The Baby Q

[GaryD]

Hi,

I'm about to re-commission two of our mega bin micro fish farms in anticipation of the arrival of 200 fingerlings next week........so I moved the 65 litre trickling bio-filter (that we had attached to the Baby Q) today to one of the fingerling systems.

It will be interesting to see what impact removing the bio-filter has on the Baby Q. I'll do some water tests again tomorrow morning.

We've had the other trickling bio-filter running on the second unit for the past day or two. I've part-filled each mega bin with water from the Baby Q so we'll get a rolling start up with all of the bacteria that we need to cater for the waste produced by the new arrivals.

The seedlings that we planted in the single grow bed seem to be recovering quickly from the transplant shock that is the consequence of washing the potting mix from their roots.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

I was curious to see how the Baby Q was coping (from a nitrification perspective) since I removed the trickling bio-filter about 24 hours ago.

I did some water tests.........pH - 6.6.....Ammonia - 0.25.....Nitrite - a trace......so everything seems to be fine at the moment. I'm only feeding the fish relatively lightly at this stage - they are all well and truly big enough to eat so I don't need to feed them hard.

Since they are barramundi (and one jade perch), and water temperatures will become an issue in the coming months, I'm tossing around whether I should harvest them soon rather than carry them through another winter.

I still haven't switched the air back on to the Moving Bed bio-filter/sump tank. I meant to clean out the settling tank/clarifier today but didn't quite make it. The build up of muck on the fish tank side of the perspex weir is very evident. I'm surprised that it hasn't resulted in a higher ammonia reading......but the water tests speak for themselves.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

I cleaned the settling/clarifier tank this morning. After a week, it had accumulated a considerable amount of gunk.

The water tests........pH - 6.6.......Ammonia - 0.......Nitrite - 0.

I syphoned the water from the settling/clarifier tank into an aerobic digester (a plastic drum and some airstones) and switched the air on. Once it's finished cooking, I'll switch off the air and decant the nutrient-rich liquor and put it back into the system.......and dump the sludge.

Gary

[aquamagic]

Gidday Gary ,what sort of cooking time would be acceptable to create the perfect brew?
Do you have a rough rule of thumb for time of airating & the amount of water per
kilo of solids please Mate ?

[GaryD]

Hi Steve,

I don't think it would take more than a day or so to digest the small quantity of watery solids that we generate.

Since there's really only an air stone involved. I'll probably just leave it in the digester drum from one filter clean to another and decant the mineralised nutrients and clean the filter in the one go.

The seedlings are about a week old and they seem to be powering along OK.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

Tonight, I switched off the air on the aerobic digester and within 30 minutes the sludge had settled to the bottom of the drum. I syphoned off a very small amount of sludge - mainly sediment from the clay pebbles.

I tested the nutrient-rich water in the digester which registered no Ammonia or Nitrite.

I sampled the water in the sump tank and it was very clear so I switched back on the air to the sump - to enhance the bio-filtration in the Kaldnes K1 media in the sump. I discovered that I can use surplus pumping capacity to move the K1 media in a circular motion which ensures that it all gets exposed to the aeration system in the tank. I'll add a slightly larger pump tomorrow so that this movement becomes a permanent feature of the system.

Once I settle the bio-filtration side of things down, I'll ramp up the feed for the barramundi in the Baby Q fish tank.

Gary

[DaveOponic]

The new system's looking good Gary. I have just bought 100 new baby Barra on Sunday. This will be the 2nd batch I have bought. Have learned the lessons of water quality and filtration so looking forward to some fast growing fish.

Dave

[GaryD]

Thanks Dave.

I like your 200 litre swirl tank arrangement. It's simple and inexpensive.......just the thing for solids removal in a small system.

It's been a long journey, but solids removal is getting increasing airplay around the place with even some of the die-hards saying that, for productive stocking rates, solids removal is required.

Barramundi and trout (and I suggest Murray cod) seem to need clean water regardless of what kind of system they're in.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

The Baby Q is cracking along.

The seedlings that I planted a couple of weeks ago are growing well.

For those who may be wondering, the media in this grow bed is 150mm deep.......and the watering method is sub-surface continuous flow.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

A poor quality image of the Barramundi that power the Baby Q. These puppies are on their way to being filleting fish (having already slipped past plate size) if I can manage to keep their water at a sensible temperature. I brought them through the last winter.

Gary