Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

good to see you janet, am looking forward for some photo updates, nice to hear that everything is going along.why r u working on the sand filter?too much gunk?

togheter we will provail

Hi Molj,
I tried out the sand filter to be able to increase my feed level and grow out the fish a little faster. I only have about a 1:1 ratio between my beds and tank. There's no more space in the sunroom to put more beds, so I was trying to increase fitering without increasing the footprint of the system.

have you tried the simmering filter?(with the bubbles)
vertical beds?(more efficient space use)
panty-hose "filter" on the end of the drain line?(to catch the floaters, small flow obstruction)
just a few thoughts

How's the Job going?

Hi TC,
Thanks for asking.

I'm settling down to the new job; the benefits are very good, the people are great, but the work is chaotic. I've been assigned about 3 people's worth of work, and I think one of my biggest problems is going to be managing expectations. One fellow stopped by to ask when I could start working on his document. I told him that he was currently on my schedule for November and that he'd just have to limp along without it until then!!! I encouraged him to complain to my management if that timeline was too long, but strangely, I don't think he will.

On a more important front, the system continues along well. I went into HSM about a month ago when I realized the pump had just been recirculating water in the tank for a few days rather than getting water to the beds. (One little diverter got knocked off--you think I'd learn--this has happened before.) So at any rate, ammonia and nitrite were off the chart, and I lost 5 fish. I did a fast 60% water change in the morning, and still had readings off the chart, so did a 75% change in the afternoon. That brought readings down low enough to measure. By evening, everything was zero. Now that in itself was also interesting, because no matter what I've done, I've always had 0 ammonia, but always a trace of nitrite. After the HSM, everything was zero, and in fact, nitrite did not creep up. So I started upping feed--hey, why not? I'm now feeding double what I was before HSM, with all readings still at zero--yes, nitrate too. The tilapia are getting huge. I'm delighted by all this since I had always felt I ought to be able to feed more, but the nitrite readings held me back. Looks like tilapia will feature on the summer menues.

Breeders are getting along well, but I'm not able to reliably salvage fry from the activity yet. I've lost several mouthfuls now; one because I tried to net a holding female and she spit into the net. Otherwise, I've seen them holding, but can't reliably make it to fry. Folks who are hoping on getting fingerlings from me should probably continue to investigate other sources.

Weird, do you think the beds drying out have anything to do with the nitrites going to zero now? Maybe they were too wet or something, or the drying out eliminated some anaerobic spots?

The beds didn't dry out enough to cause any wilting, so it didn't really get that dry.

My only theory is that maybe some other compound had built up in the system that tested like nitrite but really wasn't??? Maybe doing the massive water change just got rid of that, and I never actually had a nitrite problem??? Grasping at really thin straws here.

Or maybe every system needs a good HSM every now an then to give the system a good hard re-set. I know a guy who claims that getting ripped drunk and suffering the hangover the next day is his equivalent of a Hard Re-set for himself. Not sure I buy that one either.

I'm glad the job is going good, hopefully the pace and workload reach an even keel that you can be content with.

Geez those females spit fry at the sight of a net don't they?

I need to go back through your thread and see, but I'll ask anyway. Do you have them in a brood tank? Or males and females all together in main tank? I had to start using a really fine mesh net to capture the fry after she spit them. It was the only way unless I had a special brood tank to let female and fry cohabitate while pulling males out.

I want some fishies....

I've had similar problems losing fry Janet. I have one female that will have a mouthful of eggs every 3 weeks whether or not there is even a male in the tank. She carries them for 2-3 days and then they're gone. My best success to date has been to pull the male from the brood tank as soon as I know the female is carrying eggs.

I know there has been breeding going on in one of my growout tanks. I've seen a few fry from time to time but I think they're getting eaten about as soon as they hatch out. I think it's time to sex them and get them seperated.


I also had a similar problem as yours a few weeks back after a lightning hit. My grow beds were dry for about 16 hours or so. I don't have your fish load so the implications to the fish water wasn't quite as severe. The only that's happened is my nitrate levels fell off and haven't recovered yet.

I have males and females together in the main tank because I stink at sexing them. Besides, since I can't eat them all at once, it is actually helpful that they mature at different rates. I eat the males first, then the females.

The breeders are in a 50gal aquarium, 1 male and 2 female. I had to work at it for a while before I found a peaceful enough male that wouldn't kill the females out of frustration, and putting a younger male in with the females did the trick. I have a pot on its side for the loveshack, and 3 lengths of PVC for unwilling females to hide in. I get a mouthful every couple months, but I have a lot of problems getting the eggs to free-swimming. My latest success was almost by accident, but I knew one female was holding and was monitoring. When I happened to notice that she had gone black in the face and there was a single free-swimming fry in the tank, I netted out the other female and the male. She spit almost immediately, but the fry were so independent, that she didn't show signs of nurturing them. So a couple hours later, I pulled her out, too. Voila--nearly 100 fry.

I was not successful when I pulled the extra male and female earlier in the incubation, but that could have been because it was the other female and she might have not had fertile eggs or something. All told, it does seem reasonable to give the holding female privacy as soon as you are aware of the situation. I think the particular females I have may not be very motherly, so the other thing might be to collect eggs and incubate them in an egg-tumbler.

Atm, I have a batch of about 30 2-inch (50mm) fry growing in one aquarium, and eatin-size fish in the main tank. The breeders are friendly but not overly productive.

Mike do you still have some or your original stock, or did the ex- throw -everything- in the dumpster?

Hi Janet,
I'm guessing the new job is still keeping you very busy, I'm hoping that you are able to enjoy it.
How has the system and all been since your last report?

I'm wondering if you have, can get, or point me to any pictures of the "tight lipped expression" of a female tilapia holding eggs. I have really only seen the black faced aggressive about to release fry look from above in the big black outdoor tank. I'm not sure what this should look like in the aquarium. These fish look so different in the aquarium than they do in the big black tank from above. I would so like to get a larger batch of fry growing before cooler weather sets in. I expect we will start eating the larger fish soon. Till then there are the catfish.

I visited with J and fam about a couple months ago, and they had just had some fish for dinner the day before. There is a swarm of about 1" long baby fish in the one 50 gallon aquarium, so I think the system's still working along. I think she said something about eating all the adults so that the little ones could be moved into the FT.

Janet - On the subject of trying to increase your filtering so can increase your feedings. What do you think about using water hyacinth in part of your grow bed? Do you even care what plants are there? I've had water hyacinth took over my grow bed in relatively very short time frames. I've never really kept measurement of how much it filters but it makes sense that changing your plants could influence that 1:1 ratio in your favor. Thoughts?

...do tilapia eat water hyacinth?