Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Have drained the main tank.
Put most of the fish in a 200l blue drum in 140 l of water at 15ppm salt.
Half a dozen seriously injured fish are now in a drum with Methyelene Blue.
Will be establishing more grow beds.
Have flushed out the bio filter drum with fresh rain water and left it full of water to maintain the bacteria count.
The fish in the isolation tanks seem vigerous after one night in the salt tank. The same goes with those in the Methylene Blue.

Methylene Blue though toxic is also used medically in humans to reverse cyanide poisoning and other conditions where oxygen levels in blood needs lifting.

I found a site with a reference to what looks like the ailment my trout have: http://www.flippersandfins.net/flexibacter.htm#

found an old bottle of Methelyne blue in the cupboard , it says " Not to be used on fish intended for human consumption" , but I guess if youve done the research and feel safe with it ..

OK, some weeks have passed.
The high salt levels of 15ppm solved the spread of the infection.
A few trout that were heavily infected died but a lot survived.
Out of 100 trout I then had 40 remaining.

Some weeks later all was going well though I wasn't happy with the growth rate being very slow.

The water ph, temperature, nitrates and ammonia levels are all well within the recommended levels.
I replaced some of the water with fresh rainwater (rain that had fallen within the last couple of weeks and we can't ask for cleaner water than that. Chemical free.) and bang within 3 days all of the trout are dead.

My personal conclusion is that Trout are not suited to closed systems.
They might do well where there are flowing streams supplying the tank or pond, but closed systems are questionable for trout.
For all the effort one applies and including testing for water quality etc, if one is looking for a reliable survival with trout then it is all too easy to end up with disappointment.
I did everything possible to maintain good water quality. Trout are clearly very sensitive.
They won't be a species I try again, unless I move to the base of the Stirling Range and have a constant flow of stream water.

Closed water aquaponics needs a more rugged and hardy fish. After all, we are surely looking for a fish which will allow us to go on a holiday for a couple of weeks a year.

I have also tried Tilapia but found that even in heated water the growth rate is no where near the growth rates referred to in some documentation. Tilapia are however a hardy fish, but low temperatures don't suit them.
If we live in the tropics or sub tropics they would probably do well where they have access to natural foods and even better with supplements. I still have tilapia but they will remain as aquarium fish and won't be going back out into the open tank.

Having said all this, I am not giving up and will try another species.

Just because yours died doesn't mean they aren't suited to recirculating aquaponics Trevor... Faye grew a great crop last year in her system and we have trout in many different systems down at the shop that are growing very well and mortalities are extremely low.

There are many other people growing trout successfully in recirc systems as well..

Was actually about to post the same EB... here's Faye's system...(WA)

Trout in Jun 9th...

viewtopic.php?p=58895#p58895

Trout out Oct 25th...

viewtopic.php?p=85590#p85590

And there's more than a few members doing/done trout successfully in Vic... even OBO seems to be doing OK with trout in Kalgoorlie..

Dont discount them too quickly Trevor... I believe they have a place in AP... and recirc in general...

Yes.. they are high demand in terms of oxygenation and temp parameters... perhaps you weren't turning over your tank often enough (kind of equivalent to flow rate)...

Hence not oxygenating sufficiently....

Hi Trevor
Sorry to read of your losses and disappointment with trout.
However my initial experiences with trout in AP have been very positive.
Of the 50 I purchased ,three got "sick" and died. A couple have jumped out, and the rest are going great.!
I think this is a great result considering my virgin system was not really ready for such a fish load.
Admittedly, I've been pumping heaps of air and added an extra bio-filter, but I should be able to cut these back as my system matures.
Love my trout, feeding time is a joy!

As all of the above of the 40 and 10 i got in march so far i have not lost one mine get lots of air and the whole system [except for the air ] gets shut down from 4.00 pm to 8.00 am each day .Next year i will have 150 at the end of feb early march

+1 for trout - dont give up on them, you just had a bad run this year, same as cod fish has.

Even Steve managed to grow them

I had a fungal problem in my system too, It looked like ulcers on the flesh that rotted to the bone. THese are trout same as we all got in WA.

I added Seasol seaweed extract to the fish tank. I didn't measure, but i added about 1 ltr to 3500lt. THe water took about 3 weeks to clear but no more dead fish. The plants grew better too. I now add about 2 cups per month and have not lost any more fish.

I ate one last week and there was no seasol taste.

Hey Trevor - near neighbour ( i guess we all are)
I had a bit of trouble with my trout but they're going great now!
Even eaten a few
But no troubles with the growth of plants, it's been fantastic...
Pop over for a look some time!
I will PM you my addy

Trev, had it last year, was caused by a drastic drop in temperature over a day.

dont give up on the trout.

PS i dont think meth.blue. is that bad at all. you may be thinking of malachite green, which is still available in aquarium shops but fisheries will hang, draw and qrt. you if you use it commercially.

and keep pregnant ladies away.

Had a visit today from trevor...(was good to catch up trevor)
I hope we have covered enough ground to re-set the vision of
a working BYAP system

The trout sent a wave of water over the young fella when some food was chucked in ,
but he soon recovered!
Even ate 1 of my peas

how did the dog respond to that!

With a woof?