Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Wrap them in foil and fix them gently and inconspicuously onto the boss's exhaust system.
Allow them to cook slowly for as long as possible.
After about 4 days the boss should be able to taste them as he drives the car

.

Bad news KPC,
other than being dead, they still look healthy! I mean well conditioned.
By the By Just a typo I know, should be 297 (x210).
I will try and find a definitive "condition factor" for trout I used many years ago, that used factors like length, weight, scale count, colour etc etc which gave a factor used to gauge the best trout caught when fly fishing. From memory, the ideal factor was 43. Sounds a bit like a Douglas Adams number, but it did work. I'm sure we could apply it to AP grown Trout as a means of assessing health, feeding etc.

Cheers IanK

oh yeah, well the width is 210... I knew it was approx 300x200, just got em around the wrong way
Guess you can subtract 5-10mm from my guestimmations then.

Thanks Ian,

BTW, has anybody got any serious suggestions as to how to use the fish? I'm really not in the mood for jokes this am. I'm tired, late for work and have dead fish.

Kuda when my water in first system went smelly was because of dead marron, maybe you had a sinker for sometime, also when that happened my ammonia went off the scale, in your pics you seem to have some with white spots similar to Rick's when he had a HSM after a storm blew in a pile of crap from paddocks (we suspect), he did some small water changes and salting, about page 17 in his thread from memory, as for waste Duff's suggestion appears to be the best so far
Good Luck

Just got a pdf from a friend in the EPA regarding SP problems, as I read it I came across something that may be relevant!

Healthy looking, But dead! Smelly Mucky water, Redness in fins

I have cut and pasted from the item as we cannot upload pdf's

Here is what it said:

Hydrogen sulphide poisoning
Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is a gas that
is produced during the anaerobic
breakdown of organic matter by
bacteria. It is commonly known as
‘rotten egg gas’ due to its strong,
distinctive and pungent smell. There
have been several cases of high
mortalities of silver perch in ponds
and tanks, where H2S poisoning has
been suspected. H2S is toxic at low
concentrations (e.g. levels should be
<0.003 mg/L) and can cause rapid
death with few, if any, diagnostic signs.
Problems have occurred in poorly
aerated ponds following the disturbance
of bottom sediments during harvest
procedures (Fig. 93). Some sources
of bore water are naturally high in
H2S. The use of bore water that has
been lying stagnant and/or the use
of poorly flushed water delivery lines
have also caused fish mortality in tanks.
H2S interferes with fish respiratory
mechanisms causing hypoxia.
Signs
• Acute mortality following sediment
disturbance or water exchange
• Erratic swimming around pond edges
• Rapid breathing, then listlessness
and death
• Schooling at water inflows
• Redness in fins and tails
Diagnosis
Smell of ‘rotten egg gas’ may be
indicative of a problem. Water sample
collection (2 litres, sealed underwater)
and testing by a qualified laboratory;
sample can be refrigerated and stored
following preservation with zinc acetate
and sodium hydroxide (to >pH 9)
Treatment
Ponds:
• vigorous aeration of water using
surface‑spray type aerators; rapid
water exchange; the addition of
potassium permanganate to oxidise
H2S.
Tanks:
• use packed column degassers;
lowering temperature and increasing
pH will decrease H2S toxicity.
Prevention
Maintain aerobic conditions using
appropriate aerators and aeration
regimes; use of aerators that provide
both oxygen and create currents will
reduce stagnant areas of water; remove
objects (e.g. rocks, tyres, cages) from
ponds that cause sediment build‑up and
poor water flow; regularly dry, de‑silt
and till ponds to oxidise sediments; flush
water lines and position footvalves of
pumps well above bottom sediments.

PM me if you want the whole 84 page Colour book and I'll email it to you

.

Well it's not H2S as I know it as produced by cars... but it may be a derivative, as water does weird things to smells.
I went home at lunch to install new airstones - I love my boss, he understood that it was upsetting me, and I needed to fix, so he gave me a 2hr lunch break to buy the fittings I've been needing and install the airstones! Yay for my cool boss!

Further to that, when I got home, I found a neutrally buoyant fish, really good condition, no slime buildup, ie, died this morning
That brings to total to 4.
This fish, unlike the others was very dark coloured, not pale.

The paleness, yellowish tinge on the other fish... indicate they'd been dead on the bottom for a day or two... maybe longer...

That's probably responsible for the "smell" of the water... and any "milkiness"...

Please do a pH and a nitrite test Kuda...

didn't have enough time Rupe... just got air on, I'll try for tests this evening

Upright pectoral fins... points to stress... and the "redness" around the fins worries me...

If you find a newly dead fish... please check and report the colour of the gills...

Ummm will the colour fade, i mean, I have one in the fridge, from lunch when I got home. can I check the colour for you tonight?
Pectoral fins were not up fully, but were up. Yiou can sorta see from the photos I posted. Redness around the fins I didn't notice, but may have been there, twas the extended and red gills that worried me. today at lunch they were no longer coming up and breaching whilst cruising, they stayed at the bottom as per my experience so far.

If the 3 were dead for a long time, what would only kill 3?

I'm buying more salt on my way home tonight, so I'll salt the system then

Kuda salt to 3 or 4 ppt the secret with trout is air and regular pumping is all the water in your system going through the trout tank
I am currently running 100 trout 50 in each ibc theres 3-- 2 in airstones in each the water looks like a slow boil you said when you put the extra pump in the trout went back down the bottom that points to low do i also have 3 airstones in the sump theres about 3 spots of gunk in there i am working on the thing if theres anerobic gas the air will disperse it

Gills should be a "bright" crimson red Kuda.... I'd be worried if they were "brownish"... indicating nitrite poisoning... or "dull"... suggesting clogging by fine sediments...and poor oxygen intake...

You wont probably be able to tell if they've been dead for a while... and/or in the fridge...

All gills of alive fish have been crimson red. I could see that.
As for dead fish I didn't really look, I think they last looked ultra healthy to me, so should be ok.

Milne I'll salt to 3ppt, that should be easy enough. Sunray pool salt here we come.
The trout were not gulping, but you saw the photos I was able to take.
They were close to the surface, and groggy as, I netted a couple by mistake as I endeavoured to remove excess food.

The next morning, they were still at the surface (when I took photos) but by lunch had simmered down. I have added a 100mm airstone disk to each tank, powered by the 35W airpump I was recommended to buy see the eBay listing
Hopefully 4 losses is the net sum of all the evil that has occurred. I dread what I will find when I get home.

Yep i use that kind of pump but a larger one if you can get tees from the aquariam shop and run as many airstones as the pump will handle [pumps dont like back pressure ]

My air hose at 70" appears to give plenty of air across the tank, my airstones broke from trout jumping around