Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

That's what I was thinking on the slots. The saw cut is less than 1/4in. I do need more cuts from everyone's suggestions. I have looked into RMH's but I'm gone too much to keep it going steady. It is easier to just open a window and let the heat out but it doesn't sit well with Missy. I can open one side and it has kept it above freezing until the mid teens. On sunny days I capture a lot of heat and blow it into the house. I tell her it evens out the elec. bill...you know how well that went over.

Either way will work on the GG. Ii have just seen people cut wide slots in GG's and didn't want to send you down that path. It sounds like you are headed in the right direction for a fix.

I tried bigger slots on bottom of bell but it still wont break siphon. It work fine on 30/30 because the water gets to 1 in below media. Then it keeps siphoning. When the the pump shuts off it drains completely because of the pin hole at bottom. When the pump kicks on it gets back up to desired height. Oh well it works and I will keep dialing it in.

May be too much flow coming in. Sorry, I don't remember, do you have a pressure bypass that directs some of the access pressure back to the tank?

Yes I have a bypass/spray nozzle for extra O2 to FT. I also have valves at each bed. The only thing I haven't tried is more slots in GG to let water in faster. All froze up now with 2 days of -12 f. Holding off until it warms up.

Looks good.
Nothing more to add.

System is on hold until it warms up. Fish are surviving but I have lost a few. Since FT is in the basement it has only iced over a little around the sides. Keep in mind that basement is unconditioned and above grade. I had nearly 2.5 feet of water in it over Christmas from flooding. GB's are ice most of the time and died out. Herbs might make it. I can still get water through the beds on warmer days. I has been an unusually cold winter. We have 10 in of ice and lots of free fish to chase in the lakes.

60 degrees in here and fish are biting. I plan on restocking the FT in late Feb or early March. It is a matter of catching fish on a warm day while there is still ice and getting them home.



Missy with a nice largemouth bass. Unfortunately it swallowed the hook and was under sized.


Nice yellow bass. These are similar(same family) to white bass/wipers/HB white bass/stripers. I don't think the would fare well in a FT.


These would be great to grow out.

Crappie off the ice are one of my favorites. Think of it this way...crappie are sweeter than tilapia and off the ice the meat is firmer. After the spring spawn and when water temperatures reach 60 they get mushy. Unfortunately I have never been able to raise them successfully. They will not take to pellets when wild caught. If you get them as hatching they will take to flake and then pellets but they are very vulnerable. Just not worth the effort compared to bluegill. I have raised them but it was a constant collection on minnows and worms for feed.

Cool fish pics, Rairdog!

Oooo, so many questions!!!!

Hey how do you bore the hole in the ice? Any chance of a little vid for me?

Whats that little red ladle thingy?

Whats that vexilar thingy? Its hard to make out

Do you sleep in that tent or is it just primarily for fishing?

How do you stop the hole freezing over again?

How awesome is ice fishing? Cause Im diggin it

Well since I'm bored, not working and the wind is howling.....
This is an ice auger. Roughly 2 turns per inch. We have about 10 inches which has been taking 21 to 25 turns


This is the business end. Lazer sharp Swedish blades. Hence the name Strikemaster Lazer auger lol


The red ladle is an ice scoop. Used to clean the shavings out of the hole.


This is the "Vex" Vexilar sonar unit. Basic sonar technology. Same that was used on war ships to detect submarines. Fish finder simplified in real time. It will show you the bottom of the lake and the depth. When you drop your ice jig in the hole it picks it up and shows colored line at whatever depth you have it. When a fish comes in you can raise or lower the jig to the depth of the fish and work him.
Green-Yellow-Red = Weak-Stronger-Strongest signal. If fish are locked on the bottom you can jig them up and watch the lines meet from jig and fish. If a fish comes in suspended above your jig you can raise it up to catch them. Crappie are notorious for this and will come thru 5 ft below the ice and you are down 20 with the jig. Just reel up to his level and work him.


The ice shanty is for the colder windy days as a base to warm up. It also allows Missy a warm place to fish. When the bite slows down in the shanty I go on a mission working drops offs to find the schools of fish. Here is the inside with heater and Vex.


Inside the shanty is usually 50-70 f depending on outside temps and wind. Holes don't re-freeze. Outside the holes will re-freeze and you kick them back open with foot. Usually not an issue until it get below 20 f.

This ice one of my ice fishing poles. Short rod with 2 lb test line. The water is very clear and the fish are weary of thick line.


The end of the rod has an extension called a spring bobber. It is designed to detect the slightest nibble becase the fish are not as aggressive in cold water. Sometimes they come from below and it just straightens out.


These are ice jigs on top left and ice flies that I make on the top right. Similar to trout flies but smaller with lead wraps underneath to get the jig down faster.



I will put it this way. Winter is my favorite time of year and it has been record breaking low temps this year. Ice fishing gives me something to do and turned into one of my favorite sports. We sit out all day and sometimes at night. Crappies and walleye(similar to Zander) feed heavily at night. The jigs glow in the dark. We also cook deer sausages and drink the beers lol.

Let me know when you are coming Charlie. All you need is a plane ticket and I got the rest covered lol.

Sounds like you have some fun Rairdog. I tried it once while participating in a class project measuring depth and water quality in a lake but it was -30 F. Kind of soured me on ice fishing . We also ran a trot line across between holes in the lake. Just had 2 ice shacks for about 20 people, thankfully there was a fire up by some picnic tables that kept me thawed out and the hot dogs and cocoa were pretty good as well

I understand that. I am very particular when taking people out. When I take kids I make sure they are warm, catch lots of fish and get some play time in on the ice. Missy loves it but I set it up right. It can easily sour some like you mentioned. I started icing trout in Washington state at around age 10 40 years ago. My dads family is from the Yakima Valley area. Guys in the NE build fires right on the ice. We are at the bottom of the ice belt here otherwise I would have permanent shanty and drive the truck right to it.

Starting to thaw out a little. The GH has had temps from 80-100 f from 11 am to 6 pm. I still have to thaw the drains to get them going in the am. The small hole at base of bell siphon seem to trickle slow enough to freezed the return under the grow bed solid when I turn the pump off at night. If kept running they don't freeze up. The water temps seem to be to low to support BB. I think most of it did off through the winter leaving a brown powdery slime.

I did install all new bell siphons and got them working. The problem seems to be not enough drop under bed to break suction. I tried aquarium air tubing from top of bell to bottom but ended up needing a larger diameter tubing to really give a good gulp of air.

Got some kale, broccoli, lettuce, onions, chard and herbs seedlings started and ready to go in when the temps get up a little hopefully in a couple weeks. The GH is so warm midday I use a fan blowing in and heat the whole house lol.


We still have 12 in of ice on most of the local lakes but it should be breaking up and another week if weatherman is on target. The fish are always hungry in the winter. Caught this cat on a jigging rap through the ice(rap swims in circles when jigged)


I plan on getting out on the ice this weekend to stock up on bluegill. I brought 63 home the other day for table fare/freezer stock. Missy and I caught them in less than 3 hours. Couple pics to cool you off.

Big ole pumpkinseed

Some perch


Some lm bass

The river broke up last week

It left me some ice in the dirt garden.


When it breaks up it stacks up at the dam just down river from me and backs the water up into the yard. Yet another reason for an elevated deck AP system.

Nice haul Rairdog. You should try some of those Yellow Perch in your system, they do pretty well in AP. Faster growers than the Bluegill.