Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

No copper in direct contact with the fish- it doesn't take much to kill them.

Ditto that Mari & Jen..... no copper....

Will kill your fish in a short time.... and crustacean over night.....

Planting has commenced, it's wonderful to see so much greenery in the growbeds already

Point taken about the copper, thanks for the heads up, its much appreciated, some form of heat exchanger is under consideration now....

The 125L fishtank is set up in the loungeroom as a nursery for the youngones until the heat issue is solved or the weather improves and the issue becomes a non-issue(as if!).

Have a look around the forum, the whole heating issue was discussed a month or so ago as winter started to set in for most of us. Stainless steel coils will work, but is very expensive.

The best option seems to be, run the fish to suit your climate at the time. Or have everything in a big insulated heated shed.

I have a heater that I built at work, takes any sort of oil, diesl, hydraulic, vegie etc - would love to use it, but cant justify the stainless tubing cost

Hi,

Some test levels...

Temp 11C
Carbonate hardness 8
pH 7.2
Ammonium <0.1mg/L
Nitrite <.025mg/L
Cu 0mg/L
O2 10mg/L
Nitrate 1mg/L
Phosphate <0.25mg/L
CO2 20mg/L

Not too bad I think(?)

What test kit and/or meters are you using Mari... particularly to measure Cu, DO & CO2??

Using a JBL Testlab.

Price... supplier... please...

It was purchased from a place called Petstock Animal Supplies at Henry Street, Penrith.

It was normally priced at $249, but we purchased it at 50% off. Last time we were there, there were 2 or 3 left.

There was a 50 strip 6 test kit for about $40.

Today was fish day!

A 450 km round trip to scenic Pindimar, to Aquablue Seafoods, to purchase 30 silver perch and some yabbies. Neil, the owner of Aquablue made us very welcome and nothing was too much trouble. He showed us around and told us about his business expansion which was very eyeopening. We ended up with 33 silvers(3 free to offset any losses in travel etc) and 8 yabbies of varying sizes, along with a kilo of the food he had been feeding them so as to not upset them on an instant dietary changeover.

On arrival at home, the perch found their way into the nursery tank inside and settled in well with no losses so far. The yabbies went out into a tank after it was decorated with a variety of coffee mugs and other crockery for them to make their home, along with 2 other fiesty yabs from the indoor tank who had a habit of trying to destroy any other creature within range. Btw, they are now the smallest of their community, lol, lets see if their attitudes improve?

The seedlings have settled into the growbeds well and seem to be healthy and growing pretty quickly already, yes the growth is that noticable. Not bad for a winter crop outdoors in the cold and abundant rain and overcast conditions.

It is planned for the silvers to be relocated to their new tanks after about 6 weeks when hopefully the weather shall have improved and the water be warmer for them. After this relocation another batch of young silvers will be ordered from Aquablue, this time to be sent by courier. Neil said that he is very supportive of the aquaponics community and is more than willing to deal in small numbers of fish at reasonable prices, shipping them anywhere they would be required. His URL is http://www.aquablueseafoods.com.au/. We found it a pleasure dealing with him, on the phone and in person.

Pics of the fish to follow...

Neil is a legend, he has sold to quite a few of us here and his service is excellent.

Rupert - Group Buy?

Talked with Neil at length about AP, sourcing fingerlings etc last time I was up there... and recently on the phone...

He is certainly interested in the whole concept of what we're all doing and is amazed at how many are involved.... delighted at the interest in the mussels etc... and more than willing to supply small quantities to members....

Did raise the concept of "group discounts".... and/or BYAP discounts with him last time... and he said he'd look at it if there was sufficient interest....

Think he's now aware that the interest is larger than he might have thought.... and would probably be ameneable to re-approaching the idea...

I'll certainly be putting it to him at the end of July when I drop in again.... especially in relation to Silver Perch fingerlings... say September...

What would help is an indication of just what sort of number people might be looking at....

Whether someone would/could act as a single drop point... or whether to do single direct orders etc...there are obviously logisitcal issues to work out if he was to move a "bulk" order inter-state....

For those in NSW in makes good sense... for those inter-state.... it's a lot harder to do "bulk" shipments and ensure they get there in good condition...

And remember for those of you in Vic and SA.... there's Monya who can supply members at a good rate... and closer.... he deserves (and needs) your support .... http://www.thefishfarm.com.au .... he already has a BYAP discount available to members

I'll raise the matter with Neil anyway.... could people indicate what they may be interested in getting, how many etc.... put it in the "Aquablue" thread...

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3454

Neil said that he is happy packing up and shipping any size order for immediate shipment by courier anywhere... Packing and transport are the real cost, fingerlings at $60/100 including tax seems a pretty good deal to me - no matter that we used half a tank of diesel and paid tolls but we wanted to check out his setup To quote Neil "Small orders are bread and butter"

While it may be good to buy as a group purchase the fish still have to be divided up and shipped, we arent going to get much discount from the carriers, so if we are able to get a kind of 'trade' discount from Neil for being APs it isnt going to affect the delivered price much once packing and shipping are factored in.

Gee - I wouldnt want anyone to think APs are stingey - We already get wholesale prices.

Jen (Mari is at evil B, worshipping in the plumbing aisle)

This the one??

http://www.outbackoceans.com.au/?page=4 ... &dosearch=

The above link is to a shop in Dubbo... the Petstock Animal Supplies stores you mentioned seem to have branches all over the place...

http://www.petstock.com.au/?id=storelocations

But couldn't pull up the "testlab" kit in a search of their catalogue...