Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

What feed are you usuing for your goldfish? What you are describing is classic nutrient defency, often caused by feeding with aquarium feed. Coupled with sounds like spider mites. Predator mites shold resolve the second issue. A seaweed supplement should help with the first.

Ronmaggie.
Yes is use aquarium feed, goldfish flakes

I made some pictures of the webs. I can not see any spider mites.

Seaweed supplement ? Like Seaweed fertilizer ?

Your water level is way too high, if you're getting algae on the top, it's causing some of your issues.

Lower it, and you should see some improvements.

The algae takes oxygen from the water overnight, and if it takes too much, and you're stocked high with fish, then you'll have a die off.

I use the powdered maxcrop. It has worked wonders for me. You need a microscope to see spider mites. They are too small to see with the naked eye. The algae certainly is not helping. Like Colum, lower your water level. Your fish food is doing nothing for you. Switch to a high quality aquaculture feed. the feed I use ships out of Colorado. Finally, try to get some predator mites. They can be ordered online, but obviously if you can get them from a local garden center, that would be better.

This is probably true for some of them but most that I've encountered are still just barely visible if you know what you're looking for. It's easier against a white background so if you aren't sure, hold a piece of paper under some leaves and give the plant a shake. Use a magnifying glass and see what you've found. I no longer have to do this but it helps when you first look for them.

Edit: Mites like warmth and multiply fast during warm conditions. You'll often see them on the underside of the leaves and the leaves will get a stippled look, like they've been rubbed with sandpaper and the leaves do dry out. Their webbing is also a clue. I used to have spiders (not spider mites) that live on the media, the webbing looked kind of like what's in your system but that could also be fungal mycelium - hard to tell from the pics.

+1 for lowering the water depth.

Thanks for all the information. Will do as ordered .

The kill of was due to a algee in the FT, its kinde blackish and when they start to bloom, puff.

Since I have to haul all my water from the town, 5 miles away and a 1000 gallons is $20, I am very careful concerning water usage.
Once a week I scrub the tank with a brush and than use a sump pump with a filter attached and circulate the water for 30 minutes, the pump does 1000 gph.

Water level got lowered.

Killer mites and better Fish food are on order.


The spider mites that I have as of jet encountered are easy visible, them being so small is new to me. One never stops learning.

Plan for a Wicking bed around the tree in the indoor garden are developing.

Scotty's white paper trick is the best. If you see little dots moving on the paper after you tap the leaves, then rub them with your finger and they well leave a red smear. Like Scotty said, they really like hot, and dry. Washing them off with a strong steam of water will help. As will predatory mites, worm tea, and Neem oil. Be careful with the neem, as oils are not good for your fish.

Will do the paper work

Today I took advantage of a new store in town, it s a hydroponic store. I do not think that anything like this will do well in our area. 6 month maybe.

They have rather good prices, as good as the internet. A 1000gph pump for $70, grow cups from 2 to 5 bucks, adjustable airpump, 4 outlets, for 20.
I bought a new 1000ghp pump fort the tilapia set up, submerge and it can be inline. Active Aqua.
I replaced the old pump.
Since it is convertable to inline I attached a 3 feet piece of 1 inch pipe to it, every 1/2 inch a slot cut into it, as suction.
Since it puts out more water than the current beds can handle, I installed a T in the output and ran that one back into the FT to create a circulation.

I watched it for 3 beers, it cleaned the tank and the circulation stimulates the fish. They just love it. They have been lasy hanging around. But now they are very active, play with the current, surve it.
They crap like crazy, constantly.

I had a nother good hit, today, for the school project. The Cortez Water Works gave us 7 blue barrels for free. We needed 4 for the grow beds, one as a sump. Now I got one more for a sump and one spare.

Hogs heaven.

Here a picture of the Goldy Tank, when the Algee does its trick. Within 2 hours the water turned from clear into that. With the Filter it takes 30 minutes to clean that mess up, without loss of water.

One pic of the wicking bed in the old pond.


The other 2 pics show the tree in the fore ground and the FT and GB in the back ground.
I plan to built a wicking bed around the tree, like a center table with flowers and green stuff.
Since the waterlevel from the small growbeds is around 28 inches above ground and the top of the FT around 18 inches, I plan to have at least one if not both GB, drain into the wicking bed and than return to the FT. 10 inches should be enough to gravity feed it.

I will pure it out of concrete and use concrete colour. Than use some very nice wood, maybe walnut or bolivien rosewood on top.

The pipes I can hide underground, roll away the astroturf and start diging.

I think that should make a nice centerpiece of the wintergarten.

I still am contemplating if I use pondliner or if I will fiberglas the inside of the wicking bed. Pondlining should be a bitch with all the corners, fiberglasing stinks for days

Hi gnobi,
I must admit you pulled of quite a system here.
Not only functioning well but good looking too.

Two things come into mind...
I'd rather keep trout then tilapia for obvious reasons
Maybe a good idea for next year. You have all it takes for trout. A round tank (easy to create current) and an area you can climate control (heat or cool). Add clear water an lots of air and off you go.

Cheers Bastian

So, I guess it is time to update.

What I learned

1. Gb Media, the Wall Mart volcanic rock is not bad, but just to coarse, its is 1 inch and above.
Realy nice is 3/4 and smaller.

2. if one has it inside, its all about lighting. What ever I planted, seeded never produced much, even at a south side window. I finally broke down and got me proper lights and caboom. Very expensive, but the plants emidaitly looked healthy and I can not keep up with the growth.
So inside one should not shy away as I did from the cost of lighting, otherwise it will become a disappointing and frustrating experience.

3. If one overstocks, compared to grow beds one has to be rather observened of the system. The fish water can turn within hours from sweet into a stinking sewer. Luckily my Tilapia are very tough suckers, but my Goldfish took a rather serious beating. I completely underestimated the growth of the fish and what demands that produces on the system.


My Tilapia have done rather well, despite me, I got some that are not fiting on any dinner plate, some are smallish, maybe 6 inch. Their feeding habbits have changed drasticly, they are brutally aggressive.
The tank is completely overstock200 some gallons and around 50 fish, I do not dare to fill the tank to the top, they would jump out.
I am waiting to get the Tilapia for the school project out of the room, than I can install a second FT
and more grow beds and I am waiting for summer temps so I can use GBs outside.
This has been an unusual cold and wet Spring, today we got 2 inches of rain and the temps never got above 45F, it even snowed last Monday.
Last year I had built a wooden, rather large grow bed, it did not work out. So I took it out.
In place of it I built a prototype for the school project. In this case 2 blues in line connected by a 3 inch pipe at the bottom.
Materials, per 1/2 barrel, 2 2x6x8 and 3 2x4x8. The stand is 36 high and 23 wide and 34 long. Waste of wood is less than a foot, all measurements in inches and foot. Very cost efficient and very strong

As one can see on the pics, the 3 inch is on the bottom and there is an 1 1/2 on the top. The top is an emergency drain, just in case the bottom gums up.
If one pulls the 1/2 close enough, clamps, one uniseal at the top will do, the bottom needs 2.

For the school project I plan to tie 5 and 4 barrels together like this. That will be fun with the 3 inch pipes. Have to built something to push them through the Uni.

Since there a budgets, lights will be bought according to it, but by next fall I should have enough, to have a 365 production.

Once the school fish are out, I will have enough room in the Tilapia room to get a second FT and 6 to 8 more halfs, its going to be packed. I have to stay skinny, to get in between the GB.

The light for the BBs came in. Its an 8 bulb, 4 feet long.
The broccoli that I seeded last week end is already germinating

Doing research for the new greenhouse for the Dolores School Garden, looking at Greenhouses and prices, I was reminded of the big hole I have. Just 30 feet from the house. Its about 4 feet deep and would require a 35x35 feet pond liner. I figure about 2500 or 3000 gallons, could be more.
Its in the oak brush, the clearing is open to the north/east.
On the South side there is enough room to put a 8x12 greenhouse and some not protected growbeds.
It is close enough to my wintergarden and that huge roof, that I could extend the gutter drain pipe, to help filling the pond, or replenish evaporation.

I have been leery about that project for some time. The summers can be over 100F ( more than 40C) and the winters down to -30 F/C.
How do I keep my fish alive, or how do I keep the water cool in the summer and worm enough that it does not freeze solid in the winter?

Fall is always a good time to buy garden things.

Any ideas ?

This sounds like a really great project. I know what you mean about the scale being a bit daunting. I've been having some good reads over here http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm where I recently joined. There is a great deal of experience over there and lots of people willing to share. I've read several threads covering issues you are writing of. Many of the ponds are in cold climates. Good luck