Hi everyone. I wasn't going to write anything else on this thread as we're already working on project 2 and all of this will be torn apart, but for now it's working so I thought I'd share. The problem with the high ph was solved. I got rid of the speckly whiteish gravel and put floating rafts made out of 1/2" pvc sheets. Im certain the gravel was the culprit of the ph problem. The PVC sheet rafts work ok as they're quite sturdy, but if I were to try again I'd hunt down some 1" pvc sheets. Frankly I'll probably just use 2" foam as its way cheaper. I'm aerating these (6) DWCs with a 1744 gph air pump from alliedaqua.com. I have to apologize, I guess I didn't take photos of any of these!
I have also added a string of double Dutch buckets. These are plumbed from the side with 1" pipe. An old pool pump fills them through this pipe, but they also drain through it. There's a u siphon in the last bucket for draining. Disregard the tee and 2 ends to the siphon, one is capped off. From time to time I'll pull out the bucket next to the eggplant, to ensure all the buckets are draining before the siphon breaks, and they do. If I redo a bucket system, I will plumb them from the bottom with flat bulkhead fittings as there is some gunk on the bottom of the buckets. I'm looking forward to pulling out the tomatoes and eggplant, to see how bad the roots are, and determine if I'm going to extend the Dutch bucket system to the back yard.
Fairy tale eggplants, growing much larger than the package says:
I also have green onions, cherry tomatoes, pac choi, yellow squash and zucchini in them.
Other than aphids destroying some mizuna, the system is workning quite well. On Wednesdays I add a Tbsp of Iron EDDHA I buy from Alliedaqua.com and a tbsp of potassium hydroxide. On Sundays I add the iron plus a tbsp of calcium hydroxide. No deficiencies noticed, but I think in part this is due to the nice, cool weather we've been having (Well, cool for Puerto Rico).
As far as levels, they're all out of whack! Everything besides the ph is high. But the fish keep eating and growing like there's no problem, and I haven't seen any one fish floating belly up. I suppose the air from the pump, along with the flow from the 3500gph pump keep the water moving enough to keep the fish healthy. (Or they're eating each other before I catch them).
Backyard Aquaponics
