Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Five days ago after a long time waiting and with much anticipation I finally got some fish for my AP system. I carefully put the trout in after installing the air pump, gave them some specially purchased pellets and retired for the evening.
The next morning I took the kids out to feed the fish and expected them to surface when I through some pelletts in but nothing, I figured I obviously had shy fish as there were no floaties. (our water is still slightly turbid as it comes from a dam therefore we can only see about ten inches into the water)
This has continued every day now so I am wondering is this normal behaviour?? I have tested the water a couple of times and have little to no Ammonia (10 fish in 1800L) no nitrite and no nitrate.
Should I call in the search & rescue dive squad?

Popeye, I wouldn't be overly concerned if your test readings are as you indicate...

As a further test... gently drag a net along a section of the tank... and see if there is any uneaten pellets of gunk in the net...

If not... then it would indicate that the trout are feeding... perhaps laying low because of both the newness of their surroundings and the turbidity of the tank...

Are you feeding a floating or sinking pellet??

A floating pellett but I assume they sink after a given time in the water?

if floating, they may not be eating, as by the time they sink they're unappetising, but then they could be surface feeding once the big scary dude's gone
I find in dirty looking water, my trout seem to feed less.
Get some sinking pellets, but be careful not to overfeed if you do.

patients, it was only their first morning in a new tank and they probably were remembering the trip with some trauma.

As the bio-slime builds up throughout the system, hopefully your water will clear. It can take some time in a brand new system.

Some types of fish are shy. However from all the descriptions I've heard about trout feeding, I think it might just be that they couldn't see the pellets from the cloudy water. Perhaps next time you try throwing the pellets into the water with some force to get the trout's attention and see if they come up to eat then.

Don't over feed though.

Trout can be very shy TC. Mine took a couple of days, and the browns remain exceedingly shy.
Rainbows are shy outside of dusk and dawn. It's really not a show of any note if I feed them at midday, but 7:00am feedings ensure the feeder gets wet

Catfish like dusk and dawn feeding too. The tilapia seem to sleep at night and feed better when it is quite bright out.

Don't go changing pellet type.. or time of feed Popeye... stick with your pattern.. or one that suits you...

Part of the "shyness" may be because you're feeding at a different time to the hatchery... different tank... possibly different amount of light...

The floating pellet does slowly sink... and while my trout will hit the surface most times... others, they'll nab the pellet just below water level...

Don't stress... they'll settle... just make sure you aren't overfeeding...

And as a general rule... if you can't feed at, or close to your normal time... then.. IMO... just skip the feed altogether...

Popeye, I am not sure with your setup so I cannot comment too much about what you should do.

However I recently had a number of trouts die on me, floaters and sinkers, for what seemed like no apparent reason. Water tests were all fine, there were some ammonia but not in quantities to be alarmed about. In short, I believe by the time the water tests indicate a problem to you, your fishes will all be dead. I think especially for trout.

Do what Rupe suggested. Drag a net at the bottom of the tank slowly, and check for uneaten food. If you find some, do the whole tank and remove all the uneaten food. Slowly though, do not want to stress the trout anymore. Based on my short experience in AP and trout, they are very fast feeders. If they left something behind, they are not themselves.

By the way, I believe that uneaten food was the cause of my disaster. And like some suggest, the trout cannot see the pellets, hence they do not feed. For this reason, I have left (dumped) my water level in the fish tank such that at when the growbeds are fully flooded (ie. water in fish tank has dropped due to flooding of growbeds), I can see the bottom of the fish tank. I do my feeding then as well. Less water depth (or height), more clarity for the trouts. At the same time, I look around for sinkers. Sinkers are as bad as uneaten food, if not worse.

Not sure about your setup, and I would not advise you to do the same, but I would just like to share that, this is what I am doing to be able to see more clearly what is happening below the cloudy abyss.

Like others suggest, the trouts are still new. Test a few pellets before throwing in the whole feed. Else starve them for a day or two, then feed them. If they are hungry, they tend to snatch for food at the surface.

Yippee, Thanks for the advice.
My trout are now surfacing and making a great splash when feeding
My test results are ph 7.8, ammonia 0-0.25, nitrite 0, nitrate 0
Should we be testing for D.O?

A properly designed AP system should provide sufficient DO by nature of it's design....

However, IMO, supplementary aeration via an airpump/air-stones... are an essentially requirement... particularly with trout...

Popeye DO should be fine if you have air pump and water draining back from GB's, you've see how much air I have and how happy my fish are so if you have half that then all will be fine, your readings will go up a bit until it cycles with the fish but probably not a lot with 10 fish, will come out one day next week (bloody quiet ATM) and have a look, see if them yabbies are moving as well, am in Perth this weekend will pop in and see Joel at BYAP if you need anything gimme a bell, but PM me if your around during the week