Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Could be a connoisseur's thing - not sure. Especially when you're smoking it or adding flavour via other methods. I can't tell, but I don't think I've ever had wild trout.

See if your dad likes one of your trout. Then go and get some yabbies and crickets and stuff and feed them exclusively on them for a month and then give him another trout and see if he can tell the difference. I'm going to try something similar.

Hot over the melb cup long weekend - min of 15 and max of 30. I wasn't in town, so I had a friend come over and check the fish, feed them and throw some ice in if the temps were > 24.

So today I got back and..... all was well in the main tank. Fish seemed happy, despite the warm water (22 when I got home). In the small tank.... something was wrong. I dunno, after you've done this a while, you know what happy healthy water looks like, and you know what bad water looks like.

I went and had a look, and the water looked "bad" - I guess it's a slight oily look to it, and it also wasn't smelling it's usual "creeky" smell. So I started looking for dead fish. But there weren't any. So I figure he's overfed and there's rotting food on the bottom. Sure enough I net out a few handfuls of uneaten food. Whew, hopefully nipped that one in the bud before it got too bad.

Cooler weather forecast, so I've got a weeks breather before I go away for another week.

Yeah, thankfully next week is expected to get much above 24.... we hit 38 here today... with 42 out Windsor (Sydney) way....

My tank was over 24... Darryl up the Northern Beaches nudged 26..

Great system you have Gemmell, I really enjoyed reading it from start to finish and seeing you reap the rewards with great fish and veg.

Water temps are currently sitting at 26 degrees - no visible sign of distress on the 20 or so trout, but we'll see just how long they last at those temps.

My tank water is 27.2 degrees at the moment, and I've been pulling probably one or two a day who are flopping about, sinking, or otherwise ill.

They're all a nice size, and it's most definitely DO, but I don't know that there's much I can do about it.

Tomorrow it's going to be 36 degrees, but rain in the evening, and then it goes back to cool weather (min 14 max 25).

I think I'll pull them all out on the weekend anyway. Maybe leave 1 or 2 of the smaller ones in to see just how long they'll last.

Photos....

Did a big trout harvest on the weekend. I thought i'd only have maybe 10 left, but turns out I've got more like 20 left.

Nice one Gemmel... keep putting my cull off each time a front comes through and temps drop back ten degrees...

Apart from that... don't think I've got room in the freezer for 100+ fish at the moment...

Man I have a LOT of toms at the moment.

This is one harvest:





So we eat as much tomato as we can for a couple of days, by which time a whole stack more have ripened.



In this photo you can see how the tomato has escaped my growbeds. That's AP tomato growing round the base of the tree!


This is with about 15 small Golden Perch feeding the system (hence the visibility of hydroton). 99% of my toms have that "perfect" look, there's no blossom end rot, or splitting or blemishes on the skin or anything. They're fantastic.

Wow, those are some gorgeous tomatoes. I have total tomato envy. I haven't come close to totatoes like that.

Gemmel, do you supplement with and trace elements? Maxicrop, seasol?

Gee ... I feel for you Gemmel... all those tomatos.... sigh....

I am also suffering from tomato envy
Great job Gemmell
Can't wait until my system is producing the quality and quantity

Potassium guys. Potassium.

Pete Cundell used to say "sweeten them up with potash" - well I've actually been adding seasol (which has a lot of potassium) as well as Potassium Sulphate (potash) because my pH is above 7. It kind of works having a light fish load over xmas - you want low Nitrate and high Potassium to get things flowering and fruiting properly. If I had it packed with fish I think I'd have masses of greenery and less fruit.

I'm going to go outside and pick a whole bunch more now - I'll post a photo soon.

Nice system Gemmell, first time I have read your thread must admit I was wondering where you hid it, you should put a link in your sig, might try the seasol on my tom's the roma's are great but some have bottom end rot, but the yellow, black and some other that I bought in a tray as a fun mix look a bit sad