Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I like the look of that siphon pump. Might have to modify my dodgy setup. Saves getting a mouthful of dodgy fish water getting the siphon started :-)


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I understand what you are saying Bender
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Aquarium-Cleaner-Vacuum-Water-Change-Gravel-Fish-Tank-Plastic-Siphon-Pump-Filter-/182168027088?hash=item2a6a0f7fd0:g:n5AAAOSwnFZXXQ5x
These syphon pumps are cheep & not that good quality, but it seems to work OK.

I just up loaded the video taken today.
https://youtu.be/Vi4jiOcTtE8

Hi, I'm very green to aquaponics, just set up a basic flood and drain IBC three odd weeks ago. Have stocked with SP fry and Marron around 10 of each. They are not eating today so will stop feeding them for a couple days as there is food left on bottom of tank. The PH is on the high side, but found a Marron shell today so take it as they are growing. Any tips would be appreciated, as I say I'm new to this.

Gday Wilo & welcome to the forum
It's nice to see another Ap'er in Gero
With this cold weather it's not surprising that the SP have stoped feeding as this generally happens when the FT temp drops below 16*c. It's not a good idea to leave uneaten food in the FT as it pushes the Ammonia levels up. Although @ three weeks your system more than likely has not fully cycled yet.
What are your system water levels ?
I have not had much luck with Marron in the AP, they tend to fight each other & get eaten when they have soft shells. A few lengths of PVC off cuts in the FT for hides will help stop this. I've had better results with Yabbies & even had them breed in the FT.
Ill PM you my Ph # & we can have a chat if you like.

Cheers GTK! I will definitely give you a call in the next couple of days

hey GTK,

so from may to August, only four months, the rainbow trout grows amazingly quick. Are you in melb? i have tried to stock silver perch and murray cod, but they all die in winter time, and just about to try the rainbow trouts, if you are in melbourne, can you suggest the fish stocking list? also where do you buy the rainbow trout fingerings?

Sorry aussiecrocodile I'm in WA
The Trout have amazing growth rates.
Not sure where you may be able to get hold of fingerlings in Melbourne.

System up date
With the days getting longer & some warmer days last week some of my Asian greens have started to bolt to seed. Time to harvest & do a spring planting. Too many greens for my family to eat so the ducks & chooks get the rest. Minus a few plants for seed collection.


Having good results with these 50mm net pots in the DWC system.



This is the last of this years Broccolini from the NFT system.

Today I caught some of the Barra to sell & took a quick measurement/photo before transferring them into the plastic bag for transporting to there new home. Was quite surprised to see how much they have grown considering I've only been feeding them once a week to keep the waist levels down.

They measured an average 25cm

Another month or so depending on the water temps & the trout will be harvested then the Barra will go into the big tank.

While feeding the Trout the other day I noticed a few Trout were showing signs of stress. They had white splotches along there sides & were staying close to the surface, they were also slow to feed. The worst 4 were harvested just to be on the safe side, all measured around 24cm long & weighed 170g. I stoped feeding for 24 hours. Today the fish had lost all the white colouring, were behaving normally & started hitting the feed hard again.
Nothing had dramatically changed in the tank & the feed has been the same for months, so ?? any ideas ??
Unfortunately I didn't take any water readings so are unsure what may have caused the problem.

Down loaded the data logger from the big tank & found that the min water temp for winter was 10*c

Hiya Graham, hope alls well.
Are the white splotches in the skin pigment? What is your salt level?

Gday skeggley
All's good here, one of the best winters for rain in years. Wild flowers blooming everywhere.
How are those Bee's treating you no more incidents ?
Yes the splotches were in the skin pigment, more like when human go pail when fainting. There's no signs of white spot, the salt levels are around 2-3 ppm. It was very strange, all I can think is that they were fed extra the day before & maybe they had just been gluttons & caused them stress ?
They still tasted good !

Smoked Trout for dinner tonight !!

Had some stressed fish so decided to do a bit of a harvest. Ten fish went 3.7kg in total, the best being 508g.

The other night I took the kids down to the foreshore as the sunshine festival is on, there was free entertainment & food vans. It was late when we got back to feed the fish. In hindsight I should have not fed them as it was almost dark, but I did. They were splashing, feeding & I thought they would consume the normal rate. All seemed well until the next morning when I noticed a white belly on the bottom of the tank. On closer inspection there was uneaten food & few trout on the bottom struggling. So I scooped as much of the uneaten pellets, the dying trout & harvested a few that were not looking that good. Obviously they had stopped feeding & the uneaten feed had made the ammonia rise to toxic levels.
The rest survived & after a 24 hour fast they are feeding well again, but will be getting harvested soon to be on the safe side. The FT water temps are almost right to put the Barra into the main tank so it's a win-win .


In an effort to regain some of the dirt garden I decided to consolidate my styro wicking beds & add a GB to the system.
The styro's have done well over winter but require daily top ups in the warmer months.


The project for this weekend is to up grade the worm farm to make it easier to clean expanded clay.

Hiya Graham, thanks for the update, looks like your're getting some warm weather up there, the tanks here haven't touched the 16° mark yet.
How are you smoking the trout?
I'm picking up another two bee colonies in the next two weeks and the mandarins are still going believe it or not, third tree!
Interested to see how the Barra go, keep us informed.