Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I bought 12 hybrid catfish about 6" long from a fish hatchery yesterday for a new IBC system (175 gal of water). It took a bit of adjusting to get my pH down (around 7.8) to be able to add the fish to my tank, but got it there and the fish seem to be doing great. They have been in the tank for 24 hours and are very active. They are piling up in one corner every time I come near the tank and seem to be fine, but they will not eat. I bought floating pellets from the hatchery. The same ones they were feeding them, but they show no interest in food. I leave it in with them for an hour or so and then skim it out so it doesn't make the water nasty.

I'm thinking that I just need to be patient and let them adjust and then they will eat, but I'm concerned since I've never done this before. Is there reason to be concerned or should I go buy feeder guppies or something to feed them?

I'm calling the hatchery in the morning, but thought I'd check in with all the experienced folks on here tonight.

Thoughts?

No need for concern, it's pretty normal for them to be off food when they've just been moved like this. FYI - I would recommend that you salt the water to 1 ppt with uniodized salt that doesn't contain caking agents. Sometimes you can find this at the bulk bins of the grocery store, pool salt may also be an option but comes in large bags. 1 ppt = 1gm/L or 1 Kg/1000L. Dissolve it first and then add it slowly (just use some tank water in a bucket to dissolve it). The salt helps the fish with nitrite toxicity and stress.

Cheers

Thank you for the salt suggestion!! I'll give it a try.

I just salted my system. The nitrites were high tonight. I can't really tell from the color chart but I think it was 2.0 ppm. The color looked pinker than the test kit color chart. More rose than purple. I also added the Stability product mentioned in my other thread. Hopefully this will save my fish. They still look great, very active, but I'm worried by these high numbers. My pH was up to 8.2 also.

This aquaponics thing is nerve wracking!!!! I'm anxious to get things stabilized but realize it takes time and persistence. Just hope I'm on the right track.

It gets easier over time, you get to know what to look for and the system becomes cycled and stabilizes. Time will tell how your fish are, sometimes having high nitrites before you salt can cause some fish to die. Fish don't always float when they die, just so you know not to assume any dead ones will be at the top. I'm glad that they sound like they are doing OK and you probably dodged a bullet but you're still in a period where you have to watch the system closely.

With the High pH and the nitrites showing I would check your ammonia levels before you give them anything more to eat. This ammonia toxicity chart shows that at high pH and high temperature it doesn't take much of a TAN reading to hit toxic ammonia levels - http://ibcofaquaponics.com/information/tables-and-charts/

Let us know how it goes

Thank you, Scotty for your input!! My fish were all still active this morning. My water is very clear so it's easy to see them against the white background of my IBC. I painted the experior black and then a light tan top coat so the fish don't have to deal with the sun during the day.

They still won't eat, so I'll just not try to feed them for a bit.

I'm anxious to get home this evening and check on them again and test the water. Hopefully the bacteria are growing!! The water smelled very swampy last night. Guess that was the ammonia and nitrates?

That sounds good, they can go for a long time between feedings since they don't have to keep their body temp stable like we do.

The bacteria will probably get going pretty quickly this time of year (maybe a week or two) but it can take a month or even longer sometimes. If you keep testing the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate you'll be able to watch your system become cycled over the next few weeks.

Not sure about the smell but probably not ammonia