Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

What is the most efficient way to keep these AP fish warm during cold weather?

Aquarium heater and insulated tank i would think

Depending on where you live it may not be worth the cost to heat your water. The other option (and the one I chose) is to harvest fish a the end of their season and find another fish to hold your system over during the cold months. Much cheaper option

I live in southern New Jersey, halfway between Philadelphia and Atlantic City. Last winter there were over 40 days below freezing. 17 major snow events as well. We were not a stranger to single digit mornings. Degrees F for those of you down under.

I like the idea of the alternative fish. Any suggestions on a type that won't put so much stress on my system that I have to start over from scratch in the spring.

I've seen it recommended to use local native fish. They can often handle your weather best. Insulating your tank is a good idea. Local lakes have differing temps at depth. That we can't reproduce.

You can rarely go wrong with goldfish or koi as they are very temperature resilient. Carp are tough too.

I could go to local ponds and lakes and catch some bluegill sunfish. They are tough as nails.

Thanks for the suggestion with the carp.

My only hesitation about using the wild fish is introducing some bio-hazard into my system that I won't be able to get rid of.

What about using heat generated from compost.. You could have your compost pile or whatever with piping in it to heat the water before being returned to the FT?

Use trout over winter

Use trout over winter

I like the idea of using heat generated from compost. I have plenty of compost. Any recommendations for piping in the compost pile. The compost gets very hot. PVC would "un-cement" itself in that kind of heat. Would pex pipe work and would pex pipe conduct the kind of heat I would need to move out of the compost heap.

It's probably a bit expensive but copper is the best conductor and would provide the highest level of heat transfer. Use aquasafe solder and new (or known source) pipe.

Failing that you would need to rig it to be able to hold the water in the pipe for as long as possible

Copper will kill the fish

Eat them.

I am new to this but, I have my all weather fish in the IBC FT now, and my summer fish in an Aquarium indoors, but I was thinking today, what do they use to heat spa and pools? Oh! And when the trout are available again the indoor tank will be used for fingerlings, to cut back on cost, same with the barramundi next season,

Spas cost a fair bit to heat. They are also better insulated, the covers keep a good chunk of heat in. When the water is recirculating through the beds, it's like a radiator, taking on the air temps around it.

I'll agree with the others, either buy fish that can handle the year round temps, or stock different fish for different seasons.