Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

19 days growth and some cool cucumber stands

couple more

What did you do with the wine

I put in cucumber seeds and they quickly grew and were flowering in a short time - don't have the actual figures tho but once they start, they take off...get ready to demonstrate to lil TT on how to tell the male from the female flowers and then how to hand pollinate

Still learning the m/f flower thing myself, Les.
Cucumbers are funny. In the past I had issues getting them past the transplant stage. Hence my surprise at their rapid flowering here. If i could get them past that, they seem to go beserk. 2-3 years ago we had 2 cucumber plants and simply could not keep up with the fruit. We use one per day during summer but the 2 plants were popping out a couple each per day. I will be interested to see how they go, they seem established. Will start playing around with the hand pollination thing.

The wine bottles were empty. We pick up the empties from our venues, wash them and reuse them. We are the only company in the world that does this, (patent protected.)

you can patent re-use of bottles?

nah, our dispense system is where the patent comes in, should have clarified that

What do you reuse them for?
The reason most companies don't do it, (where Slades and others used to) is that to cut prices, the wall thickness is so thin, that it is seriously only designed to make barely one trip. With losses you'd find many would make a second trip, and I commend your company for 'Reuse' before 'Recycle'.

I'd love to know if bottle weakness is an issue at all?

BTW LOVELY veggies. I can't wait to be able to plant.

KP, the bottles are made in Italy, 9 litres, 2 halves joined. We lose less than a dozen out of many thousand each year due to weakness at the join/seam. It's all about recycle brutha.

Got some serious stuff done today, pics to come.
Got the milk vat off the truck and sited, just me and dad, nearly killed us.
Got the plumbing to this done, easy peasy really.
Got a ball valve to the milk vat to regulate water inflow.
Got a siphon happening b/n milkvat and big tank, so I still only use the sump pump in the big tank.
Made a hella lotta noise and banging and cutting and cussing and guess what, tonight my baby silvers still wanted their tucker. They are good lil fishies.
I feel a bit guilty bc have done various cutting and glueing to plumb the new tank. If I have a tank full of dead fish tomorrow it will be my own fault!
On a serious time line. Can say it now:
picking up 2fm 3m broodfish 2moro from KG. Only confirmed today, hence the bloody rush to plumb the milkvat. There will be a bit of adjusting ball valves to optimize flow rates, but have broken the back of it.
The milk vat is only 1600-1700 litres but that is where the brood fish must go for now. Might have to move 'em again in a month if our property offer comes off, but worry about that, then. Won't breed from them this year, but will be under the radar for all you Vic SP lovers, next year!
Photos 2moro.

broodfish TT? What are you breeding? SP? Ever done it before? Is it hard?

Forgive me if the answers have been mentioned somewhere else in the last 29 pages I did skim but...

never tried breeding them and won't this year. Broodfish and hatchery management is first semester next year at Tafe. Will have a crack next summer after doing that.
Obtaining the broodfish is a now or never thing, hence the rush with the milkvat plumbing, pics later.

3 meter fish big hey

This thing is taking over my life!

here fishy fishy

the last 24 hours has been full on.
Sited and plumbed the milkvat into the existing system after work last night, nearly killed me and dad, got it off the truck, just the 2 of us. Don't ask!
Added 1500lts fresh water via the sump.
Picked up 3 male 2 female broodfish today.
Clove oil, weigh, measure, recovery tank for each fish b4 going into the milkvat.

Let me say at the outset, I feel like a horrible person. The stress on the fish was palpable. Check the colour of the one in the recovery tank photo, not good. Did everything by the book, made a couple fubars but got them all weighed and measured.
The 3 males were around the 40cm mark and weighed b/n 500-800 grams. The 2 females were around the 45cm mark, one at 1.1kg and one at 1.4kg. The males are full of milt and the girls ckockers with eggs, buy I will leave them be for this season. Just hope they survive the ordeal. Most stressful thing I have ever done. Thought I may as well take the opportunity to measure and weigh, but sheesh, stress city for everyone.
Thanks to Jules, the kids and dad for their help. Please forgive me fishies, and may they outlive me.

Cool TT. That's a big female. Males not a dissimilar size to the female I ate on the weekend. She was full of eggs.