Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Skeggley Thanks mate. The catfish I had last time were doing well until the the disaster happened. I would catch a few wild fish if you can much cheaper. Tandanus Bostoki here in WA, they don't grow as big as the east coast ones.
The Bee's are getting very active now spring is here. Should get a harvest in a month or two. I may try to do a split on the hive later in the year as I now have a spare box. What about yourself ? the gum trees in the hills would be in full bloom now.

Hi mate, yeah all good here, it’s usually a bit slower up here and am still yet to get into the hives for a looksie, we’re getting rain, sun, rain, wind, sun if you know what I mean. I find that when I get more empty boxes the bees seem to find me so I need more! I didn’t split last season so I’m expecting to this season, I’ll make that call during inspections over the next month or so as it warms.
The Marri flow is our main flow, on a good year I’ve seen trees raining nectar. Not sure if the Marri is up your way, and it’s a while away yet.
So Bostoki is cobbler?

Hi Skeggley, I live in the Western part of Geraldton close to the coast, surrounded by the suburbs so no real native vegetation. Not many Marri tree's here but plenty of other blooms, Geraldton Wax etc. The last time looked in the hive the frames were starting to fill but weren't capped. Ill do a small harvest once they are capped then remove the queen excluder to let the brood build ready to do a spilt later in the year.
Yep the Bostocki is the WA native fresh water cobbler, found from Moore River in the north right trough the SW of WA. I think the Helena River would be the closest to you. Maybe spot lighting with a net ? Just be careful of those spines

Ok so just getting my head around this, are the salt water cobblers bostocki also?
And would I need a licence to fish the Helena river?
Edit. I’ve just realised Mundaring Weir is the Helena river!

Salt water Cobbler are a different species. they only live in salty/brackish water. Where as Bostocki are fresh water only.
Not sure about the license, I think that's only in the South West region. Mundaring Weir is a good place to start looking.

Hi All,

Well thanks to Cyclone Seroja which hit the Midwest coast of Western Australia last Sunday and knocked the power out here in Geraldton for 80 hours. Unfortunately my backup power/air could not last that long, after 18 hours I could hear the air pump slowing down & the Silver Perch started to surface for air. So I decided to harvest them before they died.



The largest weighed 1127g - 41cm long.



We harvested 45 Silver Perch they averaged 640g & 35cm in length.
Now my main tank is empty I will wait till I can get some Trout for the winter months.

Hi mate we heard about the devistaton the cyclone brought to Kalbarri and Northampton but didn’t hear about much in your area. Tough luck with the fish but it looks like they were all at harvest size so that’s a little plus. Certainly fill your freezer. Couple of questions, how old were they, do you fillet them and how do you like them cooked? I still haven’t netted one here and hear conflicting comments.
Thanks for the update.

Hi Skeggley
Thanks Mate hope all is good at your end.
I think we dodged a bullet here in Geraldton the damage from the Cyclone was minimal compared to Kalbarri.
I filleted & skin the Silver Perch to cut down the amount of fillet to freeze as the power was out, which meant the freezer was out too. Luckily the freezer had enough frozen food in it to be able to chill the fillet down.
Removing the skin helps to improve the flavour as they are just an average tasting fish(IMHO), I'm a bit spoilt with fish to eat being that I work at sea.
They were about 3.5 years old, so not a very fast growth rate or food conversion rate compared to Trout or Barra. They are very tough/robust fish & I will get some more after winter.
Your fish must be huge by now.
How are your bee's going ? Mine have nearly filled another box again I never realised how much honey they can produce once the are established.
Catch Ya

Hi mate, all ok here, the usual ups and downs.
I like the bullet proof silvers as they are just that, not sure of the size as I’ve stapled shade cloth to the tank and only have a small opening to feed which I do irregularly.... I don’t hear much good about the eating qualities of them and only really see Asian recipes which add many flavours to mainly whole fish. Nothing regarding fillets or how to fillet them. I guess there’s only one way to find out for myself eh....
Poor honey season here, as yet not a drop this year, our usual Marri flow was ordinary and due to the fire restrictions inspections are only back on the cards. I’ve started a business so hobby time has waned until I find my feet though am still hoping to get a small amount of honey before I remove the supers for winter. I still have a couple of buckets full from last season so it’s not like I’m going to run out anyway.
Where do you get your trout from?

gtk, really nice system. Thanks for all the photos and updates. I'm sorry for your fish losses, I feel the pain. I have lost many fish also over the years. Thankfully you were able to harvest your SPs. I lost 135 kilos of channel catfish almost two years ago.

Thanks dstjohn99
You've got a great system yourself
The loss of my fish after the cyclone Seroja was insignificant compared to the devastation through out the Mid West of WA. The property loss & damage to housing was wide spread. Luckily no one was killed.
"An act of God" no one can prevent or totally prepare for.

Was interested to this article in the news today.

https://www.mandurahmail.com.au/story/734229%202/invasive-crayfish-found-in-bunbury-and-capel/#:~:text=The%20highly%20invasive%20red%20swamp%20crayfish%20poses%20an,noxious%20species%20in%20all%20Australian%20States%20and%20Territories.

Bit of a worry if they were to get away into our waterways.

I have started to restock my system with fish. Last week 30 Silver Perch fingerlings were introduced. They settled in & started to feed well. On the weekend I cleared out the IBC that I was rearing the Tandanus catfish in. They are now eating 3mm sinking pellets so I decided to transfer them into the main system.




It's been approximately 9 months since I purchased the catfish till now. They were around 5cm when I placed them in the IBC. I'm very happy with there growth rates so far.

Looks like the fish are doing well. Those Tandunus are very interesting; much different than my channel catfish. They have an eel-like tail.

Hi All
I recently got the time & motivation to make some improvement's to my system. I'm hoping to grow out some Rainbow Trout this coming winter season. Knowing how much waste they produce I need more filtration for the main fish tank so have added a swirl filter between the FT & the sump.
Here's some build Photo's



Work out levels for the height of the filter.



Cut & insert the Uni seal



Mock up & cut inlet pipe work



Make up insert.



Work out level for insert.



Cut filtration for the insert.