Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

@Joel sorry mate I didn't realise. As you know I have been on hiatus for a good 10 years. Asked around when I returned and no one I knew, knew. Say no more, and I'll do the same

All good mate I'd never actually said anything on here about why or what happened, every time it's come up I'd just bite my tongue.. Still, been 5 or 6 years now..

Hello 7341, those bananas do have a lot of roots and I am getting a bit cheesed off with them. I have found that they grow well just in a pot with water only and no metal. But they still make huge roots that eventually block up the outlet. they grow well in summer and make a large bunch at the end of summer but during winter the stem rots and I get nothing and next summer they start all over again. That is the Cavendish ,I grew lady finger before and I got bananas off them but the bunch's were not so long and I needed the ladder to pick them. How ever a small bunch is better than none at all. There is a woman who has a hydroponic aquaponics shop in Perth and she gets huge bunch's off hers .She has them in huge pots too ,I never asked her what the pots cost but if you are selling them you can afford the best.

I've been off for about two years. I'm trying to see when my last post was and it looks like Jan 2018. Interesting I should pop back after all that time and find this post. I miss the forum and following / chatting with the regulars. I hope everyone is well, especially with the recent fires.

I'm not sure where I've been off to, and I still enjoy my AP systems. Currently trying trout for the first time and trying to breed some tilapia. Breeding seems hard when you are trying, but when I'm not paying attention I occasional run across a stray fry or fingerling. So I know the fish are doing the hokey pokey. But I wish I knew how to tell a male tilapia from a female for sure.

Anyhow, best to you all.

I'll be back on soon. Gonna steal one of of mums BYAP beds and set it up at my place.

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petty theft and aquaponics, two great joys in life, that are not mutually exclusive. Or as I put it petty borrowing, in exchange for sweet veg.

Will be great to have you back nat.

I can tell which of my goldfish are male and which are female by watching them during mating season.

The males always follow the females around waiting for them to lay eggs.

If you see a male you dont want to be hokey pokey(ing) your females, it's time to eat them

I've been off for quite awhile, but am strongly thinking of rebuilding (i.e. starting over), which is why I logged on today.

Not to be an alarmist - and this isn't my reason (the timing is coincidental), but if the coronavirus thing gets considerably worse worldwide (let's hope and pray it does not), then I expect the traffic here will perk up quite a bit.

When you know what you are looking for it is fairly easy to tell the sex of tilapia. This may sound crude but it works . A male human only has one hole and so does a male tilapia. The female has one hole the same and also has a crack the same as a woman. The female tilapia's crack runs cross ways but it does the same job. Also if one is cleaning a patch on the bottom and hunting every one else away it is a male. That is his nest for a female. It doesn't matter how big the fish is they are sent on their way.

ALLEGEDLY... the experts are saying that it is pretty much unstoppable now at this point. The coming months it will sweep through most nations.

It is highly contagious with a R0 rating estimation of between 4 and 6.6 or so. For instance the FLU is only a 1.2 and spreads unchecked.

The average person gives it to 4 to 6 ppl when they catch it. Largely due to the excessive incubation period to where you are showing NO symptoms... but still spreading it.

On average 10 to 17% of pple who get it have it severe enough to have to go to the ICU. Requiring forced oxygen and mechanical means of oxygenating their blood in order to survive. As soon as the hospital system is overrun... the death rate will drastically shoot past the 2% it is currently at.

That doesn't sound particularly good but I'm hopeful. I have been expecting this to spread just based on the fact that people can spread it before they even show any indication they have it. The current delay tactics may still save some lives. Experts are working on a vaccine so let's hope the spread is delayed enough to come up with a vaccine. https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-spike-protein-structure.html.

Why? a shortage of food or trying avoid going out or both?

Unfortunately we're seeing that play out.

Both, but mostly the latter.

I actually don't believe there will be a *real* food shortage in most areas, although here and there shortages caused by panic-buying (overdriving the supply lines) will and are certainly taking place. I'm sure that's not news to anyone at this point.

Moreover, another motivator (adding to your two above) will be the desire to not get caught out short "next time", i.e. I expect quite a few people will contract the semi-aquatic strain of the Prepper bug, which obviously requires Aquaponic Therapy.

Supermarket shelves are being stripped bare in places, bus loads of city people are visiting out of town stores where they have heard there are stocked shelves.

Meanwhile, I've got a freezer full of fish (and a gun! ), over 200 in the FT, 100kg of pellets, a drum with plenty of BSFs and more pumpkins and potatoes nearly ready to harvest than I can poke a stick at. Since I don't use 3 rolls of toilet paper per day, I have enough to last a couple of months- which is much less than in one of those giant packs I've seen people loading up with on TV.