Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Got a update there Tony ? Did you get those trout down to safer stocking levels ?

TAS has so many different micro climates it is quite astonishing so its difficult to follow any book or planting guideline. Eg over summer I and many people I know had bugger all tomatoes, but only 50kms away, a friend was overwhelmed. Now I have had a 2nd run and have a heap growing. In May.! Closed heart lettuces are for summer, whilst open are for winter and the variation b/w the growing seasons depends just on what the temps and sunshine do from year to year. Capsicums are a joke, but further up the road where its a bit warmer, they went beautifully.

In my soil beds, I have an admix of self seeding and planted potatoes, garlic, cauliflower, tomatoes, onions, and brocolli.. All growing at the same time.! But I only planted the brocolli.! Next door are the strawberries that are still fruiting.! I'm like WTF. Oh and the cucumbers despite dying off recently have gone for another run because we had a burst of sunshine inb/w a cold snap..

So anyway, the trout are doing nicely thanks Chilli... Down to about 150 which is more than manageable ATM given winter, but they sure do eat a lot. At feeding time, stand clear as water goes everywhere... I'll start harvesting at 300gms pretty soon to bring them down and just smoke a few.

I'd still like another grow bed though for seedling rotation as I'm out of space and I cant harvest / place seedlings at the same time as there isn't the room. If I drop fish stock, then I don't have the nitrites and the plants suffer.. Hmmmmmm.

Yeah, they sure eat an impressive amount !



You wouldn't have any problems growing plants even if you only had 50 fish in there. I've had 4 GBs growing flat-out for over a year now and up until a few weeks ago there has always been less than 100 fish in there.
I'm stocking about 150 now having stocked 100 trout and eaten about 20 or so SPs.

Not necessarily for us in this part of the world Chilli.

Unfortunately for around 5 months of the year our cooler weather sees everything come to an almost standstill. This has been immensely frustrating and very trying to say the least As plant growth slows and fish feed drops off, the nitrates also drop very low. So managing the system to keep up adequate food supply to feed what plants are there without having too much food that just sinks and clogs the system up can be at best 'a right pain in the freakin '

Bear with me here. All of TAS is classified as Cool Temperate. The only other parts of Australia in the same climatic zones are those of the VIC and NSW Highlands and alpine areas. Our other issue is that we have so many micro climates around the state so what grows for me probably doesn't grow for someone else only 30km's away. I kid you not.!

So over the past 2 years, I have come to the conclusion that having an almost over stock of fish to growbeds for winter is actually better for us here in TAS. You can feed the fish at lower levels and play with nutrient levels much much much easier as the colder weather sets in (about April). Then if timing is adequate and easily done, as the weather starts to warm (about September), plants begin to grow again, then its time to start harvesting the fish as well.

During winter where we are lucky to get 5 - 6 hours of sunshine and temperatures that don't go above 12 degrees on average, it is a very fine line between success and things turning to s..t in the blink of an eye which I've now found out twice now

Following another episode of sudden nutrient spike to dangerous levels I needed to drain the entire system..! I didn't stuff around this time and got rid of nearly every drop of water, refilled to a 1/3rd and drained, refilled to a 1/3rd and drained again, and then refilled to 1/2 to see what happened.

And thankfully, every one of the trout survived. I should have done this as I wanted to when it happened to my Salmon as I reckon I would have saved them, but too late for that now.

But, this all brings me to my next adaption of the whole project that is an absolute must for our slow growing and cold winters, as removing solids is critical to stability. And that is a swirl filter

So, onto to the next part of the project with the aim of making the whole system operate much more smoothly all year round.. Swirl Filters.

As mentioned, whilst our warmer state AP enthusiasts enjoy moderate growth through winter in most locations, here in TAS our Cool Temperate climates can wreak havoc on enjoyment of aquaponics as everything just slows down to such a rate, you wonder if anything is evening happening

In the meantime, fish still need to be fed and this all needs to be filtered somehow. Tanks can become dirty and water clarity turns ugly as there is very little plant growth to combat the fish waste.

Hence, whilst the purists claim removing solids is not required in AP systems and can 'destroy or subtract from AP simplicity, I tend to now strongly disagree.

It all comes down to where you live, how much plant growth you have all year, and the strength of the system to cope with it all.

By removing solids before they enter the grow beds can significantly improve the water clarity and quality, and decrease the amount of sludge buildup. And hence, the risk of nutrient spikes when plants are harvested and potentially dislodge that sludge.

I couldn't find a suitable swirl filter, nor a small tank so I had to settle for a 800lt tall (220gallons) monster that will suffice. It had a sloping roof with 4 x supports so it was kind of perfect to turn upside down, albeit a bit big. Though this does allow for expansion later on

Next Steps:

Next Step:

So tank in place. Time to hook it up and hope for the best i.e. it actually works like I think it will.
Otherwise, its going to be an expensive mistake.

It was quite a nervous time turning on the pump watching the whole thing fill up with water thinking:
- is it going to leak
- will the tank overflow
- will the stand collapse
- are the pipes glued properly
- is it even going to work.?!

But thank goodness it all worked just perfectly. And the amount of sediment coming from the tank..!

And my very first harvest of rainbow trout for dinner tonight...

What is the inspection port for, when you open it won't it just gush all the swirl fitler water into your face

Congratulations Tony, bet they were sweet tasting
How did you cook them?

Thats a monster tank....

Yeah, that's a big-un alright.
Nice looking trout.

Ahhhh I just knew someone would pick that up.. I had 1 screwed endcap and 3 screwed inspection tees. So on went an inspection tee. My thoughts were "Cool I'll be able to watch the water / waste flowing out once I've opened the gate valve". Then as I glued it, dawn suddenly rose in my head and I couldn't help but laugh at my own idiocy as I realised there would be ohh only about 600kg of water wanting to come out of that inspection port at the same time..!! And truth be told I couldn't be bothered cutting it off and gluing on the end cap
Just finished eating them. Absolutely gorgeous..! Baked them whole with a tomato salsa / lemon and parmesan crust..