Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi everyone,
well finally we have set up our first aquaponics system. We have a 3500L tank and have 1 grow bed setup. We have purchased 4 more beds, but it seems they will need to be re-built as they leak like sieves. They are made of cool room panel but no silicon was used in the joins anywhere, so the pop rivets will need to be pulled apart, sealed and redone.

However....
We do have 1 bed with hydrolysed clay. Yesterday I bought 6 big barramundi and 120 fingerlings. The big ones went into the outside tank (3500L) it was quite warm. The fingerlings went into an aquarium at 25C. The supplier said to have the fingerlings at 20C and the big fish were outside in ponds so they werent being heated. I have a couple of air pumps oxygenating the big tank. Last night they seemed quite happy. They have some bits of pipe to hide in and they seemed to like that. I tried them with some pellets, but they werent hungry. This morning they are listless, tipping over and generally unmoving. Perhaps it is too cold for them?

The water in the small aquarium is cloudy. i have removed and replaced at least 7 litres with rainwater/filtered water. I turned off the filter pump as it seemed to me the fish were being swept away by the current.
I have a couple of air stones in the aquarium. They still seem unhappy...they are huddled in a pile. The water is still quite cloudy. I wondered if I just left it, ie turned off the filter pump, if it would settle. What do you think?

Hi fishgirl, welcome...

Just to be clear the big tank, with the large Barra is unheated but well aerated...

How big are the "big" Barramundi? and have you got a test kit to meausre your water quality parameters?

Any idea just what water temp the tank is??

Keep the oxygen up.... keep the pump going continuously .. to keep the tank taurning over...

And ... DONT FEED for at least a day....


And the little aquariium with the fingerlings is heated... and aerated????

Just how big is the aquarium?

Why is it cloudy?... did you add something to the water??

It's not uncommon for fingerlings to "school".... and similarly it's not uncommon for fish to do so when stressed...


Barramundi are easy to spot when they're stressed ... you'll see a distinct white "stress" line down their backline....

Same goes for the little guys..... keep the tank turning over ... and dont feed....

Measure your ammonia, pH and water temperature and post the results ASAP....

With 120 fingerlings in an aquarium.... I'd suggest that you're going to need to do some rapid and regular water changes ...

No idea why the supplier would give you the advice they have. While barra may survive at 20 degree temps, if you keep them at this for sustained period they are likely to be stressed and succumb to some sort of disease. They also will not feed well at that temp.

As for the outside pond, will wait until we hear what temp it is, but there is every possibility that the cold has killed them.

I tried to bring barra through this winter in a tank in my shed. I used heat to keep the temps abouve 20 at all times, but even then sustained significant losses. It has not been until the tank temps has got to 25 degrees and stayed at that level or above 24/7 that the health of the fish has stablilised.

Ok, thanks for your help...
I have now figured out what the cloudiness was. My son who was in charge of washing the gravel, didnt do such a good job of it. I have a large black tub (150l?) which I have now washed out, put CLEAN WASHED gravel/aquarium rocks in. I have put a large heater in, and got the temp up to 23 now. It is still increasing. The water is clear. I have put a filter in , and a couple of air stones, one about a foot long. We have put the poor fingerlings in this tank from the aquarium. They all have a white stripe!!! Some look really unwell. I put a little bit of rock salt in, roughly a very smallhandful. I havent fed them. I DID try feeding the big ones (they are about a foot long, they are definately plate size). The big ones are outside in the 3500l tank attached to the grow bed. They werent hungry, but they did gobble up some worms.

I am about a hour or so from BYA so driving there to get a ph kit is possible, but a bit awkward today, but if the testing kits are relatively common, could I just drive to the nearest aquarium shop? What would I ask for?
Should I be trying to heat the big tank during the night? It was around 20 deg during the day and they seemed a bit dazed after their journey but still ok.

(did I mention that when purchasing the big fish, the guy assisting us at the shop, dropped the esky holding 3 of them, from the on top of a shopping trolley and they fell on the ground. We grabbed them, dusted off the dirt. He was trying to put a hose into the esky when I made him go and get the tank water to refill it with NOT tap water. I think one has a broken jaw, it certainly has it on a weird angle. So these poor guys have had a rough trot so far.)

I have used a pool ph kit and it said my ph was 7.2
I held it in for the required time ad checked the colour match immediately. However, about 20 mins later, I looked at them again and they were now darker and showing the darkest match, I think it was 8.4. I tested again, and the immediate colour match was again around 7.2.Once again they have continued to darken on the bench.

I have washed out the original aquarium and refilled it with rainwater. I am off to get another filter and pump. I think maybe to split the fingerlings across all three tanks to reduce ammonia loads. I will have to leave the bigger fish in the the outside tank though.

If the rivets are leaking you wont have to remove each one. Just get a tube of roof and gutter silicon and smear a small dollop on each rivet. Make sure the surfaces are dry first.

sounds like you need to find a new shop. The fish isn't the only one who should have had a broken jaw...................

True! Actually the beds came from a private sale, and the fish were from a hatchery.

I have just gone and got a ph kit and a nitrite tester and an ammonia tester. The ph in the 2nd aquarium is 6.8
I havent put the fish back in it yet. What should it be? How do I move the ph from 6.8 ?

The other tank is sitting on 7.2 They seem much perkier now since I put a better heater in there , more airstones too. Only 2 deaths so far.

In the outside tank I have just put 2 heaters in to keep them happier overnight. Hope it helps. I havnt tested the ph there yet. This tank is already pumping out to the grow bed.

Thanks for the help. I have had a nightmare today trying to fix all these muddles.

It's OK fishgirl... you're probably on the way to averting what could have been a complete disaster... you've done well... and what you had to do...

pH 6.8 is OK for the moment.... but will need to be addressed in time... easiest way is to put a bag containing shell grit (calcium carbonate) in the return line to the sump... or buried into the growbed where the water enters...

Over time this will bring your pH to about 7.5....

Pumping, more air... and some heat..... got a test kit and posted your results... I'd give you a B+ for your efforts so far... only marked you down for not having the test kit in the first place...

P.S .... do not feed your fish tomorrow.... at all ...

Oops, I did try to give them a couple of tiny pellets but they didnt seem interested so I didnt give them any more. Maybe a dozen granules in total.

Today we tested Tank 1which has 40 litres (inside)
It looked a bit cloudy
ammonia 1.25
Nitrate 0
action: Added enzyme (API Stress-zme) to water
added ammonina detoxifier (Api Ammo Block)
replaced about 1/4 of water with tap water which has been sitting in the sun for 2 days mixed with rainwater
Fish seem abit huddled still and not really swimming around or happy.
Ph 6.2

Tank 2 outside under patio
70 litres
fish swimming around looking pretty frisky. Not interested in eating, too scared of me.
Ammonia level) 1
Nitite 0
Action as above
ph 6.8

Tank 3 3500l in full sun outside connected to grow bed.
ammonia .5
nitrite 0
added enzyme and ammonia detoxer
added about 100litres water
fish swimmimg around but not frisky and not hungry.

Will I need to keep replacing the water every day? How long till it settles down do you reckon?
Should I maybe put some of the fingerlings in the big tank? Do barramundi eat fingerlings? Their mouth doesnt seem that big?

Louise

PS tHanks for the support!!!

Are you taking the piss mate?

A picture is worth a thousand words viewtopic.php?p=86863#p86863

By the way - also have a look at the first few pages of that thread to see some pics of how my barra looked in the tank in the first couple of weeks.

Hi VB,
No not trying to take the piss....Had a look at the thread you suggested. That looks just like my little fellas. I just washed out some shell grit and put a handful in tank 1. They seem a bit happier, at least they are swimming a bit not just huddled together.
I am so very hopeful for them all. I really like them and dont want them all to die.
Will test again in the morning. Tank 2 is looking very empty. Maybe they are all hiding in the plastic tube bits I put in to give them some respite from the current. Hoefully they arent selectively culling themselves!!!

Just how many fish have you got in each aquarium Fishgirl???