Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I never bother with filleting, the bones are just so easy to deal with when eating them after BBQing whole. The compost heap has lots of whole trout skeletons in it
This one will be a big meal for 2



Only another ~140 to go!

Happy new year to you all.
Its been hot over here in the West and most of the trout came out before Christmas.
The fish are not as big as last year as we went away on hols over winter and they were on short rations. Most fish were in the high 900gms
This is the second biggest of the season

... and this was the biggest. Pulled it out on New Year's eve, the last for the season. Water temps over the last couple of weeks had been up to around 28C and they survived but clearly it was not good for them.

only 3 more months 'til trout season 2016

Great trout but now I see that people are posting in the "2015 Trout appreciation thread" in the 2016!

Thanks for bumping my fish off the page guys.....



Thanks.
Thing is, is that when I begun this hobby I was into it for the veggies, yet, the fish have given me much pleasure and satisfaction.
But the fact is you don't need a lot of fish to supply a system, something I bang on about when replying to posters and visitors. Check out my plant growth, sure it was slow to start however now I'm comfortable with the system production and lack of maintenance requirements. Now the trout are out I can relax, not worry about the water temps and let the system maintain itself although still supply the family with fresh, pesticide free salad and vegetables which gives me a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment which will continue into the future I'm sure.

Can I ask the people who use Trout how are you controlling the water temperatures throughout the year.

Not doing much for most of the year, with a chiller and/or water evaporation, shading, and reduced daytime pumping in hot summer weather.

Same here not much.

I cover the grow beds with straw that is kept damp with a sprayer run as required by the system controller.

Usually harvest the trout in January / February depending on temps. But this year I have less trout so I may not bother to harvest.

Yes that would be good for the winter, but what about summer keeping the water cool. I would have thought as said somewhere else that freezing ice cubes etc far too expensive. As you live in Australia it gets pretty hot in summer.

Australians are in Summer. We did very well with our earth-sheltered design. 2016 was an abnormally hot Summer here in northern New Mexico and the fish tank water got up to 68°F 20°C. We raise Brook trout and that was very near the top of their survivable water temperature. Shade cloth, limiting afternoon sun to the grow beds and a buried fish tank, not to mention our tank is 2600 gallons - 10000 liters all helped. Next time we'll go with Rainbow trout as they can handle higher temps.

That was my summer treatment. I have had the water up 24C without loosing any trout but they will not take much more than that.

boss.
You say the water got up to 20c, however what was the temperature in the air, or if under cover what was that temperature? because here in France we do have a problem with getting the correct fish. It would seem that Tilapia can only be purchased at 2 euro's each and to add to the problem males only, so no breeding. I have heard it expressed several time s that it is illegal to have Tilapia in France. I like Rainbow Trout, they are a nice fish just to have, but I dont want them dying. It got to 50c in my polytunnel this year which is much too hot. Do you know of anyway the water can be kept cool without costing too much.

Hiya cherami, I had success over a couple of summers here using evaporative cooling on the ft. I used a sprinkler head spraying into a domed cover made of shade cloth. The tank was in the shade all day and fortunately we had dry days and cool nights. I hate rainbow trout pin bones and being able to fillet and pin bone larger fish was great.
It was a stressful time during the 40°C days.
In a green house where humidity is high Evap cooling would not achieve much. If the tank was outside of the green house, different story. A seperable tank with a chiller would be the best way to go. I have thought about a small cooling tower and with a bit of luck one may come my way one day. (Wishful thinking)
What other fish could you use? We tend to use perch during the summer and trout during the winter when the perch stop eating.

Back on topic, where is the 2016 trout appreciation thread anyway???

@cherami the temperature outside the greenhouse was 35°C inside under reed cloth cover it was ~26°C. I've got a thermostatically controlled fan set to come on at ~ 22°C. You might look at Bakki Towers if you have a place with low humidity to install it.

TKS for help and advice, more studies to do I think.