Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all,

System details as follows;
1 x 1000l IBC FT @ ground level.
1 x 1000l IBC ST @ ~300mm below ground level, capacity to ~400l.
2 x 400l grow beds with Canna clay balls.
CHIFT PIST.
Aquapro 3000 pump to FT with ball valve back to ST. 40mm SLO to GB's. 40mm PVC piping with ball valves into GB's.
GB1 has GRD(?) industries tank fitting. GB2 has Holman tank fitting (Holman fitting on GB1 decided to explode somewhat and empty the bed, thus the difference!).
U-Siphons were chosen for the apparent ease of installation and lack of adjustment requirements over bells. Unfortunately not evident in my case and I've had to retrofit some media guards (rectangular B**nings bins with the arses cut out).
90mm return to ST with 90deg bend at ST end for aeration.
A few sides have 20mm polypanel/ductboard insulation for light/thermal control and I plan to cover both tanks with this.
FT has a 50/50 split, hinged ekodeck lid. Locked down on one side & locked, but openable other side to feed fish/access tank. Done with wire rope and quick release fixings (Gripple, my business. Hit me up if you want anything similar!)
All tank surfaces will eventually have ekodeck cladding, to match the nearby deck, with lattice below the GB's for toms/cukes etc.
Put up shade sails as the younger plants' leaves were getting smashed by the sun.
Started cycling fishless with humonia, a bit of seasol for the plants etc. Father-in-law has an aquarium that needed cleaning, which I valiantly offered to help clean out, in return for some water and filter sponges of course.
He suggested I take the only (remaining) goldy he had in there. He bought fish from a retail shop and most died out over a short period. "The Champ", as I call him is the surviving goldy and he has thrived in his new mansion.
The aquarium water has done an absolute treat at kicking off the cycling, as it was far quicker than I had imagined. Number as follows;
5/03/16 7.6 0.0 0.0 0.0
11/03/16 7.6 0.0 0.0 0.0
13/03/16 7.6 0.0 0.0 0.0
15/03/16 7.6 0.0 0.0 0.0
18/03/16 7.6 0.0 1.0 0.0
19/03/16 7.6 0.0 5.0 5.0
22/03/16 7.6 0.0 1.0 5.0
25/03/16 7.6 0.0 1.0 5.0
30/03/16 7.6 0.0 0.3 5.0
3/04/16 7.6 0.0 0.0 0.0
7/04/16 7.6 0.0 0.0 0.0

As far as I can see, I'm cycled, but please correct me if I'm wrong! Numbers are great. There's a wonderful bio-slime covering the FT & piping. Leafy plant growth is astonishing (see below pics). A handful of plant tastings have been performed and they taste brilliant. No bitterness and the rainbow chard actually tastes sweet.

I have made contact with Carey regarding fish and am more than happy with the pricing (and recommendations from BYAP forum).
My only questions regarding fish are 1) What size SP to get and 2) how best to introduce them into their new abode.
I have decided on SP for the initial stocking and worked out 25 will be spot on for my set up, but my queries are about size and introduction method.
I will of course discuss with Carey, but would love your thoughts also and thank you in advance.

My other concern are the media guards. The options now are either pull out and drill out the rectangular bins and reinstate, or go bells and gain some growing space.
The bin guards are sucking up media through the bottom and clogging/restricting the siphons from performing, but I'm assuming this is due to not drilling out the sides.
The added benefit of the clogging/restricting of the siphons is that the beds are currently (mostly) running as CF, which is making the pak choi/bok choi/lettuce/silverbeet etc go ballistic!
I may even keep one bed as CF and the other as siphoning.

Future plans for the system are;
Get the bloody fish in!
Replace Holman tank fitting with new GRD(?) industries fitting, just in case.
Finish insulating both tanks with ductboard.
Clad both tanks with ekodeck decking.
Replace U-siphons with bells.
*Eventually* replace timber stand with steel stand.
3rd/4th grow bed in time, as required.
Considering marron in ST, but not sold on the idea yet.

Thanks for reading, I'll chuck some photos up shortly.

Cheers!

As we're heading into winter (last night was the first chilly one for the year), I would get larger fingerlings. I'd be aiming for 7cm+ as a minimum, but preferably 10cm+

As far as introducing them is concerned:

(a). Salt your system to 1gm per litre with pool salt before you go to pick the fish
(b). Take the biggest esky you can get your hands on when you go to pick them up.
(c). Take a portable air pump with you, the Aquapro DC120 is a good unit and will only set you back about $16.
(d). When buying an airstone for the pump I would aim for smaller, finer airstone so you get better oxygen saturation.
(e). When you get the fingerlings home acclimatise them by removing and replacing about 20-25% of the water from the esky with water from your system about every 10-15 mins, after about 4-5 water changes they'll be fine to introduce into the main system.

Thanks kindly.

Have salted to 3ppt per Carey's recommendation (I think based on the goldy being in there and possible bad guys it brought in).
Used the backup aerator for transport, worked a treat.
Water changes done and fish are in. They all seem happy enough, even though the goldy's penthouse is now a backpackers.
Highly active little blighters.

When should/can I start feeding them all? Is there any suggested wait time, or do I need to wait until they calm down a bit? Or are SP's just this active normally?

Cheers again folks.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cluxtup6mla2o ... 9.mov?dl=0

I've had a few people tell me that Carey recommends 3gm/Ltr to them when they've picked up fingerlings. That level is more of a remedial dose and not required for IMO, especially considering I've never heard anyone complain about the quality or health of his fingerlings.

1gm/Ltr is a long recommended, widely used dosage that has been used successfully by many AP'ers over many years. It will have very minimal, if any effect at all on plant health, whereas 3gm/Ltr will wreak havoc with some plants, especially the winter crops many will be planting now, such as peas, lettuce, strawberries etc, as well the seedlings of most plants.

I would do a few small partial water changes (ie: 20% at a time) over the next few weeks to reduce the 3gm/Ltr. Ensure the top-up water pH is reasonably close to that of the system pH, and aerated for at least 24hrs prior to adding it, to remove the chlorine.

As far as feeding is concerned, just try a few pellets thrown towards the rear of the FT where they'll feel more comfortable rising to feed. If they don't eat it then scoop it out and repeat every day with fresh feed until they do start feeding. Both Silvers and Trout are usually very quick to start feeding after relocation. Barra can be a different story.

..
Those figures that you presented..WHAT ARE THEY...? (Other than the obvious date)
..

Looking at the figures I assumed:

Date > pH > Nitrate > Ammonia > Nitrite

With a very short peak and drop in the Ammonia, for whatever reason... Over the years I've learnt not to question speedy cycling figures, there's usually a reason, ie: maybe the system was running for a couple of weeks prior on plain water with a dash of Seasol, which would've provided enough Amm to get the bacteria colony started, albeit in a tiny capacity... and it was just Jonesing for a decent dose of Ammonia.

Edit: It's actually not that speedy when you look at the dates, it's about average... At first glance I simply looked at the last date and then assumed each preceding set of figures was from the previous day, ie: daily readings, but they aren't... just goes to show it pays to have a mummy's look as opposed to a fleeting glance.

..
I assumed.that also, but ASSUME.has others interpretations..
So pH remained.at.7.6 for the month... hmmmmmmm.!
..

Very common in Perth, with our hard, high carbonate water.

Apologies, pH > Ammonia >Nitrite > Nitrate.
Yes, Carey had his own opinion on salting, the use of aquarium water/sponges/media/other fish to cycle the system.
He also had his own opinion on common information on this forum.
He may have suggested this based on the fact there was a goldfish in there, but who knows. It did seem odd when he was spruiking his fish as certified disease free etc and then recommending to salt to that level just in case.
I had dosed to 1ppt yesterday, but followed his suggestion today prior to introducing the fish.
I figured I'm paying him for the fish, so I'll follow his recommendations.

He did mention strawberries would suffer, which I don't plan on, but was unaware of peas/lettuce/seedlings. Good to know. I'll monitor and change out as required/advised.

Carey also mentioned limestone as a pH buffer (which I've read on here also, for our high-carb water). Is this a necessary requirement, in the brains trust's opinion? I have read here that it may actually increase to ~8.0? and thought this would be detrimental to plants.

pH level is a tricky one. I did try the high level test and could not find a close match (with three other people also unable to match the colours). The only one that comes close is the 7.6.
I'll test again tomorrow and post for verification.

Cheers.

Carey's background is aquaculture, so it's understandable that his primary concern is for the fish he's selling you, not the plants in your system.

As far as adding limestone is concerned, I would wait until your pH has dropped into the high 6's before adding it to your system.

I have trialled limestone in a couple of systems and I'm far from convinced that it actually works as well as many people claim. Don't get me wrong, it achieved better results than the widely recommended shell grit.

In the last trial I placed half a dozen large pieces, ie; large fist to grapefruit in size, in 500L of water in an IBC system. There was an initial lift in pH, due to the fine, easily dissolved particles on the outside of the limestone I'm assuming, but it was very short lived and the pH soon began dropping again, albeit at a much slower rate.

Carey did suggest in one reply to a post I made about it on my Facebook page, that the limestone should smaller in size, ie: similar to crushed limestone you see used for road base I would imagine. This makes sense, more surface area is exposed to the acids in the water... but I like to siphon the floor of my FT clean occasionally, so the limestone would be best put in a separate drum with the system water flowing through it.

Since giving up on the limestone, I've been using hydrated lime (Brickie's lime) in combination with Potassium bicarbonate to raise and buffer the pH, along with Magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts), to balance the Ca:K:Mg ratio, but because my system is stocked to it's absolute limit and there is a lot of nitrification taking place, it was proving to be somewhat ineffective and time consuming. The hydrated lime was the issue, it wasn't adding to the waters buffering ability and was only creating very short term increases in pH, so I was having to test and adjust the pH every second day and I was struggling to keep the pH above 6.0

I needed more buffering capacity (carbonates) in the water, so I have now started trialling a different approach... Plain Garden lime (calcium carbonate, ie: crushed limestone) and Dolomite lime (Calcium Magnesium carbonate) in a 1:1 ratio, with the brands I bought this puts the Calcium and Mg in at roughly the right ratio. Then I add 0.5 in ratio of Potassium bicarb, giving an overall Ca:K:Mg ratio close to 3:1:1

So into 500L I put a level teaspoon each of the Garden lime and Dolomite lime, and 1/2 a level teaspoon of Pot bicarb. After only two additions of this a couple of days apart the constant decline in pH was arrested. After the third addition the pH was 6.5 and relatively stable. After only the fourth addition I got the pH up to 6.8 and very stable. It's now been four days since the last addition and it's only dropped 0.1, down to 6.7... We'll see how it goes... If I only have to do this once per week, it's far more convenient that 3-4 times per week, and better for the fish.