Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Pond was 17 degrees this morning when I got up. Last night was not very cold though. Tonight the pond was 21 degrees at about 8pm. This is not a long term solution for me as although the temperature seems to be okay at the moment (will see what happens after a cold night) I don not want to be running to heaters all the time.

Couldn't see the fish in the pond at all tonight - hard to see using a torch. I am assuming they are still there . The Jades in the aquarium look okay, though still a bit startled. I will not feed them for another day or so. Have put duckweed in pond and aquarium so they can feed if they want.

VB, you lost me on "joking about the compressor:

We might be talking about two different hoses. My parent got some, its made from recycled rubber, does not actually have visible holes and has a very textured look and feel, when water is fed to it it seems to premeate though the "pores". They just hook it up to the water tap and turn her on! I think it even came with a tap fitting.

I am talking about the Leakky Hose brand. It is the same concept as you have described - but I am not sure the one you are talking about is that brand. Have a look at the leakky hose site. One of the positives about the Leakky Hose brand is that it operates at a lower pressure than many of the other brands. Possibly it has thinner walls? I remember the literature saying that the hose is not intended to operate at full pressure. It is good stuff I use it in my dirt garden. I bought a 100 meter roll a few years back.

Update on fish. Jades in aquarium seem okay, though still jittery if you go near the tank.

The outdoor pond was 20 degrees this morning despite outdoor temperature being below 10 degrees. Heaters are obviously doing their job as the temperature last night at 8pm was only 22 degrees.

I still haven't seen the fish, but have bought a new globe for my hallogen light which I will shine on the pond tonight in an attempt to find the fish . Bought some 20mm PVC elbow connections today so that I can make a proper grid for my small grow-bed that in on my outdoor pond. Sick of the holes in my 13mm, thin poly pipe clogging up. Time to get this under control.

Made the new grid. Because my pump is just a 2000lph pond pump (not sure what it is at about 600mm head which I am operating at), I have only made the holes about 3mm. Still this is a major improvement on what I had before and the flow rate is much better. I was obviously restricting flow with my original grid. This will increase oxygenation and also improve filterring. I hope the gravel stays wet everywhere as the frequency of holes is now less (and I use continuous flow).

Saw a few of the perch. They seem happy enough, swimming round leasurely. It is amazing to see such big fish in the pond. Duckweed that I have been putting in the pond and also the aquarium seems to be going. I am sure the fish are eating it, but it can be difficult to tell because you always end up with fairly significant deposits in a ring around the tank, just above water height - caused by water movement.

VB, the jades will be eating it alright, i just put two CD area size amounts of duckweek in the indoor jade tank late last night..........all gone this afternoon, and i mean ALL gone

BTW i checked with dad, the hose he got was from pacific dunlop tyre processing plant it is about the diameter of a normal hose, but more rigid. Is mains rated, just plug it in to the tap and turn on. Must be different types for different applications............

Any suggestions as to how long I should wait before I start feeding the fish commercial food. Will continue to supply with some duckweed so they don't starve altogether, I just don't want to overdo it while the bacteria is still establishing.

VB how long is a piece of string?

feed sparingly for at least 2 weeks if not 4 weeks if you cant test the water.

Fed fish today for first time since purchasing on the weekend. Fed both aquarium and pond fish. Of course they loved it, having had only duckweed since the weekend. It is certainly hard to control the urge to just keep feeding them - which is something I must not do until I get the system in balance.

Feeding time in VB's aquarium. The fish are still shy so I was unable to get a shot which had all (or even most) of them in it. A couple of the Jades have the black spot at the back. Will try and get a shot of the pond fish on the weekend - but that will be a challenge.

Also - I hooked up the 40lpm air pump. From just feeling what comes out of it, it doesn't pump as much as I thought it would, but the bubbles coming out of the leakky hose are great. Will take a shot on the weekend.

These fish love to line up don't they (steve's, Muzza's and now yours VB) Great pics, sensational looking fish

Not X military type fish are they......

They do look a decent size VB roughly how big are they?

Mostr are probably about 7 or so cm EB, though a couple are larger. My silvers on the other hand - they are big buggers. I will try and get a picture of the silvers this weekend. Love to watch those big silvers swimming around majestically in the pond

Doing a water change on my pond system today. Have removed about 200l of the 700l (28.5%) and am trickle feeding new stuff in now. The fungus on the dorsal fins of the perch is not any better - worse if anything - though I have only given them 1 dose of melafix. Will give the second dose once the water change is complete.

Bugger..... Hope the second dose does some good VB...