SHL Aqua Project: Jannah Part 4

Three months from start date of project, the fish ponds are now ready.  The new 3" polypipe has been connected and the wonderful sweet, clean water has made its way to the ponds.  It is definitely a force of rushing water - I tried standing under it and had to ensure that my feet was planted well in the pond. 

It took 2 days to fill the ponds to the level of the overflow thus ensuring that water is continuously flowing in and out of the pond.  I love hearing the water, so relaxing.  With the water, the baby fish from the river also has entered the pond.  They are my pond testers - if I they died then I know that I have a problem.  Alhamdulillah, they are happily swimming in there.  I have retained the general shape of previous pond so it still appears like a river flowing through the land. 

During the time that it took to get the last pond ready, grass and vegetation started growing in the other pond.  I decided to leave it as when it is filled with water, it will provide additional food and habitat for the fish.  Now that the water has been released into the pond, I see the fish playing hide-and-seek.  On Friday, June 1st., I released 3000 baby red tilapia.  After observing them for a few days and seeing that all is fine, I will be adding another 17,000 over a period of a week.  I may add another 10,000 to 20,000 more depending on how this intial 20,000 works out and my observation of it over a period of two weeks.

The last pond is fully cemented and it is done differently than the rest with a holding pond between them.  The size of this pond is 3000 sq. ft. and  will serve multiple purposes.  The plan is to release about 10,000 baby keli.  Due to its nature of burrowing into the ground when water is drained from the pond, by virtue of a cement floor, this will ensure that they can be properly harvested when it is time.  With the separation of the holding pond, this will also prevent them from entering the other pond.  However, with the good quality water as well as my blended feeding approach, it will have a great taste without the "muddy" flavor.  Now I am selecting the source for them.

The holding tank is the area that will be used to "collect" the tilapia during the harvesting process, thus ensuring minimal damage to the fish and allowing live fish for sale.  All in all, I am happy with how things have turned out but there are still improvements that I will have done over the next few months.
For pest control, in my previous experiment, I found that if lemon grass was planted around the pond, this will deter the memerang so we have just planted serai wangi around the pond.  This will serve a dual purpose - added protection for my pond and adding another herb to my herbal collection for transforming into other products in the future.
The next detail addition will be the water sprouts from various spots along the banks of the pond which will help improve aeration of the pond as well as providing aesthetic value.  At the same time, listening to water has always relaxed me.  I choose this mechanism for aeration due to all these reasons as well as being eco-friendly and staying away from dependence on electricity or diesel-powered aeration devices.
And so the adventure continues and insyAllah, we will be ready for harvest in 4-5 months time.