Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

This is my first try at aquaponics , I've been growing hydroponics for a while , but the fertiliser costs are getting out of hand , i'm fixing that , but thought I'd try getting some fish and seeing how this goes .

I bought 10 koi for this tank , i think there's around four left alive . So I went down to the local creek and scooped up some gambisi minnows and some other little fish that seemed maybe feral .

Planted cucumbers , here's the growth after a week in the system , now they are much bigger , flowering but no cucumbers yet .

Best regards

Brian










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Welcome to the forum Brian

Hi Brian and welcome to the forum.

Your system looks good. Nice and neat.

Hi Brian,

>> I've been growing hydroponics for a while , but the fertiliser costs are getting out of hand
the fish option can be cheaper but you will still need to supplement with your cucumbers/tomatoes.

mostly with readily available products - Seasol Original, Seasol Power Drive (if N & P needed), Blood&Bone with Potash,
plus iron, potassium and magnesium.

you wont be getting much of these by any fish food you are likely to be using for those types of waterway fish - native or feral. Little fish probably not as effective as a 5-15cm goldfish or koi.

maybe try some feeder (uncoloured) goldfish - most pet/aquarium stores etc carry them for couple dollars.
plain orange comets are often pretty low cost as well. They will donate a bit of nitrogen particularly if using reasonable pellets (which are usually cheaper in bulk than pet shop fish food anyway)

gambusia (gambezi) sadly are aggressive to other fish and can cause issues for goldfish etc

my opinion - the old half blue barrel is not really conducive to good fish production. Some will disagree.
A cut down IBC, bathtub or something offering a decent sized and 600-1000L would be much better.
Fish will get bigger and things will be more stable and you will get good nitrogen from 10-15 fish.

like the over-sized buckets. they will work well.
with a slightly bigger FT add a DWC after a media bed for your lettuce and other leafy greens.

Hello , and thanks for the responses , I'll look to getting some Seasol , blood n bone etc when I can . How to administer the additional nutrients ? foliar feed ? Will this solution kill the fish ?

I'm looking to get IBC's and build a larger system this year , we've just the spot for it .

Here are the type fish I caught from the creek , along with the gambesi .

Does anyone know what they are ?

Hm. If their dorsal (top) fins are sort of split into two pieces, they might be redfin perch... but their tails look too blunt, so probably not. Otherwise, they look an awful lot like some form of cichlid or tilapia.

http://www.freshwaterfishgroup.com/feral-fishes.php Either way Murdoch University can probably help you identify them, and if the fishies are invasive they would like to hear about them to expand their database.

Hiya Brian, what suburb are you in? Hopefully you get a fish identification.
The problem with creek or river fish is that it can bring nasties into your system but free fish are always good

Hm. If their dorsal (top) fins are sort of split into two pieces, they might be redfin perch... but their tails look too blunt, so probably not. Otherwise, they look an awful lot like some form of cichlid or tilapia.

Thanks , I'll check out the dorsal fins , and flatten out the tail for better pics .






We are in Gosnells , these fish are from Wungong Brook , where the Spencer Road bridge goes over it .



This was caught as well , but died within 24 hours , Golden perch maybe ?

Bit of an update , the cucumbers continue to thrive , I foliar fed them with a soluble fertiliser today .


fish in drum , also another 200 litre drum with fish and an airstone .

you don't need to go overboard with the supplementing. Just when/if they are required.
Most things for plants should go direct to the grow bed - foliar or direct via watering can.

too much is not good for fish. Particularly mineral fertilisers which can affect the chemistry.

so a bit of balance required, and always in small amounts.
Definitely not as much or as frequently as used in hydroponics.

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Not sure on the fish but almost certain they are invasive..
good idea to let Murdoch or FishWA know (they will ID them for you) - they are monitoring feral fish species at present in many of the lakes and river areas. With current conditions in the Canning/Southern not so good - probably got flushed from a suburban lake or detention basin in the big rain and doing well in current water conditions

https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/management/s ... l=&start=5

http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/bio ... hwater.pdf

Thanks again Darren , I'll contact Murdoch and let them know . also from reading other threads I'm seeing the need for readings of ammonia , nitrates etc , as well as the ph I've been testing . I'll grab a test kit this week . I've also hopefully acquired some IBC's so onwards in the next step .

Thanks all

Brian

http://media.murdoch.edu.au/tag/centre- ... s-research
[edit - just noted -> Mels link above is better one to contact murdoch on]

but FishWA via contacts in http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/bio ... hwater.pdf other option
(sorry edited it as an addition in previous while you posted).



Bunnings, BigW pretty good for these. Unlike your hydroponics a packet should last quite a bit longer.

Everything is growing well , fish seem happy , I'm topping the drum from the second full sized drum which has more fish and collects rainwater .
Lots of male cucumber flowers , and now some female flowers . I've grown cucumbers before ( hydroponically ) but the number of cucumbers was quite low , so I'm hand pollinating in the hope of greater yield . following this youtube tutorial .





I'm yet to get an aquarium test kit ( its on the list )

Hopefully these cucumbers form .