Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi everyone, i was just wondering i have fruitfly in my tomatos is there anything i can use that is safe for the system and maybe for grasshoppers as i have something eating things in my system but cant find anything but i have fed the fish a few grass hoppers from other parts of the garden i just have not found anything on the plants so far other than papper wasps.

Hi Frank,

For the fruitfly you could use a product called gnatrol which is a type of Bt (Bacillus thurengiensis).

If you haven't seen anything except paper wasps then I'd suspect caterpillars instead of grasshoppers. Get a photo of the damage and let us know what other plants have similar damage. I guessing you have these guys - https://www.google.com/search?q=cabbage+loopers+and+cabbage+worm&client=firefox-a&hs=IVv&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5_e5UuLwIpLzoATy-ICIBA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=987

Hope this helps

Thanks Scotty
I havent seen any catapilars and have been looking for them specificaly as i had them befor but i am now spraying with dipel which has kept them at bay i will finish work soon and see what i can find today and later tonight.

Are you sure Bt is going to have any effect on Fruit Fly Scotty? I understand Bt (Dipel here) is only good for caterpillars.

Cera Traps are what I use with great success for controlling Qld Fruit Fly here- I catch thousands of them per season. Exclusion is the first line of defence though, I have sewn up bags to cover branches and whole trees, and I have a Fruit Fly netting bag over my tomatoes in outside GB #8, and my whole greenhouse ends are covered (apart from a few gaps on the sides I need to fix ASAP), pics on my system thread.

Hi everyone just wondering my sp all range in size i have some already around 250ml in lenght and some good weight but not sure wether i should not get some more so i can get more staggered sizing for a more continous feeding rate for me to eat. would the larger sp eat smaller ones? as they are smashing grass hoppers up to 70ml long with ease.

Wow - 250mm already!

I have mixed my SP fingerlings with 300mm SP without issues. I tend to overfeed them a bit.

I recall somebody on the forum that had issues.

It may be worth trying a handful at a time

Gabe

Thanks Gabe i will look for some to put in early next week and see how it goes

oh by the way my ntf channels are doing great the herbs are crazy having to prune top and roots every couple of weeks
will look at getting an auto feeder as well as its dark when i leave for my day shifts now and when i get home

Photos Frank, photos.

Will as soon as i can Skeggley laptop died with my pics on it and cant do it from work

Hi Frank

are you getting trout this year?

Gabe

Sorry I missed your post Gunalgulla -

My apologies Frank, I was mistaken. Gunagilla is correct, it doesn't look like any of the Bt strains will work for fruit flies. There are several subspecies of Bt but none of the subspecies apparently work for fruit flies. The other subspecies of Bt work on different insects than Dipel.

This documents the pests that the various strains work on and could be useful. The products that contain each strain along with the strains and pests are listed at the bottom of the page. The other Subspecies should be safe for AP (but not necessarily all products), I've used Gnatrol and Mosquito Dunks but nothing with the San Diego strain yet.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05556.html

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Were you able to get rid of the fruit flies Frank and what finally worked?

Hi just an up date i have some bug getting into the egg plant it bores a hole and or lays an egg and then bores into the fruit i have put some jars around with apple cider vinegar and thats caught some fruit fly but so far out of about 50 or so eggplant fruit fly 50 me 0 lol

Hey Gabe no i dont think i will do the trout this year i have loaded more sp in and they are all at different sizes so i will get a steady supply of fish i have a few already up around the 250mm so they are going good although in the last few days they have slowed down on there feeding
the channels we had a few plants die while we were on our honey moon but the lovely lady that looked after our place for the month was not so sure about the ap but all going great there. about once a week i take a mixed bag of herbs into work although the strawberries dont seem to be going so well the fruit but are small so i am sure they are lacking just not sure what it is yet.
i have just planted a load of rainbow chard and beetroot and mixed lettuces

Hi Frank - congrats on the honey moon.

I'll be adding 40 trout from troutman. I am picking them up at the BYAP carpark in may. They will go into their own IBC.

Yes - don't mix trout and SP's. SP's slow down to a standstill in winter and the active trout will kill the SP's.

It sounds like time for you to expand - what about an additional trout IBC tank? you can mix the water between the systems.

Yeah i have been thinking about expanding just been think of a way and have it look good as i the room is very limited looks like my yabbies are doing well

Hi frank, I'm just down the road 6112. Where did you get your yabbies from?