The set-up - Which I should have started this blog with.

Pictures detailing this will follow, at which point I will delete this little bit of text.

The Pacu are currently living in an 75 US gallon tank - 48"x18"x20" high.  It is filtered by a sump tank (about  14 US gallons) with lava rock and plants (with a 24" T5HO light on it), as well as an AC 70 HOB filter, with just sponges.  The sponges on the HOB are just to pull particulates out of the water column, as that was a pretty big problem right from the start.

There is an automatic feeder set on the AC 70, that pours food into the outflow 3 times a day, 6 hours apart.

the lighting on this tank is a 48" T5 HO (May not be HO) corallife fixture.  I would recommend against them if you have contact between the bottom of the fixture and the top of the tank, fyi.The plastic "shield" for the bulbs melts a bit.  There is a 24" 2 bulb t5 HO on the sump, to help the plants that are in there to grow. 
In the sump is lava rock, and a few bioballs, as well as Anubias, Hygrophila, and some java fern, perhaps.


There's a bunch of slate in the tank, to make spaces for the pacu to feel comfortable.

Pool filter sand substrate, and there may or may not be any Malaysian trumpet snails left in the tank.

 

Crap, now I've got about 60 problems. 60 parts per million that is! It's nitrates. That's the whole joke. Sorry.

Picked up some water test strips at the LFS and, yep, runaway nitrate problems.  This is the thing that having hydroponics attached is supposed to solve.  about 60ppm nitrates, but pH is good, as is the water buffering capacity and the nitrites and ammonia are at 0.  Still no corpses!


So, the plan for the weekend is to discuss what my partner is comfortable with in terms of hydroponics in our basement, and then try to get it started.
Also, start some seeds ASAP.
Also also do 2 water changes a few days apart, and bring that 60 down to 20 or less.  The math irritates me.  That means two 50% water changes to bring it down to 15, while the fish are still pooping.
DAMN THEM.  I hate 50% water changes.

Ooh!  Brainstorm.  The current plant shelf is right up against the aquarium, between it and the stairs.  I could put that on rollers, and use the space under the stairs as a hydro room.  It could work!!!

And so it begins - The tank is ready, the fish are in Winnipeg, what could go wrong?

Hello.

I am about to begin an experiment in aquaponics in Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

This will involve Pacu.

Pacu are a fish that live in the Amazon river.  They like water to be about 27C.

Winnipeg has an average summer temperature of 23ishC (May - September).

It's currently December.

I aim to start the fish now, grow them until May, put them outside in an IBC, and harvest September/October.  In order to lower energy costs I'll be making a solar water heater to warm water before the electric heater kicks in.  I've also got to build a greenhouse for the plants that will be filtering the water.

What could go wrong?  I'm sure to keep this blog going until the project is done, right?