via email narrabrifishfarm@bigpond.com or text 0428 749 606. A full credit on the dead livestock will be arranged or a store credit, shipping costs are not refundable. Extra fish or yabbies are always included in your order as goodwill for any losses that may occur on the way.
Q. How many fish or yabbies should I stock in my dam?
A. Our stocking rates may vary from other hatcheries but our formula from experience is to walk around your pond or farm dam whilst counting your steps. The number you have is how many yabbies to stock, half this number and this is how many fish you would stock. These stocking rates are based on fully grown fish.
Q. What if I want to stock more than one species in my pond?
A. Always stock the less aggressive fish first, like Silver Perch or Catfish. As long as these are the biggest fish in your pond then they will have a better survival rate. Golden Perch and Murray Cod are the more aggressive fish to be stocked very last.
Q. What are the best fish to use in Aquaponics?
A. Silver Perch and Catfish due to their easy nature, simple feeding and non-predatory traits. Yabbies have also been successful when used in Aquaponics.
Q. What size pellets do I start my fish on?
A. You do not need to feed your fish or yabbies if they are in a farm dam stocked to our stocking rates. Yabbies can also just be fed food scraps. Fingerlings start on a crumble and flake generally around 30-40mm and then progress onto a pellet as they grow. Keep moving your fish up a pellet size the bigger they get.
Q. I want to stock my local waterway with Murray Cod or Golden Perch?
A. Talk to your council or fishing club as they will provide you with all the information you will need, a permit is required and fingerlings are only allowed to be stocked from a hatchery with HQAS in that particular zone. Dollar for dollar grants are given out yearly, further information can be found online here.
Q. How do I release my fish?
A. When you receive your fingerlings open the foam box and remove the bag, float the bag on the top of the pond water for about 10 mins or until the water inside is roughly the same temperature. Open the bag by untying or cutting a hole in the side. Gradually mix your pond water with the bag water at a rough rate of 1 Litre per minute until the bag is full, tip the bag into your pond and the fingerlings will soon swim out into their new home.
Q. How do I release my Damstocking Yabbies into my pond?
A. Yabbies do not need as much acclimatisation as fingerlings. When you receive your yabbies open the foam box next to your pond, before releasing them splash a few buckets of the dam water into the box so they’re moisture levels are high, this will ensure that they swim immediately into the water and out of site from predators.
Q. I have ordered eating yabbies but I won’t be cooking them for another few days, how do I keep them alive until I want to use them?
A. We have a few options:
- Have ice ready for when you receive your yabbies, poke 2 small holes in the bottom of the box using a pen. Open the box lid and layer ice over the top of your yabbies, when the ice melts the water will drain through the holes, this prevents your yabbies from drowning. Replenish the ice twice a day until you cook them.
- The same as above but keep them in a cool room and you will not have to replenish the ice as often.
- Fill your bathtub with 3cm of cold water and keep them in there until you’re ready to cook them.
Q. Can you deliver to everywhere in Australia?
A. We do not have an online ordering facility for some states due to government regulations on some of our live fish. If your postcode is not coming up please either email or phone us and we will advise if we are able to deliver to you.
Q. What are the perfect conditions for my Silver Perch or Golden Perch to breed in my dam?
A. Reedy, grassy area; Water incoming eg. Spring fed or an influx of water after rain; Temperatures between 18 and 25 degrees.
Q. Why can’t I order some of your products online?
A. If you cannot order one of our products online it means that this product is out of stock, on the product page it will state when they approximately will be available. If you would like us to contact you when they are ready please send your details through our contact us page or send us an email to narrabrifishfarm@bigpond.com stating what product you are interested in.