Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

There is always finding the cure for cancer...

Cure for cancer?

Didn't do Rick Simpson any good, I think he's still on the international mega-criminal list.

True, cancer is big business. The pharmaceutical companies don't want another polio...

I like you Ron:-)

I unfortunately lost another big koi (40cm) - he had numerous ulcers on his body, I am still waiting for the potassium permangenate to arrive - hopefully this week so i can dip the rest of the koi,

In the mean time here is a few pictures of the green antioxidants in my grow beds (the best feelgood green anticancer stuff a man can grow!).

Sorry to hear about the fish Gabe.


Koi are beautiful fish, I was going to keep them unfortunately they're illegal in my state. Actually I think it's a couple of thousand per fish in penalties.

At least you vegetable growth looks good.

Chin up Mate.

Ok - here we go with the potassium permanganate. This is a 2.5 minute treatment at 5gm/60litres.

After the salt bathing, most Koi seem to have improved so i only dipped the lethargic ones - on the assumption that they are the worst infected.

Apparently KMnO4 is a good fertilizer at low concentrations but will wipe out your bacterial population. So i was very careful not to mix the KMnO4 into the pond.

A few pictures

The nectarines started pushing their first flowers. I am considering spraying them again with copper mix to prevent peach leave curl - but am a bit worried about my bee hive so i will wait for the moment. Fortunately the bee hive is close by so i should get good pollination.



I also pruned the peaches. Unlike last year i kept the pruning to a minimum. Last season i pruned heavily and got a lot of vegetative growth as a result. I plan to do summer pruning this year - following the bonsai method!

Well - all the koi is still alive after their potassium permanganate ordeal. It seems as if the treatment is working. I had no more fish deaths in the last week. I hope I have broken the back of the bacterial infection. Time will tell but very encouraging at the moment.

Great news.

I have just caught up on your thread,firstly iam glad you are on top of your Koi issues, it is not nice when we loose them. Love your system,absolutely fantastic, does you a true credit and i think serves as a bench mark for others.....

Wow, going to grow a peach tree with aqua. I am really interested in how that works out!

Dasboot - that is a compliment indeed. I have been following your system closely and I think you are the master!

One of the things i have learned about aquaponics is that - once it is set up - it takes very little effort to maintain the system. Me on the other hand like to tinker all the time. I probably spend 10 times as much time working on my system as what is really warranted.

Hi APynckel - there are a few members on the forum with fruit trees in their system. I suggest you do a search for "fruit trees" or "peach"


Here is just one
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=6690&p=257722&hilit=peach#p257722

The good news is that i have had no further Koi deaths. Between the salt and potassium permanganate baths i seem to have stopped the infections.

I still have ~ 15 koi around 12" - 18" but am already planning to get a few new Koi fingerlings next month to increase my stock.

With the winter months i leave for work in the dark and arrive back in the dark. My system is about 40 meters from the house with no lights so i have to feed the fish in the mornings and evenings using a torch to find my way. The dark doesn't seem to bother the fish. I can hear the trout smashing the feed in the dark!

I decided to install a 12V led spot lamp (AU$12 from fleabay) for light. This run from my solar batteries. The lamp is for my convenience and i will switch it off after feeding the fish. The next step is to install a remote control. I just ordered the remote control unit from fleabay for AU$7.

Here is a few pictures taken this evening. I love the lighting effect - reminds me a bit of Tolkien.