Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Perhaps some fencing around the grow beds to keep the chooks out.

I would love to fence the chickens out but that is quite a challenge just as it is a bit big and a bit complex. The chooks are now also sneaking off and laying eggs all over the place so I need to shut them up for that reason too.

By the Way... Merry Xmas to you all out there! May you get mountains of hydroton and ap hardware delivered down your chimneys...

System still ticking over nicely. I did a fairly major tidy up of the beds today. Removed loads of chard plants. There was just way too much and I wanted to put in some basil seedlings and other stuff. Got the last of the brussel sprout the other day. They where excellent. Best brussels I have ever had. I actually liked them! Green peppers are starting to grow like mad but not the chillies which are more or less dying. I would have thought they would grow in pretty much the same conditions. Harvesting masses of tomatoes now. Chooks have mostly been slaughtered and I have demolished the old chicken house. I hated it as I had to stoop while working in there and it botched up my back. I will build a new proper hen house and stock with a better breed when I get a chance.
Cape gooseberries are growing like mad. I have to part the forrest when walking past them, but not making much fruit. It may be a seasonal thing though.

The trout are still alive and kicking but not eating with quite as much gusto as they did when it was cooler, but they still eat a bit. Water temps are hovering around 20 degrees. This is odd because last year at this time it was 28. I can't think what is different this year from last. I did make the sump level sit a lot higher than it was effectively adding another 2000 liters to the water volume. It probably helps. There are some monsters swimming in there... And 1 tiny one that has not grown at all.

Took out 3 trout today. the one had a strange nose deformation. when I gutted it there was a bit of strange yellow goo in it. Any Ideas what could cause this? I am sure I was sold all the rejects by those trout peeps.... Weights between 1.2kg and 1.6kg.

Well its been a crap day for me and ap.

The first disaster is a howling gale today which has busted the top's off most of my tomato plants. And flattened lots of other stuff. I am going to need to stake up the green peppers as well now.

Secondly 2 dead Tilapia. Cause of death unknown. I need to get more test kits a.s.a.p! They where small fish so not a big issue but I just hope they don't all start croaking now. Sigh.

Third and possibly the saddest botch up. A stray cable tie that was lying in the bottom of the fish tank managed to get around the body of one of my prize 1.6kg trout and slowly killed it. What makes it worse is I had seen the bloody thing in there and had been meaning to fish the thing out but never considered it would land up around a fish. Also my staff had actually seen the fish swimming with the cable tie around it and had done bugger all about it! They thought I had placed the cable tie there purposefully as an id or something like that. Of course giving me a call never occurred to them. Bloody morons! I mean I ask you with tears in my eyes... Why on earth would I cable tie my fish!

Anyway... Moral of the story. If it can happen it will happen! Don't leave stuff in your fish tank and if you see something that needs doing just freakingwell do it before it does a nasty on ya.

Yea, remembering to do it later usually doesn't work, ya gotta do it when you first think of it.
Sorry to hear of the troubles.

I dunno about South Africa, but here they would have thought exactly that, "The crazy farrang (white person) has cable tied his fish for some reason"

Sorry to hear of the problems !

Tilapia have started dying like flies . I have a few theories

Its been cold even in the greenhouse it was 15 to 20 degrees most of the winter and even now in summer its still cold. My outside tank temps are 20 degrees and inside not too much warmer about 23 to 25 degrees. Probably not hot enough for them? so it may just be cold stress. The dead ones seem to have finrot to a certain extent. I have salted the tank...

The window to the greenhouse is right next to the window of the woodwork factory and dust is blowing from there into the tank... not good as there could be all kinds of toxic stuff in the dust. I will need to seal off that window and install the fan which I now have to stop the dust... will mount the fan on the clean side and vent it somewhere so that it keeps the dust out. I have also turned it to constant flood so that it gets more oxygenated. I have just been relying on the pump water falling in and the water from the bio filter falling into the tank for oxygen... not enough?

Do the fish seem like they want to eat or do they not seem as interested in the food?

Hi Dave. now that you mention it... yes they are eating fine, but trout pellets and vegetable stuff like chard and watercress... do you think the trout pellets could be killing them with too much protein?

I have also got the bakki shower going on the outdoor system. The containers are filled with bird netting, cut up black pipe and pvc offcuts and charcoal... would post a pic but the forum logs me off when I try and post a pic I tried doing some temperature checks based on the incoming water and the stuff coming off the bottom of the shower but not much difference but it was a cool day when I did it. there was perhaps a half degree drop. Problem is the bakki shower is on the timed pump so it only runs for half an hour then off for 45 mins. not so good...

Brian, 20 C water shouldn't be killing the tilapia though that might be on the lower edge of the water temp where I would expect them to be eating.

I don't know if trout feed might be too high in protein and fat for tilapia though.

Is there uneaten feed or other solids collecting in the tank anywhere?

I expect the salt should help though since tilapia like a bit of salt in their water.

Hi Tcl. Well the water temp is now 30 C in the greenhouse! I turned the system to cf to get more aeration going and there has been 1 more death.

Tank is pretty clean.. no solids collecting...

It has been fiercely hot here to the point where people are dying. I saw 43 on my thermometer under the shade of the outdoor system. Needless to say the trout started floundering about and a few where very near dead so I have taken the last of them out. 18 fish in total but I had taken out 2 weak looking ones the day before... Water temps where hitting 26 or 27 C in the outdoor system.

I am quite relieved but kind of pissed off at wasting time on the bakkie shower... it would have probably needed to be 10 times that size to have any effect on temps... So now I have no fish in the system which is irritating.. I will get a batch of koi I think...

Here is a pic of the fish... They where between 1.6kg and 900grams.. My freezer at home is stuffed and vegetarian wife is not too chuffed although she never moans when i bring home veggies



I think I am going to take the fish less opportunity to clean out the sump now. There is probably an inch of wind blown silt down there.