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Comment by Jonathan Farrand on December 7, 2011 at 8:13pm

I notice that some feeders can never put on weight. Also their heads grow but bodies really don't. And then they die. When I was first increasing my golf fish populatiuon in one month I bought 300 feeders. I knew some would die within the first three days of each batch I bought. After the initial pet store illnesses went away and those fish died I knew my colony was getting healthier. I still lose those smaller feeder that just don't have the right make up. I can now tell by their color, finage, and body shape weather they will make it to adult hood.  In nature these fish would have already been anothe creatures meal anyway. Another reason I say cheap goldfish first is that I can't affort to buy 100 fish at $3-$8 each and then have them die. I trust my fish keeping ability but pet store fish usually have something carrying with them. That's why aquarium keepers say quartine fish for a month before introduction into your system. Nitrates are slightly high but goldfish are hardy. The plants will catch up with the nitrate consumption or a slight water change can reduce the boi-load onto the natural filters in aquaponics or aquarium keeping. If you can keep a nice warm temperature I would go for tilapia for sure. I plan to eventually raise fry of many types of hobby and food production fish. For my system we were planning on lettuces which we still will but since the system is small right now maybe a foot step towards herbs. Herbs have been slow. Too cold I suspect or know already!

Comment by david day on December 7, 2011 at 7:10pm

Yeah, I'm thinking you get what you pay for... Made the girl at the local pet store fish out the biggest GF from the tank and they seem to thrive aside from the 2 that jumped to their deaths over the weekend! Gonna upgrade my stock this weekend,been eyeing a couple koi and bubble eye. working on a 2nd smaller system that I can transfer these guys to and open this one up to try out the talapia. Funny, I really felt kinda sick every time I fished dead ones out early on but kinda used to it now. Survival of the fittest, huh?! What are you growing down there? My amm, nitrite levels are low but nitrate is around 40 ppm, is that too high?

Comment by Jonathan Farrand on December 7, 2011 at 3:57pm

I have lost alot of small fish since my start. I don't think that the causalties are from anything we are doing wrong. I started in aquarium hobby and believe that mortality of gold fish is only because of the stock they are bred from. Poor quality and over breeding. The koi I picked up when a store was going under and all the medium and large pond fish I moved into the system are all doing fine. I am lacking machanical aeration and just relying on the three drainage dumps I have for air. If there was a problem I think I would see alot more death than I do. Like I said I honestly think cheap-o feeder goldfish just sometimes no good. I don't mind the Darwinism to find a healthly colony of fish. My water parameters are always health for fish. Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all near zero. I am also using Rosy Reds and have not had a death with those since I started. More suspicion that some gold fish are just not meant to live.

Comment by david day on December 7, 2011 at 2:14pm

Looks like your system is coming along pretty nice, Jonathan. Question for ya, have you had a high mortality rate with the goldfish? I have been losing 1 or 2 every day since I started. The really small ones are almost all gone. Can't figure it out. All my h2o levels seem to be within acceptable parameters. as you know, it is in my house and temp is around 70 f.

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