AusBonsai

Melaleuca claret tops

Height 340mm

Cost $7.95

Purchased wirreander nursery Ingleside

Squizz

I think this tree is my best chance of the three create entries

I have only cut it back at this stage and plan to repot in about 6 weeks.

I have a few of these and am confident I can get good growth in a short period of time.

Squizz

Nice structure, going to be a cool tree

Here is tree 2 of my experiment.

Once again. Potted in zeolite only and into the aquaponics system. Squizz

Hi Squizzy,

Are you able to fertilise as well or are you relying on what the trout produce?

Cheers,
Nigel

From what I understand you can ad seasol without any harm to the fish. I have done that twice now without any noticeable change in the system and the fish seemed fine.

I am learning along the way. The biggest problem I am having is the water keeps dropping to a ph of 4 ish. I am just adjusting with the powder I got from fish works at the moment but wouldn't mind experimenting with other natural ways like egg shells.

I think a combination of warmer weather and a more mature system will kick things along.

I do have to sacrifice the trout soon though for something more suitable in warmer weather. I have grown the trout from 100mm to nearly 300 in the past 3 months. I was fairly shocked.

Squizz

It's an interesting plan for sure. I keep my claret tips in water after a recommendation from a local grower and noticed a definite improvement. That's a big increase in the size of the fish. Will they be sacrificed for dinner? Rainbow trout are delicious!

Hahaha. Yes. Thinking of smoking them? I've heard they are even better smoked.

Hi Sqizzy,

I am learning along the way. The biggest problem I am having is the water keeps dropping to a ph of 4 ish. I am just adjusting with the powder I got from fish works at the moment but wouldn't mind experimenting with other natural ways like egg shells.

A ph of 4 is on the extreme side of trout tolerances, get yourself some hydrated lime from a hardware/cement place (it may be what you already have) and use it to raise the ph. It will not buffer the ph much but it will raise it. Do it slowly (small amounts daily) as to not shock the fish and don't go too far the other way. Be careful with it as it will burn your skin if your skin is wet and don't breath it in.

Ent

Cheers ent

I have no idea how to solve it long term but I've had a few others suggest it's too much food? I've been trying to control that also.

I intend to have a larger set up later but for now it's 5 fish. 300 L of water and about 300L of grow bed. I'm lead to believe a rough rule is twice the grow bed to water volume

Squizz

Hi Squizzy,

You can raise your pH with Hydrated Lime in the morning when your pH is lowest and then to add buffering capacity with Sodium bicarbonate in the afternoon when your pH is highest. You will not need much with those volumes, probably start with a teaspoon of lime, measure your pH before and after and see what it does. You don't want rapid changes, I would aim for 0.2 increase per day or twice a day.

Ent

So here is the claret tops as of the end of October. Its put on quite a bit of growth as I would have expected. I am going to let it go a bit longer to keep the new roots moving. I can see a nice line in there that I will cut back hard too when I think it has the root power to handle it.

I have also added a few photos of my helpers. Sorry to all the people who might find this cruel but I think its a fantastic concept both from a plant growth perspective and a sustainable living one. By the way they tasted great. I eased of on pellet feed and gave them crickets and bugs for the last few weeks.

Squizz

Is that little one legal Squizzy?

Hahaha.

Absolutely