Hi All,
I was wondering if anyone had experience keeping trout alive over summer in Ballarat or Melbourne - and what tips you have on doing it?
My plan was an aquaponics system in a greenhouse with silver perch in it (because it's generally very cold in Ballarat - about 4 degrees cooler than Melbourne, and usually feels like 9 months of winter weather).
Then to have a separate external trout pond 1m deep x 1.2m wide x 2m long above ground, with a deeper middle section 2m deep x 1.2m wide x 1.2 m long under ground... so total depth is 2m below ground, 1m above ground. The pond would have aeration and would be surrounded by wood above ground, with an openable lid. (I was going to set up a bottom drain with an overflow pipe that feeds into the greenhouse - but the overflow would only be used at certain times - see below.)
Do you think this would enable trout to survive summer, maybe with the odd day of ice packs in the water? Any other design improvements? Would it help to have the above ground portion smaller so there is less exposure of the wood to the sun, or to put insulation or reflective material in?
Also because the water from the greenhouse system will be a bit warmer - do you think it would be sufficient to just set a timer to do partial water exchanges/changes (maybe 15-25% of volume) with the greenhouse AP system each night - with no additional pond filtration (or this pump could run for a few hours each night when the greenhouse system cools)?
In this situation would the pond need any additional circulation, or will the aeration suffice?
Alternatively, I could just set up a small filter box connected to the pond with some lava rock (for a larger pond biological filter + water circulation), and cycle the pond water all day; and then do the partial water change with the greenhouse each night.
Is one decent sized air stone enough? Is it more about the amount of air flow than the number of air stones?
Thoughts or experiences anyone? Thanks.
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