Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

yeah some of mine are still small too , I guess the big fat ones get the food quicker

I think Ive got about 65 left , maybe a little less .
we're eating atleast 3 a week now ( this week was 8 though .. ) , so theres atleas 20 meals left swimming around in there

I really hope these damn silver perch start putting weight on soon to catch up - Ive had them since last november

aaaah , smoked trout for dinner again

found 4 ripe passionfruit that were hiding from me last week when I went looking , so smoked trout with apple woodchips , stuffed with passionfruit , plus silverbeet and crouton salad

every second trout I pull out now is 30sm long , still have no accurate way of weighing them

Problems with the trout system now :

-water temps are sitting around 23 , theyre still eating like mad though

-rats or mice have decided its fun to eat the middle out of every beetroot in every bed ( I started solving that by putting on a welding glove and catching rats by hand that live in the chicken coop , I thought there was only three so when I crushed their skulls with my fist I assumed the problem was fixed , saw another on last night though so Im going to need to bait or something

-tomatos are frustrating to grow ,I need some potassium or something

-beans getting destroyed by slugs as soon as they sprout ( just squished 50 of em , that may make a dent )

The new computer fan I rigged up to blow on the air pump is doing wonders - the casing of it is no longer really hot to the touch ( despite it being out of the sun ) , so Im assuming thats making a difference with the temp of the air that its suckign through it into the tank

This month it looks like its a race to see what kills the trout first : me , the heat , or the lack of a battery backup

pics tomorrow

hey boris somewere Obo Said he had great sucess in killing slugs with Lime sprinkled on the plants and bed, i havent tried in in my ap but the slug i saw the other day sure seemd to be not ahhpy about his dusting

Death to all slugs and catterpillas

Cheers
pete

Just lost the 1 remaining trout today from the heat ( water temperature held at 31 all day

his mate karked it thismorning and he lasted all day until the sun went down . couldnt be bothered measuring it just put it in the freezer with its boyfriend for next time I dig a hole

I put 100 "3cm" silvers in a week ago or so and some of them are finally eating butsome are dying for some reason .
lost 5 to wierd red rot on their fins and tops, added MORE salt
lost one every day or two to looking like nothings wrong with them, maybe theyre getting lack of oxygen sitting in the little 50mm joiner tubes that link the tanks ,
maybe theyre getting beaten up by the bigger perch when they swim into the next tank

havent lost any of the "big" silvers for 2 or 3 weeks , but theyre not eating at all , despite the silvers in the other system going through heaps of the remaining trout food

3 months till trout season I suppose , dont really care what happens to the silvers

here's a couple photo's of my new hobby - catching rats and mice by hand ( with a welding glove and a torch )

they come along the fence and discover the chicken house and sit in there all night , till I go out and catch them in there

the one pictured is number 38 , theres never more than 1 or 2 and they dont get time to breed - they only stay one night hehehe

caught another last night , and another just then - a little small but his eyes popped out when I punched him against the cage to catch him ( bloody thing bled all over the paving so I had to scrub it off before it stained )

thats 40 rats by hand , theyre definitely not nesting here , so Im doing a neighbourhood service right ?

Well that's a feed... maybe some of the local wildlife park may need some rats to feed their animals kept there...

the owl that lives in the tree out the front gets them

Regarding the UPS not working with your car battery, the circuitry on the small UPSs don't usually allow cold starting, they need to be started on mains power. If you get your hands on a larger one they usually have some magic button combination that will allow a cold start.

Gees I missed these last posts you made Boris... Catching rats by hand? that's no mean feat, a mate and I used to use bits of poly pipe as clubs and the dog, to try and catch them. Man, that was hard just trying to knock the buggers off the patio or fence so the dog could grab them, can;t imagine actually catching them by hand....

its the amazing reflxes Ive got from all that ninja training

I catch flies with chopsticks too

hahaha.... But I've seen half blind old Chinese guys do that too...

Silverbeet going crazy

for some reason this one is growing huge leaves with not as rich colour, yet in the same growbed theres other ones with smaller leaves that are much redder / greener. Same seeds, same everything
tastes the same though so I guess thats all that matters

I'm always confused as to the technical definition, and difference between "silverbeet" and "chard"....

I've seen the red-stemmed variety above referred to as "chard"...

Anyone know the distinction....

same thing really swiss chard, ruby shard, rainbow chard, silverbeet, they are all very closely related...