Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I definitely want them to return so when they start producing I will let some return to the wild to hopefully reseed my system.

I’m fixing to catch some of the Gambrusia minnows in the drainage ditch along side my property. I may put them in a quarantine tank and treat them with a little salt before I put them in my system. I really don’t think that they are illegal here; I plan on putting them in my floating raft tank where mosquito larva has taken up residence. The weather has been so wet lately, it has rained for 5 of the last 7 days and I think that’s what is driving the June bugs out in such large numbers. About 8 or 10 get in the house every night. They hang out by the door on the walls on the ground and just flying around and get in when the door is opened. I can’t use them for anything because my daughters spray anything that moves with bug spray, can’t even add them to the compost. While my girls are accomplished deer hunters they freak when it comes to bugs. I haven’t done anything with my pump suction so I haven’t recomissioned the bug zapper yet.

Well I’m progressing on raising my own fish feeds:
1. I added a suction strainer to the pump to turn on the bug zapper at night
2. Self harvesting auto fish feeding composter, which currently has a red ant infestation. But I have seen soldier flies on and in it. I see little maggots but they look like common maggots, too small to tell.
3. I started a worm bin
4. I have a 10 gal fish aquarium with feeder guppies, I was told they have babies every 18 days, and 5 weeks to grow out, By the way they love mosquito larva!
5. I have Gambrusia in the floating raft tank, should be slightly better, hopefully the babies won’t end up in the grow beds
6. I am looking into a cricket/pill bug cage/house. Still contemplating designs that wont allow ants, spiders, lizards or any other predators at them
7. Of course still have my game fish food but recently got infested with weevils, so it’s now in a Rubbermaid container by my system but under a roof.

The silicone on one corner of my 75 gallon aquarium turned loose two weeks ago, and I moved my Daughters Oscar in with the blue gill. No problems there but the tank did leak 25 gallons into the carpet. I sucked it up with a carpet steam cleaner but it did smell sour for a couple of days. Most of my Aquariums haven’t been used in 10 years and are between 15 and 20 years old. I guess I should remove the old silicone and reseal them.
And the lizard thing I have hundreds of common lizards crawling all over the place. Has anybody heard of a lizard trap. The larger bluegills can eat small ones but the Oscar can eat the largest of them (I am talking the little American lizards lol) I imagine channel cats could eat them too.

Well I put some of the Chleated iron in my system after my leaves started turning yellow. It is some I had in my green house not sure if it’s made anymore, it the Vigoro Ironizer. It has 18% Fe 4% soluble Fe
4% calcium
4% nitrogen. (Probably could have done without that)
.9% Manganese .1% soluble
I added about 5 teaspoons, I read that the plants will only take up what they need and it doesn’t hurt the fish.
After reading some of Steve’s posts about trace minerals from the sea and how these are getting depleted from many garden soils and how it all gets deposited in the oceans eventually I am considering putting some sea shells or clam shells in my floating tank like TClinx has on her pee ponics system. I have been having trouble getting the lettuce to grow. It sprouted and just stopped growing at about an inch tall. I wonder if I need phosphorus or potash like dirt gardens do?
I also sprinkled some Diamatocious Earth around the BSF composter to stop the ants.

BRB, my chelated iron packet came with a measuring spoon (5 grams), I add 1 spoon for every 1,000 litres on a monthly basis (seems to work okay for me).

That is about one teaspoon per 250 gallons per month

Wow, I really over did it compared to that, there is only about 70-80 gallons of water in this system I may hold off before adding anything else to this system. I'm going to test my water to see if any adjustments may be needed. How does one know if you need phosphorus or potassium

Looks like I have to slow down on feeding the fish, (they did that on their own anyway). I tested the water and got these results:
PH: 7.2
Ammonia: 4.0 ppm
Nitrite: 2.0 ppm
Nitrate: 10. ppm
I guess all that rain I was getting was helping me out, flushing out the excess fertilizer!
It hasn’t overflowed the system in 4 or 5 days now and the amount of excitement at feeding went down to almost nil. Thank goodness bluegill are tough fish! I’m going to have to put that big Oscar back in an aquarium and stop feeding the bluegills for a while. I hate to use tap water straight from the hose because of the chlorine in it may cause damage to the bacteria in the system. It looks like a storm tonight, if not I will overflow it some in the am with the hose. Should I be panicing at this point

BRB I think your water is getting close to the danger level even for bluegill. If you water has chlorine and not chloramine, you can just run it into buckets or whatever you can find and leave it in the sun for awhile. You might want to get started soon though. You need a serious water change...

Sorry I forgot. NO FOOD!!!!

Thanks Mark, I was clearly overfeeding them, I had to clean out the pump discharge line to get better flow to the floating raft tank, clogging up with old food particles and midge larva and their cocoons. It should cycle more often now; I also changed out about 10 gallons of water. I’m not sure weather or not it is chlorine or chloramines so I used the aquarium drops to be sure. It didn’t rain last night but it’s thundering again hoping to get a little to help clean out the system. The fish seem ok but I’m going to continue withholding the food for a while at least until I get better readings. I may check again in a few days. I don’t expect much change in a couple of days. My tomato bushes have some size but other than that still not much greens. I set out 10 more gallons of water with drops in what should be the sun.

Good luck and keep us up to date on your progress.

I’m glad this is a beginner system; I’m going to have to resist the urge to feed. And add more grow beds. I’m going to add shells to my floating tank and plant in it that should help. I will continue to just gain some experience with this system and my aquariums until I’m financially ready and have more time to add more and bigger systems. I have big plans or delusions of grandeur for my garden shed and green house. I have time to plan the system while I rebuild my 2 houses in New Orleans area. Those should be complete by January. I will have more time and money then. I’m studying the systems that work off of timers. I am going to have to make some major changes to the greenhouse because not enough ventilation during the summer months. Anyway lots of choices, decisions and learning have to be made until then.

What is the pH of the system? I wouldn't add any shells yet unless your pH is below 7 since higher pH will make the ammonia spike you have going more dangerous. Be sure to add the shells in such a way that you can adjust the amount to give you a good pH. My system pH is higher than I would really like and since the shells are throughout the system, I just get to live with it.

Thanks TC, ph is only 7.2 so I guess I should stick with gravel. I’m still not knowledgeable as to how changing one variable affects another.
By the way I contacted the La. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and found out that with a permit I can have Tilapia in an indoor aquarium and the permit is free, but absolutely no breeding allowed. Kind of reminds me of the first Jurassic Park movie where the Doctor in the nursery says that there is no unauthorized breeding in Jurassic Park because they are all designed to be female. But in this case it will be Male. Anyway I gave him my info over the phone and he will be sending me my permit which has to be renewed every June. I won’t be getting any, any time soon until I repair my 75 gallon aquarium. Restraint isn’t one of my virtues, but I’m working on it. I’m also looking for a 100 gallon aquarium that will fit on the same stand. I called til-tech and they haven’t returned my call yet. Do you have a source on fingerlings and which type do you recommend??? Also If I go the indoor aquarium I will not be able to have many and will have to do lots of water changing.

Sounds like your pH is currently perfect. You might want to have some shell grit, shells, or potassium bicarbonate on hand in case your pH starts to drop which it is likely to do unless something in your gravel has buffering capabilities or your water is very hard.

I got my tilapia by going to Morning Star Fishermen Near Tampa. Less than 2 hr drive for me. With a permit, you can probably buy from most any breeder of tilapia set up to sell and ship fish but most of them have minimum orders.

Do a bit of searching locally and see if there is any tilapia farming going on in your area and see if there is anywhere you can get fish locally. Otherwise, perhaps some one in a state where tilapia are legal can send you some fry. I'm a little wary about shipping fish in/out of Florida since Tilapia are only marginally legal here. Otherwise I'd be tempted to ship you some of the fry I just discovered, though they are so small they probably wouldn't arrive alive.

As to particular breeds, I have blue tilapia (as the only ones legal in FL without a permit and aquaculture license.) I've seen the rocky mountain whites and they are beautiful, I would especially like them in the black tank since they would be easy to see, but alas I can't buy them. The blue tilapia change color a bit depending on environment so look different when kept in an aquarium as opposed to the black tank (when moving one from the aquarium to the big tank, it is easy to spot the new one for a while till the color darkens.) I believe there are several other varieties that can be quite lovely in an aquarium. Perhaps look for something with pink, red or orange coloring.