Mike & Marie

[GaryD]

Hi,

Very early days for us. I have a spa at the rear of our house which we never use...about 1000lt. It is built into a glassed area and outside we have room for growing tubs.....have 2 bathtubs at this stage.
Will build stands for the tubs and so won't need a return pump as they will be well above the spa level.

Fish....well know very little but Murray is suggesting Silver Perch....pretty cold here in winter but the gas heater is still connected to the spa so with a little goosing we could heat the water.....I wonder about trout...they survive in cold water?

Intend to put the tubs in a hot house situation.

As I said very early days and will start off with something small and see what develops.

Cheers

Mike

[RupertofOZ]

Hi Mike & Marie,

Silver Perch are certainly a very tolerant species in terms of temperature range and would survive down your way in the Adelaide hills above Norwood, however from my experience, (correct me if I'm wrong :)) you can get pretty cold down there in winter.... and the perch will effectively stop feeding/growing in water temps below 12°C

From ... http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb/2703.html



Temperature tolerance ranges from 2°C to 35°C. Optimum growth rates occur between 20°C to 30°C and growth is negligible below 12°C.

Trout are are great cold water fish, but are extremely DO (dissolved oxygen) dependant.... i.e they like highly oxygenated water....

Think of their natural habitat, fast moving,bubbling, highly oxygenated water.
Conversely they don't cope too well with the higher temperatures you may get over summer. Be fine to grow out over winter then maybe switch to silver perch.

Try looking up your local fisheries websites, I'm sure you'll find a weath of material relating to the specifics of your SA environment

Another species with looking at might be Murray Cod or Sleepy Cod

[anniefish]

Hi Mike and Marie,
Sounds as if you have a great system in the making. If you have a spa don't you have bubble jets? Seems to be the best thing for trout. Good luck.

[twintragics]

Hi Mike and Marie. I am using a spa in Vic myself, it is outdoors under a pergola but not enclosed.
If i was u i would go for something like barra or silvers. Your water will be at the top end of trout tolerance temp wise, particularly if u run your heater.
To get a starter system going, sit your baths on something so you can drain from the bottom directly back in to the spa. All you need at the mo is a small submersible pump to pump to your beds, stand/drainpipe for each bath, some grow bed media (10mm blue metal is cheap and readily available), fish/seedlings and away you go. Start small, keep it simple and have fun.
I only run my spa pump once a week for an hour to clear the water, give the fish a thrill and get some air in there. Rest of the time is just 2 small airstones and 10 minutes pumping every couple hours.

[Macca]

Twintragics - how much water does your pump pump in 10 minutes? Where does the water get pumped to? Is 10 minutes every 2 hours enough?

[twintragics]

macca, firstly i am a punter and no expert.
My subpond 3000 pumps about 350lts in 10 minutes and drains thru 13mm tubing quite quickly. The pump is located in the spa (they call them sump pumps.) It pumps thru piping to the growbeds sitting over the spa and drains directly back to the spa thru some siphon tubing.
With the cool temps i am not worried about plant roots drying out at this time of year. When it warms up, i will certainly increase the frequency of the pumping cycle to help stop plants wilting. I also have some cheap airstones and airpump, so there is plenty of oxygen in the water for the fish to help them out between pumping cycles (which also helps reoxygenate ur water.)
Hope this helps.

[Macca]

Thanks man.

[GaryD]

Hi Twintragics,

Regarding your 13mm drain.......biofilm will eventually block these up.

I use 19mm and 25mm and I have to periodically blow these out to prevent blockages.

GaryD