Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So liner came in yesterday. We improved the connections on the cattle panel frames. Lined the frame with a tarp and insulation then placed the Liner into the tank. Kinda tricky with such a tall tank but I didn't feel like emptying and lowering all the grow beds at this point in time so tall tank it is.

We have only put about 18 inches of water into it so far. Will let the bottom settle before adding more water tomorrow.

Seems to be holding so far.

_________________
Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics

And since we now have the tall tank, we need a fish viewing platform. It gives a different view of things in the system when standing up there.

_________________
Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics

Was running into problems with the quarantine system (which is stocked to max capacity of those grow beds.)

The pump kept slowing down (sigh, what happens when there is a fair bit of gunk because not CHIFT PIST.) So I finally stuck another pump in there so now there are two of those little harbor freight pumps running so hopefully I will be able to move the tank volume each hour.

I wonder if I should make a separate thread for the Quarantine system now since it is not tied in with my big system anymore?

_________________
Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics

Hi TCLynx,

as always, the changes to your system make very intresting reading.

The new tank looks good. Might have to build one myself for my trout.

God bless froggo.

_________________
Froggo's Aquaponics, viewtopic.php?f=18&t=3665

Worked on plumbing today.

We decided to cull some of the sicker looking Catfish 14 in all and also cleaned a couple more tilapia.
Fish totals (all systems)
72 adult tilapia (lots of babies, not counting them, just not possible)
74 Catfish (70 of the smaller ones and 4 big suckers)

I managed to get the inlet plumbing to the new tank done up and fill the tank to let it settle some more and all. Then on to drain plumbing. I ran 3" drainage pipe from the gravity drain along my 3 main grow beds. At each grow bed I put a uniseal through the 3" pipe and installed a 1" ball valve so I can balance flows. I'm having to bypass a lot of the pump flow right back into the sump tank to keep from overflowing things but I managed to get it all balanced well enough to let it function for a while.

And amazingly enough, the catfish were hungry tonight even after all my handling of them trying to catch the sicker ones earlier in the day. The catfish are usually far more sensitive about eating after handling than that. I hope it's a good sign.

_________________
Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics

Pictures of those catfish

_________________
Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics

Had to get into the tank again today to adjust the folds and Put together the SLO drain.
about 6 foot across.

I'm not really planning to get back in the tank again but I might want to put another T in the middle instead of that elbow. I noticed that if air gets in the pipe, it tries to float up so a T on either end of the horizontal pipe will avoid the whole air lock problem.

_________________
Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics

Wow, those catfish are rather oddly.....damaged. And the damage doesn't really look like injury. Weird. Nasty.

Very nice tank, pics, tilapia, etc. And we envy your warm temperatures....ours are oddly cold, too cold to spend much time in a fish tank...

_________________
This has been a test life. It is only a test. If this had an actual life you would have been given instructions on where to go and what to do.

WARNING: I suffer from ideaphoria. This post may contain untested ideas, errors, and excessive enthusiasm.

I'm quite sure the damage to the catfish is some sort of bacterial infection. I've had it happen before when the fish got really stressed and I have had a few fish actually die of the illness in the past. It seems so far the best bet is to remove the fish that turn mostly white behind the dorsal fin and then try to let the rest recover with as little stress as possible. Unfortunately, more of this batch of fish seem to be suffering from the illness this time than I've experienced in the past. Salting does not seem very effective against this illness. Luckily, it does not seem to affect the tilapia and the large catfish don't seem to be catching it currently either. I do suspect it is one of those things that will flair up whenever the fish get stressed out.

_________________
Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics

Well, if it is stress, could it simply be that the cats are too crowded? That, combined with a bacteria that takes advantage could do the trick. This would explain why you often got problems when corralling your fish and, now, even when not messing with them much (as they are more crowded than other batches). (of course, this was probably all suggested to or by you before, but I am getting too lazy to look it up....)

_________________
This has been a test life. It is only a test. If this had an actual life you would have been given instructions on where to go and what to do.

WARNING: I suffer from ideaphoria. This post may contain untested ideas, errors, and excessive enthusiasm.

Or Just drill a hole in the top of the elbow, might save getting back in...

_________________
"The only stupid question is the one not asked"

I managed to reach the SLO parts well enough to stick the 2nd T in there without getting in.

I have moved 60 catfish directly into the big tank. There are 9 that we plan on culling in the cage and still 4 big ones in the sump. (seem to have misplaced a catfish some where along the way.)

So now I need a good easy way to tell male and female large catfish apart so I can try to just leave a breeding couple down in the sump tank and we can eat the other two big ones. So anyone know how to tell a female Channel catfish from a male channel catfish without having to cut them open to see if they have eggs. Remember these fish are fairly large and not all that easy to handle.

_________________
Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics

So a couple pics. Unfortunately, without black fabric over the new tank yet, ya can't see much.
The old/now sump tank/ is easy to see the big catfish in with all the calcium build up on the tank and having the dark cover to reduce reflections. Those catfish are big. There are 4 of them though only 3 are visible in the picture. The smallest one (probably 3 lb) likes to hide behind the white flower pot. The next size one up tends to hang out against the wall and is the furthest to the left in the picture. The other two are the biggest.

_________________
Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics

And have to put a cap on the tank of course. The cattle panel is in place to keep larger creatures (like children and drunk neighbors) from managing to fall in. Granted one must climb up before risking falling into this tank.
Tomorrow I will add the netting to leaves out and perhaps a section of black fabric to make fish viewing possible.

I will also be padding the exposed corners and sharp edges on that wire.

_________________
Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics

The Catfish seem to be liking their new home in the new big tank!!!!
The big catfish seem to be settling into the new situation of more space in the Now sump tank.

I finished the cover for the new big tank.

_________________
Aquaponic Lynx
Main System
300 gallon System
Tower System
PeePonics