Up date: Fish kill going well

[Tradewind]

You heard me right, my fish kill is going well.  Though not my intention, I have made great strides in that direction.  I have just recently cycled my system and I bought some Shiners to experiment on.  I think I just changed the pH to quickly.  I was low on water and added water from my settling tank. I did not believe that 10 gals would affect 300 gals as much as it did.  Yes, the water was high pH, but 10 gals into 300 had a much bigger effect than I expected.  About 1.5 points I would say.  The water temp is right up there and I am sure that exacerbated the situation.  Oh well, live and learn.

[Alex Veidel]

Well, if you have high temperatures and feel like you have a problem with killing fish, tilapia are the way to go. I've had nitrate levels off the charts and they've been happy as clams :) But I understand wanting to do something different.

Tradewind said:

Hey thanks Pat,

Know S'port well lived out Hwy 80 for a few years some number of years ago.  Still remember Brocato's and Abe's with fondness. I also know what the temps can do as I played a lot of golf back then at Barksdale before I went civilian.  Had a lot of friends there and at the Shreveport Yacht Club on the lake.  Loved that place and have been thinking about moving back there.  I would do it in a flash if not for the fact that all my family is in the Houston area.  When hurricane Ike blew through we went up to a motel on East 70th at Youree Drive and spent about a month there waiting for them to put things back together so we could come home. There was a lot of nostalgia on that trip.  I lived in Shreveport when everything was as good as it gets.  From swinging bachelor to newly married and it all happened in Shreveport.  Man, you bring back memories.

Back to the Rosy Reds....  It is not about those fish I am concerned, it is the ones that are to follow.  I want the eating kind and I do not want Tilapia.  Probably will go with either or both Blue Gill and Hybrid Striped Bass as I guess that is as good as I can match to my climate.  The thing about Shreveport temps, yes they did get hot but we have a lot more humidity down here and it makes cooling things off more difficult.

Man, you have messed me up now.  I keep thinking about those days in Shreveport.  I also raced there  at the Hill Top Raceway I think it was called.  Pat my whole day is going to be switching back to Shreveport today.  I could complain, but actually it is kinda nice thinking about it.

[Tradewind]

Not so much wanting to do things different, it is that I just do not like the taste or should I say no taste of Tilapia.  Also, it gets a bit chilly here for those guys.  Texas makes it difficult to get Tilapia.  First, all that is allowed without a permit is the Mozambique variety.  I have been told they are the least tolerant to cold of all of them.  I think that is intentional to prevent some kind of balance of nature mishap in the wilds.  In addition, I only want a few fish, perhaps 30 or so, and one cannot go pick up  the Tilapia and take them home.  By state law they must be delivered by the fishery directly to you tank or pond.  That is not the case on native fish, just the Tilapia.  That would be a 300 mile round trip for the fishery truck and I am sure the delivery cost would far exceed the purchase price of 30 fingerlings.  So with all those strikes, I am not even going to try and swing.

Alex Veidel said:

Well, if you have high temperatures and feel like you have a problem with killing fish, tilapia are the way to go. I've had nitrate levels off the charts and they've been happy as clams But I understand wanting to do something different.

Tradewind said:

Hey thanks Pat,

Know S'port well lived out Hwy 80 for a few years some number of years ago.  Still remember Brocato's and Abe's with fondness. I also know what the temps can do as I played a lot of golf back then at Barksdale before I went civilian.  Had a lot of friends there and at the Shreveport Yacht Club on the lake.  Loved that place and have been thinking about moving back there.  I would do it in a flash if not for the fact that all my family is in the Houston area.  When hurricane Ike blew through we went up to a motel on East 70th at Youree Drive and spent about a month there waiting for them to put things back together so we could come home. There was a lot of nostalgia on that trip.  I lived in Shreveport when everything was as good as it gets.  From swinging bachelor to newly married and it all happened in Shreveport.  Man, you bring back memories.

Back to the Rosy Reds....  It is not about those fish I am concerned, it is the ones that are to follow.  I want the eating kind and I do not want Tilapia.  Probably will go with either or both Blue Gill and Hybrid Striped Bass as I guess that is as good as I can match to my climate.  The thing about Shreveport temps, yes they did get hot but we have a lot more humidity down here and it makes cooling things off more difficult.

Man, you have messed me up now.  I keep thinking about those days in Shreveport.  I also raced there  at the Hill Top Raceway I think it was called.  Pat my whole day is going to be switching back to Shreveport today.  I could complain, but actually it is kinda nice thinking about it.

[Pat James]

I spoke too soon. No problem with my tank until this morning. Went out at 6:30 and found hundreds of catfish swimming at the surface with a bunch on their backs. Hundreds of minnows were dead.

I'm guessing lack of oxygen. Will post more details on my blog.

[Tradewind]

Sorry about your bellies up.  It does sound like a DO problem.  I am pumping all kinds of air into my fish tank.  How big is you fish tank/pond?  Sounds like you had a great deal of fish in it.

I had a quirk as well.  Ammonia was up and nitrates at zero this morning.  That is a first on both counts.  I did find one dead fish, but that should not have caused it as fish die on my watch as a matter of course.  It almost looks like it will have to cycle again.  I think maybe I have been keeping my pH too low for the bacteria.  I guess I best bump it a bit.

Pat James said:

I spoke too soon. No problem with my tank until this morning. Went out at 6:30 and found hundreds of catfish swimming at the surface with a bunch on their backs. Hundreds of minnows were dead.

I'm guessing lack of oxygen. Will post more details on my blog.

[Pat James]

Tradewind... I am using my 20k gallon in ground swimming pool as a fish tank. Air temp still effects the water temp and pumping water through 14 1/2 IBC growbeds adds to the heat.

[Tradewind]

OK, sounds like you are serious.  That is huge and you certainly have enough fish tank size to support far more grow beds.  In comparison, I am running a 150 gal fish tank, 100 sump, 3 6.4 CF grow beds (works out to be 8 SF due to taper of the brow bed) and 18 LF of: Drain Line for my DWC that is actually unused at this time.

But an update.  Yesterday I torn an old compact refrigerator apart to get all the cooling apparatus out of it.  It was very difficult as they basically set everything in place and then filled it with foam.  The evaporator coil was the only thing easy to retrieve.  All of the condensing lines were buried in the foam and taped to the metal cabinet.  No fun.  But yesterday, I just took the whole mess in no particular order of semblance and poked the evaporator coil in a waste basket with a drain the the side back to my sump and filled the trash can with the overflow from my DWC.  I do believe this things is going to cool my system down.  It was 98 degs yesterday and my tank was the same, today at noon it is 94 degrees and my tank is at 88 degrees.  Now this might just be a delayed response to a cooler night.  I ran the chiller all night long and we will see if it holds its own during the heat of the day.  If would be great if it worked.  I can think of some enhancements to make it work better.  An orderly arrangement of the condenser line into some sort of a coil and a cooling fan would help a bunch.  Not sure I can twist that line around without kinking it however and once the seal is broken a repair and recharge would probably cost as much as a new refrigerator if it can be recharged at all.  In the least it is encouraging to know there may be some solution in site if not the one I am applying.  In your case get ready to part with a significant sum of cash to cool down 20K gallons plus all those grow beds.  What about a cooling tower like they used to use for commercial A/C units and at the petro plants?  

Pat James said:

Tradewind... I am using my 20k gallon in ground swimming pool as a fish tank. Air temp still effects the water temp and pumping water through 14 1/2 IBC growbeds adds to the heat.

[Tradewind]

Pat,

It appears, I too have spoken too quickly.  Ambient temp is at 97 now and the fish tank is gradually catching up.  It appears the b.t.u. of that little rig is only sufficient to use electricity.  The work to take it apart and cut up my fingers certainly was not worth it.  I am concluding the nice cool water at noon was due to the delayed response to the building heat and a carry over from the 73 degree night time temp.  Oh well, if you one does not try one does not succeed.  However, trying and succeeding have no guarantee of correlation. I just need something with more power.  It is available but pricey.