Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

nice one BF. Correct me if I am wrong, but you may be the first to reach that magic Kilo mark!

hey monya,

well i haven't got there just yet but will see come winter. i'll have some competition though with faye and eb, although i think faye ate her largest ones.

it will be interesting to see how the smaller square tanks i'm using compare with faye and eb's large circular ones. the barra took a few days to get used to the tank but now seem comfortable with it. i was worried they would keep banging the sides but this ceased once they were settled.

hi all,

just wanted to report that everything is looking dandy. not a single death yet. knock on wood.

the system's have jumped into a new gear with the increase of feeding. interestingly with the increase of feed the zoo plankton has population has boomed. copepods are clearly viable when the pumps are turned off. when the goldfish were in the systems they were doing a good job keeping the population low. water is golden in colour and algae not yet an issue. the single growbeds seem to be keeping up with the extra load.

today i inspected the barra more closely and noticed the largest one had what looks like a sore on its head. it could simply be from hitting up against the tank of it could be more serious. it could also be net damage from transport.

i'm debating whether or not to treat with salt. i don't want to stress the fish by trying to catch it out if its not necessary. stress could be a cause. none of the other fish have it so its unlikely that its a disease but i'm not sure.

i will contact the supplier to get his thoughts.

wouldn't mind hearing yours as well.

here's a couple update pics. you can faintly see the sore which i have circled.

thanks folks.

Looks like an injury to me BF, notice you have your heater in the tank.
After a warm November now that summer has arrived its really cooled down. My tanks were at 15c yesterday, needless to say the trout are still doing fine.

yeah its crazy weather. after what felt like the coolest november i can recall it was actually the hottest on record. whats with that? i have been running my heaters non stop since i got the barra waiting for temps to warm up which hasn't happened. not looking forward to the electricity bill, however the growth rate has been phenomenal. the bigger they get now will make a huge difference at harvest.

so do injuries naturally heal or should i salt bath it?

I noticed an injury on my biggest Perch about 3 weeks ago and had the same dilema as you have now. In the end I did nothing and it is now almost completely healed.

My barra gets injuries all the time. You will notice how scarred bigger barra are. Most of his injuries come from trying to eat something on the other side of the glass...

If it doesn't clear up within a 3-4 days then it may be more serious... Just keep an eye on him.

Just eat him

That too.... I have always said... If my barra dies, we eat him.... He is 32 cm now!

Sorry BF, continue...

that gives me peace of mind. i think it more then likely is a sore it got from hitting the wall. the ribs in the middle could be what caused it. when they are spooked the hit the tank wall at a very strong force. i can nearly feel the tank shake. either they are getting brain damage or they have a hard head.

i was wondering if they do the same in an aquarium or if they get used to the movement and not spook as much? i can imagine an aquarium cracking due to the force.

just goes to show though a reason why larger circular tanks are a better choice to square. of course they take up more room in the process.

Now don't you start with that stuff.....

the fish still run into the walls in a large round tank if they get spooked

...just that they get up more speed by doing a few laps 1st

so i gather its common for barra to swim into the side of the tank, and nothing to worry about. i'm sure the force they hit the tank with has to do damage. i guess they have to put up with worse stuff in the ocean such as the jaws of prey. they must have a thick leathery skin.

hey all. i can't believe the extra plant growth i'm now getting from the barra. sure makes a difference to growing a few goldies. before the plants were looking deficient. now they look vibrant and full of life.

the growbeds with the smaller silvers still look fairly deficient.

i haven't been doing water tests as feel its not really necasary at this stage. fish behavior and plants are a good indicator of water quality. if fish are feeding well and plants growing well then you have a pretty stable system. only concern will be nitrate or pH levels rising too high.

yesterday i turned off the heaters and water temp dropped from 25 down to 20. had a cold couple days so will switch it back on. feed uptake at 25 is substantially higher then 20. i was feeding them 3-4 times a day at 25 where as only 2 times at 20. one thing i noticed is the barra in the more mature system (3 months older) are feeding a lot more vigorously then the ones in the younger system. i haven't tested ammonia but have a feeling the extra feed may be pushing up the levels. hopefully in a couple months the bacteria will have caught up.

i will be adding another growbed to each system. they are 1mx1m and can be seen in the ocean aquaponic bio farm link in my sig. i will be using pots with expanded clay for ease of plant access. that way i can tend to the pots at the back of the growbeds by simply moving the pots. a bit like those old computer mazes where you can only move one block at a time. it will also allow the light coverage to be evenly disbursed to each pot. that way no single plant can hog the light for too long. this way i should get a better total harvest.

i should be able to easy double my stocking density then.

anyhow heres a pic of the most mature growbed.