Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Thanks dudes, KP there isn't a lot of flavor to tilapia - I read somewhere that cooks aren't crazy about it because is so mild in flavor. It's similar to cod except maybe less firm. Hi Tony, the carcass is just out in the garden (in the snow) with Twitchy. Thanks for the tip DRD, I expect a trip to Cabela's is in order...

Definitely going to put in a death row binge and purge tank, would make things a lot more efficient.

Way to go, DD!! That looked like one nice fat tilapia!

Cleaned out one of the gravel beds tonight. Got a lot of solids out of the gravel. Changed the flow pattern a bit too by making a depression under the inlet, so that hopefully solids will build up under the inlet and maybe work their way down to the center pipe at the bottom more easily. I think if I were to make a siphon on a bed now I would try to put the siphon in the center rather than on the end. Found several 1" long worms. Rescued one that ended up on the floor when I spilled the poo water!

You need expand your signature DD

[quote= I was able to get pretty much all bones out; next time will use some pliers for the lateral bones.[/quote]

This is how i do mine (if it helps) and yes I'm no artist
1) Fillet with rib cage & lateral/horizontal bones
2) Slide knife down and around rib cage bones from front to rear most bone
3) Pick a point just above front lateral and just behind last lateral and slice,
do the same below.
4) With a bit of practice you should end up with no bones in the fillet and minimal wastage.

It is up to you if you want the skin on or not, I find it easier to skin them myself.

I do this with herring as i find it relatively easy to archive good results and by running my pinkie finger down the backbone i can determine if I have missed any bones.
(hope this helps in some way)

I always kill by using in 'iki' (ikijima) or a screw driver to the brain.
Brain is located above and in the centre line with the eyes.
Googling it may help, sorry for the poor discription.
Good diagram Gnash!!

Winding down the 2007 system, collecting my thoughts at 2AM on lessons learned and where I want to go for 2008.

Learned that I can keep several dozen tilapia going in the basement even without planted beds.
Solids management needs to be designed in when you're not using planted gravel beds.
Fine unwashed gravel may cause anaerobic conditions later on; I still am having nitrite spikes after feeding (up to 1.0 today).
The fish didn't die after the several power outages this year.
I don't like paying for light.
I need to concentrate on plants/green things more this year - I have plenty of nutrient-producing animals to do interesting things with.
Outgassing the chlorine for a few days is working for me, assuming the water dept doesn't change things.
I found a source for pure ammonia and cycled up successfully using it.
Worms are a must to keep solids under control if the beds are going to be used for more than 6 months.
A small leak in a bed outlet can go for 10 months without being a problem, assuming you situate the leak to drip into another bed. Biofilm will not close up such leaks over 10 months.
Pumps hum louder before they fail (the second one may be failing in the next month). The pumps I have last about 9 months before failing.
It is pointless to grow vegetables that we will not eat. I learned from subscribing to the CSA this year that there are certain staple vegetables that we will use reliably, and exotic stuff will end up in the compost bin. The CSA was mostly stuff we haven't used before and so it mostly went to waste in the fridge. We will eat potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, onions, carrots, celery, lettuce, beans, peas, and some select herbs that go with our usual dishes. Anything else will risk being wasted.
Gravel beds are not the most efficient biofilter if you're not growing in them.
Loop siphons can be reliable for more than 10 months without any pump flow bypass/adjustments.
The white ones of the mix I have grow the fastest. All the biggest ones are white.
The fish will jump out of the tank from time to time if a hole exists.
Oyster shells are useless for bringing the pH up from 6.4 to 7 or above. I had oyster shells in there for the whole time and it was 6.4 constant. I added about 1/2 box of baking soda to the 250 gallons and it immediately went above 7.5 and stayed there for weeks.

I have many plans in mind for 2008; will list them in a new thread when the New Year rolls around.

4AM now, why didn't I go to bed?!?

silly man

DD - that's a great idea to list lessons learnt periodically.

Well done on the list Dave.

GF, how about an update on your setup?

sure, will post something to end out the year in the morning perhaps.

Hi Dave,
I'm new to the site and enjoyed skimming through the 31 pages about your indoor system. I was wondering what lights you ended up using? I couldn't quite tell from the pictures and must have missed it along the way. Also, did you ever try an indoor/outdoor system? I'm considering that --fish in basement and beds outside (of course in winter, it would need to be all inside with the Chicago weather). Anyway, I enjoyed reading the thread.