The Fish:
We have in the 1000 litre tank 103 Jade Perch. Right now we have in the system 4.93 kg of Jade Perch fingerlings, plus one bigger
Jade Perch. These fish are around 600g each. Ready for the plate!Jade Perch weighing 0.525 kg and 3 x Sleepie Cod weighing a total of 1.3 kg. So the total is 6.75 kg of fish in the tank. Well under the very safe level of 20 to 30 kg per M3 of water.
They are being fed twice a day with 4mm floating pellets. We use the usual method of feeding until they begin to lose interest. This turns out to be 3.3% of body weight for the day. They are hungry little mongrels!
We have circulating in the system approx 1300 litres of water.
The Water:
Water quality is excellent. The 3 beds are doing a fine job of filtering the water and capturing the nutrients as the water is circulated around the system. The grow beds are controlled by a bell siphon each that drains back to the sump. The volume of water being pumped through the grow beds is determined by the capacity of the three auto siphons, all the rest is sent back to the fish tank. This results in a much higher water throughput for the fish tank and the grow beds get to filter as much water as they possibly can in any given hour. The water is crystal clear except when we give the insides of the fish tank a scrub to remove a light build up of bio film. The water is soon clear again, the grow beds doing an excellent job of capturing the solid material.
The Plants
The corn is doing exceptionally well. The striping in the leaves is gradually going indication that the nutrient levels in the system are rising. We last added seaweed extract two weeks ago. At that time we also gave the system a shot of powered mineral complex containing all trace minerals including chelate iron.
The lettuce are growing well. Yesterday we harvested out lettuce and some Asian greens from the left hand front bed as it was getting overcrowded. The right hand front bed really needs a thinning out too, but we are having a photo shoot here on Friday and I want to leave them there till then. The Water Mellon seedling we planted in that bed is a little overwhelmed so after Friday it can have some room to get going. Our intention is to allow it to grow down over the side and spread onto the ground in front of the system. Time will tell how well it does.
Just look at those strawberry towers. (photos below) It is just so exciting to see the growth. As can be seen, there are five towers from Nate in the US. We really like them. Then there is the one home made tower. It is doing very well.
“The proof is in the pudding” as the saying goes. Aquaponics really works.
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