Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Ok so a big part of the reason we are doing Aquaponics is for the kids.

We have a 7yr old, a 5yr old and a 7mth old baby.

We want to stock Silver Perch and I've read these can live alongside goldfish. So I went ahead and told the older girls they could have a goldfish each as "pets" and the rest of the fish are for eating.

Now - we are a long way away from being ready to take delivery of our Silver Perch.

But my pump arrived today and we have 1 IBC tank cleaned out.... I was wondering if maybe we could fill it and get the girls started with the goldfish. Keep them excited as they help me finish our AP build. (I'm planning to wrap the Tank in shadecloth too to minimize algae.)

I'm guessing 3 little Goldies in a big AP tank would be ok without a filter for a while as long as the pump or a bubbler was running...

How soon would I need to change the water?

Could I put a mesh bag of bio balls in there to establish some bacteria and help clean the water?

Good idea or terrible idea? Thanks in advance wise ones!

Goldfish very hardy - they will be fine with minimum filtering / air. Particularly if you only have a couple/few.

I have kept them in a IBC half for months with just a pump basically spraying water straight back into tank for circulation. Running for part of day. No problem. (mine have/had rocks and water plant but that is not critical)

Biggest issue will be not over feeding

>> How soon would I need to change the water?

as it is new water should go for quite a while - basically the goldfish & their feed are potentially the only source of ammonia and an IBC is a lot of water volume.

if you want to filter just run water though a bucket/drum of media - will be fine and can use media in AP later.
If you already have bio-balls they will be fine - but don't buy them specially. Grow bed media will work.

media volumes are basically per fish anyway - so you won't need a lot.

absolutely. worst that could happen is the water will need to be changed after a while, just like an aquarium. Also it is good to get an API test kit and practice doing water quality tests. I waited too long with our Koi and Comets and the nitrates creeped up and the fish got lethargic before I noticed the smell in our large aquarium getting a fishy odor

BTW, after I reread my suggestion about notching a PVC pipe and bending it around for the top edge of your tank, I couldn't remember where I got that idea, so it may or may not work, but might be worth a try, as I have not

Great!! Thanks everyone!

The IBC I'm planning on using for the Goldies has a growbed and came with gravel so maybe I'll just set it up properly.

My water test kit has arrived as well so I can definitely practice testing the water and reading results!

5 goldfish will live happily in a bathtub with water plants for as long as you want, with no need for pumps and extra filters etc, and you dont need to feed them either- they eat the algae.

I had goldfish growing up for about 5 years... I seem to remember that they are surface air breathers and go to the surface to breathe any way so a bubbler is nice but superfluous?

Yes I think so.

no, they are normal fish and actually gulping at the surface is not good for them (or their stomachs).
(the debate on surface feeding goldfish appears in other threads - but less of an issue IMO)
they will generally live around the bottom and middle of the FT and browse around the surface when it is 'safe'.

Air filters do not do as much as having a stream of water breaking the surface.
so a pump simply going up and dropping water back in is very effective as it breaks surface tension and aerates.

plants help but are not essential. eg. if outdoors duckweed and maybe some vallisneria etc.
basically algae etc cling to the roots and leaves and fish can feed off that.

but they live just fine on fish food - with little kids I suspect overfeeding will be an issue.
while just GF and no AP, probably stay with flakes as the nutrient load is less rather than using AP pellets.

filtering is less of an issue for goldfish in short term in large container like IBC.
but it wouldn't hurt to run water through some media.


as Boss suggests - get the Freshwater test kit and once a week or so do the tests, get some practice before the SP come along. You are watching for ammonia then.

also maybe stick to something hardy like comets rather than the fancy types (less hardy).
May work out better in your mixed fish AP later.

this has a pretty good summary - http://www.ozarkkoi.com/Goldfish-Health ... sc-91.html
surface water agitation is the main thing - can just be for a long period rather than 24/7.


is the IBC going in your shed or outside ?

So I rinsed out the IBC and tested the water. pH seems to be around 7.6 - 7.8 and ammonia and nitrites are negative.

Which I assume is a good baseline.

Will fill up the tank to the desired height and let the water age for 24 hours then test again.

The IBC I'm using for the goldfish is just sitting on the driveway. My shed is a mess so hubby and I are knocking together some shelves this weekend before we put anything in place.

so couple things will be
(a) algae - but it takes a while to get going and you need some in system anyway
(will develop along with green slime on IBC sides - which is all OK and fish will eat it) .
(b) shade - part shade is fine with little bit of sun or full shade.

as outside see if you can dig up some duckweed.
Try and get it from a known supply rather than a local lake/pond.

As you are going to be a hard AP'er - then bare tanks are the norm.
But you will tend to find with only couple fish that they tend to cower in the shadiest bottom corner a bit.

If you feel a little bit soft then a couple of pots with some rock/media in them can help a bit.
The long thin tub ones give them something to hide behind and swim around.
when you get really soft you can add a couple of strands of pond plant
(AP no-no but I do it anyway - feels bit more pond like for the little guys....)

Well - we are officially fish owners for the first time on this Aquaponics journey!

Meet Dawn, Snowflake and Bubble.



Yes... Our daughters named them!

Theres 500L in the tank but being cautious I put enough water conditioner in for 800 liters then stirred the water around for a while.

Waiting for the fish to acclimatize and then in they go!

Annnnd here's my bodge job setting up the pump with some irrigation pipe I had lying around. Still - plenty of aeration going on!

Water conditioner? what's in it?

It's that stuff that neutralises chlorine/chloramines. Works immediately. I used to keep goldfish, guppies etc in aquariums and every time I cleaned the tanks out Completely (for disease etc) I would use water conditioner and it always worked.