The Fish Are In!!!

This morning we woke up with grand plans.  Get the fish...  My wife, daughter, son, and mother-in-law, took a trip to the operation facilities of Blue Beyond Fisheries in Palm Desert, CA in hopes of obtaining our Tilapia fish.  Blue Beyond Fisheries raises mostly strains of the red and gray Oreochromis mossambicus. 

Here is my daughter giving us her fish pose before we go.

Here we are at a gate in Palm Desert hoping this is the farm???

 All of those little dots in the tank are Tilapia fingerlings.

My son checking out one of the many holding tanks.

Observing one of the breeding tanks.

At home.  Fish need to acclimate to the new tank first.

My daughter taking her scientific recording duties very seriously.

Recording the number and size of each fish.

 My daughter's data sheet with number and length of each fish.  :)

Final Notes:  

Water Temperature:  78.5 degrees F.

Dissolved Oxygen:  1.75 mg/l

Time: 4:30pm

Pump.  The pump from the grow bed is turned off so I do not have to heat up that water also.  I will turn this on once I get the temperature to a level I know it can sustain.  Then I will turn on the full system again.

Observation: Fish appeared to take to the tank very well.  We will see tomorrow.

The Fish Chronicles....

You would think that obtaining fish for my system would be easy.  Drive over to your local pet store pick out some goldfish and then put them in.  Ummm, not when you want Tilapia apparently.  Let me take this time to give a shout out to my wonderful wife.  She is so supportive and I am so thankful for that.

Now, I wasn't naive enough to think that Tilapia were at my local Pet Co. but I did think there would be many sources in southern California or online. 

Online

Yes, there are Tilapia fingerlings readily available online but the shipping costs were more than the fish so I began my search for a local Tilapia source.

Local

I was sure there would be plenty of Tilapia sources because of the close proximity to San Diego and Los Angeles.  My Google searches were not that easy. After much research my mother-in-law (such the enthusiastic helper) and I did come across Blue Beyond Fisheries.  I called the manager Oscar and he said it would be no problem to come down and pick up some fish.  Yes, mission accomplished, sort of.....

He asked what it was for and I was describing my OUTDOOR aquaponics system and he stated that Tilapia were warm water fish and needed a minimum of 75 degree water.  I admit that I have not researched every aspect of this project and assumed, due to the hardiness of Tilapia, that they would be fine.  Not so.  This was a detail that needed attention.

Setback... for now.  I did some research and bought two 250 watt aquarium heaters to heat up my 150 gallon outdoor tank.

Once they arrived I plugged them in and hoped they would bring the water temperature up from the frigid 51 degrees F.  The next morning the water was at 61 degrees.  Great sign.  It is now resting at 74-75 degrees.  This will be just fine.


Next...... the fish farm.

Final projects before the fish

It is has been a while since my last post.  I waited until the Christmas vacation to continue my project.  Here are some of the final touches I had to accomplish before I added fish.

1. Build a cover for my tank to block sunlight and stop fish from jumping out.
2. Build a small box to house the air pump unit.
3. Make a filter so the small fish cannot leave the tank.
4. Research the most cost effective way to obtain Tilapia. (Internet)

The cover for the tank did not take too long.  I bought a three more 1x2's and constructed the lattice you see below.  I then used some left over "weed mat" material and staple gunned three layers to the bottom.  This will work for now.
.

Next, I used some of the scrap pieces of plywood, 2x4's, and 1x2's to make a small box.  I then bought a couple of hinges for my door and then painted.  This did not take long

I then bought a 1 1/2" pipe.  I did not have any left over from the initial plumbing.  Black pipe was what Home Depot had at the time.  I then drilled a series of holes in the pipe as seen below.

I need to find a small mesh to place over the pipe.  My local Pet Co. had the small filter bags you see below. 

I placed a 1 1/2" cap on one end, placed the bag over it, secured it down with the clamps and then added the male 1 1/2" coupling and then screwed this into the female 1 1/2" bulkhead fitting in the fish tank.

Lastly, I placed my box in its location an ran the temporary electricity to it. 

Now I am ready for the Tilapia.  No problem right.......  Well, lets just say it wasn't as easy I thought.... Stay tuned.