Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

That sounds phenomenal TT. Good to hear thinhs are going well and looking forward to seeing your photos.
Faye

Been a while.
Finished the first lot of broccoli and most of the savoy cabbages. Caulis heading up nicely.
Have replanted with same,in diff beds. Also got some beetroot,celery,spinach and silverbeet on the go.
Steve S kindly gave me some chives and a chillie plant. I planted the chives, in the pot, so it doesn't take over. The chillies are still setting fruit in their pot and doing nicely.
I am going to bring another 3 bathtubs on line shortly. Plan on throwing some trout in the big tank with the broodies in the next week or so. See how they grow here compared to everyone else this winter.
Bit concerned about cooler temps with the silver fingerlings. Water down to 13-14C, only feeding them every second day. Just want to nurse them thru and get some trout grown out in the mean time.
FF, can u bang the phone number for Ballarat here please? Dunno what I have done with it.

Hey TT what temperature do silver perch prefer?

23-28C.

sorry dont have a no just get there between 8 and 9 thats there feeding time

faye, my fingerlings ate steadily from 15-16C last spring. They had been overwintered outdoors where temps got down to just under 10C. As Chappo says, mid 20s they are chewing their heads off.
Winter disease, Saprolegniosis, is a problem for silvers in cooler winter waters. It is a mould that shows initially as white 'cotton wool like' spots on the caudal fin then white blotches on the surface of the rest of the body in advanced stages. It is quite deadly and sudden temp drops over a couple days bring it on. Continuous salt at 2-5ppt and trying to keep ur water warm are really the only things we can do to treat it. (source NSW DPI.)

I have copper piping in the walls of my milk vat, but don't really want to be spending big money on heating so it will be a bit of suck it and see. Last winter kept my first lot feeding in the spa at 18C with 2 by 300W heaters but the power bill was off the chart. Still scratching my head about this winter.

Thanks FF, will pick some up this week.

quick update, time flies........
Missed out on the trout so sticking with what I have atm, ie. silver fingerlings from late last season at Glenwaters, about 200 and 5 silver perch broodies from Kangaroo Ground.

Water temps are 10-11C and they are feeding quite steadily. I was so surprised I phoned John at Glenwaters, his are doing the same. Obviously a low temp tolerant version of the breed. I am so impressed I may grow a few out as breeders and mix them with the ones from KG for some genetic variation in our cooler southern waters.

I have 6000-7000lts in the system and temps are quite stable, i think this is key.
Plenty of silverbeet, lettuce,spinach, celery and brassics on the go. I had a largely failed bed of broccoli seedlings. I had put them in a bed immediately following tomatoes. I am thinking it may have had something to do with the dense tomato root system not being removed prior to planting the broccs. Since that I try and dig a bed over and pull out the larger roots b4 replanting, seems to work better.

Must get those other 3 beds online, taking 4 eva. Footy free wknd coming up, must pull out the finger.
Hi to all you Eagle's fans, how'd ya'll enjoy the clinic last Saturday night?

Think they should be used to it by now TT.... most of their players have been going in and out of "clinics" for the last couple of years.....

Time for a quick update.
movaitgerard has bought the entire Tragic Greenhouse system. It's a bloody bargain and I won't let him forget it! The upside for me is it won't move far, a few postcodes, and we may still be able to do something together re the breeders, this summer.
I harvested the beetroot this weekend and have changed my view. Newly separated, I have learnt my way around a supermarket. The beets in the produce section are no bigger than what I harvested, so beets do fine, it was just my expectations based on the size of what we get in a can! I diced one up in a stir fry yesterday and it tasted fine.
Silvers are eating at 9C which proves they don't know they are supposed to be warm water fish. Have picked some celery,brocc and cauli lately but won't be much more until things get shifted entirely.
It has been a ripping proof of concept system and I look fwd to AP being a much bigger part of the rest of my life. We should all have one of these setups in our backyard, but I guess most *kittens* that already.
Ciao for now.

how 'kittens' got in there i dunno, shoulda been 'knew'.

My first real "convert" I met Gerard in Adelaide at a work training session, we got talking about AP and he was hooked!
Sorry about your losses TT but I am glad it's been sold as a whole unit, and to a bloke I know will look after it. He doesn't live very far from you and I'm sure he'll let you come and play from time to time.

Goodluck to MG

Erik XIV

Hi KE, it really is a small world eh. Gerard has a nice block for the system but more importantly a real desire to provide his family with clean healthy food.
We moved a couple ibcs,spare bathtubs and some plumbing bits I had lying around on Saturday. Once the ibcs are seasoned and plumbed and the water warms a bit, we will shoot the fingerlings over with some cycledd gravel. It will be a good chance to grade them as well.
The shift will be done in 2 or 3 stages and might take a month or so all up and yes I am very happy someone locally has picked it up.

Bugger. I was really looking forward to seeing some more progress pics.

Hey gemmell, movaitgerard plans to reinstal the system largely as is. I am sure the progress pics will be fun. He loves the bathtubs!
In time I will have a new corrugated system for my home setup, which I designed earlier this year. Bit going on tho atm. When things settle down a bit and I have a firm home base it will be all systems go.

hey guys dont despair I will get the system installed and will keep you posted.This forum has been great for me as KE indicated he got me going in march and I put a 2 year time frame on this TT invited me to see his system and I had started to plan that was it. A quick email via the forum and 5 days later I am on the way. Will take me a while to master the forum but the system will be as is with 2 more holding tanks and a seperate couple of growbeds that will be weekly waters ie herbs the only reason I will modify this system is due to the nature of transporting the fish I have the 2 holding tanks that I need to season they may as well be pre plumbed to add on to the TT system I have purchased.
Be patient it will probably be next year when I give it a go and post the changes
Hail King Erik and thankyou TT