Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'll give the plants some more PF tomorrow.

Anyways.. ....

What do people think of buying say four 15-20cm Silver Perch, fatten them up and harvest right before Trout season starts? Or should I forget Trout season 2017 and stock up on some SP in the next week, getting more once cycling is done and dusted .. that will give the SP 16 months to grow out... the silver lining [as doing Trout appeals] would be my son's gold fish can call the main tank home for the next 16 months ..... I think I answered my own question haha

I hope your right, soon please

Because your system was running before with its previous owner, you probably started with at least some of the bacterial colony still alive and well - so you might not be seeing ammonia because it's being converted immediately into nitrites then nitrates, and you're not seeing nitrates because your plants are using them all. In other words, there's a good chance you're already fully cycled.

The only problem with that is that you can't confirm it without pushing harder with adding ammonia sources, and the way you find out that you've put in more than your bacteria can handle is by spiking the system. It's tricky with Powerfeed because there's a lag between adding it and the urea etc processing through into ammonia, and if your system is cycled then any ammonia spike can be small and vanish quickly, so even if it happens you may miss it by not testing at the right time. If you go somewhere that sells cleaning supplies, you might be able to find ammonia there - it needs to be just ammonia and water, no scent or detergent added. Then you can (carefully! posters who have done this themselves can hopefully help with the math involved!) add enough ammonia to cause a (small! enough to show up on a test but not endanger the fish) ammonia spike, and test repeatedly over the next several hours to see how fast the ammonia goes away, and whether or not there's a measurable nitrite spike. If the ammonia is all gone within 24 hours and you don't get a dangerous nitrite spike, you're fully cycled.

Thats kinda how it feels, the previous owner lived fairly close to me and tried to keep everything 'alive' as possible (he mentioned everything being 'living' and making me aware of it - I assume now he was talking about the bacteria and the importance of it. See once I filled the tank 2/3 full, I hooked up the pump but nothing, the pump was dead and I didn't buy a new one until ten days later - the TANK was 2/3's full of water just sitting there and I hand watered the grow beds 2-3 times per day until that pump was sorted 10 days later ..... after that I hooked the new pump up and started cycling, THREE DAYS LATER I JOINED UP HERE

10 days the tank was 2/3's full, with NO PUMP
3 days with the new PUMP cycling.
I JOIN UP TO BYAP - 14th December
13 days of cycling since, adding PF every 3 days and testing every second.

I'm not sure if those 10 days with no PUMP counted, I thought the tank is just empty doing 'nothing' but. was bacteria there but just not thur out the whole system -yet? ....

Anyways after your system is fully cycled and you've seen ammonia clearly spike, turn into nitrite, which into turns nitrates - ammmonia>nitrite>nitrates .... everything settled down UNLESS your plants aren't using up the nitrates and that usually means you need to plant more.. but considering the few plants are in need and I got 3 small goldfish, as well as PF every 3rd day .. in theory seems like it's running in harmony ... I mean my system sounds pretty stable and isn't that what a fully cycled system is (if your going to sum it up in one word)?

expensive way to buy fish IMO - but it would depend on the price.
also older fish are less tolerant of issues than younger fish.

Unless price is really good may be better to get some smaller fish and use money saved to buy some fillets from Coles. That would be the litmus test for me as to whether it is better to buy the larger fish or get fillets from Coles for the same value...the pragmatic approach I guess rather than the romantic one.

however buying 4-8 would be no issue.
You wont overload your system with that many and it would set you up for trout.

You could always get an IBC set up beside the main system and move the fish to that when you are read for trout.

not sure how well the trout co-exist with SP and goldfish.
But I think people may have done it.

I wouldn't bother doing any ammonia test. The PF is good because the plants benefit anyway so you get something from it.
The main thing is you are adding PF and not getting any ammonia or nitrite response. Just don't go and buy a large number of fish and you will be fine. Your setup will have bacteria and if conservative you will get through a bacteria population 'adjustment' without too much issue when a few fish are added.

>> I mean my system sounds pretty stable and isn't that what a fully cycled system is (if your going to sum it up in one word)?

that pretty much sums it up - 80% chance that is the case, and it is warm at present anyway so bacteria will do well anyway.

Thanks for the reply Darren.. anyways I found 15 SP [5-6 cm each] @ $40 the lot - I might make a move on them.

Not sure if I got the room for an IBC, well I kinda do but the wife and all lol plus my backyard is petty tiny.. but yeah, a small blue barrel set up looks perfect size wise .. my son would love it, wife can grow some herbs/veg ... plus it's portable, looks funky unless you hate the colour blue haha ... .

the 15 sound OK. Not sure what the fingerling rate is via Troutmans Cheidys trips but that will get you going for this season definitely. And will be fine in your 1500L setup.

Mr damage had a little blue setup complete for a carton of beer - thread here...viewtopic.php?f=10&t=28063
his shop is in Belmont. Might even be ONO at this point.

The bacteria live mostly in/on your media Kaz, not just in the water - watering the growbeds by hand while the pump wasn't working would have kept the media damp and the bacteria alive. Judging by what you say happened and how it's behaving now, yup! you have a healthy bacterial colony and are fully cycled! I reckon you're safe to get those perch.

Sweet

Okay slight issue, the SP aren't taking to the feed at all - today was the 1st time, when it came to feeding but nothing.. nothing at all ... I hope tomorrow it will be different and the food will be snapped up in short supply .. maybe it's not the right food, not suitable for SP at this size etc etc ..... maybe the fish didn't see it? ... I'm reaching here... . any advice?

my friend holding the feed...

Two ideas: first, maybe they're just unsettled from the move? Second, what's your water temperature? If it's up at the top of their range they won't want to eat and will kinda sulk until things cool down.

--Okay, three ideas, do your normal water tests and make sure that introducing the perch hasn't bumped something off balance. If they're all fine, I'd say just wait, offer a couple of pellets every day and don't give more unless the fish take them. They can go without food for literally weeks if they have to, so try not to worry and definitely don't leave any food in if it hasn't been eaten within half an hour or so.

Hard to stay at an early stage. However fish can go quite a while without feeding so don't worry too much on that aspect alone. #1 - as Mel notes check your water parameters including temp - a shift from one system to another leaves them a little hungover #2 they are unlikely to come to you or to the surface when you are around anyway - SP are quite shy and so you probably wont see them feed for a while until they become used to the tank and you moving around. They are more predator aware than goldfish. #3 they probably wont want to feed during the day or in bright light.

two things that do come to mind for your system.
(a) the feed seems to be large pellets, depending on the fish size you may need something a bit smaller.
what was the feed type in the picture ?
(b) do you have any places for them to hide ? Your tank seemed quite light in colour.
constantly being on alert can exhaust new fish in a tank and make them susceptible to stress issues.

having the goldfish can help with settling the new fish down. But it will still be some time before the new fish become comfortable.

Hiya Kaz, as the others have stated sometimes they just don't want to eat and if the water parameters are ok there's no need to worry.
A couple of other points, ensure there is no uneaten feed floating or laying on the bottom in your tank, this can cause ammonia spikes and taint the water. Sp's have small mouths, what size and brand are your pellets?
Try not to over feed your fish, if there are pellets still floating around after 10 minutes chances are it was too much food.
Mine like a bit of greens too so I supplement with some celery (My gb weed) every now and then.

OK I've put in a hiding hole for the fish, so the SP can cruise about and have somewhere to chill - ta Darren for the idea.. as for the water, it's good - pH 7.4, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0 .. plants eating up all the nitrates fast, well here's to hoping lol ....... . as for water temp it is deffo colder than the guy's tank [who I bought the SP off], his was an indoor system ... so most likely it's a water temp thing but not serious from what has been said [from you guys] .... I'll get a water thermometer soon, it'll be inteteresting to keep track of my water temps .... .. the feed I crushed up tonight, just in my hands loosely - I'm hoping that and the fact it was night time meant they got a feed in.

edit; on 2nd thoughts it's not a water temp issue as my water is COLDER by a few degrees and SP would prefer it colder -compared to say Barra, different story completely then.... I would guess it's more stress related from the move a 48 hour hangover NOT anything to do with water conditions .. putting a hiding hole will be beneficial I think, great idea ... also feeding them in the day vs night could have something to do with it ... as for my feed;

I honestly don't know any details about where the previous owner brought the 50 kg bag from, let alone the name of the stuff etc etc .......... just that he had a large goldfish and a couple medium sized SP . so I'm assuming the feed is good but maybe it's too big the pellets ..... can I just crush them up?