Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I've never wanted a frost so badly The funny thing is, in 3 months time I'll be wondering how the water temperature will ever get high enough to put a barra in.

Right. We're going for it. Heatwave or not. I'm putting a spare GB in a room I have that I can aircon. 400L for 100 fingerlings. I can control this much easier. Now this is the embarrassing bit. I have never even had a goldfish before, so where can I get this wrong?

I have air. I'll buy a little aquarium one for now because Chillidude reckons my Guppy one is still another week away.
I thought I could change the water a bit every day to keep it fresh. One 10L bucket out, and a cold bucket in.
Salt?

It's forecast to be 34 for the next 3-4 days. I figure I need to survive next week, ten days maybe, and it almost certainly will be cold for Easter. We are camping after all

So you are saying that you are using a spare GB to temporarily house the 100L fishes??? No bio-filtration??

I know what its like rushing to get your first lot of fish in the tank but it almost always ends the same way

100 trout fingerlings in a 300mm deep grow bed with no filtration will mean you will doing 75% water changes 2 or 3 times on the first
day and by the second day it will be just a matter of emptying the GB cleaning up and ordering new fish

Sorry but I have a really bad feeling about this

That bad eh? What is the max water temp in my fish tank that I might get away with putting fingerlings into? I know this is probably fairly amusing if you've been here before, but I think if I can just get them hold them over till the middle of next week the last of the warm weather will be over and all will be good. I had thought to ring Tooperang and see if they freight fish up here. Then it would be a lot less dependant on my availability. It would seem most of the punters money is on an ugly finish to this.

Dexter, one thing I learnt from my time in aquaponics... Patience... If the time is not right, don't push it... Shit WILL hit the fan... For trout, without lots and lots of aeration, I think the maximum water temperature is about 22degC... there abouts... If you cannot maintain those temperature consistently wait for a few weeks more...

I saw your last water test... it does not seem like you are fully cycled yet... so use the time to continue cycling the system (fishless I suppose)... and when the trouts arrive you can "hit the ground" running... without ammonia and nitrite at zero or close to zero, you cannot feed the trout much anyways since ammonia is toxic to the fishes... let the fish farm do the feeding for you instead... and buy them slightly bigger.. maybe for the same price....

Ahhh! Wiser heads have spoken. Like you say, "let the fish farm do the feeding".
My water test pics are a little misleading. I am cycling 2ppm (small overdose) to zero in 30 hours at my last test. This counts as cycled, no?

Out of curiousity, if I were to attack this next year (I know... one problem at a time.... but), how much water and filtration might I need to house 100, 100mm fingerlings for one month (or so) in a fully cycled AP system? I guess the question is how heavy is a 1 month old (since delivery) fingerling, so as to work out my 3kg per 100L filtration ratio?

Well if that is the case, you should be cycled... or close anyways... but remember to take it easy and monitor the ammonia levels as you start feeding the fishes... so that the bacteria has time to adjust if necessay to the bioload...

Sorry no answer for the weight...

That's OK. I was getting way ahead of myself with that idea anyway.

You could go ahead, but it might be touch-and-go, especially since the fish may get overly warm in transit. Extra pumping and splashing should help with O2 if water is warm, a fan might help cool water if your air is fairly dry (low dewpoint).

I would do it, but make sure you can be there for a day or two to keep a sharp eye on them. And, as mentioned, waiting a bit and letting the hatchery feed the fish for you until water temps drop is a good idea...

I went for a drive to the trout farm last Saturday, even though I had decided to wait a few weeks before adding some fish to my system. I learnt a bit, met some people (hi KE14 and Himzol) and bought a couple of fish for the BBQ, just to keep the momentum up. Mixed reviews for the meal. Had a sort of slight dusty taste, but it might be because I'm not used to eating a lot of fish and the way we cooked it. I am not put off at all.
My air pump arrived today. I didn't get the 12 output manifold that it seems to suggest comes with it. I can't see it as a separate item anywhere either. Has anyone ever been able to ring Guppys (AVK Imports) or received a reply to an email?

The air pump I got from Guppys last week also had a 10 output manifold instead of 12. They also sent the wrong pump (the next bigger size) for the same price, and they sent 13 airstones instead of the 12 I ordered. Perhaps they just cant count?

Well the white plastic manifold should come with the pump.... I think Food&Fish did deal with guppys once for a defective item... not sure about the mode of communication used...

Maybe I should check the pump again to make sure it's not a water pump.... or a toaster!!
And you're right... It's kind of noisy!

You obviously never tried to contact them to complain about getting too much for your money?

Still no contact with Guppys. This manifold part I'm after, are they easy to come by?