If you have an existing aquaponics system and need to move, you may be interested to know the whole process. Few weeks ago I made a video on “How to move an aquaponics system” there. Today I want to show you how to move the aquaponics fish.
https://youtu.be/iRiZ-43I8pQ
In the linked video you can appreciate the size of the “temporary” fish tank used. In this instance I moved approximately 7kg of fish. Hence, I kept the fish in a cut IBC. The water quantity was approximately 300L. In other words, this is an equivalent of 42 litres of water per kg of fish. The greater this number is and the safer the move will be. During the move of your aquaponics fish, your must not feed them. Even if they don’t eat, they still release a low quantity of ammonia into the water.
During the stocking of the fish, 3 things are important to consider:
Use an air stone
Add an airstone to the temporary tank. It is crucial for your fish to have enough oxygen to breath.
Renew some water
You don’t feed the fish during this period. However, they still release a little quantity of ammonia into the tank. This little ammonia concentration is initially acceptable. Nevertheless, you don’t want to leave it the opportunity to build up. I recommend to renew 30% of your tank water every 2 days.
Test water parameters.
It can be a good idea to keep testing your water parameters. The aim is mainly to ensure that the ammonia level is acceptable.
Introducing the fish to their new home
Once your aquaponics system in place in the new location. Please make sure the water parameters are good and stable. Once confirmed, you can transfer your fish.
Acclimatation of the aquaponics fish to move
To do so we will catch the fish and keep them into a bucket. The bucket is then placed “floating” into the aquaponics system water tank. The aim is to acclimate the water parameters. Here I am mainly referring to temperature, minerals and pH. To help this acclimatation we leave some small quantity of water entering the bucket. The whole process can take a while if the temperatures are different (up to an hour). More information on fish acclimatation there.
Once acclimated, you can submerse the bucket and let the fish swim away in their new tank.
Do not feed the fish yet. You want to make sure the water parameters are stable first. After 2 days you can now feed your fish. Please keep recording the water parameters.
Congratulations you now know how to move your aquaponics fish.
You will probably be interested to discover Jonathan’s six steps to build and manage an Aquaponics system. Click here to access for free! Thanks and good reading 🙂
