Tank Insulation & Double Deck Yabbies

Southern Trout

Hi all, as an older aged newbie & semi retired farmer, i hope i won't drive u mad with strange ideas. been reading threads for last 4 months while slowly trying to plan an AP system, have read with interest the Kalgoorlie boys adventures and slowly getting thru some of the 80 to 140 pages of experienced members threads - but yet to come accross something thats bugged me for last few weeks.
In Oz we have hot summer, temp winters, depending on type of fish it seems to me the heat presents more problems to AP than coldness in winter here. we had a well on an older farm that was about 6 m deep & boarded over - water was always very cool in this well in summer, & temperate in winter, a cousin went fishing in a nearby creek & caught 8 small minnows & my father told him thses were too small to eat, put them in the dam. not being a country boy, he mistakenly dropped them in the well. some years later one day the mill stopped pumping & there was this huge minnow stuck in the pipe!!! we caught 5 others - very little food down there - obviously some insects - no airration of the water???
so i wonder how much value there might be even with pastic/fibglass tanks being sunk into the ground if possible & having timber cover as insulation. OR as this obviously would suit a lot of peoples situation, but having just built a solar passive house, i recon heavily insulating around the sides of above ground FT's including putting a sectional woodden cover could have advantages - is this happening or would it cuase obvious problems i'm missing?
RE yabbies & coonacs, i have these in ponds now, IMO these creatures eat each other usually cos of lack of food & too many in given space. in pond situation we feed them regularly & fish them regularly - that keeps the canabalism down. too many big ones is a bad sign as they will demolish smaller ones & breeding suffers. BUT having said that, i recon they would go best in ST if a) they r same size when introduced b) have as much p/pipe as practical to hide in.
again too many will result in fights, but i wonder if anyone has thought of putting 1 or 2 combination wire mesh & part solid floors in their tanks. these would need to be very snug fit on the edge to stop any critters getting out of their level, & i recon a few larger plant pot bases sitting on the wire mesh would let some food be caught at each level, effectively cleaning sump better & letting u have x3 more critters in the tank if u wished....again am i missing something here, cos both yabbies & coonacs live on smell of oily rag (fish oil of course :wink:

) its space per creature they need more than extra nutrition IMO??
cheers ST

faye

Certainly has possibilities ST, however as part of an aquaponics system some member have experienced the untimely death of these crustaceans and if not found can have detrimental effects on the others if left rotting in the system. Nocky had a not very pleasant experience from memory. Rule number 1 is to maintain good water quality at all times.
There have been numerous discussions here about insulating tanks to maintain temperature.

mantis

Also, wire mesh would be a big no no. You would need to use plastic mesh

gnash06

ST, nice write up

Yep some people dig tanks into the ground to give insulation and it does work and others insulate and it works for them, it's just a matter of finding out what will work for you

I think that the minnows would of survived as there was only 5 of them and not enough to over populate their environment and they probably ate the algae etc

Yabbies, Koonacs and Gilgies are a totally different thing and should be treated as such.

http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/docs/pub/IdCr ... 1.php?0304

yabbies (Cherax destructor) are the main fresh water crayfish that most APers use but as their name suggests they are destructive, to the environs they local and to each other.
The only way IMHO to keep them at any level decent enough to be able to have a good feed of them (once in awhile) would be to keep them in individual cages i.e. EDU Yabbie systems.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7881&p=239646&hilit=yabbies+edu#p239646

I have been trying to get my head around building such a system or adding one into my next build, it appears easy enough but the main problem I can't get my head around is the shedding of their carapace.
I've kept a number of yabbies in aquariums/tanks over the years and have noticed when they are about to shed the outer shell they swim/flick themselves violently around to loosen the shell and to cause the break-out point to open.
Now if thats the case how would that process occur in a single cell/containment area?

Either way yabbies will over breed their given water source to a point where their size will be smaller and smaller each time, the whole "throw the littles ones back" theory is shot out of the water with this species, if you want big yabbies they will need the space to grow and if your growing them in a dam it's always best to sex them and put the Males in a separate to the females.
The males will be less territorial (less fighting) thus gaining size quicker

hope this helps ST, there is loads of good info in the first link above

Southern Trout

Hi Gnash, some great info there, i've b/marked that ID chart for the days we have arguements when Koonacing (see its K not C - live & learn) i only feed & catch them, use lupins for feed, but at present have 40 red deer swimming & pooing in their pond so they'll be as fat as butter...
my main interest in them in an AP system was to clean the sump tanks. i'm just about to put 30 marron in my trout pond for the same reason, to clean up left over trout feed. hope they'll be natures little vacuum cleaners & nice dinner in 2/3 years time.

seeing that last date on last post for that flash yabbie cell was August i take it that someone took it off his hands - was it a AP member?? boy what an outfit - Gnash i'm into the KISS principal for living - i recon it would be easier to do a pilots course by correspondence for an F111 than learn all about that yabbie cell - thank goodness for my koonac's.

cheers ST

Southern Trout

Also gnash ur right about that minnow feed now i think about it, it was a sleep lined well and there was alway algae on the wood (& tiger snakes between sleepers) make sense now -thanxs another of lifes little riddles solved :wink:

gnash06

Yep the EDU has been taken ST and I'm waiting patiently to see how the new owner goes with it.
Your koonacs should get really fat with 40 deer to eat :whistle:

, unfortunately I'm finding it difficult to get yabbies here as the year hasn't been good for rain and alot of dams are dry, the other main problem is everyone around here appear to be tightasses and won't let you get them, the thought of trying to run in the dark with a net whilst being shot at no longer appeals to me :shock:

Either way good luck :thumbleft:

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