Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I used a paperclip to hit the reset button on the timer and then reprogrammed all the times. So far it seems to be behaving again.
So - I need to go find a deep cell battery and inverter ASAP. Whatever it costs - it will be worth it for a goodnights sleep.

As i said
IF IT AINT BROKE DONT FIX IT

The second grow bed is just about done....I need a couple more bags of gravel. Some pictures.

A short video of the system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnkuvYw_Zf0

The 5 or 6 times I went out to feed and look for pests today I smelled something between death and poo. Each time I stuck my nose in the FT, ST and around the growbeds. Nothing. It has always been on the same side as the new GB...but it is always while moving about . I cannot find the smell and has me worried!

Rightly so. Trust your instincts on this one. I assume you can see the bottom/around the tank, etc?

I think there is something dead in the neighbors yard. I smell it now pretty much wherever I am in my yard when a breeze picks up.

Temps are really getting up there now and the tilapia are feeding like crazy. How do you know if you are overfeeding and what is optimal. Just a half hour ago I fed as I normally do, but I stuck around to watch. As soon as they were done they came back to where I was at and watched me for a while. So I tossed in another handful - and they gobbled it down too and came back and watched me...so I threw another handful in and they ate that also....I did not want to press my luck further.

When they were smaller they would quite eating and a lot would end up in the growbed. So Have I been underfeeding as they have grown. I'm pretty amazed at how big the tilapia have gotten. There are at least 3 or 4 that are 8 to 9 incehs. The BlueGill are still pretty small and not growing nearly as fast. There is one that is keeping up with the tilapia, but for the most part they all still look the same size as when I got them. It is clear you cannot growout the BlueGill in one summer for harvest. Perhaps a feed issue - maybe they do not care for the high protine pellets.

I do not see any signs of breeding yet, but I suspect if the tilapia were to breed, the bluegill would eat the little ones.

Oh ya - I found a source of Red Wigglers in Houston near I10 if anyone needs some....$3.50 for 100.

AP is so much fun! Those that don't get it - well - they just don't get it!

I found the source of the smell...a forgotten wheelbarrel full of rabbit poo forgotten behind the shed. It had collected quite a bit of rain and had been back there formenting for sometime. Nasty!!!

Got 500 red wigglers today...they came with lots of dirt, so started sorting through them, but only have a couple dozen in the system so far.

Between rearanging the living room, birthday party and worm purchase - did not get much done...tomorrow I will have mote yard time...off to bed.

+1 Maybe it will catch on one day!

LOL been there and done that. I bet Moma was proud! The rabbit poo is better now for your more delicate dirt grown plants as all the salts were deluited out leaving good stuff for the worms. I have a compost box that has more than it's share of dry hard to compost stuff. (oak tree leaves and pine straw) the bunny berries help break it down.

Glad the source of the smell was found and not connected to the AP in any way!!!!!

Blue Gill are a full year if not two year grow out from my understanding but that is probably not such a bad thing, you will have some fish to keep your cool weather crops growing over winter.

As to feeding. As much as they will eat in say 15 minutes, so if you keep throwing them small hand fulls and they eat it all quick, throw them some more until they slow down or till you have been sitting there watching for 15 minutes and get board. With tilapia it is best to space the feedings apart. I think some one once said aprox 8 hours apart. If you were to feed and then feed again an hour later, the tilapia will still eat but the food just goes through them instead of promoting growth. So if you can arrange to space three feedings close to 8 hours apart you will probably get the fastest growth for your tilapia through these warm/hot months. I don't know the details or recommendations for Blue gill but I do know they naturally grow slower.

so I dumped it under magnolia tree where I had peviously put some sand. I figured the liquid would soak in and the high temps we are having would dry it out and clear up the stench by now...oh dear God my yard stinks...I'm sure the neighbors are unhappy and trying to figure out what died. Horrid smell!!!

I need to think about another growbed for the trial system - I did not expect the fish to grow so fast and expected more deaths early on....now I have to many fish. Maybe I could net a few and give them to sminfiddle. Or maybe just try and get the largest ones and fry them up.

Good night everyone...thanks goes to everyone who participates here!!! I'm not sure AP would be as fun without the forums. That would make a good poll.

Well the weekend is over

Hehe.

I put a rooster in the compost this winter but this spring it started to get smelly & DH complained. I threw a blanket over it & that was surprisingly effective at keeping the smell down.

Love it!
Are the indoor fish jealous of the time you're spending with the outdoor fish? LOL of course one tank is pets, the other is meat...

OK, I'll bite ... Where's that Wiggler source?
I have some brownish worms happily breeding in my soil and compost. Was planning to toss some of those native worms into each GB once I actually have wet gravel. But that's a good price.
And dumb question (probably answered up above but I just read each post as it comes in): are they to be gardener's helpers or fish food? (Hungry Hungry Tilapia say "Meat! Meat! Meat!")