Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Yeah Sleepe, if they can reach it they'll break it from my experience.

Suprise update time.
Pierre the amazing spelunking goldfish survived the massacre thanks to 'his' adventurous spirit!

The airlift had been cut open to try to let him out, then the growbed was pulled apart so he could escape from under the freezer gravel bed in case he managed to squeeze through that far. I had blanked off two large holes to get the right water flow through the system, they lead to the void below the freezer gravel. Just as the wicking bed was dismantled he popped out of the airlift back into the pond. After the bird (?) attack happened it was assumed he was killed along with the other two whose mangled remains were found.
Some days later he magically appeared above the gravel on the GB side having made it the whole way down the airlift and up the now open void. Must have dashed in there for sanctuary. (Bear in mind the water level is 30mm or so higher than the gravel.)
So I 3/4 covered the pond in flyscreen thinking it might be less obtrusive and less fish toxic than the gal bird mesh I had, looks ok I guess...
Got him two more friends from the same batch of comets and now there are three cave-dwelling goldfish in the pond... A broken pot was put in to give some cover from the predator and little Pierre has given the previously confident other fish his neurosis. Get anywhere close and they race into the clay pot, looking out just enough to get a good look at you. Since he lost some of his tail and a few scales in the attack I figure the comfort of the cave can't hurt him.
So now the timber work has been pretty well finished and the wicking bed is operational again.
Who wouldda thought a fridge with a few goldfish could keep me so amused?

Oh, I did end up using part of a cutlery tray from a dishwasher to cover the airlift opening.
Gotta keep up the scrapyard theme when I can.

I think Pierre wears his undies on the outside.

Yes I admit it Martin, rookie error, I tend to do that a lot with the grandkids.

Sorry Bogy I meant the black bird netting they drape over fruit trees.

I knew what you meant Sleepe, but I'm a rotten scrounger and couldn't be bothered with the cross town drive to the only hardware store to buy some pre-packaged item instead of a couple of linear meters. Chicken mesh and flyscreen were at hand though.
It's a bit of a trend in this particular shop to sell nicely packaged items at the sizes they think you need.
Things will get interesting when two large competitors move into town very soon.
Might not be a fan of multinationals like big 'B' and the newcomers 'M' but the monopoly that the other chain has in town means a pretty hefty premium on products compared top what I pay at home in the south east.

No fresh pics of the fish pond but time for an update and some ponderings about my next plans.

There are only a few peas and beans in the wicking bed, frankly it is too wet since I haven't raised the sides/soil depth yet. Happily though the plants are doing fine, peas plodding along but the beans are growing pretty fast. Guessing we thought the beans were dwarf but it was actually the peas that are dwarf?

I saw a small mayfly (dragonfly/damselfly?) just above the water level. Then I saw it had a larval skin below it on the pond wall. Seemed to have just had it's last moult and was waiting for its wings to dry. Looking closer I saw maybe 8 other discarded skins on the wall around the pond. Pretty sure they have been breeding in the little pond and living in the gravel of the in-pond substrate filter. The owner is pretty chuffed.

Onto my new thoughts.
I'm getting a single IBC system soon and I'm thinking of trialling Spangled perch in it.
Probably buy fingerlings for the first batch but if they get up to eatable size I'm considering replacing them with with wild-caught specimens.
There's a bag/possession limit of 20 with no minimum size limit. I know I'll be getting 300g fish at harvest more than likely but that doesn't worry me. Mainly hoping they don't massacre each other... Wish the bag limit was twice what it is but I guess I can add a few tandans if I have extra capacity.

Any thoughts? I can't find much discussion on the forum about peoples' real world experiences with this fish, hoping to change that. Not too worried if its positive news or not, A single IBC is more of a garden to me, devoting a season or two to a potentially useless species doesn't bother me much.
Advice, random thoughts and ideas welcomed.

Oh, for those who were amused by Spelunking Pierre, he and his two friends are healthy and growing well.
His fins are healed and all fish are all quite robust looking.

Scratch that, probably 200gm at harvest for spangled...
I doubt I'll have any surprising success here and as tempting and sensible a choice Jade Perch are, I'm still keen for an experiment with spangled perch.

Thanks for the update Bodgy. Glad Pierre is thriving.

It isn't really going to suit my scrapyard theme but the IBC system is just about set up now.
Current location is far from ideal with limited light through winter but I'll be able to move it to a better spot down the track when I sort out some space.
I'd seen a few houses I'd worked on had used rendered polystyrene cladding and I liked the idea of using it (hoping to scrounge site bins). Sadly as soon as I wanted it it wasn't available so I've bought some 30mm thick sheets to clad the FT and GB with.
Lack of a spade bit slowed me down on the weekend so I haven't finished it off yet.

Pics soon.
Basic plan - the pallet was on the FT base so I cut it off to lower overall height.
- made up a frame of LVL formwork timber to rest the gb upon (on top of the FT), drilled to slot over the spikes on top of the cut off cage. Probably cut down the spikes so this frame is flush with the top of the FT, lowering overall height and reducing runoff from the LVL timber. (I'll be painting and then covering it with plastic anyway to prevent leeching in case it has nasties in it).
- yet to clad with foam and paint with acrylic "render paint" (scored cheap on gumtree).
- then use hardwood decking as edging around top edge of FT and GB.
Thinking I'll run constant flood but it has a siphon so I might try out F/D too.

My idea is to make it look a bit like rendered brick/concrete and the insulation is a bonus for some degree of thermal stability. I'm guessing it will be a nice stable "bloody cold" for the next six months. Getting nice and close to completed now though.

Picture time!
I've been too busy and lazy to clad it yet but it is up and running at least.
The sickly looking basil is actually from the previous owner and has been living in a bottle of water for ages, now back home in the system for sentimental reasons.
Under that green building wrap the top of the FT is fully boxed in with LVL timber which has holes drilled to slot over the spikes of the cut up cage.
The close up pic shows this peeking out at the back to support the GB.
The wrap covers the LVL and then tucks in under the IBC tank to prevent any condensation dripping from the lumber into the FT, just in case. I did mean to paint it too but forgot all about that.
Out of interest that wrap completely blocks light, if I maintain laziness it'll do the job for a while.
Also learned the hard way not to sit the test tubes from my brand spanking API test kit on the hot water system.
One stiff breeze and now I only have 2 of them. sigh...

25/06/14

Low pH - 7.5
High pH - 7.5
Ammonia - .25+ ppm
Nitrite - .25ppm
Nitrate - 40ppm

Total Alkalinity - 40ppm

The low range pH looked like it was 7.5 or so. To be sure I tried the high range and it said the same.
I found the others pretty hard to read, especially nitrate which was either 40ppm or completely off the scale. It looked like wine from a Vampire movie more than anything.
I used an old test strip for a pool to get the Total Alkalinity reading, no idea yet what that means if anything...

Really should be holding the vials with my toes in hindsight...

I added about 20L of the contents of some large canister filters from my Bro's aquariums and a small amount of seasol.
Only just received the test kit today so I have no idea where these figures were a week ago or where they are headed.
Guess I'll just wait to see where these numbers go for the next week and go from there.
The system had been used for one year before I got my hands on it too, the media spent ages in sealed buckets but still had a fair amount of gunk attached and I guess that would have added some amount of a nutrient load too.
No fish to kill yet though so not stressed at all.

Very little light hitting the GB where it is but as long as it is running, it is maturing I reckon and I'll shift it to a better place one day.