Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Yes Desertrat i have posted a few pics of my system on here in new members systems under "Hello Guys". I am not to computer savvy so not sure how to leave a link for you to follow?! also i am no expert on yabbies mate but my experience has been to make sure you have plenty of hides for them (I use agg pipe cut into 4inch sections) in my bio filters ...

Just an update on the system
It is now a month since the arrival of 200 silver perch with no loses so far, most of the SP have doubled in size and they are prolific feeders, as EB predicted I would have better results in the GB's once Fish and feed was introduced and he was right. There has also been excellent growth with the yabbies although from the population of 300 I would now estimate to be around the 200 mark, no doubt due to cannibalism.
A couple of interesting observations
The resident goldfish have also grown with the addition of feed and they seem to have adopted the quickness and even the feeding techniques of the SP and will often out compete the SP for the food.
I took some basil (which to date has the best growth performance) to my work cafe and was told that it lasted in a jar of water for 4 days without any signs of wilting, there usual supply of basil from a local market garden usually wilts within a day
My duckweed tank has taken off and providing a good supply of FF
Well a few pics

Some of the photo's may be a little dark as it was early in the morning will post more soon
My next project is underway and it is adding an additional GB for growing a few banana and paw paw plants
This will be in a 500lt corner spa that I purchased from our tip shop for $5.00
I was inspired after viewing a picture of Murray Hallam with a great looking pawpaw tree
will post a few pics as the project progresses.

Alright DesertRat....

Phenomonal growth

Well time for an update on the system
This weekend I will be cleaning the pump filter box and all the inlet/outlet filters It has now been 8 weeks since I have carried out any maintenance on the system. Minimal maintenance was one of my initial design criterion. So apart from feeding the fish the system has ticked along very nicely. I feel reasonably confident that I could leave the system for a holiday and have someone doing the feed and brief check over the system.

Two weeks ago I added a new GB which is my tropical indulgence; it is a 500lt corner spa bath that I purchased for $5 from our local tip shop I am attempting to grow a banana and a paw paw and looking for some other plants that will grow below that don't need as much sunshine and Ideas??

Since adding the SP to the system the plant growth has been continually improving however there was a real competition with the gold fish during feeding so last weekend I built a separate 2 bath system for the goldfish

The yabbies have been steadily growing and in about a month I will start culling a few of the younger ones
The photo of the yabbie below is one that hatched in late Oct last year.
Two weeks ago a friend caught 60 Spangled Perch from the Todd River which I have in a bathtub unfortunately they are real jumpers and lost 16 the very first night until I placed a cover over them. It will be interesting to see how they perform, according to locals they can grow to 250 - 300mm and although a little bony have very nice white flesh. I will try get some pics soon.
Temperatures are starting to fall last night it was around the 10C on checking the FT water this morning it was 20C so staying reasonably stable. PH is now down to 7.5

I would be interested to see how the Spangled Perch go. Used to catch these as a kid in North Qld. Like you said a bit bony, but they were very nice to eat.

Next project?
I will be looking at adding another Armada of 5 Bathtub GB's for added filtration and another 2 baths or what ever may appear at the local Tipshop as a separate tank for the Spangled Perch
but there is one problem I need to pretty up the whole system before the boss will allow anything else to happen!

Hi Geoff
What size were the ones you caught?
Would be nice if they were to breed in the system apparently there is still a lot that is unknown about the Spangled Perch particularly their breeding methods.

I'm struggling to see how you could possibly make that any prettier DR... Looks great....

looks awsome desertrat!

would love to see how you go with the spangled perch, i tried to get some here to try in my system but can't find any.

good luck.

They were usually around 20 cm. A big one would be 25cm. From what I have researched they will breed in ponds and I assume tanks as well. A very hardy fish with many interesting habits. There is a rumour that during dry periods they bury themselves in the mud inside a type of coccoon (much like a lungfish) and survive extended periods with no water, but this had never been proven. I can say that this is 100% correct as we used to dig them up in the moist bottom of small dried up creek beds. They can reach and survive in surprisingly small waterholes/drains and tolerate poor water quality. They also have a wide ranging temperature tolerance. A lot of potential I think and I'll certainly be getting some soon.