Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Thanks Janet. What about the plant? Do they need more air?

Try to turn your water over at least once an hour more if possible. If you do that and you have reasonable turbulence where the water goes back into the fish tank AND you are not over stocked, and as Janet says the fish are not gulping at dawn, then you are OK. Your system will tell you what to do if you pay attention closely enough. Don't obsess and don't over spend. Just have fun and work up an appetite for fish and veggies.

Thanks dthawk. Its easy to eat the veggies, no problem. But I've gotten kinda attached to my fish. I don't think I can eat them at this point. Hehe. I think its cause I have koi mixed in with the tilapia and the have made me attached to them all. Kinda funny how that works....

So I have slugs in my gravel. They hide several inches below the top. Anyone have this trouble? Any solutions besides digging out veggies and scouring through the gravel?

I need to update with pictures. Things are going well. The only trouble I am having is

1. Something is eating my seedlings. I think its the slugs but I haven't seen them out when I check at night. So I dunno, birds? Ghosts?

2. Bolting: Many veggies are bolting: lettuce, chinese parsley, choi sum. Why? I researched and it seems heat is the main culprit.

BTW: I got AP approved at the school I teach at, or did I mention this already? I'm super stoked on that one.

HN

HN, bolting could always be a problem for you.... as you say... due to the heat.

Might have to organise some shade cloth.

Wow, just caught this thread. Looking good.

Some notes about lettuce. I live in a hot climate too, or I should say real hot most of the year and a bit cooler than you for perhaps a couple months. Lettuce only grows nicely outside here December, January and Feb. I still have some lettuce growing outside right now but some of it is bolting and the peas are looking droopy on warm and hot days already. I actually usually grow some lettuce indoors under florescent lights through the hot months (which I suppose starts shortly and continues through November.)

Lettuce needs bright enough light as seedlings to keep them from getting leggy or spindly but otherwise is pretty happy with filtered light. 6 hours of direct sunlight is usually thought of as FULL SUN especially in a hot climate. If you were finding the 70% shade cloth was blocking too much light, perhaps something that lets in more light might be in order.

The Leaf miners (so long as it is just a few tracks or only on a few leaves) are nothing to worry about, really only cosmetic damage, I wouldn't risk soap near fish for a few leaf miners. I often get a few miner tracks on some leaves but have never had them really hurt a plant.

Thanks guys. I was considering shade cloth, in fact I have some set up that can pull over the plants. I am torn though because all the other plants are loving the sun. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

i'll post some pics soon.

HN, we can only seem to grow loose leaf lettuces, hearting varieties bolt too quickly, even in our winter.

I've never grown anything other than loose leaf, even inside with AC.

HN, perhaps you will just have to move the lettuce factory indoors if you set up a breeding Aquarium for the Tilapia and then you can leave the hot sunny outdoor system for the sun loving plants.

Of course I've found here that even sun loving plants want a little light shade part of the day during the hotter months.

Good Luck!

with the slugs, maybe you could flood the bed for a few minutes and wait for them to come up for air?

In gardens where I've encountered lots of slugs, I like to lay something like a board down and they tend to congregate on the underside of it. This makes it easier to collect them and drop them into a bucket of soapy water. Of course depending on the fish, perhaps skip the soapy water and drop them into the tank as food if the fish like them.

Nice one TC

Then there is always the option of making a slug trap with a container of beer but I'm not certain those work so well.