Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Last year we had one of the coldest winters on record, it got down to the 20's F.

For trout you will need to keep the tank between 34F and 73F. You might last a few days over that with heaps of aeration. Might be worth finding out if anyone has tried Bass. They would be fun to watch at feeding time.

Trout sounds a little more manageable. my water temperature will easily drop into the 50's (maybe even lower) this winter and that is when my Tilapia die off. But then with the Trout I would probably have to get a chiller for the summer time. In which case which would be more cost effective. Any tasty fish that like 50's - 85's?

Trout usually hit plate sized easily in 6-8 month from fingerling. They are good fun at feeding time. I made the mistake of over feeding mine and killed the lot about a month shy of getting them in the frying pan.

sorry to hear that about your trout.

The trout are doing a good job of growing my fruit tees now. Do they still spray the whole area with malathion around there for the fruit fly? Just checking as to if it would affect the fish at all.

You know, I couldn't really tell you if they did spray malathion or not. Nor could I say whether or not we have fruit flies here. lol found this, as my curiosity got the best of me. http://thepacker.com/Florida-officials-find-Oriental-fruit-flies-in-Tampa-area/Article.aspx?oid=1255734&fid=PACKER-TOP-STORIES&aid=657

I used to spend my summer break every year in St Pete. The local radio station used to send one of there guys out into the spray zone on a regular basis to see if it had any side affects.

So what was the verdict? any extra limbs? lol

Did quite a bit of work on the system this weekend. Most of it involved research and tinkering, but the final product is pretty sweet. I built a DIY venturi tee, from my understanding the venturi is the most efficient way of oxygenating your pond. It looked cool so I just had to build one. Granted you could very easily buy one from a local pond supply store for $5 or $15 online ($10 shipping cost for me, obviously could be different). Without a doubt I spent more than $15 but that is not important. I learned so much more from building it myself, and it gave me an excuse to spend more time with my system. For me 3/4 of the fun is building and tinkering with the system. A simple Google search consisting of "DIY venturi" or DIY venturi tee" will provide tons of information(pick your poison). I made mine with a 1 1/4" pvc straight, 3/4" pvc 45° elbow, a drilled hole and electrical tape (this is the model, epoxy will be in place of the electrical tape later). It all sounds so simple now, but actually took several (hours) ideas and models before getting one working, Then fine-tuning, adjusting, and remodeling finally the one that I was happy with. I went ahead and bought the commercial venturi on the internet as it would be interesting to see the difference in air saturation of commercial vs DIY. Pictures will be posted tomorrow.

Query of the night, best answer will win a cookie? Do venturi tee's work better the deeper they are?

Just trying out copy and pasting links , so bare with me if I fail but check this venturi outhttp://www.backyardaquaponics.com/fo ... 06#p245306