Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Nice little system BrianHow are the fish going? Where exactly did you get them?
Never heard of wungong brook, in Gosnells you say?

There's a guy willing to pay $50 per Tilapia in Perth at the moment. Pretty keen to find me a few to fund my uni expenses!

Hi Kiara , the fish are fine , I've some in the fish tank supplying water and nutrients for the plants , and some in a larger drum ( a mix of gambezi and whatever the unknown fish are )

Are you thinking they are Tilapia ?

Sent you a pm .

I think they may be Pearl Cichlids

http://www.freshwaterfishgroup.com/feral-fishes.php

very good chance - one of those threads I posted earlier referred to Pearl Chiclids as being one of the more common feral fish species in that area. We had a lot of rain in Feb and a lot of the ornamental lakes got flushed, plus the water quality is pretty good at present as a results - ideal for chichlids.


Wungong from Wungong Dam at back of Armadale (South-West Hwy to Armadale Rd), becomes Southern River at back of Kelmscott (near Tonkin Hwy) and then joins the Canning at Thornlie. But they aren't tilapia.... and it would be illegal to possess or sell them anyway if they were.

There are maps of feral species on the web and various fish forums from the various feral fish surveys run by FishWA and Murdoch.

in NSW > "with penalties of: up to $11,000 for possession; and up to $55,000 for sale"
similar in WA I suspect.

I've some time Wednesday and will take a couple of the mystery free fishes to a bloke I know , hopefully get an ID .

I got some water results today , these are how i interpret the results , could be wrong .

Fish tank ; Nitrate 80
Ammonia 0
pH 7.5



Holding tank ; Nitrate 20
Ammonia 0 - .25
pH 7.5



Cucumbers are forming nicely , filling out , as suggested by Darren I'm foliar feeding them weekly with the nutrient solution from my hydroponics tank .



The nice bloke at the aquarium shop identified the fish caught as chichlids and the fish that died after being caught as a redfin perch .

Any input welcomed thank you

Brian

Cut down chemical drums work fine for the cucumbers , drill out the tap fitting , use a net cup to keep the drainage clear and screw in a 19mm poly barb . Medium is 12 mm pea gravel .

Things are growing well , the fish tank pH was getting a little high at around 8 ,( high for plants ) , altered that . Fish seem happy , water is quite clear , roots from the last pot on the line are coming down the return pipe .












Brian

Bees busy polinating flowers



Chichlids looking happy in the holding tank



Improvised gravel filter



Brian

The cucumbers are getting close to finishing up their life now , looking untidy , but still producing .





I'm going to plant snowpeas in this system next .

Hopefully I'll get the IBC system finished and running soonish .

Brian

Well done. We left it too late for the cucumbers, maybe next year.

Hiya Brian, how are you finding the AP compared to the hydro?

Hydroponics is very efficient at producing vegetables , aquaponics seems a lot less efficient .

Experiment continues .