Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Im slowly getting the hang of this, I think. This is my system and Im having trouble getting the ph down. I posted a post under Hydrogen peroxide with more details. Hopefully these photos will upload now.

I dont have the last growbed connected yet. It has my goldfish in it for now. As soon as my ph is right I can put the goldfish in the ibc tank outside and connect up the last growbed. The first tank is my sump and the next tank will be my fishtank. We cant have fish we can eat in new zealand so the goldfish will be it. The black bin by my tanks will be the radial flow filter which will be connected along the white pipe connecting the two tanks. Tried it with the 25ml pipe you see in photo but it didnt work so I will be making it again with 40 ml PVC . I feel like Im so close and yet so far. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

You can't have fish you can eat!? Mate that's so unreasonable!! How do they legislate that by the way? Would it be illegal for you to eat your goldfish? Is there a list of prohibited species (those deemed food-fish)?

What is you pH?

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Hi Rainbow storm, I'm an expat Kiwi living in Perth and I feel your pain considering we have some of the best trout in the world but have ridiculous rules that pi$$ a lot of us off and extinguishes the fire in us wanting to live a better way. Luckily in Perth we can have Trout and Perch and Baramundi so we get to eat them as a bi product. My folks live in the Bay of Plenty so I know you have a great growing environment.

The legislation makes no sense when it comes to a closed system.
Surely a political movement can be started to get this changed for closed aquaponic systems.


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A lot of it is a matter of words.If I want to build a green house I have to have a permit but if I want a shade house I don't.So guess what I built? I wanted to buy some catfish which they were quite happy to sell to me but when I was asked was I putting them in a aquarium or aquaponics and I said aquaponics I was told that I was not allowed to have them in Aquaponics.Mind you when I saw what price they wanted I changed my mind pretty quick.

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Cheers,Don.

It’s so weird.
Did you manage to find a suitable edible species?


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Yes, we have a bit of choice here ,trout grow quite fast but we have a problem keeping them cool during summer. I have used red fin perch and silver perch. I have also tried carp which are easy to feed , they eat duck weed and lupins which I can get for free. I might try red fin and spangled perch again. Sometimes if you do something different it works.

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Cheers,Don.

Awesome news!
Any leads on where to aquire such species?


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Trout and silver perch can be bought in most Australian states. Spangled perch are in most streams and water holes in northern Australia. You are not supposed to have carp or red fin but they can be had from most states as well. If you are really keen some one will know where to get them.

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Cheers,Don.

Ummm I thought we were talking about New Zealand?


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Don, by the sound of it you've had spangled perch before. I have 19, started with 23, spangled perch that I got from an old open cut mine. They are in an in-ground pond and range in size from 70mm to 210mm. It's been two weeks since I brought them home and I lost 4 after a couple of days but the rest seem to be doing ok.

The problem I have is feeding them. If it's not live and struggling on the surface they ignore it. I set up the insect zapper over the pond and they feed in the evening and I see them picking at what's left in the morning. Mostly it's only moths and a few dragon flies. I've tried 3mm floating and 2mm sinking pellets from fish frenzies but they don't even look at them. I've dropped some little bits of mince in and seen a couple have a go and spit it out.

Any suggestions?

Phil

Yes I did have some at one stage and they seemed to be feeding okay but I did loose one here and there. In the finish a friend wanted them so I sold them to him. I cooked one that had died just to see how much meat was on one. I was surprised at how much it had and I think if you wanted a feed you would only need two. I didn't eat it because I didn't know how long it had been dead. If I get anymore I will try to feed them on black soldier fly maggots but my attempt to breed them is another story. The thing I like about them is their temperature range. They can take five to forty degrees, which is well outside what we get here. I have even tried tilapia but they can't handle our winter. I had a heater in the tank but the cord got knocked out of the socket and I lost the lot. There is a lot of info on the spangled perch on the internet.

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Cheers,Don.