Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

If they have an email account I am sure one could be set up
In a flash

Arrived home from holidays and all is good with the AP.
No fish deaths while I was gone and plant looking OK.
Have had lots of rain and the overflow has been working well.
Because of the rain I now don't know how much salt is in the system.
Might add some more to be sure I don't have any problems with ich.

For some reason the ich or whatever it is seems to keep coming back.
I had no loses for the week I was away and as of yesterday I am seeing flashing again
and have had 2 more deaths.
I have setup a quaratine tub and put all the fish in with 9ppt of salt for 45 mins and then
diluted the water down to approx 3 ppt and will leave them there for 2 weeks.

While the fish are in quarantine I will run the system fishless. Apparently ich and other
problems need a host to survive so I am hoping I can have a clean system as well by the time
I add the fish back in.

Can anyway give me some feedback as to if this is the right thing to do.
I know I should have asked before doing it but I am to impatient.
Hopefully you will think I am doing OK as I hope to have learned something over the last 2 months.

Sorry to point this out, but is there something that you are doing that your fish carer did not do, coz it seems like all is fine when you were not around. Maybe it is time for another holiday. Could be the rainy spell we had the whole of the week that dropped your salt level and timed it well with your return for something to happen. Don't forget air for the quarantine tub.

Thanks for that Ivan!
Just what I need at the moment a confidence booster.

Unfortunately I am not doing anything different except worrying more.
I am glad I am still only using goldfish, I am still waiting to try and get my hands on an IBC then I might try some other fish. Hopefully I would have sorted out my problems by then and also learnt a few more things.

This is certainly a funny business but good fun all the same.

Yep Whispers... just make sure you aerate the "salt bath" (as Ivan sugested)... and keep an eye on them... if they start looking distressed, dilute the salt bath...

Thanks for that.
I was told that ich and other diseases require a host to keep reproducing.
So I am hopeing that while the fish are being hospitalised that the tank can have some time
to eliminate anything nasty and I can start again. Do you know if this is correct and if so how
long would I need to leave the fish out for.
I would send some more photo's but growth is non existant due to not enough fish.
Will see how it goes over the next few days with the addidtion of some humonia.
Cheers for your help.

Sorry to sound too critical, but I am at wit's end with my system. Sound like you and I the same. The more I bloody worry about the fishes, the more of them decide to die. I have got some feeder goldfishes I bought initially which I did not feed much or worry about their water quality in a small aquarium tank, they are still alive and well.

Weird logic and indeed funny.

Tis just a bad time of year guys...cold weather, cold water - fish sickness.

What are your water readings?

OBO, my water tests are
PH 7.8
temp 12
Amm .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

Ivan, I here ya it isn't fun when things aren't going well.
I hope the weather warms up soon I hate the winter and AP doesn't seam to like it either when trying to get a system up and running.

My results are similar. Well the next time I start another system up, definitely fishless cycling. And yes, I will aim to do it in warmer weather.

I was thinking about using one of the aquarium heaters that I have to keep the temp up abit to help things move through winter. Other than the cost of running the heaters is there any problems with doing this. Also does it help at all or should I just leave it alone and wait for the warmer weather to come.
I have not heard of to many people using heaters and would like to here anyones opinions on the subject.

Hmm... Not sure why the "gurus" have not respond to your question. Maybe they PMed you. But since I have been constantly told not to "frack" with the system recently, I am telling you not to "frack" with the system. Let nature take its course.

And since you are having goldfishes, you don't really have a grow-out period window like Trout and Barramundi, so just wait a while for the warm weather to come. This week is quite good actually (getting a number of 18-20degC days), but you probably want to make sure that you still have ammonia in the tank (since I think you took out all the fishes right?). And if you are thinking about System 2, consider incorporating a greenhouse/hot-house.

How are your fishes holding up anyways?

You'd need at least 2 x 300w heaters to significantly heat a 1000L... and you'll loose most of the heat gain during the night anyway... unless you're in a shed/greenhouse...

Don't see that you'll get any significant gain from doing so with Goldies... and as far as Ich (or any other pathogen for that matter)... warmer water helps the pathogen breeding cycle...

Excellent I will be leaving that alone then.
Just thought I would ask the question to see if it might help getting people through the cold period. Once again leaving things to nature is the way to go.