Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Does anyone know if the date on the test kit bottles is the date of manufacture or the expiry date?

My trout have been a bit off their food over the last few days and i thought i would test the water. This is what i got. The pic doesnt really show it but the pH is the low range test is is the same colour as the high range brown. Yes i double checked i used the low range bottle The Amm looks almost black it has gone that dark. I think the fish would be dead if that were accurate. I will test again in an hour or so and see what it comes out at.

I thought they black ones were bitter and looked a bit off. Tasted nothing like chocolate .
Chocolate mint on the other hand tastes like an after dinner mint.

Danged false advertising!

sorry for hijacking your thread Ryan but what is the consensus when reading the colour in the vials; is it with the vial touching the card or just off it? i am surprised the difference in colour between the two.

I just hold the vial on the colours and look through it. The test kits really are an imprecise measurement at the best of times. Especially nitrates...

I fished out my remaining trout yesterday. I'm super stoked with the biggest catch weighing in at 610g or 500g gutted and gilled. I was hoping to get a fish over 500 full stop, so I was happy. I will post some pictures tomorrow when I'm on the computer.

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way to go Ryan.
What fish are you planning on growing next?

At the moment i have silver perch to go in. I have 18 or so but i am hoping to get a few more. I have been keeping them in my aquarium for the last couple of months while the trout have still been in my big system. It was pretty sweet for me, a guy at work had started his system and was massively overstocked so i grabbed some from him.

here is a photo of the trout. The big one on the top weighed in at 500g gutted and gilled and measured 330mm.



2 were eaten on Sunday night and the rest vacuum packed and ready for eating later. My boss is a keen fisherman and he loves smoking his fish so he will show me the ropes and we will try a few different types of wood chips.

Awesome harvest Ryan.

are you going to harvest the silvers before trout season next year or expand your system?
How big are your silvers?

I would say that the largest of the silvers are 120mm or so. I am taking a bit of a gamble in that i am hoping that i can either expand or these guys will be ready. Although tbh, i would not be surprised if i have to miss trout season next year.

It is extremely unlikely, but it would be awesome to own my own place by then so i dont have to worry about moving. I will be moving soon most likely and i am dreading it to be honest. Thats why i am trying to keep everything as small as possible.

More parts are coming together for the back up system. I picked up this for free. It has some fire damage but i was able to repair it much to my delight.



Here it is working like a champion. I still need to seal up the terminal box and do something with the back to protect a few of the exposed connections.

Good score Ryan





______________________
I was once young and stupid, i'm not so young now

crispy...

A quick growth update for the system. We have had some very strong winds over the last few days and it has been playing havoc with the entire system. It has been so strong that it has even pulled some of the new plants out of the grow media. This wind has really removed any hope of the corn doing well, with most of it laying over now. Quite a few of the leaves have also been damaged by the wind, although the tomatoes are starting to perk up despite the damage.

The silver perch are still not feeding after their move into the big system. They may well be feeding on the bio slime on the sides of the bulky though. They all just hide near the pump all huddled up together. Sooks

These photos are from friday last week.

looking good mate, yea corn is so much easier in the garden although it does work better in gravel beds Ive found, like my old system here