Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

They are keen on their worms, the first pictures were taken while tempting them with pellets, but these are with worms.

Bought them about a month ago I guess - would have to look back in this thread to identify exactly when. I have only recently started feeding them a reasonable amount as there were some disease problems early and also I wanted to give the bio filter time to get used to the increase in stocking. I really need to get them out into the pond asap, but it is lots of fun having them in the aquarium.

Growth has been noticable, though as I have said they are not fed a full amount, not even now.

great pics VB

Is it 'first in first serve' for the worms..or only the biggest ones..

First in first served LB. A heap of blues go on at the back of the aquarium with fish fighting for worms that have not been fully swallowed - so much so that fish don't realise there are more worms coming in the front for them.

They look very happy and healthy. So jealous of these fish you fellas get.

Great shots there VB... fantastic action shots (what camera you got?)

Very nice shots VB. Do you have to count your fingers after feeding? Has to be great watching them swim about.

GF - Have had them bite my fingers a few times, but their teeth are no at all sharp (at least not yet).

AM - its just a Fujifilm S3500 digital. They are pretty cheap, but a bit bulky. Got is a couple of years back. They do not take good action shots at all, idea is to lock in on a point, then take the picture and hope that you get something. I took about 30 photos to get those ones, the beauty of digital photography.

AA - it is a shame you don't have access to our natives, but surely you have something similar worth growing there. What are you going to grow in your system?

VB, those are some of the most inspiring photos I've seen. A scenario most of us would like to replicate. It adds a sense of completeness to the whole process - building systems, growing plants and feeding fish. Well done.

Sorry Muzza, but Vb has just taken my favourite fish snaps award! When you can get your jades to jump out of the water while being hand fed, I'll consider reinstating yours!

Here are a couple of pictures of the pond system. I desperatelly need to get Murray's grow bed attached to the system - if only my friggin welder didn't break when I had nearly finished the stand. Another 30 mins tops and it would have been finished. Next door neighbour has offerred a lend of his - which I will take up as soon as I have some time.

and one more.

Isn't it a wonderful feeling moving fish into a new home and watching them explore the world that just got bigger!

I LOVE fishkeeping!

I'm raising out Orando Goldfish VB, got a good price buyer. And some Banded Kokopu, which I'm attempting to turn into a viably farmable species. I have to breed them in captivity though, they too get eggbound. So once I can do this easily, I'll have won most the war.

If I had a million dollars and 3 years I'd be gazetting the use of Jade Perch here in enclosed systems, but I dont, yet. So must work with the species our govt allows, that nobody knows anything about save me and a very small group of scientists.

Typical of govt, here's a species, dies in captivity, farm them.

Let me just start with a few emoticons

Went to have a look at my fish in my aquarium tonight when I got home from work. First thing I noticed was hungry Jades comign to greet me. Second thing I noticed was a dead silver perch on the bottom and the other 5 silvers looking very unhappy sitting around the bottom. This is a problem me thinks . Quick action required - water change. Luckily the heater in the fish tank has not been working properly, so the tank was only 23 degrees c, which matched the chnage over water I have sitting in my 160 litre barrel. As I syphoned the water out I did a PH test (the only thing I can test, cause I don't have a fancy kit). See photo below of PH. No wonder the friggin fish were not happy.

It has not been that long since my last water change (under a week), so I suspect that the system is just not handling the amount of food that the fish have been eating. There was heaps of fish poo coming up in the vaccum. Mind you, I was away for the whole weekend, so fish got none then. If I had a nitrate test kit, I suspect I would find that nitrates are way high, as the plants in the bed on top of the tank are not doing well due to lack of sunlight (no sunlight). This is in contrast to my outdoor bed, which is not chocka block with plant and is also totally blocked with roots and other matter, so that it is now basically dwc with gravel (water is not draining properly).

Anyway - have changed over about 60%+ of the water from the aquarium and the fish are already a bit happier.

Some really interesting things to note from this experience are:

1. I am a fish killer
2. Jade perch would appear to be more tollerant to low ph than silver perch (though I must note that most of the Jades are also bigger than the silvers)
3. The fella that we were trying to identify in that other thread (and did identify but I would have to go back to find the name) had lost all his dark colour. I noticed this yesterday when returning from my trip away. Within a minute of putting the replacement water in, he had all his dark coulour back.

Hopefully my fish will be okay now.

Lesson learnt:

1. It is time for me to get a full test kit so I can see exactly what is going on.
2. I have to resist the urge to feed these fish just because they are hungry (I have never fed them anything like what you would if in a proper system - but clearly too much all the same).
3. I need to move these jades to my pond and fast track finishing my 500 litre grow bed.

Vb, a quick post for now, but will write more later

Your ammonia will also be sky high, as there will be no nitrifying going on

It was good that you did a water change. do another one before attempting to raise ph, as at the level your ammonia would probably be at it wuld mean near instant death. You did the smart thing with the water change, it would have more than halfed the ammonia and at the same time brought the ph back up a little.

Oh, i forgot to include my first reaction.......................!@#$%^&!