Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I figured it was time to try my hand at overwintering some fish and show the crisp Kalgoorlie winter that it isnt so tough.

System will be located in the shed. Scored a FT from the local pet shop for a bargain price. Filtration is still not set in concrete yet but Im thinking that Ill pump through a solids settler then onto a K1 MBBF then back to tank. Heating will be a 300W aquarium heater. Im also toying with the idea of introducing a small media grow bed with maybe a small fern or low light plant of some kind for nitrate removal. It will all depend on how well I can keep the temps within the system.

At this stage I have the FT all washed up and sitting on a very thick piece of Dow board so no thermal loss through the cement floor and I will possibly build a frame around it all and insulate if required.

I hope you enjoy and let the project begin!!






















Stay tuned

Charlie

Is this an, I have already decided what I am going to do so F you, or I would like an opinion?

Ha ha. I hope you dont think Im a w_nker like that Sleepe?

Id love some input, please help me and offer your experience. Im open to all suggestions as Im still kinda winging it.

What fish are you going to put in there Charlie.

Jeepers mate I hope you didnt waste that last mouthfull of bear in that stubbie.

Just a suggestion. Don't store your cold beer near the heated tank.

How many barra do you intend to try in the tank?

Looks about the same size as my 200L aquarium that I overwintered jade perch fingerlings in. Mine had a normal aquarium filter suited to 200L plus a 30L pressure pond filter, and a small pipe air lift filter in the tank with K1. Probably overkill but I got the 22 Jades to 100mm or more before the AP was warm enough for them. Oh yeah, a 200W heater
I didn't clean the pressure filter at all for the time the fish were in there, but it had a heap of gunk in the foam pads when I finally pulled it apart

Whats inside of the pond filter and pressure filter Mantis? Im trying to avoid spending big bucks on filters like those.

The pond pressure filter has bio balls in the bottom half and three layers of foam pads in the top from course to fine. The water pumps from the tank into the top of the filter so the flow goes down through the foam pads which is the solids filter, and down through the bio balls and back up through a pipe to the outlet. I think that's it

Ok cool, so I think Im on the right track to mimick that kind of filtration. I was thinking run pump water through a 20L bucket of shadecloth and filter pads then into the K1 drum and back to tank. Something like that

Did you do regular water changes? How did you control the nitrates?

Its in my brewing area so yeah did a few water changes but not many. Probably should have done more
Your setup will work fine, and easier to keep an eye on than my pressure filter which is closed up

Hey Charlie, I suggest a similar idea to my misses the other day and got growled at. I'll have to work on her for maybe the year after. I did get the nod for setting up the chiller in the shed though, so not all bad. Might be able to get a few horses through summer.

Do you plan on SP or Barra in the tank?

My thoughts was to have it in the house as an ornamental aquarium, close to our wood fire so hopefully reduce heating costs.

You'd need to insulate every thing to stop heat losses in the shed i'd think.

Good luck

200W heater kept my jades happy, and we get very cold nights here and my shed is open

But jades are not as temp sensitive as barra from what I have read. No experience with barra

This is awesome Charlie!

Using a beer bottle to show scale huh?

The problem with trying to over winter barra in a smallish tank is that if you're keeping them warm enougth they will tell you they're hungry all the time, and if you feed them even half what they want to eat they'll grow fast and possibly out grow the tank. If you don't feed them enougth they will just try eating eachother (especially around the 100mm size).