Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Nicely done guys....

Impressive guys! Multi function swimming pool.

Trout are such fun! It is amazing how much they leap out of the water at feeding time! We are carefully monitoring the water temperature now, and will start harvesting the trout this weekend (fingers crossed!). They have grown incredibly, especially as we were away for two months and left them on minimum rations with the 'carers'!
The only issue we are having is the filamentous algae.....We took down the shade sails a bit early (because we were going away) and have to scoop out the algae a couple of times a week. From what we have read, it isn't a big problem (and can actually help clarify the water), but it doesn't look inviting to swim in at the moment!
Any suggestions??
deb and mack

Only to run some silvers after the trout. My silvers and goldies keep the aglae back.

Hmmm, we have been a bit busy to post.....what with sheep, rabbits, chooks, ducks, the orchard, veggies etc etc.........but all is good!! We are maintaining the pool at 5ppt, the barra are happy and growing (soon to think about harvesting!), and some veggies are going really well in the salt water, such as this celery.
Over the summer we have swum regularly with the barra- they seem as curious about us as we are about them! The algae problem we had last year hasn't returned, so it is much nicer to swim in now...a bit like a brackish river.
We are starting to plan for trout again.....

Those celery look like they are doing well in the floating raft, haven;t tried them in a raft before...

Growing in floating rafts seems quite successful for us, as we don't have grow beds. We just use the hydroponic/mesh pots and the usual grow bed medium. The main issue for us has been the salt content, but we have experimented over the last year and now know what will grow and what we keep in the veggie garden.

We have yabbies going now too, in an IBC. We lost a few and thought we were doing something wrong, but now find we still have two adults and heaps of babies! Hopefully they will grow and grow and become a dinner down the track! The baby in the picture is just to the right of the adult, just behind it's front claw.

Nice. How clear is the water? What plants have you found that do well with that salt level? My pool just stays green & about 30cm visibility and it has been 6 months....the dw is getting impatient..

The water is clear, though brackish so has a slight brown tinge to it. The pool is about a metre deep, and we can see the bottom fine. We do run a bio filter 24/7, and in addition a UV filter.

Quite a few veggies seem to cope with up to 5 or 6 ppt- very successful is the celery, spinach, silverbeet and mignionette lettuce (but not cos lettuce). Others that seem to do ok are beetroot, basil, and broccoli.

We do have shade sails over the top of the pool in summer, so that probably helps keep the algae down.

Good luck!!

Wow guys, just read through your thread and LOVE your set-up

My parents have a 50k/L pool and Dad is struggling with the upkeep nowadays... have been trying to talk him into converting it to a natural pool/FT but he is worried the grandkids who come over so often to use the pool, might not want to visit so much any more.

Im actually curious how it would go if it was used as a normal pool during summer, then we ran trout during winter when its going to waste anyway?... might have to do a bit more research...

Im really surprised so many plants do so well on your salt levels... I didnt realise plants could handle salt at that high a concentration and thrive!

After reading this I dont think I'll panic so much any more about whether Ive added a bit too much salt or not

Thanks!

We find it great, and are very happy to swim in it with the fish- the UV filter helping keep any bacteria at bay. If you are considering wintering trout, have a look at this...

http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/ ... ams_fs.pdf

We considered doing just this initially, then decided to go for a biofilter and have fish all year round, especially once we found we could swim quite safely too.
Keep us up to date if your parents give it a go!

Well, our third season of barramundi! We have tried so many different ways of catching the fish in the pool, and always ended up draining it to get those last few....so ....the 'Peasant's patent fish catching method' was invented!
First we took out the pump and pipes from the bottom of the pool. Then we attached chain on one edge of a large bird net .....
[attachment=1]IMG_4403.JPG[/attachment]
We then dropped this over the side of the pool-each keeping hold of the chain. There was enough chain to hang down the sides of the pool and along the bottom. With sloping sides to the pool, this has been the only way of sealing it...every other method we tried left gaps for the fish to escape.
We dragged the chain and net (one either side of the pool) along the bottom towards the shallow end of the pool, adding small weights as we went so the remainder of the net sank to the bottom. The fish all went into the deep part, and were enclosed in the net when we (as in Mack walking in the pool!) started gathering up the net! It was a bit heavy lifting it out, and we have a slightly revised plan for next time......but it was successful
[attachment=0]barra April 2011.jpg[/attachment]
We thought we had them all (45)....until Mack went back in to reattach the pump and felt something brush against him....when the water cleared we saw two barra still in there Because it was cold (18 degrees) they were sluggish so dropped a weighted net over the top of them and Mack (again) got in and gathered them up. So...the freezer is full...the pool is empty....trout coming soon....

Wow those are some healthy barras wtg!

Well done with the net

Yay...the trout are in! They are such fun, already leaping out of the water....we have to stand bricks up around the edge of the pool so they don't jump out! They so much more exciting than barra (though last night's dinner was VERY tasty!)!