Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

yes rupe i did have it pressure tested and it will hold but then slowly leak down. this is when its warmed to operating temp.

no water in oil (yet) but i do think its getting into one or more cylinders.

Hairline crack in a valve or valve seat???? .... have you done a cylinder compression test???

I guess more likely a hairline crack in the head gasket... if you're slowly losing water... and things "seem" to smooth out as temp closes the "crack"...

truck will reen replacement long block engine

back to AP , i put water to the system today to flush out any pvc shavings and dust.

fewer leaks than i thought it would be , being as none of the pipe is glued from FT to GB's

one main leak that i must fix asap is in drain
from center GN run right at the T , could not be a worse place to remove. of course not

it not leaking becuase of poor connect, it leaking because sometime in the past usage of the sewer pipe pvc a slot was cut i did not notice until water was draining out

now for the main issue is that FT fills and overflows before GB, TCL is always correct i need larger inlet pipe from SLO , either that or get used to stopping and starting the supply pump from ST

all beds drain down to about 1/2" , so thats fine but im glad i checked it all before i added medium , i dont have any medium yet of course but im still searching for some alternative to bagged river rock from walmart.

i did find a place thats only 100 miles away
but they were almost as pricey as walmart

ill try to take some pics later today if antique cam will allow such

We have sand and gravel businesses around here, because they can mine the stuff in this region. What is local, other than sand and shells? Are any landscaping businesses around? We also have Hershey nearby and on a lark I thought I could use waste cocoa shells for a light medium. Anything from the orange groves or something? What was the reason for not using the clay stuff you have nearby?

nope its just like evrett mcgill said on oh brother where art thou. this place is a veritable geographical oddity, 2 damn weeks away from everywhere. and ill add everything

i got the drain line repaired.i got lucky and had enough play to slip it out without having to unhook all the GB on that run.

im overjoyed the little pump works well enough to keep up. my system may take a good while to get to the stage of being automatic but im here 24/7 and fiddling is what i do best hehehe

it fills and drains so it should grow a veggie yes?

maybe i can add larger supply pipe one day after truck is repaired? hopefully

So I'm lost about one thing, you keep talking about the truck but who drives it to go get materials?


And yes, if your system floods and drains, you should be all set to start growing some veggies as soon as you get some media in. Of course you still need to get yourself bigger plumbing between the fish tank and feed to grow beds but I guess you have until you get some media to sort that out.

im still driving when its bright outside. no fog , no rain , no nighttime. i still have drivers license im just not qualified for another one now. they never called for it and i not volunteer

im still safer than most well sighted drivers around here even with my low vision issues.

its 11 miles to branford florida from my driveway and there are 8 crosses marking 13 deaths between here and there

between the log trucks and chicken haulers and all the drunken hyped up locals this is danger alley. weekends are worse of course.

i do my driving weekdays about 10am till noon. no holidays

AP updates: i got all GB with their own ball valve now. also got a 55% shade cloth 16x18 inbound from Illinois. plus api master fw test kit will be here thursday. very nice lady at the branford pet store. she is into water gardens in large way.

all GB plumbed and also main drains.(blessed is the sharp holesaw) i put the little antique magdrive inside a pair of mesh type plastic pots i ziptied together and fitted a 3/4 hd garden hose to it. it pumps well. too well for my SLO as you already know

ive said before but im really happy i will not need much pump to do the job

nor can i express how much i enjoyed hearing water run. well until i saw how many leaks i had anyway hahaha.

but im getting there. it figures that the simplest of all the things to do with AP would give me the most probs. the medium

im wondering where the nearest rail siding is right now

ill take some pictures for you brother dave

its not a showcase by any means but it does prove anyone can have an AP system if my challenged arse can make one happen

i still have all my fingers ill have you know. close but i still gotz em

oh and that time the huge toad frightened me when i put my hand under a GB and i tried to reform the 2x6 with my head while i was making the lame attempt to flee.

i learned a lot thanks to you brothers and sisters but still have a lot to learn thats for sure. but im a happy swine that im nearing time to set some seeds.

i also think i would like to try some strawberry towers also if i can find out how to construct then and its something im capable of doing. maybe so...

Johnny, do you have some of that clay media you talked about before? Like maybe enough to use it in a grow bed or two. that way you could start cycling and be able to spread that media through all your grow beds as you get more media to fill them and you will have a head start on the whole cycling thing.

yes TCL i have some and can get more of that easily and locally. so i should go ahead and plant a couple of beds with the small media then ? 53 dollars per ton and i have 500 credit limit there too woohoo!

it drains albeit slowly but worked well for strawberrys in the bucket system for 2 years

then when i get proper rocks i can just just mix them.

TCL you rock!

ya know, if you are gonna be using a timer anyway and if that stuff really did work for strawberries then I'd say go ahead and use it.
Only possible drawback I see is if it takes so long to drain, you might have to space your pump timing quite far apart which would mean less aeration and flow for the fish tank and therefore you would have to stock less fish.

Then again, it might be even easier to add a barrel of watever media out by the fish tank and use an extra pump to simply filter and flow extra water right out there for a little water fall for the fishies and make everything happy.

well i had another idea for finding proper stone locally. im gonna call every poo tank installer within 40 miles this morning.

most use infiltrator plastic drainfield now but i may get lucky and find an old school poo tank installer that still uses river rock in drainfield installs

hopefuly i can get lucky for a change and find some proper rock, well that is if any of them will actually answer the phone or call me back.

thats not likely around here. i really dont get this bunch around here. they are in biz, hang a sign outside, get a yellow pages ad and wont answer phone or god forbid return a phone call but im gonna try.

i do plan to top dress my beds with the small filler material to about 3 or 4 inches as i think it will be easier for new seedlings to take roots in.

but a second pump might be something i have to end up adding also. just a small one.
that might be easier on me than changing pipe out.

today ill try to fit up a large diameter no holes pipe if i feel any better. i had rough rough night and woke up really hurting. hopefully i just pulled something when i hooked up my drag harrows yesterday?

howling dog ranch next door had choir practice all friggin night long too, so no wonder i can get any sleep when i really need it.

well i finally found some , at least it was enough to fill one row of GB

they call it number 57 stone




and in the GB



i dont think its lime rock as i tried to crunch it with pliers and could not break it. not much dust either as 2 rinsings did not make any milky water in GB when i filled them,

now if i just had 2 more loads