Last night, I went down to take a look at the tank. A single fish (which my son later named "Bob") was swimming around the top of the tank very slowly. He bumped into the sides and didnt move much when I touched him. Obviously, this is not healthy fishy behavior. All of a sudden, another fish popped up to the top, head first, with slime and goo all over its head. Then it just floated to the top. Another dead fish. :-(
The nitrite reading was still higher than my little kit can measure, so I decided that today would be a good day to do a partial water change, hopefully before I lost anymore fish.
I started out bright and early at 8:00am, which I realized actually was pretty early for a water change, since the water that had dripped from the hose the day before was now frozen....
I did 4 or 5 30%-50% water changes (I lost count). The entire time, Bob was the only fish we could see. Even with the tank 50% empty, I would shine my little pond light all around the tank, and only found evidence of one other fish. I even moved a pole around the bottom of the tank, trying to detect any dead fish at the bottom.
BTW, Bob was not looking too good. He has a damaged fin and sort of odd coloring for a rainbow trout. Not very encouraging, but I figured at least if Bob lives until spring, maybe we can share a little trout pate or something. And that seemed like a very big "IF."
By 12:30pm, I finally had the nitrite level down below 1.0. This might actually be bad, since I might have replaced so much water that I have to cycle the tank all over again and deal with another nitrogen spike. But, I did what I could to save Bob. I still couldnt figure out what could have possibly happened to the other 20 or so fish...
A while later, when I walked into the room, I heard a big splash. Was that Bob, rejoicing over his clean water? Or trying to escape the too-clean water? Or was it several fish??? I waited a while and walked back in slowly, making sure my shadow didnt extend over the tank, and I saw at least five big, fat trout swimming around near the top of the tank! Its possible they were at the top because they were distressed, but anyone who has ever had a goldfish bowl can tell the difference between a sick fish and a happy-clean-bowl fish. At least, thats what Im choosing to believe tonight. I guess well see tomorrow morning. At one point, I saw at least ten fish swimming around near the top, disproving my sons rapture theory.
Here is a short video clip for your trout-viewing pleasure. Sorry about the bright light in the tank, but it was the only way I could reduce/eliminate reflection on the water.
Quick plant update - as I mentioned, my plants are not looking too good. Its pretty obvious that the light from the window, especially in winter, is not sufficient to sustain healthy plants. I purchased a couple of fluorescent grow lights at Wal-Mart for $11 each. My husband is convinced that I am now on some government list of illegal plant growers, but I think the government is too inefficient to keep track of, or follow up on, that type of thing. Worst case, some D E A dude shows up on my doorstep, I will be happy to bore him with a tour of my aquaponics setup. Only instead of introducing him to my fifteen cats, I can introduce him to each of my trout, and send him on his way with a sprig of basil and a head of lettuce.
As for the cost of running the lights everyday, I calculated that running the two lights for 12-14 hours/day will cost about $10 each per year, so I was able to convince my husband that its worth the $20 a year. All I need to do is get a few good heads of organic lettuce and it will pay for itself. At least, thats my theory. If Im wrong, I think I have to give up a few nights of space heater privileges next winter to make up for the 20 bucks. Stay tuned....
