Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Since your return i have been watching this thread with great interest.

Do you run your water at the same salinity as ocean water?

Currently a bit below : 25ppt
I brought another tank online yesterday and filled with tap water so that dropped the salinity.
According to my reseach, the best growth is at 35ppt.
Blue swimmer crabs would have to be one of the easiest species to start with. They have a very high tollerance to Ammonia, they can live without water for hours, changes in salinity dont seem to harm them and they eat almost anything.
Things will get interesting when i start to keep less hardy species.

Dont let Rupe see those prawn heads..

Feedin tha crabs by hand!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1bI7Np3nSc&feature=youtube_gdata_player:-D

Hows the system coming along Kroz

Well, long time no update, long story short, I went overseas for 2 weeks and left my brother to care for the system. End of story. The whole system went bright green and the crabs were found floating upside down. Still, the samphire is growing and even after turning the system off for two months, it is still doing well. I have restarted the pumps today and will let the algae settle down, few water changes and we will be back in business.

A few notes: Blue swimmer crabs eat each other when moulting just like yabbies etc. If you stock them too thick with no shelter etc they will fight and lose limbs etc.

I am using multiple tanks with a complicated overflow design. I would recommend using raceways for crabs, they can be seperated and fed easier.

This was a successful setup albeit fought with catastrophe at times due to bad design.

I am going to setup a new system over winter with a single ibc overflowing to a short raceway and pumped back.

Simplicity will be key.
Ever since I setup my ibc freshwater system, I have had no dramas at all.

Love the idea of growing sea creatures at home but I have not yet proved if plants in the system will prosper at all. This year is the year.

Thanks for the update Krozbolt. I have been keeping an eye on your thread with great interest.

Thank you for posting this lesson learned. I look forward to future postings of your success.

After a 2 year absence from the forums and aquaponics in general, I am back, new house, new job, new marriage - all these things seem to put aquaponics on the back burner, but things have settled down and now i am keen to get back into it.
New plans to come.....

Welcome back, Kroz