High Tunnel Aquaponics in Winter

We're entering mid-December and the nighttime lows here in Kansas have been reaching about 15F, well below freezing. The water in the high tunnel aquaponics system has been fluctuating in the 72-80F range, while the air temperature oscillates in the 60-90F range.

The fish haven't been growing much, which is to be expected since blue tilapia grow about 3 times faster at 85F than at 72F. They nevertheless seem very happy and healthy, as you can see in this video:

And here's a peek at the grow bed.  I just finished moving the peppers and transplanting the next generation of lettuce, so it looks a bit scraggly right now.  Should look great in a couple of weeks, though.  The white things in the water on the left are all that remain of some giant bolting heads of lettuce.  I tossed some of the heads in there about a week ago when I was reorganizing, and the little 2" long tilapia in the pool have eaten everything but the tap roots.

Female tilapia with her fry

One of the female blue tilapia released a couple hundred fry last night. Here she is with her brood (there's a better-quality version on YouTube if you have trouble seeing the fry):

Sad Day in Aquaponicsville

I put one of the tilapia in a new outdoor aquaponics system yesterday, and unfortunately I was dumb on two fronts: the system was extremely full of water (within 2-3" of the lip) and uncovered.  I found the fish dead and semi-dry on the ground about 12 hours later.  I tried to revive it for about 20 minutes, but it was too far gone and never responded.

species:  blue tilapia
weight:  32 grams (1 1/8 oz)
length:  4.5"
age:  probably 9 or 10 weeks (had it for 7.5 weeks)

Tilapia Grow Somewhat Quickly in a Good Environment...

The tilapia are now around 4" long (individual variance of +/- a half inch). My best guess is that they have tripled in length since my last post less than a month ago, with their mass increasing by a factor of 10. 

The first two pics are just with the camera; I shot the last two with my polarized sunglasses covering the lens:

Here's the view from the doorway.  I'm in the process of clearing out the tomatoes and cucumbers from the left-hand side for a fresh planting.  The lettuce on the right-hand side is only there out of curiosity.  The shrub-looking things behind the lettuce are eggplants.

Tilapia update

The tilapia seem to have doubled in mass again:

Tilapia fry have nearly doubled in size

Pic of the baby tilapia taken yesterday (6/13):



Pic of the same fish taken 11 days earlier (6/2):

Tilapia fry in their new aquaponics nursery