Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Regarding the clear water + algae on the sides thats 100% fine.............

I really don't think you're looking at Ich.

are you sure there has been no contamination?

whats your O2 like overnight? do the pumps turn off overnight?

I'm not sure at all, there could well have been contamination but I've done 2 50% water changes over the last couple of days and it doesn't seem to be helping. There may be two causes of death, because a couple of the fish have been absolutely covered in white fungusy stuff, and then some of the others haven't had a zot of it.



I haven't been turning my pumps off overnight, so it should be getting plenty of O2. I've now added the bubbler and finally got a venturi happening on the return flow, so it should be getting PLENTY of O2. Pictures to come.

Photos:

Venturi and the bubblers (sounds like a band name!):


All boarded up to reduce sunlight:


Plants at week 4(?):


Alas my plants don't seem 100% healthy either, this is a strawberry:

having clarified the clear water / algae story i dont think that the cover in needed.

You may want to remove the strawberries into temporary pots as they will be the first to die off due to the salt levels, and are probably already showing signs of it. if you can keep them alive in little pots then you can put them back into the system when your salt evels have dropped.

Ok, I might leave on some shade cloth though. As for your contamination line of thought, before this kerfuffle the fish were fine, and all i've added is:
A) Some salts from a pet shop
B) A shell from an inside aquarium
C) Some shells collected from a beach at wollongong (which isn't exactly the cleanest of ports.... could this be it?)
D) Run off from the greenhouse which may have ended up in the sump.

Are any of those looking likely?

Thanks for the tip, I am thinking of running off one growbed and hopeing it can do the filtration. That way I can keep the other plants alive. Do you know how long we'd have to keep those salt levels for?

When you say "when your salt levels have dropped" - do they drop naturally or does it only happen with a water change?

Hi Gemmell,

I feel sorry for you and your fishes.

Can't offer much help, just sympathy.

I hope it's sorted out soon.

Tell us more about runnoff from the green house thats what done all my fish in!

Where did the water for the changes come from. Was it neutralised?

The plot thickens.........................if i was a betting man i'd say the GH run off.

i KEEP telling dad to keep the snail pellets away from the pond, but no, he's gone a put them all around the dirt garden that is on both sides of the pond, and the one on the left slopes down towards the pond.

OMG! Snail pellets and fish!

I can't believe anyone would do that! Poor fishes. I hope it doesn't rain.

Gemmell, have to say I'd agree with the others. Sadly it sounds like something nasty got in to your tank.

yeh but then he's done 2x 50% changes...............


F&F did you still have kills after a 100% change?

and did they have red patches on them?

I am the worlds biggest idiot.

I have a "vacume hose" which I use to hoover out the tank. I accidently left it on when I left today at 12pm. I went over there to check on them tonight at about 9pm and I noticed how few I had left, turned around and found 9 fish on my grow bed. OH MY GOD I'M AN IDIOT. 1 was still breathing (just) and I put him on and he seemed to make a bit of a recovery, but the other 8 were cactus. D-E-D dead. If it's not the poisons in my tank thats killing them then it's the idiot owner.

The moral of this story is DON'T RUSH. (I left in a rush this morning).

Anyway, I'll deal with the greenhouse run off tomorrow, it's not going to rain for a while (it's Canberra, the desert capital!) so hopefully my salt + O2 combo will keep the fish I _haven't_ killed nice and healthy.

By the way, only 1 of the fish that got pumped out looked as if it was stressed, the other 7 looked fine.

IDIOT.

Yea once it started dident stop till they were all dead then scrubbed and flushed and then the new thread starting again touch wood been ok just natural attrition probley 1 a month

Tank water, PH is high but otherwise it seems ok.