Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Don't Quit! I can't bear to see a Texan go

I just bought an IBC for rain water collection to use in topping off my system. Perhaps you could look at doing something like that?

If you limit water exchanges/top-ups to 10% max at any one time... you should be fine....

Gulp!
I am with the rain barrel chorus on this.
I have two that I really need to hook up, I have baby catfish coming and I can't treat them like goldfish!

Think of it this way... your test system, no matter what inconvenient lessons it provides, is working perfectly. As a test/teaching setup.

Condolences on the fish.

Rick

yeah, don't give up.. even if i lost all my fish at once, yeah, i'd be extremely bummed, but the show must go on.. it's a learning experience after all. not only that you were able to share it with all the folks here, and i would bet that in the long run, it's good for the community (that doesn't sound right, i hope you know what i mean)

good luck!

We just had a new roof put on a few years back. I assume rain collection off of them would not be good for the fish. If I go ahead with the GH, I'm not sure I could really collect enough water off the roof to keep the system topped up. I did find these guys:

http://www.rainxchange.com/

So if it is not to pricey, perhaps could put a rain collecting patio in.

Did some calculations and between the bunny hutch and GH I could probably keep 500-800 gallons of rainwater. That should actually be enough for most topoffs as long as it does not leak like the test system does. I found a local place to get an underground tank - no price yet. If all goes well with that one, I would consider another larger one to gather the rain water from the house to be used for watering the yard. Water is so cheap here though it is hard to justify the up front cost of the tanks. The link above has some pretty nice rain collecting patios and fountains...might not be to hard to talk SWMBO into one.

So I'm off the pitty potty now and trying to figure out what to do next. I think I'll take the opportunity of the fishless tank to get all the leaks fixed and add the long overdue SLO overflow. I threw the crawfish in the FT for now to keep things going - they seemed to survive the chloramines. My fish guy is all out of tilapia, but has some 8-12 inch catfish - so maybe get some of those Friday. Will resort to peeponics if I cannot get fish soon.

Oh - ya. Went out at lunch and all the plants in the second growbed looked pretty bad. I figured out the sump was so full it had stoped the syphon from breaking. Good thing I found it before lunch.

Cheap...but deadly!

Are there any local aquaculture people to ask what they do? What about your fish guy? Any way to get town water before it gets treated?

The Cheap reference was in relation to rain water collection for watering the lawn/garden.

The fish guy is on a well in the country. Hualing water is a pain. I have to do it for the reef tank inside and it is only 30 gallons. Cannot imagine doing it fo 1800 gallons.

Sorry about the losses. Stick with it, you will figure something out.

What a bummer. Glad to hear you're exploring alternatives!

Have you looked into activated carbon filters? Might be the same price or cheaper than investing in rain water collection. Here's a link to an article that actually tests effectiveness of carbon:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/rhf/feature/

Hi,
I have been watching your system grow with interest as I will be doing something similar to your system myself.
I am sorry to hear and see your fish losses, it must be heart breaking but it teaches us newbies that it is a possibility for us all and your situation is something we should be aware of. I am horrified that your authorities are putting that chloramine into your drinking water. With out a thought to animals affected and possibly to humans also.
Over the recent few years Melbourne has been in severe drought and lots of people, I mean lots have been getting rain water tanks installed. I have 10,350 litres of water stored and no tap in the back yard at all connected to the mains system and I haven't missed it in the three years we have been here.
Don't give up it was a test system after all and the problem was not your causing. I look forward to seeing some new fish in it soon.
goodluck
Dale

Yes DV don't throw in the towel, find a solution and don't think of the fish as pets, your going to eat them anyhow

If you do a search for chloramines removal, you will find that there is a lot of debate on how effective activated charcoal actually is. I have a call into the TCEQ (Texas Commission of Evironmental Quality). That is the government branch that mandated the switch. I left a message yesterday. We'll see how long it takes for them to get back to me.

that rainwater collection system (rainxchange) looks nice.. but expensive, might be cheaper to drill your own well?