Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi folks. In my quest to find some info about turning my old pool into a fish pond I came across this great site.

My pool is in sad shape and rather than ripping it out and filling in the hole I wanted to try and raise some catfish in it. I have a lot to learn but it appears this site will help a lot.

Welcome aboard my friend

This site has everything you need to know and more.

Also, we all love photos around here hint hint

I wanted to update you on my progress and post the pond porn for your viewing pleasure.

I built a bio filter per smitty's design and purchased a 16 port aerator. I have placed about 100 ditch minnows in the pool and some hyacinth's in it. I have more hyacinth's coming. Minnow's seem to be doing well. Very few losses and that is probably mostly due to poor transfer. My fish batch of channel cats are due to arrive this week sometime at the local supplier. I have a 275 gallon tank to keep them in for a couple weeks till I get back to the farm/pool.

What should I expect when I go to pick up my fingerlings? Will they be bagged? Will I need to take my tank with me? I know how to properly transfer the fish into my water but I wonder if the supplier will just expect to dump them in my tank.

So on with the show. This is what I have so far. I plan some shady areas as it gets really hot here in Fl.

Looking good there for Tilapia too.

You got a lot of room to build your grow beds if you decide to go with Aquaponics.

Nice pictures.

Thanks, everything is brown even in Florid after all the frosts we have had.

Enjoy the ride!!

I haven't received my cats yet. I keep calling and they keep saying next week. I am a little concerned. I put several dozen minnows in the pool and they were fine for about three weeks. They started going belly up early last week. We did have some really cold weather that week in low thirties. Could that have done it? I bought the test kit recommended here and everything was perfect except for PH. It was 8.2 but I suspect where I am getting the minnows is far higher. Irrigation run off ditch. I don't have a means of checking salt or oxygen levels yet. I did add more aeration to it this past weekend.

There has been no chlorine in the pool in a year and a half. I know it is hard to tell but maybe you have some ideas.

If you are getting algae, chlorine is gone. Then again the algae could be depleting oxygen at night. It looks like you are making some nice waves in the surface of the pool, so your oxygen is likely okay. Then again there could be some stratification going on, perhaps there is a toxic zone that they did not find until recently.

Adding your fish in should be a slow process. There are threads about it, but the gist is to float the bag in your water to gradually equalize the temperature. then add small amounts of your water to the bag to acclimate the fingerlings to your p.h., nutrient level, etc. Finally, scoop the fingerlings out of the bag, and into the pond, discard the water. Do not mix it back into your pond.

It looks like you have a lot of room for grow beds. I'm sooo jealous.

Welcome to the forum!

I haven't done that for any fish in my AP setup. Then again my fish are free from a local lake and their mostly bluegill hybrids. The above mentioned way of adding fish is the correct way but my fish are extremely hardy so the fish really don't care. Just a little stress for a day or two, then they are happy as they can be. Might not have as much space as they did in the lake, but they are fed better.

Anyways, electra96, where you located in FL? I'm over on the east side of orlando. Pictures suggest maybe north central florida / north florida? Hyacinth should be good for cleaning your water of Nitrates but they are extremely fast growing. Back in the 90s, I remember Orange county was going to every lake they could just to exterminate them. Where are you getting them?

Ronmaggi, thanks for the input. I will be sure introduce them slowly.

Zeknix, I am on the West end of Flagler County. I figure the Hyacinth is pretty easy for me to remove from this pool with a pitch fork. I will keep an eye on them. Hopefully I am getting rain at the farm today. It seems it has been forever since I had rain up there.

Oh, I added two more big air stones to it this past weekend also.