Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Yes the place for the thermal mass is still there. By experience I can say that the system it self has a lot of thermal potential. Its really killing the ups and downs.

We had aprox a week of 30+ degrees and the greenhouse was always cooler by 3-4 degrees inside. Now we have colder weather than normally. Tonight we had 13C and at 7am it was still only 15C when I enteredthe GH. Inside it was 20, the water temp was 21. So the mass of water and stones is really smoothing the weather of the GH. The thermal mass will help that to be even more consistent, but because of its placement it will be vital for the winter im sure.

Right now im busy with the fish, and fighting ants and aphis.

We have a family event today, i would like to make it memorable by tasteing the first aquaponic radish, cant wait!

First harvest!



All is tickinig nice, the first group ot 29 wels catfish are fine as well. They really growed in the last few days, its visible. Also they are getting use to being feed. They are not so shy and affraid as the first days but as food added they really go for it. They prefer moskito larves to tubifex. I do 1/3 water change each day and keep the ph around 8-8,5 because they really produce lot of amonia to their water quantity. They will stay in the quaranteen for at least a more weeks. I would like to be sure that both fish groops are healty.

Cucumber, different type of pumpkins, beans are all in flowers. The GH looks nice. I will make a video on friday after all fish are in.

Tomorrow its Central European Aquaponics Jamboree time, I can't wait to meet a feloww aquaponian!

Congratulations, zsazsa, on your first harvest! Great feeling, isn't it?

Good to see that early hardest Zsazsa, damn that was quick.....

Are they hatching cones on the page before?

The first Central European Aquaponic Jamboree was wonderfull!

It was a long day! Meeting an other aquaponic fellow, is worthless.
Full story, pictures, videos to follow tomorrow, I have some job to do with the fish.

So far it looks like all but one made it. So 99 little fish in the tank! I hope molj made it home too!

Ooops corrected

Yes please pictures are always good......

We had a tough day yesterday. We both drove to Keszthely what is aprox the half way between us, and its a ~5 hour dirve for both of us. On the way there I meet the fish supplyer, and picked up the fish (100+50) plus some pellets to raise than for the fist 2 month.

We meet at the fish laboratory of the local university, where I have organized a walk around.

The place was empty all the students and teachers are on holiday, but the assistant showed us around.

The technics of the lab is not much advenced than our aquaponic systems. We saw intresting things in filtering. Got som intresting data about ongoing, and recently finished researches.

We saw some intensive fish like sterlet, pike, european perch, walleye, wels catfish. Got some valuable info on keeping our catfishes.

We had a great lunch in a local resturant in style (we ate catfish ), than we went down the beach, where molj showed that he can swim. Here is the proof, when he emerged form the lake:




After fish and fishfeed divided, we drove home.

I think we do it again next year, may be its gona be a different location, and we will stay longer, but also hopefully there will be a little more participants.

The 99 new fish are fine, they look ok and they eat the pellet. They are half size of the other 29. the 99 fish are in the big system, while the test group stays in caranteen.

Little bad news on the end: I found that the test groop in the caranteen has ich, only about 4-5 are of than not effected. They are flashing. I think its stress, too much water changes, maybe. I salted their water and wait to see what happens :/

Fish news:

The new branch "the little ones"(They are 1,5 to 2,5 cms)
I had some fishing the last 2 days. Not happy fishing

1 didn't make it home
1 was floating next morning
6 was floating today morning
3 deads by noon

89 left


The know pellets but the dont eat as good as the big ones, and I could see that the guts of the dead ones where empty. I called the fish supplier, he said nothing, but sending a little sample of an other feed, that is red. They should like that more. They are probably stressed because of the transfer and the new enviroment.

Molj had 3 deads so far, same experience with the feeding. He thinks its the stress, hope they start getting better.

The tests "the big ones" (they are 4-5,5 cms)

The big fish got ich. Yesterday morning I found tham not eating but flashing, with white spot in a corner of their tank. It was cause ammonia, my new test kit is a bullshit, It turned out that I had amm levels of 7+ in their water…

I made tham a salty bath of 20mg/l they where there for 45 minutes. That was a miracle. They stopped flashing in a few minutes, they got more and more relaxed, all until the point were they got so relaxed that they where just floating free, do nothing just breathing. It was so intresting.
I completely changed their water, and salted the new water to 3mg/l.

Today morning they where much better a lot of white spots deisapeared, they acted quite normal. No feed yesterday, and no feed today. They got some feed early afternoon, some started eating again, some still have white spots, but much less then yesterday.

they are still 29

I found 2 caterpillars in on the radishes. So now they suffer from radishes and caterpillars. Pff...

Meanwhile 2 more little one gave up

Iff you are sure about ich diagnosis read this
http://www.myschnauzer.net/ich.html#life
I realy enjoy your thread, and thank you big time for sharing the journey with us.

cheers

More fishing and bad news today morning with the little ones. I'm down to 61 .

They dont eat. All dead ones are quite empty, nothing in their guts or belly.
I have tried, two types of pellets, that they should be used to. Some pick tham but most dont.
I have tried tubifex and mosqito larves cut to small pieces, with the same result

Don't know what to do, the supplier has no idea.... I moved tham to a small tank with water from the system salted up to 3g/l. I hope some will make it... I wonder wether molj has better luck...


But its not only bad news today morning!

The big ones are better! Some white spots are visible, but only a few has it now! They are still in quaranteen, I changed 1/2 their of water again. And did the first test with the pellet. I throwed some pellet ower tham and gues what, they took it!

The menu was 2-3g pellets 2g mosquitos. They ate from both!

Is it a case of the small ones should not have been sold to you?

Ifthey are not taking food yet the larger ones are, this suggestthat the supplier would have been feeding them something else.

try grinding the pellets up.. oif they are floating pellets try wetting some down for a few hours in the fridge and squashing them with your fingers