The Trout Have Landed

[adelaideaquaponics]

Gday All,

Finally got the trout in today. 25 in all ranging in size from 100-160mm. All seem to have survived the 1 1/2 hr trip from the trout farm back home ok. The plants have been in for the last week or 2 and I am sure are looking forward to some of that special fertiliser only fish can provide.
I am running one of Murrays 3 bed balcony kits. At the moment only 2 of the beds have plants in them and the third has "a" yabbie, hopefully he will have a few friends within the next couple of weeks. I am still looking at different ways to cycle the yabbie water back into the main tank and then through the growbeds so that should give me something to tinker with as they system settles down.

Cheers

Darren

[Outbackozzie]

Ummm, temperature over summer?

Trout only go to low 20's you know?

Gee murrays beds look sweet as

[adelaideaquaponics]

Hi Outbackozzie,

Yeah trout will pretty much stop feeding over 20 or so degrees but my system is under cover and I have found that frozen 2 lt milk bottles full of water make for nice icebergs and keep the temp down. Also keeping high disolved oxygen (DO) levels assists if the temp does get up a bit high as well as cutting back the food.
I am also looking at either a foam cladding or barrier around the tank made out of old cut down foam broccoli boxes if the morning sun that gets under my "fishgola" starts to cause any problems.
Hopefully it all works as the growth rates of trout sound pretty exciting.
If I have to go to jades or goldies I will be stuck with heating the tank all winter and I am trying to avoid that to conserve power. If I can get the bulk of the fish through the summer they should have a ball through an Adelaide winter.

Very happy with all Murrays gear it works really well and looks great too.

Cheers

[Outbackozzie]

Good luck - you will be needing it I reckon

[djs-sa]

good to see the fish,

Just some advice the trout will fry in an adelaide summer and ur nth of adelaide so a little hotter, I wouldnt rely on that air pump alone to give u high DO levels and also get the correct litres per minute air stones to suit the number of outlets to the litres per hour on the pump.
I would be building some insulation around ur tank asap. Once we get 25oC days(nearly here) constantly u will be 4 ever icing up ur tank day in day out.

my old boy lives in tooperang and believe it or not I wear long pants down there all summer long its freezing.

2lt of water frozen wont cut it try larger size containers as they will last alot longer (4lt plus) icecream tubs buckets are good because u dont need many containers as u pop the 4lt block out and make a stock pile if ur got the freezer space, if u need to run a second fridge/freezer!
well a heater might be cheaper in the tank and then better range of fish good luck with tho and hope to see ur system 1 day.
u could have stopped by on the way to the trout farm if u wanted

[adelaideaquaponics]

Thanks for the info DJS. I have plenty of freezer space and will do some bigger blocks. The only time the freezer gets a bit full is when we buy a side of beef of one of our friends. If I had to run an extra freezer it would have defeated the purpose and I would have gone for golden perch, still want to try some next summer or in another tank soon. The air pump isnt the only aeration, I am also running a 2800 l/h external canister filter with a venturi and air bar and am waiting on another venturi from murray for the spare return pipe. I still havent had a look for anything to measure DO so if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them, obviously I dont want to spend a fortune.
I didnt know you were located on the way to the trout farm. The 3 1/2 hour return trip with the 2 kids (2 & 4) was enough, maybe I could have dropped them off ....... do you have anything you need destroyed??? Next time I am down that way I will let you know as I would love to have a look at all your Barra.

Cheers

[djs-sa]

ur kids could have destroyed my yyard with my son he's 5 lol
send them in the tanks for cleaning duties if they step outa line

DO meters are dear as 1000 bucks plus, that i've looked at if u find a cheap desent 1 u would like to know also

[Dufflight]

Just run a lot of air.

[GaryD]

Hi,

Nice size trout. I wish I could buy 'fingerlings' like those.

This device may be even more effective than the ice idea.

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-...g-pool-cooler/

It could be adapted to cool a fish tank even more readily than a swimming pool.....and the power costs would be lower, too.

Gary

[adelaideaquaponics]

Gday Gary,

I was very disappointed about the size of the fingerlings ........... not. I am tempted to eat one now. Must be patient.

The cooler looks like a great idea, I have a couple of spare exhaust fans lying around, if I get it working I will post some pics, thanks for the info.

Cheers