Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So when would they dip below 20m degrees... water temp... April/May??

More like April, this year was very abnormal with temps to 28 at the beginning of May, was still too hot for trout mid april anyhow, but as mentioned that was unusual, Perth and North would be fine but south of our wonderful capital is different, more like Geelong weather, growing Barra will be a test for me, I think late December to beginning of April will see it out, but I am 200+ K's south east of Perth
Unfortunately we don't have the wonderful conditions of Geringong rupe

In my opinion, fishless cycle is definitely the way to go. It is a lot less stressful and you will not kill any fishes with the high ammonia and nitrike spikes. In fact, because you do not need to manage the ammonia and nitrite levels that closely as compared to having fishes in there, I think your system will cycle quicker.

If I start another system, definitely will be going fishless cycle.

Yep the system can operate just fine for months pee ponically with some small additions of seasol for extra trace nutrients. Just cycle it up fishlessly and then keep the bacteria and plants going that way till the week before you decided to add fish in.

make sure to do testing through the cycle up so you can see it happen. Then you don't need to test too much other than pH (to make sure it doesn't crash) until you are getting ready to add the fish. You want to make sure ammonia and nitrite are down to 0 and the pH is in a good range when you add the fish. And then of course test as you start increasing the feed to the fish once they have had a day or two to settle in. Make sure ammonia and nitrite don't spike as you get up to the appropriate feed levels. Then testing weekly or monthly is probably enough as long as the pH doesn't dive. Of course run tests if anything seems odd.

Barra are no good even out here in Kal

The night time temps just drop too quickyly. Only be about 4 months of over 23 deg c water temps.

I think will be my problem too OBO, but will try them, not lowering myself to silvers and still hunting down decent Redfin, gotta try them.
Fish and humonia worked for ivan, it's hard holding that sixth stubbie though

Hi all, when i lived in Adelaide we used to sneak into the water dept reservoirs and fish for redfin,(illegally) an hours fishing at most and than home.clean fish ,dip in flour and into a pan with butter, eating within an hour of catching, what a great taste...Drew

A couple of people from NSW tell me redfin are the best freshwater fish going, have NFI as never ate one but am keen to try them, have done a lot of driving and found a few spots that stunted redfin due to overpopulation, at least the locals say stunted, was wondering if were to breed them up would the offspring be stunted, or if a few in tank would they grow

Most likely the offspring will be normal.

I spent some time down in Harvey (South of Perth) a while back and I was told the local dam was full of RedFin. They are considered a pest and the fisheries department has signs up that encourage you to leave them on the bank to die if caught
I was told by some locals that there are fish in the dam up to 2-3 Kgs and they are very good eating. Needless to say we loaded up the car with the fishing gear and proceeded to spend half a day catching nothing

Harvey is one place I have been MDP, all the biggies are gone, even the rivers that feed into the dam, but is one place that their are heaps of stunted ones, may have to do another experiment

I contacted Golden Ponds today regarding the availability of Trout. I was told they have them but only small fingerlings 1 - 2 cm. Would I be right in saying it would be too late in the year to take on fish this size.

For somebody from a different continent - what is Seasol? what does it say on the label?

Seasol is a seaweed extract (concentrate). It is used as a general tonic in the garden. It can be watered into the soil or applied a foliar feed.

Read more from the manufacturer: http://www.seasol.com.au/

Chemical composition: http://www.seasol.com.au/images/stories/pdfs/analyses/seasol_retail_1_7_2007.pdf



Hope this helps.


Scott

Knowmore... try looking for "Maxicrop" over yourway... I believe it's available... and it's basically the same thing...

If you can get it... look for the Maxicrop + Iron.... it'll provide the Iron that is commonly deficient in AP systems, especially new systems...