Just got my first Bluegill

[TCLynx]

We called Florida Fish Farms [phone] today as we wanted to know if they would have any catfish available soon.  Well it seems they won't have those for some tine but they do have Bluegill.  The bluegill fingerlings are really small but it was time for more fish and we decided to take what we could get.

 

I can now call myself a Bluegill grower and hopefully I'll have good experience with them to share with everyone over time.

 

We did get extra fish so if people are interested in some small bluegill orders in 6-8 weeks I might be talked into selling some off seeing as I haven't been able to do the large group order on the catfish.  Now if your system can handle 100+ fish, then you might as well get them from Florida Fish Farms but I know that most new small systems are not designed to handle eve 50 fish let alone 100 so let me know if you are looking for a small batch of fish this summer to get a new system going.  Of course that is if you are in Florida and can come to visit and have a container and aerator for the ride home.

[Jay Wolf]

I don't think it would hurt.  I assume it is a small tank.  How are you filtrating the water?

Jim Logios said:

Hello everyone.

I got 22 bluegill (about 2-3 inches) in my Aquabundance tank. They came home a week ago, and all seem to be doing fine. Ammonia and nitrite levels nice and low. Nitrates at 80-160.  Ph 7.4-7.6 (hard to get this one down).

I put two 4" pvc Y connector pipes in the tank so fish have a place to feel secure. Fish are snapping when fed and seem happy. An occasional grasshopper or cricket for a treat.

Do I need to put a gravel bed down in the ft?

Thanks!

 

Jim

[Jim Logios]

Thanks Jay.

It's 55-60 gals. of water, so it is small.

It's a drain & fill media bed. I guess my concern is about the solids getting trapped below and not making it up to the media bed for filtration...

[Jay Wolf]

Ok, I think I know what you are talking about.  If I were you, use smaller gravel so you can siphon the solids every week or so.  That should take care of the build up.  Don't know if this helps, but it is at least one idea.   

Jim Logios said:

Thanks Jay.

It's 55-60 gals. of water, so it is small.

It's a drain & fill media bed. I guess my concern is about the solids getting trapped below and not making it up to the media bed for filtration...

[TCLynx]

NO don't put gravel in the fish tank.  Blue gill don't need it and since it isn't a display aquarium you don't want to have to be siphoning gunk out of your tank every week.

[Jim Tinker]

If you have a filter on the pump, you need to remove that..... as without it the solids will be pumped up into your growbed easier ....

 

try and set up the water return to swirl the water in the FT and put your pump pickup where all the solids swirl to.. and that will help remove solids as well

 

JT

The Aquaponics Garden

[Jim Logios]

The Aquabundance system fish tank from Sylvia is a 60 gallon tank. The only concerns I have about it are that there are 3-4 ribbed sections going width-wise along the bottom, and this traps fish solids and waste where the pump cannot get to it. The pump may be a bit underpowered as well for pulling all the solids out (but works fine for circulating the water up to the grow-bed). The pump is also housed in one corner of the tank, and so, solids from the diagonal opposite end build up the fastest.

The return goes to pvc pipe wrapped along the top of the ft, and works well to aerate the tank, but doesn't cause any swirl - at least not at the bottom where it is needed.

So for now, I have to vacuum the tank once a week...

Sylvia, you may want to consider a slight modification to the bottom of the ft in the future.  I don't know if a flat-bottomed tank would have the structural integrity needed however.

Other than that, I am very happy with the system, and am considering expanding once the weather cools down a bit.

 

Thanks everyone for the responses.

 

Jim

[TCLynx]

the fish as they get bigger will be better at stirring things up, till then a bit of a sweep every so often to move the solids over to the pump make take care of the problem.  Or perhaps an air stone in the opposite corner to keep the solids from settling there.