Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I was getting ready to harvest my tilapia who had all grown to a good 2 pounds each... only to come home today and find them almost all dead i had been out of town for 3 days (left two days ago, got back tonight). When I left, everything was running as always but when I got back the pump was dead and the fish were all dead with an exception to couple still breathing. The water was completely brown and rather smelly. A friend of mine came this morning to feed the animals while I was gone and apparently the pump was running, the fish happily swimming and the water crystal clear. Within the few hours between that and me coming back something had happened to cause the fish to suddenly die. Now here comes the suspicious part, right when I get home I see the neighbors kids standing next to the tank doing something and then run off Ive had the pump get unplugged before and not run for a good 12 hours and the fish were still fine with just slightly murky water. I really doubt that the fish would all die and the water be completely brown only because the pump was off for a few hours. These kids sure arent little angels, I've had trouble with them throwing stones into the tank and chasing chickens around (although they have learned their lesson to stay away from the geese who don't take well to strangers). it looks like something was added to the water seeing how completely brown it is, you can't even see an inch through it.
My four goldfish seem to look like they will make it but not the tilapia. the few tilapia left are flashing and not moving much. I moved them into a clean tank with plenty of dissolved oxygen but they are just lagging around. it sure is frustrating to be so close to finally cooking these fish only to end up pulling them all dead out of the water Is there anything I could add to the water to help to tilapia?
The pump isn't clogged or anything but when I pulled it out of the water it was pretty warm to the touch. When I unplugged it there was a slight spark. Any thoughs on what could have chased it to burn out? This pump sure isn't old, just a few months.
Im real stumped on what happened to the poor fish one minute everythings fine the next their dead. it just seems like to much of a coincidence that the pump happens to fail and suddenly the water is all brown and the kids are standing there

Sorry for the losses Delilah!

Sounds like you need to round up those kids and have a serious interrogation session with them.

Yep, if the water was clear a couple of hours before... there's another cause for the "brown" water...

It would take a day, more likely two... for it to go off even if the pump failed.... depending how heavily you were stocked...

Sorry to hear about the losses Delilah...

Bugger.... Thats disappointing to hear, never nice to have a fish loss, especially when they are that big.....

I would say you have dud pump,I have had a few fail and they don't have to be old either.They will trip the RCD and stop everything else as well.

A couple of hours without the pump running... and with no other aeration.... could kill the fish off....

But it shouldn't turn the water "brown" in that short time...

Sorry to hear about the problems. You might be able to move the survivors until you can get the pond water cleaned up.

Sorry for the loss.
Now keep in mind that the last time the pump got left unplugged the fish were probably smaller and the water possibly cooler. Warm water and big fish at harvest size are going to be far quicker to go belly up and fowl the water when aeration is lost.

What kind of pump?
There are some cheap pumps out there that are not meant for fish and when they fail they can release oil into the water when the seal goes and that can definitely kill fish and foul the water.

Now the kids being at the tank when you got home is kinda suspect but they would have had to been there earlier in the day as well to have caused the deaths.

Tilapia can sometimes benefit quite a bit from some salt dissolved into their water 3ppt should be safe for both tilapia and goldfish.

Well it was one of those cheap pond pumps but in the mean time I've replaced it with a new, good quality pump. I was sure the tilapia who were barely living would die but suprisingly they seem back to normal in the past 24 hours they've gone from hardly moving back to swimming around the tank. So I still have 8 of the 20 tilapia which is a whole lot better than none at all.
My tank is a lot larger than the grow bed so there were only 20 tilapia stocked in the 700 gallon tank. Due to the I would have thought the tilapia would have been able to hang in there with that amount of water but I guess not
I'm still puzzled by the water being so brown murky water would make sense brown water seems rather odd

My water has a brown tinge to it. No smell at all though. What about yours?

Mate I feel for you, I have had my share of little Pricks, when my system is going, and I am sure they will resurface again when it is back up and running.

The monsters up here in Pilbara Western Australia, use sprears. Like the last thing I want is 300 Barra spooked, cause a little shitty dacks, wants to try and spear my fish

What was in reach that they could of thrown into the tank ? Apart from the dirt on the ground.....What ever they threw in was, in and around the yard......

to bad parenting

Same but i have a fishy smell