Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi rupertofoz,
bucket would hold about 10 lts and the fish is in 5 lts of water travel in it for 1 hour

sorry... did not explain properly... when i said that i got a bad alge bloom , that was 6-months ago when my system is new. Not now......now it is blackish.

6-month ago (when i first started AP) ......after 3weeks the alge came...green water to the max. i read thru the internet to use barly straw . .... anyway, couldn't find any from anywhere in perth. So i just let nature do its cause. the alge stay for a good 4 months then within 2weeks it get clearer and clearer.

Kudapucat ....said don't feed for now......confused
should i feed the dust or not because there is a sh** loads of aphids on the water

I'd try a "little" feed... your fish need some nourishment to stay alive...fight the infection and regain strength...

If they don't eat... then don't feed until the next day...



150 fingerlings in 5 ltrs of water... for an hour.... even with a "portable aerator"....

Would IMO... have suffered considerable stress and been somewhat oxygen deprived...

This would have lowered their immune response... and allowed for any pathogens to attack them...

Normally, fingerlings are bagged with at least 10ltrs of water, and the bags filled with pure oxygen....

At 40-50mm... I wouldn't have put more than a 100/bag... in fact I would probably have put 50 each in three bags... and put the bags into insulated foam boxes, possibly even with an icepack (depending on temp)

Not knocking your mate at all... just trying to highlight that the fish would have suffered considerable stress.... and that pathogens are "opportunistic"... and will attack weakened fish...

Suggests that your tank water might be infected with pathogens... not an unusual situation...

hi rupertofoz,
i'll take note for next time to buy in small quantities.
now that i have increase the salt level...will that kill the fungus/pathogens??
oh yeah....found 2 dead this morning (cat had a small feed)
i'm wondering where the rest of the fingerling gone? i got 150 less 28 dead ...probably 50 floating with tail fungus that still should leave me with 72 or so fingerling. .......(i just hope they are not dead at the bottom of the tank...wouldn't know till they start to rot and float up...i guess! )

If Rupe ever says something, take his advice over mine any day

opportunistic bugs will take 24 - 72 hours to take hold. I would say it's everytnhing to do with the transport and handling and would be asking for a refund or replacement of the fish. Too little water, too many fish.

IMHO without oxytetracyckene or some such treatment, chances are you will lose all the fish. I know this doesn't help you, but you should be prepared for the worse.

Is oxytetracyclene poisonous to humans? Does it remain in the fish? I was considering it when I had troubles but I didn't want to poison myself (apparently oxytetracyclene is too common to use in the search facility).

What I'm confused about is how you had a cycled system that had 0.25 ammonia in it BEFORE the addition of fish. If it's cycled, it shouldn't have any ammonia...

Not poisonous to humans Gemmel, and doesn't hang around. General use permit in aquaculture for it. From memory a withholding period of seven days (could be wrong but it's not long)

update......
last week change 1/3 of the water and the fish seem alright. i have been feeding a little dust everyday as per rupertofoz and i now manage to save a good portion of the fingerling
....many thks from all advice

yesterday i went out and bought 2mm pellet (2kg) and did not know that is sinking ones...#$*@#%##
the fingerling are eating them as they sink but because my water is dirty (brown) cannot really see if all the food is being consume....
#Question : How do you make the sinking pellet to float ( is there ways of doing it ..eg drying it a little)
can you tell me what makes the pellet float ?
#Question : a lot of the fingerling have lost it's tail due to fungus ....will the tail grow back?

Silver Perch will happily take a sinking pellet... so no problems there...

How many fish do you have left and what size???.... may need to up the feed a little if they're now healthier and hungrier... we'll work out the biomass...

Have all signs of fungus disappeared now?

Their tails should grow back... if they've survived so far.... but I'd be proactive and continue the salting @ 2ppt for another couple of weeks... can you measure your salinity after water changes???

Should have added...

Their tails should grow back... but it will take time... and energy... both in terms of feed, and in terms of sheer energy needed to repair/mend severe injury...

It is vitally important that you maintain your water quality, and prevent any opportunistic infections... hence the "proactive salting".... and you may still get the odd one or two morts...

Try and keep your water temps above 20 degrees minimum... as they heal... 22-25 would be ideal.... but that's also ideal for fungus & bacteria growth... (see above)...

You need to get these guys back to health before the water temps fall too much... otherwise winter might kill them off...

Don't expect a lot of growth while they heal.... and unfortunately that means you'll be taking them into winter at a smaller size...

Something that might help 'float' your pellets. Put them in a floating strainer/colander/basket/bucket. Make holes in the side that are big enough for the fish to get through. Then the pellets only fall to the bottom of the strainer which you can lift up and check later. Attach some kind of floats to the top of the strainer so it floats.

Silver can sometimes rise and hit the pellets quite hard and fast...

I'd be concerned that they may injure themselves attempting to get at the pellets through holes in a colendar....

could always try soaking the pellet to be more consumable

It had worked form my barra.......not saying that IT WILL WORK, but it is an option

Nearly all Silver Perch feeds are "sinking" pellets... although there is always a certain amount that tend to float... don't worry... the Silvers get them when you're not hanging around and watching.....

They'll be fine... don't stress...