Fish · Sunfish and bass
Largemouth bass (Florida bass) in Florida aquaponics
Micropterus salmoides
The largemouth bass, including the native Florida bass, lives statewide and is one of the species some aquaponic systems have raised. It is harder to grow than tilapia or catfish: fingerlings must be trained to eat pellets, they need a 40 to 48 percent protein feed, and they take about two seasons to reach a pound. In Florida the legal trap is genetics, because northern largemouth bass are Conditional and only genetically documented Florida bass may be farmed for food.1, 3, 4, 6, 8
Where in Florida it works1, 2, 3
Our reading, not a source statement: FWC says the fish is found statewide, so it is at home in every region. The care is about temperature: SRAC 200 says bass move less below 50 F and above 80 F, so expect a slow, low-feeding winter in North Florida, where it freezes most winters, and long stretches of reduced activity in summer statewide and for more of the year in tropical South Florida. Avoid handling below 55 F (SRAC 722).
Our reading of the temperature facts below against UF/IFAS's three regions (North Florida north of State Road 40, Central between 40 and 70, South below 70). A tank with a heater, a greenhouse or a shaded sump changes the answer.
Florida rules1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10
| FWC status | FWC's species profile, titled "Florida Bass/Largemouth Bass" (Micropterus salmoides), lists "Species Status Native" and says the fish is "Found statewide in lakes and rivers". It notes that "Florida bass has now been designated a separate species from largemouth bass" but that the two are "considered within the same species for regulations". The northern form is not native here: FWC's Conditional Nonnative Species List names "Micropterus salmoides salmoides (Northern largemouth bass)", with an exception that intergrade largemouth bass (northern x Florida largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides floridanus) "may be possessed in the Suwannee River and its tributaries and north and west of the Suwannee River". FWC pages show no revision date; read 2026-11-02. |
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| Permit or certificate | For a home system, FWC's Aquaponics Licenses & Permits page (no revision date; read 2026-11-02) says "No permit needed if aquatic species are produced for personal use only (not sold) and acquired in Florida" and "Conditional aquatic species cannot be used", which excludes northern largemouth bass. The page does not name bass. FDACS's BMP manual (FDACS-02034 Rev. 11/2023) says "Wild collection of broodfish requires a separate FWC permit." Commercial culture needs an FDACS Aquaculture Certificate of Registration (FDACS-P-01770 Rev. 12/25; FDACS Food Fish page), and any facility seeking to culture Florida largemouth bass must first send stock acquisition documentation and genetic testing records to the Division for approval (BMP chapter XIII). |
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| Selling fish or fingerlings | BMP chapter XIII: black bass (genus Micropterus) other than the Florida largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides floridanus, "may be cultured for stocking purposes only", and buying, selling, bartering, trading or exchanging them "for human consumption is prohibited." FDACS's Food Fish page says Chapter 597.004, Florida Statutes, was amended in 2021 "for the culture of Florida bass (Micropterus salmoides) for human consumption." Florida largemouth bass fingerlings must come from a facility using genetically authenticated broodstock, and the genetic documentation, with the Aquaculture Certificate of Registration number, must go with every bill of sale (BMP). FWC's aquaponics page adds a Resident Fish Dealer's license for selling live fish to the public and an FDACS food permit for selling products for human consumption. |
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| Also | The agency pages name these fish differently. FWC's profile uses Micropterus salmoides for Florida bass/largemouth bass. FWC's Conditional list and the BMP manual call the Florida fish Micropterus salmoides floridanus and the northern fish M. s. salmoides, and the BMP says northern largemouth bass "must meet restricted species containment requirements throughout Florida." FDACS's Food Fish page calls Florida bass Micropterus salmoides and says "The largemouth bass (Micropterus nigricans) is a restricted species throughout Florida." Our reading is that the restricted or Conditional fish in every case is the northern largemouth, but confirm with FDACS or FWC before buying. SRAC 722 and SRAC 200 add that the Florida and northern forms can only be told apart by biochemical tests, so you cannot check by looking. |
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Rules change and this is a summary; the agency page in the sources is the authority. Check it before you buy, breed or sell.
Growing1, 2, 9
| Harvest size | about 0.9 lb after the second growing season in Kentucky pond trials; live markets want 1.5 to 2 lb |
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| Months to harvest | two growing seasons for just under 1 lb; a third season for 1.5 lb or more (SRAC 722, Kentucky ponds) |
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| Stocking | SRAC 722: feed-training tanks hold 1.5 to 2 inch fingerlings at 200 to 500 per cubic foot, depending on water flow; trained fish go to ponds at 20,000 to 30,000 per acre for the first season, and Kentucky State University got its best grow-out at 5,000 to 6,000 per acre. No aquaponic density was found. For any small aquaponic system, SRAC 5007's general guide for new growers is a final density of about 1 pound of fish per 10 gallons. |
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| Feed | SRAC 722: bass must be feed-trained at 1.5 to 2 inches. Crowd them in tanks, offer freeze-dried krill, ground fish or fish eggs, and blend in more salmonid pellet each day until they eat straight pellets by about day 7; 80 to 90 percent should convert. Then feed a 40 to 48 percent protein salmonid diet with 8 to 10 percent fat two or three times a day to satiation; the best Kentucky results used 46 to 48 percent protein and 6 to 8 percent lipid fed once daily. Fish of 1 to 2 inches need about 41 percent protein. Pale fatty livers and winter deaths in pellet-fed bass may be diet-related. SRAC 200: on live food, bass need about 10 lb of forage per lb of gain. |
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| Water quality | SRAC 722: feed conversion drops when dissolved oxygen is below 4 mg/L; bass avoid water under 3 mg/L but can tolerate 1.4 mg/L at 25 C (converted: 77 F). Ammonia tolerance is similar to or a little below that of channel catfish (24-hour un-ionized ammonia LC50 1.69 mg/L). Nitrite tolerance is very high: the 96-hour LC50 is 460 mg/L, against 24.8 mg/L for channel catfish. SRAC 200: bass feed by sight and do best with water clarity of at least 15 inches, preferably 24. |
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SRAC 722: columnaris is a common problem during feed training; a 0.5 to 1 percent salt bath for up to an hour eases handling stress and cuts infections. A largemouth bass virus has been reported. Minimize handling in summer and winter.
Breeding and stock1, 2, 6, 7
| How it breeds | In the southern U.S., bass can spawn at 1 year old if they are at least 10 inches long (SRAC 200, SRAC 722). Males sweep a round nest in sand or gravel 1 to 4 feet deep, court females, then guard the eggs and fry. Females carry about 2,000 to 7,000 eggs per pound (SRAC 722), averaging about 4,000 (SRAC 200). Hatch time differs between the sheets: about 10 days at 65 F or 5 days at 80 F (SRAC 722), against 2 to 4 days in the southern U.S. (SRAC 200). Fry stay in the nest 1 to 2 weeks until the yolk is used (SRAC 722). Hatcheries stock brood fish over 2 years old and at least 1.5 lb at about 50 pairs per acre in fish-free 0.5 to 1 acre ponds, with no hormones needed, then move fry to fertilized nursery ponds at 40,000 to 80,000 per acre, where they reach 1.5 to 2 inches in 3 to 4 weeks (SRAC 722). |
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| Getting fingerlings or stock | Certified Florida farms must buy Florida largemouth bass fingerlings from a facility that uses genetically authenticated broodstock, and keep purchase records for three years beyond the life of the fish (BMP chapter XIII). For a home system, FWC's aquaponics page says no permit is needed if fish are acquired in Florida and not sold, and that Conditional species, which include northern largemouth bass, cannot be used. Feed-trained fingerlings are what make pellet culture possible (SRAC 722). |
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Florida sellers of fingerlings, breeders and stock
In an aquaponics system1, 8, 9
suited with care
SRAC 454 lists largemouth bass among species some aquaponic systems have used, and SRAC 5007 names it among food fish that can be grown in aquaponic systems in the southern region. All of SRAC 722's production data come from ponds, though. In a recirculating system the bass's very high nitrite tolerance helps, but fish must be feed-trained, need a high-protein feed, and grow slowly. The FAO aquaponics manual could not be fetched.
On the table1, 6
SRAC 722 reports preliminary Kentucky State University data: dress-out similar to catfish (about 60 percent whole dressed, 40 percent fillet), with relatively high protein and very high omega-3 fatty acids. Asian consumers in the U.S. prefer live bass of 1.5 to 2 lb. In Florida, only genetically documented Florida largemouth bass may be cultured for human consumption (BMP chapter XIII).
What this page doesn't cover yet
- No fetched source gives a best growth temperature, a point where growth stops, or lethal low or high temperatures for largemouth bass; all temperature figures are null.
- No aquaponic or recirculating stocking density, feeding-rate ratio or harvest data for bass was found; growing figures come from Kentucky pond trials and hatchery practice.
- Scientific names conflict across agency pages (Micropterus salmoides for Florida bass in FWC's profile and FDACS's Food Fish page; M. salmoides floridanus in the BMP manual and FWC's Conditional list; M. nigricans used by FDACS for the restricted largemouth bass). The record uses FWC's profile name and flags the conflict.
- No fetched page says whether a home grower may stock bass caught from the wild, or what fishing rules apply to doing so.
- SRAC 722 and SRAC 200 disagree on egg hatching time (about 5 to 10 days depending on temperature, against 2 to 4 days in the southern U.S.).
- The FAO 'Small-scale aquaponic food production' manual returned HTTP 403 on every FAO URL tried, so it was not used.
Sources
- Species Profile: Largemouth Bass. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 722. Read 2026-11-02.
- Largemouth Bass: Biology and Life History. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 200. Read 2026-11-02.
- Florida Bass/Largemouth Bass (species profile). Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
- Conditional Nonnative Species List. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
- Food Fish. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture. Read 2026-11-02.
- Aquaculture Best Management Practices Manual (incorporated into Rule 5L-3.004, F.A.C.). Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture, FDACS-02034 Rev. 11/2023. Read 2026-11-02.
- Aquaponics Licenses & Permits. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Read 2026-11-02.
- Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production Systems: Aquaponics—Integrating Fish and Plant Culture. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 454. Read 2026-11-02.
- Principles of Small-Scale Aquaponics. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC), SRAC 5007. Read 2026-11-02.
- Commercial Aquaponics: Rules and Regulations. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture, FDACS-P-01770 Rev. 12/25. Read 2026-11-02.
Every fact above is restated in our own words from these documents, written 2026-11-02. Independent of the University of Florida and of every agency named.