System Progress Update

Been a while now since I posted anything on my system progress. The past few weeks its just been a day to day routine thing, where I have been feeding the fish and at weekends emptying out the fish waste. We use the fish waste on the garden and the plants seem to like it.

Its not so exciting at the moment. That makes it difficult to write a lot but .... Today we had a good clean up and checked the water quality, pH of 8.0, bit on the low side but OK. Im still looking for DO and Nitrate test kits. So if any of you out here can point me in the right direction please do!

The plants are doing well. Tomatoes are turning red and the chillies are surprisingly hot! Also thinned out a few of the basil and will be planting some more in next few days.

Wanna is beginning to take an interest which can only mean one thing. They are nearly ready for the Bar B Q!!!!

On a separate note Ive been looking into a commercial system and will be getting round to my business plan shortly. Need to decide just how big to be and as long as it is sustainable I can employ someone to look after it up on our farm. Will keep you updated on developments.

No Prawns

It is now a safe bet to tell you the prawns did not survive. I had a good look this morning and no sign of any. All gone.
The cat fish on the other hanad of course look frisky, that is, if cat fish can look such a thing.
This weekend will see me clearing out the accumulated sludge that has built up in the header tank. Might also be a good idea to install a bottom drain tap to make it easier for cleaning the next time round. Ill buy the fitting this afternoon and see how I feel on Saturday about doing anything!!!
Im also thinking about adding a second tank for prawns but really I do need to let this set up work its way through one cycle first. Its only been on the go for 40 days. What I will be doing is weighing the fish and from here on in will be checking them on a weekly basis. Should be an interesting  exercise and indeed I will also start to monitor and weigh the food I give them. Make it all a bit more scientific.

Major Smell

Got home last night and the smell from the fish tank was high!! I mean high. No dead fish but several gasping for air. I also noted they had not eaten the food I had put out in the m0rning. So mentioning this to Wanna, "Yes I fed them this morning", So did I chirped in Owen. Well they had had a good day in terms of food. Three times more than necessary.
Only problem is too much food is no good for them. I recalled that Travis in his manual stated if the water smells stop feeding. Done....
I removed the uneaten pellets and also the various leaves etc which had been added.
Later in the evening I decided to also remove the water. Yes the water. Pumped away about 80% and refilled with fresh tap water.
Seems to have worked OK as this morning the water was clearer and the fish still swimming, (the right way up!). I tried a few pellets but not much interest so will lay off the food for a few more days.

Adding a few prawns

Watching fish grow?.....However does it really sound so interesting?... If you were to tell me yes I dont think Ill believe you!  But for me yes...
It is a patient business and I can assure you that they, the fish grow slowly. In fact they grow very very slowly.
Last night to add to the interest we purchased some jumping prawns and added them in. The prawns were small. Only ones available in the market. I felt sorry for them really as I expect the cat fish to eat them all. Will be checking this evening to see if there are any left. If not, I will need to make an additional tank and have a seperate section of the system just for prawns.  Exciting?... I can watch them grow as well.
Well, if the cat fish have eaten the prawns then they will have had an extra special dinner. Well worth watching... err....
What is worth watching is the video of these type of prawns. Make for tasty eating for us let alone the cat fish.... This much I do know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXQ2XO1wvJY