Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Flooded the system, Got nearly 30 of the little buggers. Fed them to the SP's. Also got a slippery, slimy slug. Umm, don't know what happened to him? Kids probably gave it to the fish too.

Haven't been out to see if anything survived the weekend, as I took all the bottles off, and we have had some pretty wild weather the last two nights.

SP's love those big pellets. Now I know how OP get their fish so big.

What were you flooding out Doc? I saw the name in an earlier post but I don't know what they are.

Martin.

We call them slaters. They are little armadillo looking critters, that pull up into a ball when you touch them. They have many legs. I just found out they are also called woodlice.

These small (up to 1.5 cm), grey critters have many aliases – Slater, Pill Bug, Tiggy Hog and Sow Bug being some of them. Woodlice are, in fact, a kind of land going crustacean! Their segmented bodies are flattened versions of the basic prawn anatomy.

Hi Doc, do they look like this? Ours are called shongololos. Enjoy trying to pronounce that.

Ah ok, I just google imaged them and I see they're a bit different to that.

Regards, Martin.

Reading up on them, I have the perfect environment for them. Will need to toughen up my seedlings before planting, and thin out the growth in the GB to assist plant survival rates.

Dr Bee, I have given this a go as we have a few trees and no one eats grapefruit anymore... Works a treat. The slaters, millipedes and slugs all go into the inside surface of the grapefruit. I then tap them off into the ft. Emptied around 20 slaters this morn then same again this arvo. I knew there were some but not this many!
Thanks Continuum.

So the fish eat the millipedes? I thought they secrete poisonous substances? I know they sure smell awful when you accidentally step on them!
Sorry for hijacking doc.


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No you are correct Kat, millipedes get pasted with the slugs underfoot.

Don't have grapefruit. Wonder if lemons would be the same. Must look up on interweb.

On a brighter note, have been rewarded with handfuls of plump sweet mulberries. They are about the size of small grape tomatoes, and so sweet.

Bok choy are fighting back and have grown a reasonable size. Some might be big enough to eat soon. Leaves are a lot tougher than those in the shops, but I guess they are grown in green houses?

Any body need parsley? I think I can cut back to just one vigorous plant now. 4 vigorous plants is too much.

Have planted a whole lot of basil and lettuce seeds , hoping we can get some baby leaves coming up.

Had kale in salad last night instead of lettuce. Wife seemed happy enough (it was her idea), so might give kale a go.

Spent a few days down at Manjimup. Bought heaps of apples and the biggest avocados I have ever seen. Went biking all around town, tried the flying fox at the forestry museum park.

Took the mountain bikes down to Pemburton and rode on the Mountain bike paths. Man, they are fun. SWMBO went way out of her comfort zone and joined in. All the boys had massive smiles.

Got back and found everything still running. fish were happ to be fed. Power was off all Friday, so popped out to the local B store and grabbed a new pump, as my other one is getting a bit noisy. Will pull it apart and have a spare. Ate a few handfulls of Mullberries, but there are only so many you can eat in one session.

Bock choy - somethings still eating them. I give up. There must be snails hiding somewhere.

Basil seedlings have spouted in seed raising mix. Will wait for them to grow out a bit bigger before I risk haing them eaten by snails.

Spinach seedlings sprouted in less than one week. Will let them get a few more leaves before planting them out too.

Water levels have dropped heaps in the last few weeks. I guess a high demand for water by the Mulberries doesn't help.

Nice work Doc. Jealous about those mountain bike trails. My bike is on a bloody ship rounding South Island.

Planted out the basil seedlings. The Spinach all died before enough leaves shot. None of the lettuce sprouted. Possibly old seeds. Have planted a few Cucumber, snow pea and sugar snap peas seeds, although the tomato bushes are now hiding the mulberry trees. Heap of green fruit on them already. Ate our first capsicum for the year, and a heap fruiting on each of the plants.

Filled up the tank again, another 200l.

Fish going berserk on the food. Its a great party trick to take out guests and get them to stick their head in near the water and have them get splashed as the fish come up for a feed.

Got a few fingerlings from Gavin on Saturday. Chucked a few bits of pipe in to give them hidey holes until they grow a bit. Unfortunately, found one a bit stiff in the bottom of the tank yesterday morning. Others all look fine.

Bloody snails had a go at my new basil seedlings, so have put the empty bottles over them. Mind you, there's almost no room for them now with the chives and parsley shrubs. Tommies going well, and mulberries starting to slacken off. Down to just a few each day. Nice way to finish off the day though with a handful of sweet fruit.