Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Righto, got 30 fish from tooperang a couple weeks ago. they took about a week to start eating but don't seem to eat until it sinks, and even then they don't eat much. (compared to the 'frenzied' feeding I've seen in videos. when checked them today though one was flap around on the surface going fro belly up to side and back. I then noticed he didn't have scales along the top of his tail and some areas on his sides. The rest seem happy as larry. doing some water tests tomorrow and I'll post the results. any help would be greatly appreciated as it is for an assignment and I need to address this asap.
I have a video on my phone of the fish, cant seem to upload it to the forum though, anyone know how?

Hi Boza, sorry to hear about your fish. You need to upload your video to Youtube then put in a link to it in your post on the forum. You need to do it in full editor where you can see a 'youtube' tab. You can up load photos directly if you have resized them to no more than 800x600. I am sure someone can help when they have a bit more info and photos of your system.

Tank 700-800L,
outlet pipe: 2.5-4cm diameter
two aerator stones
heres the URL
https://youtu.be/C4Mg7KPJVKs
The image upload system on here is confusing so Ill just make another videoof the system and post it tomorrow.

Here is a video of the system, https://youtu.be/cyCE4y8ttSk.
Nitrite, NO2-: >1 mg/L
Nitrate, NO3-: >20 mg/L
Ammonium, NH+: 1 mg/L
PH:6.5-7 (yesterday), 8 today

Sometimes Tooperang have dodgy fish. Ones with deformed jaws, and things like that. I don't think they cull the bad ones much, but it's why they sell them so cheap, and $0.70 a fish is very cheap.

If it's only the one fish, I wouldn't worry. If it's seriously struggling, looking droopy, and not growing, knock it on the head, otherwise let it be.

My trout (from tooperang) will splash at the surface, but not the energetic leaping out that I've seen others do, and they won't do it when I'm standing over the top, I need to move back a meter, and then they'll splash water everywhere on me.

EDIT...

If any other fish have a similar thing form, then it's something that needs to be treated. But I'd put my money on that fish having gone through a pump or something when it was younger.

Interesting. the rest of mine stay down mid water column to bottom. How long have you had your current crop of fish? did they take a while to adjust?
Also is my water quality okay? I've been told that Trout are very finicky about it.

Mine were a little skittish for the first few weeks, then they start breaking the surface, and doing their thing.

I didn't really pay attention to your water quality stuff, have a look at this:


You can place where your ammonia toxcitiy is sitting, against pH and water temp, but I think it's a little high with your pH being that high (and for it to jump 1 point in a day isn't good for the fish either, you'd better double check your results.

Also, your nitrite isn't too bad, but I wouldn't want it getting any higher, but I'd slow down or stop the feed until it's at 0%.

How much filtration do you have for 30 fish?

I just checked your second video, is the fish always swimming upside down? Or just being a turd for the video?

Hi Boza,

Snap - Colum already jumped in with the ammonia chart and advice - here's my 2 bobs worth as well

Was your system cycled before you added fish and how much biofiltration (eg. growbeds) do you have?

I don't know why your pH is so erratic. With it being 8, the ammonia at 1 ppm is definitely getting into the toxic range (see the chart below). You need to stop feeding and check for any uneaten food or dead fish that could be causing the ammonia spike, and wait for it to decrease to less than 0.25 ppm before feeding. Dropping the pH also reduces the toxicity of ammonia, but you don't want to change pH by more than 0.4 a day as it can stress the fish.



Also the nitrites are a worry at over 1ppm. These pass through the gills and bind with the blood reducing its capacity to transport oxygen. Your biofiltration will convert ammonia to nitrite, then to nitrate which is harmless to fish and your plants use. Stopping feeding will give both types of bacteria a chance to catch up. When your system is cycled it should generally be running at 0-0.25ppm ammonia and nitrites if stocked within the capacity of your growbeds (25 litres of wet gravel per fish). You can help your fish cope a bit better with nitrites by salting your system to 1 part per thousand (ppt) which is 1kg salt in 1000 litres of water. Use plain salt with no additives - I get evaporated sea salt from the supermarket, but some use pool salt. The chloride ions in the salt reduce the amount of nitrites passing through the gills. The salt also helps build the slime coating on the fish, protecting them from diseases.

You might consider partial water changes if your ammonia gets much higher, although some prefer to stop feeding and ride it out.

I'll redo my PH test and post the result. I probably should have mentioned earlier I'm only running and aquaculture syetem, not an aquaPONIC's system. so just the tank, pump air compressor and bio ball filter ( which is a common '__ gallon drum') not sure how many gallons exactly though, will check when I do the PH test.

re the fish
its always doing that. found him up against the divider

today that is, oops

How many litres of bio balls do you have?

I'm in a lecture at the moment I'll check at about 330.

ph is 7.5-8
44 gallon drum.
Also How do you suggest we lower the Ph?

Update:
3 fish have now died, (the sick one, and two others, both deformed), Pics of the most deformed, https://youtu.be/3LyxNM_EyzI
dissection of the sick fish,https://youtu.be/Gk5RPCd-rdM
Ammonium is almost 0, Nitrite may have risen a little, my colour chart only goes to 1 mg/L, (ppm)
Ph is still at about 8.
Whats the best way the bring the PH down? from what I've read I should use some sort of acid, wouldn't that harm the fish though?