Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

We have some sort of fungus in the system and have lost a couple of fish over the last week or so.There is definately some fin rot but also a lot of the fish have a white spot on their ' forehead'. Also a number of their fins have a redish colour to them.fish are all 8 " and bigger. Tests are all good ph was a bit low temps have been 12 to 14 for some time now.Have done a 50 % water change ( which upped the ph) and salted to about 4 ppt. Any ideas about this disease. Sorry photo's aren't that good

Sorry this photo was suposed to be there

What is the Ph?

A shade under 6 now 6.7

From experience, silvers don't like it too close to 6. I lost some at that Ph, but now my system is fairly constant on 6.5 and they seem fine, not eating that much so be mind full of excess residue on the bottom.

Yeh thanks Rick, we haven't been feeding them very much so that's not a problem. We found this last year that when the water temps are this low they hardly eat.It's a good summer system this one not so good in the winter. The tank is in a very shady cold spot, might have to get hold of some trout for next year.Thanks for the tip on the ph.

Our first kill. 600g

Last nights tea. Salad consisting of : lettuce,tomato,capsican,celery,snowpeas,nasturtiums,olives and roasted macadamia nuts.Complimented with silver perch drizzled with lime juice. EVERYTHING home grown ( OK not all aquaponics but still all homegrown. Kids even got some homemade lime cordial to wash it down with).Sorry, everything but the rice.

That is a decent weight for a fish that size. Mmmm, may have to catch one of mine. Trouble will be trying to get the big one!

Can be tricky Rick, just don't stress the others too much, ours haven't eaten at all today and we got that one out pretty quick.Don't you just love the satisfaction of having home grown. Good for the kids too.

That is some crazy vegetable growth you have in those grow beds! How long did you have that corn in there? The pictures show some kind of enclosure, is it a shade, a proper greenhouse or a shadehouse...?

Kudos for the great, cost effective design

Hi Abdul, can't tell you how long the corn was in, sorry.Even though it's a bit early yet we have just put in a couple more. The whole system is under a shadehouse off the side of the house verandas. 3 quarters enclosed with 1 end open for ventilation ( try to flush out the pests and bugs)

Thought it would be good to give an update on the tank sealer we used.About 12 mths ago we sealed the galv tank with Cromlins tank sealer ( sorry you'll have to go back through the thread for the exact product).Anyway 12 mths on we have small sheets peeling off and rust seeping through. Not a huge concern just yet but something will have to be done in the future.Biggest problem is the small pieces of sealer get sucked up the pump then bock the holes into the growdebs.
We gave the tank a real good clean before painting then let it dry for a week before putting water in.
Anyway hope this helps anybody thinking of doing the same.

i used that stuff a few years ago it done the same thing
only answer was a rubber pond liner