Doing it again… learned a lot last year… this year’s Tilapia

[Magnum Man]

My current breeding pair… In a 65 gallon tank…

 

[Magnum Man]

While I had one batch of fry, grown out to 4 - 6 inches, I gifted those away to my buddy with an ornamental pond, and who’s babies last year all got ate, probably by frogs, when they were the size of guppies… at 4 to 6 inches, he’s getting payback this year, he thinks they are eating all the tadpoles in the pond right now ( most probably leopard frog tadpoles )…
… these are the 50 ( all males ) I ordered a few weeks ago… from an inch, at purchase, to this size in 2 - 3 weeks… these are in a 45 gallon, and will be going out to their 275 grow out tanks outside, probably next weekend… they have just recently switched from fry food ( algae tabs ) to the smallest pellets

 

[Magnum Man]

Well I’m behind this year on the grow out tanks, but ahead on the fish… outside tanks are ready to run, once I get all the heaters dialed in… fish are all males this year, and are already at 5 inches.. should be going gang busters with in a week

 

[Connershawzz]

That is awsome , wow , very jealous

 

[Magnum Man]

Well everything is ready… I had to change out one tank, and make the modifications, the other developed a drip leak on the bottom seam… the new one has a couple drips at the new pipe fittings, nothing that a little adjustment, and a squirt of silicone won’t fix… 2 of the tanks were warm, the new, cold… I’m running everything to get them all equalized, and warm enough for the fish… got the big linear air pump running, and 6 big 4 inch air stones, 2 per tank.. fish are past ready to leave the aquarium, will either transfer tonight, or maybe tomorrow, as the mosquitoes are at their worst, in the evening… I just started these guys on the 3rd stage pellets… they are only on those for a week or two, then move to finishing pellets…

 

[Magnum Man]

Made a huge mistake today, was topping off the water from a garden hose, fills my filter barrel, and pumps into the highest tank, forgot to shut the water off, before running to town, there are overflows built into the system, but with only the cold water filling, it drops the tank temperature, and these are tropical fish, I try to keep the tanks at 86 degrees… I got aquarium fish in at work, so I ran home at 11:30am tanks were down to 63 degrees… the fish will start dying in the middle 50’s… they are all sitting on the bottom, I’ve seen a few move, so I’m optimistic…
Yesterday I got my hydroponic veggies going some cucumbers, and squash, some tomatoes, and a few herbs this year..

 

[Magnum Man]

I’m putting a sign on the door to go into the house, to check the fill water, to make sure it’s off

 

[Colin_T]

What about putting a float like in a toilet cistern in the barrel? When the water level gets to a certain point, the water is turned off automatically. That's what we did in the shop because the boss got distracted a few times and flooded the place.

 

[Magnum Man]

@Colin_T … I had left water on a couple times last year, so I’m really losing my mind, or doing too many things at the same time… I have thought about some sort of float valve, but would have to change a few things… I currently fill at my filter barrel, closest to the water source, and it would be tight to fit a mechanical float valve in it, with a full sized cast iron sump pump, that I use to pump water around, and a 6 gallon bucket, that I used as a filter media container, suspended inside the barrel, above the pump… the pump pumps water faster than what comes out of the hose… if I added some hose length, and filled at the highest tank, there would be plenty of room for a mechanical valve… but I would probably have to reduce the outlet some to unbalance the flow… I have everything balanced right now, so there really isn’t a spot that fills up 1st… each tank drains into the next lower one, through a hole above the water line… these aren’t sealed, as they are above the normal water line, and when I forget about the fill, water, it just leaks around those drain holes, in the lower tank, inches below the actual top of the tank, so no fish get washed out…

I have a blended hot / cold water spigot, but we developed a leak in the shower upstairs, that we only use for company, so I have a hot water line valve shut off there, but that also feeds my outside spigot, so this year I only have cold fill, until I get the upstairs leak fixed ( it’s actually a drip, inside the shower, the faucet won’t shut off completely ) and since it’s only for company use, and we rarely have company, I just haven’t gotten it fixed yet… I didn’t remember that it also fed my outside line…

Having blended water, doesn’t fix my mental deficiency, but does keep the tanks from getting so cold, so quickly… but I did run the house out of hot water, a couple times last year, which prompts Mrs to yell at me ( as my alarm )

 

[Colin_T]

Having blended water, doesn’t fix my mental deficiency, but does keep the tanks from getting so cold, so quickly… but I did run the house out of hot water, a couple times last year, which prompts Mrs to yell at me ( as my alarm )

That is another option
Either set an alarm clock to go off after however long it takes to fill the tanks, or get the Mrs to yell at you every 10-15 minutes to make sure the tap is off.

You might be able to find a sensor that can be attached to an alarm and have it in the water barrel. When the water gets to a certain temperature or level, the sensor triggers an alarm.

 

[Magnum Man]

There are electric sensors, that could control a solenoid valve, but tilapia are an oily fish, that are fed at the maximum they will eat, for best growth, so I’ve had issues with the heaters, getting dirty, more than I fully understand, so I’m skeptical, about the continued function of an electric sensor… I think a mechanical float valve, would be more reliable

 

[Magnum Man]

BTW… mine are Blue Tilapia, which are supposed to be more cold resistant, than the other varieties…

If you noticed the heavy screen covers, in the one previous picture, those are there to keep the birds out, and the other critters… my outside doggie killed a raccoon 2 days ago, 50 feet from my tanks, so I’m glad I thought of that last year… no sense opening an all you can eat buffet for the local raccoon community

 

[Magnum Man]

It’s cold for July, lows in the mid 60’s so it’s taking a little longer for the tanks to warm up fully… water is 82 degrees this morning, all the fish look good, active, and ate well this morning

 

[Magnum Man]

Both tanks 88 degrees ( my target ) looking good today, and the extra hungry, after yesterday ( they won’t eat when they are cold )

 

[Magnum Man]

Rosemary’s going gang busters, and a couple tomatoes starting to ripen already… cucumbers not quite pickle size yet…