Visitors to our dam, its spring time in Australia and there hundreds of ducks around at the moment, there are Wood ducks and a couple of Chestnut Teal and these mountain ducks.

It’s great to have nature around doing what nature does best.

A t the moment the Curdies is a brown strip running through the environment some of the silt is because of fire damage but some comes from poor farming practise this photo below is of a paddock on the river ( coloured line ) the waste to the farmer in lost top soil and nutrient is a real problem but the amount of silt in the river is overwhelming and if it persists for a long time many fish will perish.

Diving the drone ( fishsticks 11) deep into lake  Bullen Merri the thing I take from this is how green the water is, that would be all that nutrient that will later on become blue-green algae something needs to be done fast.

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I went back down to Moorehouse bridge today to see if the place was still clean after the vandalism and it looked so good I made a small video of it to let those in other places know why people around here were so angry.

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Below are some pictures of the water tank that was burnt in the recent fires I have saved this tank and I am going to bury it on its side  on the farm it will go on holding water for years to come,

I first cut a circle out of what will be the top ( the worst burnt side ) and I screwed and glued it over the existing inlet. I didn’t weld this because I could not get the welder into a tight spot.

I then cut up a blue farm drum and made a patch to go over the original outlet.

and welded it in place.

and then noticing some damage on the side I cut another patch for it and welded it in place.

I will bury this tank on its side and fill it with water that I can use through the dryer months.

This photo was taken this morning at the bridge on the Curdies where the fire burnt through and the tree removal took place as you can see the river looks pretty good although I notice rubbish is already starting to gather around the area, access should be improved and we could have a great new fishing spot , always remember in the country areas it a good idea to ask the farmer for permission before entering , most farmers are more than happy to let you enter provided you don’t disturb the farm animals leave gates the way you found them and leave the area as neat and tidy .

The blackwood in the fore ground is struggling a bit, the CMA have told me that new  trees and grasses are coming to the area soon, however as you can see in background there are still a lot of unwanted trees that should be removed.

These are pictures of my latest aeration system for my dams, the drum had disinfectant in it and has been washed so safe to use in a dam, the aerator is a membrane type and around 250 ml wide the drum will keep the aerator off the bottom so it will not stir up silt and mud from the bottom of the dam, the pipes are to allow fish to use the drum as habitat, the aerator should create a gentle flow beneath it,  the blackfish should breed in the pipes and the small current will be ideal for them to keep eggs clean. I use a good quality garden hose as an air line so it is a simple task to fit it .

This aerator will be run off a solar panel with a battery backup .

I have placed old bits of steel in the drum to help it sink and I will attach a chain and buoy to it for retrieval if necessary for cleaning at a later date.

I drilled some holes around the bottom to help it sink and I have made the holes big enough for small fish and yabbies to come and go, the dam is about 3 mts deep so I have made the chain just a bit longer. Now we just need sun shine.

After finishing the aerator I attached the hose floated it out to the deepest part of the dam  and let it sink , it in about 3 metres of water the drums are about 1 metre so the aerator is at about 2 metres that should create a slow  current that will circulate the water pretty well.

I then got the drone out and checked to see if it was all working , and I think it turned out pretty good.

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This is a water tank my neighbour had that got burnt in the fires I am going to use it on the fish farm. not sure how yet, I can weld plastic this might be to far gone.

We have had good rains again this year so everything is full.

Also some things from around the local farms that will make good fish habitat ,old pipe old cement troughs and some cypress logs that I cut the centre out of to make a hollow and lots of rocks.

During the recent fires many old native trees and native animals died and while some fell over by them selves some had to be cut down because  they had become dangerous I have used some as fish habitat.

The decaying roots of these trees  are now  home to the fungi they are in abundance and will be until the temperatures rise in the spring.

Blackfish Action Members at facebook its a group for people who would like to see blackfish higher on the list of priorities.