Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

OK, 15 helpless goldies went into the beautiful lavender fishtank on Saturday, They nearly didn't make it at all - Saturday was a warm one here in Adelaide, and my wife's Astra shat its starter motor in the carpark of the aquarium supplies place, leaving me and the goldies waiting in the sun for the RAA to turn up and give me a push start. Warranty job, goldies are well, Astra is fixed up.
Four days later, nothing has died, pump is circulating continually until I do some mods to the growbeds and develop a timing system to make best use of the available water volume. I have to admit my pump is probably too small, but 1500 lph seemed a lot at the time. This system will be severly limited, but it's serving its purpose - teaching me !!
I've set a timer-controlled light above the fishtank to attract bugs, and this seems to be taking care of my fish food needs for the moment. I toss in a tiny amount of fish flakes every once-in-a-while to test for hungry fish, but don't get too much of a reaction, so they must be getting enough to eat. They zoom around like crazy, so they're strong, they don't spend too much time at the surface, so I guess oxygen levels are OK (plenty of turbulence where growbed run-off is tumbling back into the fishtank), and I reckon they are growing bigger every day - probably wishful thinking is clouding my judgement.
A forum item re pond security a few days ago resulted in a shark-urity type mesh cover being installed over the tank as I have a houseful of grandkids right now who are keen to see the fish at any time, and I wouldn't want to lose one.
Now, I guess it's time to wait, get the nutrient levels up, and get the growbeds growing.
Question - What do members suggest as to the maximum amount of 50mm goldies I could put into this 200 litre tank right now, bearing in mind that they would most likely be moving into larger quarters within a few weeks ?

big mick, keeping in mind that you have just started your nitrogen cycle, i wouldn't put any more fish in for at least one month

Thanks Steve, I'll do that.
AA, I've been trying to find posts on your 150 litre herb garden, but no luck so far - can you point me in the right direction ?

Welcome Mick...what you're doin sounds good and you are getting good support. Just wanted to say Hi and Have Fun!

Thanks m_F, I put a lot of energy into having fun, interrupted only by work, sleep and other inconveniences. I read your posts with interest, and I'm still trying to catch up with all the info that's been posted on this site.
My wifes main comment these days is "Get off the computer so I can phone my mother and complain about you !"
Just found an 800 litre pond for $180 on a local notice board - could come in handy ---

Hi BM, I have been following your progress. Hubby has finally caught the bug and we are putting our first creation together this weekend so all your posts and the reply comments are being eagerly watched. Good luck!!

its nice to share the "germs" with your family!

My fish have been living in their beaut lavender pond for over a fortnight, with only a couple of losses, probably due to my tendency to overfeed them in the hope of getting a quicker nutrient build-up in the water. They’re fairly shy, and tend to spend most of their time under the brick-and-paver hacienda or hanging around the pump – must be the fish equivalent of the office water-cooler. The pump emits a constant buzz, which must be annoying to them, but I haven’t been able to cure that yet – working on it.
What with the sun-glare and the mesh pond cover, they are hard to see, but they are definitely there !
My grow beds consist of two kerbside recycle bins from Paramount-Browns, $8 each a while back, may be more now. Excess holes have been patched with duct tape, drain pipe is 38mm flexible conduit with an 8mm hole down low, and a notch at the top which dictates water level in the tub, about 20 mm below the gravel surface. I can’t change the water level easily, but I can change the gravel level to suit the job. The flexi conduit is protected by a length if 50mm stormwater pipe with vertical slots cut in it to let water through but keep gravel in place.
Right now I’m running the pump full time and keeping an eye on the water levels in the growbeds, adjusting on the rare occasion that it’s needed with the ball valves on each feed line. The dispersal tubes are 19mm flexi conduit with 6mm holes drilled about every 125 mm. There’s a lot of eucalyptus flower parts getting into the pond at prersent but they seem to get through the pump and dispersal tubes without too much trouble, very few blockages so far.
My water temp. has been quite low, getting down to 8 degC some nights and until today rarely getting over 18 degC during the day. This has possibly been slowing down the nutrient cycle, but things are rapidly warming up, and the water got to 23 degC today.
I’ve been kicking the nutrient load along with a bit of Seasol in the growbeds, hoping I’m not toxifying my fish too much – any opinions ??
A certain amount of fish-food is attracted by the bed-light over the pond, which is on from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm to lure the bugs into the pond – it seems to work OK, but the food load is uncontrollable – I’ve got to rely on the fish to show some common sense and not over-eat – the punishment is DEATH !!
I reckon I’m finally seeing a very slight color change on the nitrite/nitrate section of my litmus strips, but that might just be wishful thinking clouding my color perception.
Evaporation is a problem here with warm northerly winds prevailing, so I have to keep 50 litres of de-chlorined water available for top-ups – pH stays OK (7.2 approx.) during this procedure, but it only takes a ½ teaspoon of Bicarb to bring it up a couple of points if needed.
I couldn’t wait any longer – I’ve volunteered a cherry tomato plant, a capsicum seedling and a handful of mixed salad vege seeds to the experiment, they’ve survived four days with no signs of stress yet, probably due to the Seasol ration.
It seems I could continue to pump full-time with this system, or open the valves up, put a timer on the pump and go flood-and-drain just as easily – decisions, decisions !!

All sounds good Big Mick. I can't see any probs with a bit of seasol

Here's some pics ---

Big mick,

to my knowledge sesol won't speed anything up, it will jst keep you plant going while the system cycles. Easy on the food, the ammonia will build up too quickly, you're right about the low temps slowing the initial reproduction of the bacteria.

Common sense is not common with goldies, i think they will eat themselves to death

"Stand vell back, Igor, ve haff created LIFE"

LOVE IT!
Who said you need dirt to make life! I still find it amazing this can happen. Seeds in gravel, who would have thought eh? What ya growing there Mick?

congratulations Big Mick........... a happy snap for the family album perhaps.

Am envious man..... is a pain gettin payed once a month ...am sooooooooo far behind.

Keep up the good work

I gotta tell you, I don't know what it is - I sprinkled on some salad veg mixture, so I guess it will be edible. My wife insists it's a wind-blown weed seed - I'll eat the bugger anyway !!