As for fish I am still undecided but am thinking Blue Talapia or HSB.
Hey Rick,
Legally using tilapia in Virginia is a little bit of a hassle. Technically, you have to fill out two forms, pay $10, and be inspected before you can raise the tilapia. The inspection is to ensure that there is no possible way that your tilapia can escape into the wild. Here is one of several good websites with information:
Tilapia Farming at Home -- Legal Issues. I believe you will be able to legally do it, but probably not this season.
There is also don't ask, don't tell -- if you find a source of tilapia who will sell to you.
I know I'm really sounding like Debbie Downer, but I think you may run into different issues with HSB. From my experience, they are rather finicky, and are especially susceptible to less than perfect water. I'm not sure how well they would do if your DO drops during some hot weather, or your ammonia gets just a little out of range. However, if you should decide to grow out some HSB, I'll be one of the first people at your door to get some for my ponds each season. Our area just doesn't have a consistent and reasonable supplier of HSB -- yet, there are a lot of us who really want them.
I started populating our IBC tank system yesterday with "sacrificial" fish and a few plants. I put in about a dozen fatheads and four 3-4 inch bluegill. They are the "canaries in the coalmine." When they can make it, or their replacements can make it, then I'll add a number of hybrid bluegill. The tank holds 275 gallons of water, so I'll start this season with 25-30 HBG after we have completed the first "cycle." That is probably a few weeks off. That should represents about 1 lb., of fish per 10 gallons of water by the end of the growing season.
Using the creek water probably helped start the system, but it will still take a while. I did put in a shovel full of fresh chicken manure before we started the system. After running the system without fish or plants for 36 hours, the pH was right at 7.0. However, because of our cold weather, the water was only at 58 degrees. The ammonia level was barely perceptible. Nitrites and nitrates were undetectable.
I put in three tomato plants, two pepper plants, and I sprinkled in some black-seeded Simpson lettuce seeds. In a day or two, I'll add some liquid seaweed to help the plants, and hopefully not hurt the fish. I may add some cucumber and squash plants at that time, depending on how the other plants look.
Tomorrow and Thursday are supposed to be up in the 90s. The tank is wrapped in black plastic, so the sun should warm it pretty well in the next couple of days. The weekend is supposed to be pretty warm too. So, we'll see what transforms.
Keep us informed.
