Aquaponics

[RichnSteph]

That's great! Just a word about catfish leaned the hard way.

Don't move them....just make sure they stay where you put them. Moving them seems to bring about floaters.

And I also had to make my own net. I used the 1/2 hardware cloth (plastic) and an old net frame so the fins don't get stuck in the net if I have to net them.

We went out and got a few more bluegill.. lost a couple and fed them to the pigs.

Yeah we just learned that lesson ourselves. We lost all but two of them since we put them in Monday evening....... dang it.

 

[politicalcenter]

Yeah we just learned that lesson ourselves. We lost all but two of them since we put them in Monday evening....... dang it.

We got about 30 small gills and we have lost about 5 so far. But we do have a lot of catfish we bought early this spring and they are thriving.

We lost a few at first but we bought 300 and the guy gave us about 400 so I am guessing we have about 350 left.

I think the smaller the fish the better the chances of survival. Heck... just keep fishing and don't throw the little ones back.

 

[knjinnm]

We got about 30 small gills and we have lost about 5 so far. But we do have a lot of catfish we bought early this spring and they are thriving.

We lost a few at first but we bought 300 and the guy gave us about 400 so I am guessing we have about 350 left.

I think the smaller the fish the better the chances of survival. Heck... just keep fishing and don't throw the little ones back.

Actually larger fish survive transport better as long as the water is well oxygenated. Don't use fine aeration, use a steady stream of larger bubbles to keep the surface broken for air exchange. If traveling more than an hour plan on a water change if the fish are large, ammonia buildup is a killer.
JAC

 

[RichnSteph]

The fish we brought in were in a fish basket in the river for about 20 hours before we put them in an ice chest filled with river water and hauled them almost an hour to our house. Not the best conditions I know, I'll do something better this weekend when we go fishing again. I've already found a battery operated aerator that will go in the chest with them. The plan for this weekend is to take any smaller catfish that we catch and put them into the pond. The keeper sized ones will go in the freezer and any blue gill/perch/crappie that are caught will go in the pond as well if they aren't big enough to eat. We just had another infestation of Texas Toads last night (found 7 mated pair doing their thing and a handful of dead singles in the pond this morning) so I need to get some fish in there that can/will feed on tadpoles.


On another note I noticed that the water has gotten cloudy again although only near the bottom. I tested it this afternoon and got these numbers.

pH 7.6
high range pH 7.4, I have no idea how this is a high range when it's lower than the regular pH.
ammonia 1.0 ppm
nitrite .50 ppm
nitrate 10 ppm

All of that is higher than it was on Wednesday of last week. Am I supposed to be checking this every week?

Thanks again for the advice folks, keep it coming!
RichnSteph

 

[politicalcenter]

The fish we brought in were in a fish basket in the river for about 20 hours before we put them in an ice chest filled with river water and hauled them almost an hour to our house. Not the best conditions I know, I'll do something better this weekend when we go fishing again. I've already found a battery operated aerator that will go in the chest with them. The plan for this weekend is to take any smaller catfish that we catch and put them into the pond. The keeper sized ones will go in the freezer and any blue gill/perch/crappie that are caught will go in the pond as well if they aren't big enough to eat. We just had another infestation of Texas Toads last night (found 7 mated pair doing their thing and a handful of dead singles in the pond this morning) so I need to get some fish in there that can/will feed on tadpoles.


On another note I noticed that the water has gotten cloudy again although only near the bottom. I tested it this afternoon and got these numbers.

pH 7.6
high range pH 7.4, I have no idea how this is a high range when it's lower than the regular pH.
ammonia 1.0 ppm
nitrite .50 ppm
nitrate 10 ppm

All of that is higher than it was on Wednesday of last week. Am I supposed to be checking this every week?

Thanks again for the advice folks, keep it coming!
RichnSteph

That is usually what I do...eat the big ones and put the little ones in the pond.

The plants I gathered seem to be getting over the transplant shock and are beginning to perk up. The arrowheads looked kinda rough for a while.

Even though I should, I very seldom check my water and then it is only PH. I like to keep it near 7.0 but 6.8 to 7.2 doesn't bother me.

I have found that fish do not like sudden changes in their environment. I like to make any changes slowly.

 

[Lordsia]

I just moved into a house after living in a condo. My system is small, but starting to take off.

This is what is was on my patio....

Cherry tomato went wild! And okinawan sweet potato did well too.

 

[RichnSteph]

Cute set up Lordisa!! I can't really tell from the pictures, what are you using for media?



Went and checked my system this morning and we've lost another catfish. I don't think the other one is going to make it either. For what ever reason they are reluctant to come to the surface and eat. I don't think they are starving since there is some food still on the bottom of the tank they haven't touched. Oh and the one that is left looks ragged as heck. I think the lava rock in the bottom of the tank is tearing them up. I've got to go out and add some more nutrients to the system today. All the rain we've had here in south Texas (anyone watch the news?) has diluted the nutrients in the water and I'm getting yellowed leaves and black spots again.

I know there is a taboo about using metal in a AP system but I'm going to have to figure out some kind of tomato cages. Ours are 3.5' high already and have knocked over the stakes I put in the media to help hold them up.


On a good note our system seems to have cycled again as the water is once again clear.

 

[lazy gardener]

Can you do any kind of external support that would provide a frame above them that you could then use to provide them with support?

 

[RichnSteph]

Can you do any kind of external support that would provide a frame above them that you could then use to provide them with support?

I screwed some 3/4"PVC to the ends of one bed and ran three strands of twine through them for our peas today. I could easily do the same on the outside of the other beds in a crossed pattern for the tomato plants but that would make a maze of twine and plants to harvest in/out of. At this point I realize that our beds are going to be a forest of produce.


On a strange note I looked into the pond today and there are about a dozen minnows in there, very small, that we can't recall putting in there. No idea how they got there but I'll take em!

Oh and I installed our siphons! They work great!!! Our beds were plagued by getting a little more full after each cycle of the pump because I can't get them to drain out completely in 45 minute drain/15 minute fill. There was water running over the stand pipe after 4 cycles. Now the beds will fill a little at a time, and drain, over the course of 4 hours and then 100% drain after the fourth cycle, I have about 100 gallons of water in each bed. When the siphons kicked off the first time I laid my ear at the top of the media and I could hear air being drawn into the lava rock, hope this helps with the oxygenation but either way I know it helps my plant roots get some much needed "dry time" a few times a day. Even at the fullest mark the water is 2" below the top of the media so I'm hoping I can avoid root rot.

 

[knjinnm]

Are you treating you newly caught fish and plants for ICH or Velvet? Malachite green is a good prophylactic.
JAC