Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Tony, where's the trout?

Don't leave us hangin' mate

Welllll, there was a slight change of plans...
There are now 80 Atlantic Salmon fingerlings each weighing about 12-15gms (10cm) swimming around..
After picking them up and stored in plastic bags super saturated in oxygen, and an outside temp of 26 degrees, it was a 3 hour drive on a 'dissolved oxygen' time frame.. It was pretty funny having two very large bags of Atlantic Salmon on the back seat of the car. A lot of sploshing and splashing with the air-cond on 'high' and us freezing our pants off.
But never fear, they made it ok and were introduced to the tank over the course of an hour or so.
Several hours later they were even feeding extremely well.
They sure stirred the bottom of the tank up though.. The water was clear before they went in..

I always like seeing pictures of new fish....

sweet. What are you feeding them?

Why did you change your plans and get salmon?

The trout weren't ready for another 3 weeks or so. And when I got to the hatchery we chatted about it for awhile and despite the difference in feed and growth rates b/w the two fish types, i.e. trout have a 1:1 feed rate and grow almost twice as fast, we decided to go for the salmon to 'see how they go in an aquaponics system'.

I'm not sure if anyone else is using them and the hatchery is really keen to see what happens as they are thinking about a commercial system themselves.

Atlantic Salmon certainly are suited to our climate down here and can be grown all year round. The issue will be in spring when they attempt to smolt. A bit of salt in the water and feed them through it should get the fish 'over the line' and over their precocious tendencies...

Oh, and I just love eating salmon..!


I am feeding them on Skretting 0.75 sinking pellets..
Actually, Jamie if you need some let me know as I have a 25kg bag of 0.75 and 1.0mm and I am not going to use this much in a couple of years...

Continuing on from the battery back up system, the 500gph bilge pump is now connected to the deep cycle 12v 40aH battery.

The pump was a transom mount type to allow it to be connected to the below ground 25mm ball valve outlet. The body of the pump also has a 15mm take off which I can add a valve to if I need to drain the tank for any reason..

The lid keeps everything nice and dry. Holes have been drilled into the base of the sump 'just in case'..

And shutting the power down, it all (strobe light, siren, and pump) worked..!!! Better yet, turning the power back on everything switched over like clock work as if nothing had happen..

And its all finished...
Next is to set the air pump up properly. It is at the moment only connected with some 19mm poly pipe with holes drilled into the end of it and weighted down with a stone...
I've been waiting for over a week for a 4 outlet air manifold to arrive..

There is something innately and primevally satisfying with going out into the garden and picking lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, and a capsicum that you have sown and grown yourself from seed you collected from last years plants, to then make a salad to have with fish you went out and dived for and speared off a kayak in the open seas.

I'm sure every aquaponicist experiences that same satisfying thrill every now and then..

I agree totally. Being a mini farmer and producing your own produce is so rewarding. We are using it as a teaching tool for our kids. Showing them that food comes from plants and animals. It's the most amazing thing watching them learn.

Well done with what you've done. It's been great watching it at each stage.

Looking good Tony, how have the salmon settled in?

Really good thanks Faye..

Only lost 1 out of 80 so far which was 3 days after insert. Tank temps have hovered b/w 18 - 21 and I'm feeding only under 20 degrees.

Ammonia has floated b/w 0.0 - 0.25ppm but reduces down within 12 hours without fail. Nitrites and nitrates have remained at 0.0 the whole time, so all I can assume is that these are being converted and absorbed faster than I can register them. Plant growth certainly looks healthier since introducing the fish.

Got to be happy with that really.. So far so good.

They're a bit skittish tonight for some reason, but the water temp is still at 21 degrees (9pm) so no food this evening and we'll check on them again in the morning.

Cheers
T

Great growth Tony.
It is so exciting to be able to grow something from seed to produce food. Its so natural so right
Its going to be so good for you to sit in the hothouse in winter on a sunny day reading..or enjoying your food


LB

Cheers Embi..
You're totally right on watching kids learn using practical approaches. Lessons they rarely forget (we hope)

Hey Dean...! Thanks mate... It has been an adventure every step of the way as you know.

I have had a temp air supply connected for the past two weeks whilst waiting on the manifold to arrive. Finally hooked up the air pump permanently today and pretty much the whole system is completely finished... Wooo hooo. And not a moment too soon.

Today the tank temp rose to 24 degrees and didn't get below 21 last night. The salmon still seem relatively happy though sitting rather still on the bottom of the tank. I haven't fed them since yesterday morning. So it was time to get the air pump from a temporary set up to a connected system.

At 55lpm there are now four air stones connected keeping the DO as high as possible..