Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all - I know this is only my second post after a brief intro spiel before Chrissy, but I am a man of action not words and here is the video link that shows how I have popped my AP cherry




Thanks to all the contributors on here who's threads I have read over and over to try & gather as much knowledge as possible for what I hope to be an exciting and long lived sustainable back yard system. It's early days yet but so far the fish are feeding and the water is crystal clear. I can only assume that means that bacteria are active???

PH seems to sit around 7.4 and temp between 19-22 deg - they are the only things I can measure so I have NFI re nitrogen, amonia, Oxygen or any other stuff

Having read the many passionate discussions re things like "flood n drain" vs constant flow and growbed depth etc, I thought I'd start with an each way bet and have a crack at all of them. We have a shallow hydroponics bed which is always 2/3 full of water and is for growing shallow root herbs etc. The elevated beds are agricultural feed troughs with river gravel and clay balls. I've set up bell siphons on two of them and the other is constant level overflow (via the shallow bed back to the fish tank. These are for bigger plants so we'll see how it goes - who knows - it call all be a dead smelly mess in a week or so!

Next step (question) is to add maybe a few perch (assuming they will be OK with Melb temps?) or should I just hang off till march and add a few trout?

I've enjoyed the project and I also enjoy the challenge of learning as I go.

Thanks again for the indirect advice

Hello Feckit,

Just a tip when posting links to YouTube videos - all you have to do is click on the youtube button which will give you:

[ youtube][/youtube] (without the space) in your post

Then you just post the video id in the middle so it looks like this when you are editing:

[ youtube]l19tspu2ldM[/youtube]

Then your post will end up with this in it:




Edit:

Just watched your video. What an awesome and neat looking system you have.

Only 'concern' I have is the metal you have in your system such as the gravel guards around your stand pipes and possibly over your fish tank. Metal and fish dont mix.

great looking system!! only concerned about the metal fish tank, stone guards and the screen over the tank

silver perch and catfish will love your system, we just added a heap to dad's and then mine when complete and we are in melton so temps for you will be fine. i'm also running trout over winter

The FT is a modified water tank that I had specially made without the cross bracing they usually have (I have braced it externally). I hope it's OK for the fish as it has a "aquaplate" food grade poly coating on the inside of the tank and then just to add UV protection, I added some high grade black pond liner as well, so at least the metal of the tank is in no way contacting the contents of the system. See my other reply re the gravel guards etc.

Where is best place to get some Perch in the west of melb and will they get on OK with the goldfish?

Do I start to feed them different foods separately etc?

(sorry - so many questions from this newbie)

cheers
J

Not sure about mixing perch with goldies - they may bully the goldies when then grow.

Someone from Melbourne will be able to give you a place you can get perch from.

Its not the tank I was worried about - as per IceManDude's post:

tank sounds ok to me.

We got our perch from Glenwaters Native Fish Farm up in Glenburn (1:45 east from melton) and they are great. there is also central vic native fish from Maldon (1:40 north from melton) but i haven't had any dealings with them.

And for trout over winter, just head out to ballarat, the guys are great and my fish last year were fantastic.

as for foods, dad feeds the gold fish with flakes first and then he feeds the perch & catfish with small sinking pellets when the goldies finish eating. seems to work so far. when i take mine they will be living in my sump (trout in fish tank) so i won't have a feeding schedule issue

and i might add it is worth getting a freshwater test kit to check PH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, especially if you are planning on stocking other species than goldfish (goldfish are easy to replace )

Thanks guys - really appreciate the feedback. I just realised I typed a reply earlier but for some reason my browser didnt upload it.

What I was going to add is that I was semi concerned about my use of galvanised wire for the gravel guards so I plan to replace those with a 150mm PVC over-pipe. The screen above the tank is a stainless steel mesh that is coated in some UV grade poly coating so not sure it that is OK or not?

When I add some Perch life may get a tad more interesting for the goldfish

At the mo I'm just feeding the goldfish the regulation generous pinch per day which they seem to lap up pretty eagerly. If I add Perch, I assume it will mean a separate food (3mm pellets?) for them and upsize as they grow.

"every day's a school day"

cheers

J

I know it's a bit like "how long is a piece of string" but with 18 (small) goldfish in my 1000L tank and about 800L of growbeds with seedling stage plants, would 10x Silver Perch be too much to add?
(keep in mind I want to add some trout when the weather cools a tad in March)

Thanks in advance for any tips

I would think you will be ok - the usual rule of thumb is 25 fish at 500grams each (harvest weight) per 500 litres of filtration.

What will you do with the Perch and Goldfish when you add the Trout?

Perch will be fine with the goldies until they are about two summers old then the goldfish will begin to vanish

Melbourne is a very multicultural city so I was hoping that the trout I add will pick up that vibe & get on OK with the Goldfish & Perch.

If the goldfish become food then oh well

If I just add 5 perch for now and then maybe 15 trout come March maybe thats the go. With the pissy amount of food they eat, I cant see the goldfish overloading the system anytime soon.

cheers for the responses

Hi Feckit

What are you feeding your goldies?

WARNING - If a Trout can fit it in its mouth it will attempt to eat it. They are fast growers too so will grow larger than your Perch will.

The Ex-wife (one flake at a time)

OK.. (bad joke) just some spherical green/red floating pellet food the aquarium supplies gave me where I bought them. The pellets are tiny and they only get one or two each per day. (a large pinch for 18 small goldies) I think its the same food they feed them at the shop

Wont be too fussed if the trout munch the goldfish (as long as them eating carp doesnt alter the taste of smoked trout come November)

J