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#215015 04/30/10 12:49 PM
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hey guys I have a 10' by 2' tank that use to be a swimming pool for the kids but now has turned into a mosquito farm. I was thinking that I might grow some FHM for the pond 1/4 acre.

I have noticed that I don't have any recruitment from my FHM now that my CC are recruiting, was suppose to be a put and take but the CC decided differently I have 5 3-4 lb CC slated for the dinner table leaving about 3 or 4 over 5 lbs with hundred's of recruits in the 3-8" range. I do have some RES that have recruited, my 6 year old nephew and I (sampled) the pond last weekend and actually caught a few RES in the 3-5" range which surprised me I didn't think I was getting any recruitment from them and little to none from my HBG.

So I have this tank and would like to raise a bunch of FHM and transfer them when needed but I don't want to have to worry about a filter and all that jazz if I can keep from it. Is this possible or will I have to put some effort into this project to go along with the 50 other projects I have working around the farm?

Plus I think it would be cool for the nephews to see a bunch of fish in a tank that the could mess with.

plus a contained stock tank would be ok for a couple tilapia


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They will do ok if the water quality stays ok and they have food. Will need some spawning structure for FH.
















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good points, food, what will they thrive on?

for structure I plan to sink a couple of pallets.

for the water where it will be I wont be able to replace with pond water and I figure that I cant use my tap water as it is chlorinated. I have a well close by I could use but it is a limited hand dug well which I could probably use. as long as I didnt have to rely on totally filling the tank


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I think you can use the tap water, if you let it stand for a few days. I would agitate the water a few times a day for a couple days, then toss in a fish and see if it lives. I dont know if you'll need a filter or not, but you should learn about the nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen cycle is just a big word for the role bacteria play in aquariums.

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yep the more I read about it the more I realize I have added another project that will require my attention from time to time, Not like I really want to sit on my butt and and do nothing for 15 minutes or so around the farm anyway. I don't know why I didn't think about sodium thiosulfate for de-chlornating the water before I put it in I am sure I can round up some if I need to


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The biggest problem with aquariums is the need to change water. However, FHM, like mosquito larvae, could probably survive in a nuclear waste dump. I would put the nephews to work on water changes.


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LOL Dave My nephews and nieces parents have learned to bring extra change of cloths when ever they come over because either by accident or accidentally on purpose they either get covered in mud or wet head to toe and none of them seem to mind(kids that is) Great workers when I get them lined out. The tank is filling right now and I guess I am going to have to let the chlorine dissipate on its own, Me being in the drinking water field you would think that I could round up a few pounds of it but no such like right now. I have managed to trap a single FHM male from my pond which is proof I still have some but they are very scarce but 1 male isn't going to get me anywhere other then to use it as a water tester in a couple days. this could be a fun project for the kids as well even my 12 year old daughter has taken a interest in of all this effort to raise a bunch of minnows. I am going to start a search to look at homemade filters to help out with the water quality.


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Get in touch with Cecil. He made his filter for the RAS tank.


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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).
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I tried this exact project last year. I have a 8' X 2.5' tank that I placed under the gutter downspout of the shed at my old house. I added a doz FHM, some lumber scraps for spawning, and would toss in a couple of pellets every day. The tank was in the sun and the water stayed very green. I had to kill the project in early summer when I moved and when I drained the tank I found my original fish and a few doz fry.

I am trying again this year but with a different setup. Now the tank is in a shady area behind the pond dam. I filled it with a siphon hose from the pond then plugged the hose at the discharge end. Anytime I want to add water I just remove the plug, the siphon restarts and I can top off the tank. I fear the fry may have a harder time surviving this time because the shade will result in less zooplankton and I don't know if they can get what the need from nibbling on pellets. Anyhow 12 FHM are in there as of a week ago.


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So how is this working out for you?

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Did you ever get this up and running? If so please provide an update.

Also if you have some pictures of your setup please post them. I have been thinking about trying something like this myself, either with FHM or Tilapia.

thanks

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UPDATE: After initial setup and stocking it showed a lot of promise. Adult fatheads nibbled on the pellets and didn't require any additional aeration. After a couple weeks I saw that the zoo-plankton population exploded in the tank and there were critters in every cubic inch of water. Once it got warm enough I noticed eggs under one of the scrap wood chunks. (Apparently I only ended up with one male because of the 8 chunks in the tank only one ever has had eggs.) Anyhow this 4"x8" chunk has had hundreds of eggs on it for probably the last 2 months straight.

When the first of the fry started hatching they made quick work of the zoo-plankton and within a few days the tank was picked clean. I was hoping that the fry could get by pecking on the regular size pellets but it didn't take long to see dead fry in the tank. I then shifted my strategy to netting out as may fry as I could and putting them in the pond where they would have more forage. I have transplanted many hundreds of them so far. I also tried the get a zoo-plankton bloom going by adding granular yard fertilizer to the tank. It has given me very green water but not a abundance of critters. I think the fry are getting them before they have a chance to repopulate. It has also made netting the fry more difficult since they are hard to see in green water.

3 days ago I found that they have stopped laying eggs. I guess it is due to either the extreme heat we are having or my breeding male kicked the bucket(the females wore him out). I still have fry in the tank and I am curious how big they will get if I just leave it on autopilot for a while. I am hoping that some of them are getting big enough to utilize the pellets for food by pecking on them. I tried grinding some pellets into powder and putting that in the tank but it wasn't something I have been consistent with.

So far this experiment has shown me that
1) a dozen brooders is more than enough to provide way more fry than what my system can feed naturally
2) feeding the adults is easy, feeding the fry is the hard part.
3) anything more than a few dozen fathead brooders in a tank this size would be overkill

Next year if I mess with this tank again I think I will put it on the side of the pond above the pond water level. I can pump the water in the tank then when I start to see fry drain the water back into the pond and along with it the fry. The adults will swim against the current so I don't think I will lose them if I leave a few inches in the tank before stopping the drain. I can repeat this many times to keep a flow of fathead fry going into the pond. Raising large numbers of fry to adulthood in the tank is going to take more than the $2 investment (brooders) I made on my setup. Tilapia fry may be easier to feed if they can make a living with you chucking FA in the tank.

Last edited by DJT; 06/22/10 11:51 PM.

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DJT #223329 06/23/10 09:54 PM
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Could you possibly put a submersible pump in the pond, and pump water 24/7 into the fathead tank, and allow it to overflow back into the pond. This would keep the water quality up, the tank temps low, and continually bring in zooplankton.

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Originally Posted By: brier
Could you possibly put a submersible pump in the pond, and pump water 24/7 into the fathead tank, and allow it to overflow back into the pond. This would keep the water quality up, the tank temps low, and continually bring in zooplankton.


I like this suggestion. Nice idea B


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I am actually doing it right now with a tank full of tilapia that Rex just delivered. Working like a charm, and the tilapia are really benefiting from the constant inflow of plankton.

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Originally Posted By: brier
I am actually doing it right now with a tank full of tilapia that Rex just delivered. Working like a charm, and the tilapia are really benefiting from the constant inflow of plankton.


I do the same thing. I have a real small (maybe 10x15') bait pond near
my main pond. I use a small solar panel and solar pump to keep water
flowing in all day long, and it siphons back into the main pond at night.

It really does work. A freak thing happened last year, and my pump stopped.
All the FHM went belly up.

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Originally Posted By: brier
Could you possibly put a submersible pump in the pond, and pump water 24/7 into the fathead tank, and allow it to overflow back into the pond. This would keep the water quality up, the tank temps low, and continually bring in zooplankton.


The tank is at the far corner of the property which is too far away for electric. I set it up simply because I had the tank available and wanted to do something fish related with it. Basically a low tech experiment to see what could be done with minimal investment. I never even intended to use the minnows for bait but rather a forage restocking supply.

Next year I will probably take it a step further and do something like you suggest by placing it by the front pond where electric is available. The first year I got the tank I put a single GSF in it and fed it grasshoppers for about 2 months in the late summer after the kids had stopped swimming in it. laugh


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How big are FHM fry? I was wondering if it's possible to take some fine (very fine) mesh and enclose the entire area under a fixed dock, just fence it in. Of course I would need a trap door in the dock to scoop out the minnows when needed. Would the plankton get in? O2 levels should be ok. Stupid idea?


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DJT, did you grind the pellets in a blender or food processor? Did the fry eat the powder? Why didn't this work?


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Loretta I guess the dock idea would be possible but such a fine mesh would probably be covered in algae quickly.

I did grind up food a few times but it seemed that most of it just fell to the bottom and went to waste. I have been putting about 30-40 Game fish chow pellets in the tank per day and the fry are doing a better job than I first thought making a living from it. I probably have a hundred or more juvenile minnows in the tank that push and peck the pellets around the tank. This is from 12 original stockers.

I also set up two 250 gal totes alongside the round tank and put about 20 fry in each one. These fish grew quickly even though I never see them eating pellets (they may have enough natural food).

They haven't been laying any new eggs so I got 12 more adults from the bait shop last weekend. If they are done spawning for the summer these last 12 may have been pointless. I need to check and see what the spawning habits are for them but not anymore tonight it's bedtime.


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DJT #226169 07/12/10 11:30 PM
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I might try the mesh around the dock idea, would algae hurt anything?

I was reading about FHM fry the other night and the author that wrote the article was using fish food flakes (floats) to feed the fry. The minnows will also eat their young so once the eggs were deposited they were removed to a separate tank.

Good luck with your new adults!


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I drained my tank today and transferred all the remaining FHM to the pond. There were several hundred (mostly juveniles) in there. Over the last few days the water had went from green to brown and I had seen a few dead adults. Hot weather and an algae die off had taken the tank to its limit and it was time to shut it down. Still not bad since I had only done 1 water change all summer and even that didn't include cleaning the sludge off the bottom.

I would consider it a modest success since I had turned a dozen broodstock into hundreds. It was a minimalist system with no filtration or aeration. I just wanted to see what could done with it as is. I still think that fry growth was slower than it would be in a pond but pecking at game fish chow once a day is a less than ideal situation for them. Even so a lot of the early spawn had made it to 3/4 adult size.


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Excellent DJT. Given that you didn't use any filtration or aeration I think those are great results!

Are you going to do it again next year?

Any plans to add filtration or aeration?


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I'm not sure if I will do it again or try something else. I have thought about different options but it probaby won't require electric.


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DJT,

Do you happen to have any pics of this system up and running or anything like that you could post for us.

Thanks

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