Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Yeah, a bit out of the realm of expected dramas there. you did well, and glad to hear you came out of it relatively unscathed. Can't beleive how close we came to being there when the storm hit.

VB, Glad you made it through ok!

12V batteries can be charged easily by connecting a set of jumper leads to the car.
Most of the heaviest duty 240v battery chargers put out around 8-10amps charge rate,
car alternators will give out well over 100 amps in most cases.
The wife's 2002 commodore puts out 135amp
But even my old '78 holden ute puts out 55 amps, still 5 times quicker than a top shelf charger.
If you're relying on batteries, it may cost you the fuel, but its quicker than 240v charging

Sorry for all the heart ache but i still say those $130.00 gmc 800 watt generaters are a good investment [i just went to start mine woudent go needs new fuel] we are supposed to have storms later this week

Good tip Dicko. Having said that, my wife was not very supportive of my efforts and would have given me hell if I'd done that. She just wanted me to let the fish die. Got shitty as when I suggested that I'd use one of the batteries from the 2 cars that we use if I needed to.

F&F - I agree a good investment. Could you run it continuously though. This was a 43 hour blackout. With losing all the food and all the other inconveniences, more expensive generator that will run a fridge and freezer and maybe a light or two, without ruining the things, is looking like a good investment.

One of the neighbours ran his house on generator through the whole thing.

I hate it when women are happy to destroy things that have taken years to build Plugging the car in / borrowing one of the batteries would not have hurt anything.

At least Elyce can keep things going for me when I'm not there.

I'd just plug the landcruiser or jeep into my system if I had run out of battery power.

I'd say your actions definately stopped all of the fish being dead...how many fish did you have in total?

You keep tipping petrol in and it keeps running

Could of run a power cord over to the neighbours with the generator. Or if they are bad neighbours, sneak.

The fact that my wife doesn't like fish is a big factor in her non-support of my aquaponics.

Maybe once I have a system that produces a lot more plants I will get greater support

Neither I or Elyce eats fish Yet. Didnt really like the Trout, but other people thought they were great.

I do it for the vegies. The fish are fun too though

Great to hear from you vb, you definitely came out a lot better off then myself or Derek

I was awoken this morning to the dulcet tones of chainsaws and wood chippers - a lot of cleanup is needed on all the downed trees - the council is touring the suburb and chipping any refuse put out the front of each house...went to help my neighbour and he was informed by his insurance coy to leave as is until inspected ...it is livable so no big dramas


Forecasts for more large storms over the next 2 days...been raining all day here

Glad we don't have the same insurer as your neighbour.

Council hasn't come near us yet - is such a bloody mess up here with so many trees. We are just lucky that we are not as wooded as a lot of the places around here. Looking at the news though - the gap is so much worse. Poor buggers.

Fish seem to be doing okay. Pulled one out this morning that wasn't dead, but was doing the swimming upside down thing. I took all the insulation off the top a couple of weeks back, so fish are getting more light and are less spooked when I go to the tank. All the big ones were at the top of the tank - looking hungry, so I gave them a feed. They smashed the food, which is a good sign. Water test showed everything is travelling okay, with 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. Yesterday I found that the pH was down to around 5, so I threw a couple of hands full of calcium carbonate powder under a grow-bed inflow pipe. Seems I overdid it a bit, bringing pH up to 7.2 this morning, a bit quicker than I'd liked to have changed it. Decided I may as well fully buffer it (at 7.4) so put some more in this morning.

I'm sure there are another couple of sick fish in the tank and will have a good look this arvo with a view to getting them out. I'm sure I saw one on the bottom this morning that was quite big (probably 600 grams), but then I lost sight of it so didn't get it out.

Of course there is also a big risk of losing more over the next week or 2 as the effects of the ordeal take hold.

I guess the sudden surge in ammonia through the system pulled the pH down?

Council depot right next door to me

Wife spoke to one of the blokes and mentioned a tree was blocking our vision when trying to drive out of the property (potential traffic hazard)...within an hour, a front end loader had ripped it out by the roots and dumped it on our front yard...said they will be back to cut it up and chip, also going to top soil the area that was damaged by the tractor.

He also said that there will be a public announcement to put out all branches etc and these will be removed over the next 2 weeks...think your council will be doing something similar too.

Last night's storm damage may put the timing back a little tho...and if tonight is a repeat

A quick update:

Since the 43 hour blackout, I've pulled probably 3 fish out of the tank dead, the latest being a 400 gram (approx) one that had come to the top as a floater and had clearly (from the stench) been dead for a few days. I've got the auto feeder going on the barra tank and don't always get a chance to check on the fish, hence the delay in getting this fish out.

Positive is that despite the decaying fish, ammonia and nitrite tested at 0. pH continues to move downward rapidly - being back to below 6 despite all the cal carb that I added a couple of weeks back which was buffering at 7.4 at the time. Added some more cal carb today, and will add some more each day over the next few so as not to change pH too rapidly.

Other positive is that there are no fish - now I've taken the floater out - that look sick (ie none swimming upside down etc).

I've upped feeds to 3 a day (now I'm using the autofeeder again), though am only feeding about 60 grams each feed. Don't know how many fish I have left, but I don't think there are many, maybe 25 at best, but I may be way off.

Plants got desimated by the wind during the storms, so must put some more seedlings in to help with the nitrate uptake.