Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Once the water goes over the top of the standpipe - wow!!!!

I have since put a 45o elbow on the bottom which not only increases the mixing of air in the water, but has created a nice swirl affect. This will be improved even further when the second GB comes online.

I think it's now time for some fish.

So last Sunday, the best half, my daughter and I headed up into the Adelaide hills and went and saw Stuart (aka Monya) and collected 17 lovely looking Silver Perch. It was great to see Stuart's setup and even though the cow had wrecked his greenhouse and a majority of his AP system - I was still impressed.

12 of the SP's were for me and the remaining 5 were for a work colleague who also has an AP setup at home.

I'm really lucky to work at a school that teaches and encourages sustainability and a big part of this includes AP. The students have small systems set up with plastic storage crates, hydroton, yabbies and beans - they are running quite successfully. I don't have any pictures at present, but may be able to get one during the upcoming Holiday period.

Got my babies home safely and prepared them for introduction into the FT. (Didn't have a great deal of time as I had a ticket to go to the 'Footy' - it was great to see my 'Kangas' smack the suitcase out of the Power!)

The SP's were pretty quiet in the plastic crates but went into the tank quite readily and haven't looked back.

They tend to like this corner of the tank - although they are getting a little more adventurous.

Figured I also needed some indication on how the system was operating - better get some plants in. I planted out some lettuce seedlings and a couple of strawberry plants.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I ran some tests on the water on Thursday evening and the results are attached.


Now I just have to wait until the system is cycled.

Although, I would like to get another GB up and running shortly. I have another one ready to set up and just need to put some work in and it will be ready. I also have a second frame on which to sit it on - not to mention any number of pavers to get it to the correct height. Hope to get on to some of this tomorrow, as we are off to Mildura next weekend.

Any feedback on the system so far would be appreciated.

Cheers

Dave

LOL! Love your thinking Dave! Looking good and glad you managed to share some photos. You know there is no turning back now, this thing is addictive and you, like the rest of us are hooked. My best advice is just hang on and enjoy the ride.

Monya's still trying to get rid of SP's. Didn't he have any trout? (hi Stu )
System is looking good.

Good stuff Dave.

Nice work Dave

Hi Dustin,

I think Hills were selling the troughs as garden beds - they told me that as feed/water tanks they probably weren't quite deep enough. Hey, they work for me as a GB.

The FT's were purchased from a company in Qld - send me an e-mail if you want the details - I still have one sitting around in the backyard. (Don't worry Joel - I won't advertise their product on your forum. ) They weren't cheap - about $650 each including delivery - asked the salesguy if they had any second-hand ones - got 'em for ½ price. The main thought behind them was to try and maintain a constant temp all year round. Temps are pretty stable so far - range between 11 and 13C.

Cheers

Dave

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the response and info. I have a 780L MegaBin as my FT and the water temps pretty much follow air temps, both currently about 10 deg in the Hills. At most the water temp fluctuated about 2 degrees in 24 hours and that was in late June.

I am looking at either insulating the tank with a wooden frame, blueboard and straw, and/or building a greenhouse over the top of the system using Twin Wall poly sheets (depending on cost!) to try to maintain more consistent water temps.

Cheers,

Dustin

Stable but cold..........

Damn cold here in Perth at the moment, we've had to put a second heater into the barramundi's aquarium to try and keep it above 18.

My little grow house did amazing things for my temperatures and consistency over the last month or so. These last few days I've had to open the door all day to cool everything down. But every day I see water temperatures over 16c so the silvers were feeding happily. 24c was my highest water temp up until a few days ago when I started opening the door. I stopped recording temps when the door was open.

I have a few graphs that tell the story on my system thread that you might be interested in being local and all.