While we were down there I picked up my stock of tilapia for this summer. I paid for 50 fingerlings ($1.79 each) from San Diego Pet Supply who get their tilapia from Tilapia Mama. The store owner wasn't too big on counting them as he put them in the bag, so I ended up with about 75 of them. Unfortunately ~20 of them died on our way home. Turns out stopping for a couple hours for breakfast/lunch was a poor decision; I suspect they died from lack of oxygen. :( In any case, I was glad he gave us so many extras because I still had 55 fingerlings to put into my system when we got home. We bought a mesh laundry bag to contain them, which should make it easier for water changes and the like. I checked on them this morning and it looks like they survived their first night just fine.
The heater in the tank keeps the temperature hovering above 67 at night, while it typically gets up well above 70 during the day.
In other aquaponics news, Bailey has discovered that the Daphnia tank is a fun toy. I will need to adjust my plan to keep her out of that, since the screen has already been dog-stroyed. I'll replace the screen to keep the mosquitos out this summer, but it will need something more to protect agains dog attacks.
I also took a look at my little Hawaiian Currant tomato today, which appears to have officially been saved by aquaponics. I pulled it's pot out of the float today and it has long roots extending out of the pot. I think it may be time to transplant the little guy back to his home in the tomato bed. Perhaps I will have Hawaiian Currant tomatoes this year afterall :)
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