MIDWEST IBC System

ROB_K

I must have missed the reply notification. :think:

Habaneros are good, a little mild to start then they kick in. The filter is on the outflow from the sump and is the return to the tank.

I did do a video but forgot to upload it here when I did it. The amount of green in the system is more than in this video. Tomatoes are starting to ripen a lot more and grabbed a few dozen red ones yesterday.

Indoor system is down. I need to figure out a replacement for the growbed. I was thinking thin plywood and then doing fiberglass, but have not done anything. I have basil and another hobanero in the indoor system and just been giving water from the tank by cup right now. The small system I am running at the local hackerspace is still running and now is growing catnip for one of our members that works for a cat rescue.

ROB_K

Old view and current view of the system. Tomato vines covering the entire growbed and working their way out around everything. I dint care much on trying to train or pull suckers.

boss

Subscribed to your youtube channel. Wonderful setup

rininger85

tagging along... looks like you've had a rough AP start but seems like it's all coming together this year. Did you end up with more catfish in the system this year? I am just starting my first cats to try and see how they do.

ROB_K

I think there is 12 catfish left in the system. The water is still very badly tinted and can't see the bottom.

This is the first year having catfish last this long. I don't know what I will do this winter for the system. I could harvest, but they are not large enough to make a meal or even worth cleaning.

ROB_K

I think I will pull the tomatoes out this weekend. Temps are dropping into the low 4-5 at night and severely halted production on tomatoes and peppers. May just be time to harvest what I can before first frost and try to fatten up the fish.

Latest haul from the tomatoes a few days ago. In ounces sorry. (1157g)

ROB_K

I pulled everything Friday. I saved the seeds out of the ripe hobeneros. Gloves did not help as it has been 3 days and still have burning hands. Green/orange ones are going to be given away at work and the green are going to be deseeded and frozen like the orange.

joblow

Rob those Habanero look great, nice crop :thumbright:

ROB_K

I had Christmas catfish dinner...well on the 27 actualy

Out of the 15 I got there was only 9 left. Several in the 1-1.5 lb (450-700g) range and one somehow looked like it never grew. :dontknow:

One thing I noticed was the water smelled like fish. After cleaning the fish I did not smell fish. Cooking the fish did not smell like fish in the house and while eating they did not give a real noticeable fishy taste.

boss

Yummy lookin' for sure. Those habaneros are crackling hot looking too. Happy new year.

rininger85

I don't recall, how long did you have the catfish and how big were they when you got them to get them to the 1-1.5lb size? I have channel cats in my system right now and they don't seem like they are getting any bigger, probably just due to temp they aren't eating much... hoping once water warms up they start gaining weight like crazy.

ROB_K

Catfish I Think I got back in early may late April. $0.95 a piece for the 8-10in lengths. I didn't have anything setup this year to overwinter them so I decided to just clean them all.

rininger85

Hmm that's discouraging... I think mine were in the 4 to 5 inch range when I got them... I am hoping they are a pound or pound and a half in one year... From what I had read I thought that was normal, but it might not be so good in northern climates because I think it was TClynx, in Florida, so a little warmer winters... I guess the nice thing is if I have trouble getting them big enough in one year I can just harvest them as we eat them and let them keep growing since mine are in the greenhouse they are doing fine for winter. It will detract from being able to add more fish to that tank though because they might eat anything small I added once they are bigger. I guess I could add trout again because they were decent size when I added them maybe the catfish wouldn't eat them.

ROB_K

Doing some maintance on the growbed stand. I’m jacking up the joists and removing the old bolt and putting it in a different spot and adding another bolt. Looking at a sag of about 5-10mm with largest being close to 15mm on the center support. A few before and after and the one side almost shearing off the bolts. US $.05 nickel to give an idea of the sag.

ROB_K

I have that center support fixed the best I can. There is a cracked valve and a hose I need to replace before I can get this running. Not sure what fish this year. Catfish was nice, but growout was crap because I could not overwinter them. Goldfish or koi maybe :think:

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics