Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

That looks like a good weekends work there. And what better a day than one that is cold with a bitter chill, certainly one way to warm up Marc

Hi All, time for an update.
Big day a few weeks back. Headed down to BYAP for some beds, Hydroton, tank and the rest of the stuff.
As space is limited in the greenhouse I thought it best to go as big as I could afford with the tank. That way I could grow without having to add or replace tanks. I was going to get a 1000l and 3000l tanks but I managed to find a supplier who sold big aquaculture tanks (taller rather than wider as space is limited). The "3000l" tank is the same width (2300mm) as the 3000l BYAP tank but 950mm deep, which made it nearly 4000l. So with the 1000l and the 4000l tanks and a ute full of BYAP gear, I was ready to go.


I had measured up the hole in the wall of the green house and yes the 2300 X 950mm tank would just fit. So when it came to pick it up it was Oh @&#! it's massive. I wasn’t sure I could get it on the ute let alone into the green house. The 2000l tank was looking a better option

I finally got it home - that was the easy bit. I then had to handle the moster tub through the bush to the green house. No easy task but we managed it.

Then we had to man handle it in through the hole in the wall and into the hole in the ground. At first I thought it would not make it as it dwarfed the hole in the wall but as they say "with brute force and ignorance you can stuff a butterfly".


With it finally in place it started to look like something was happening and time to put the benches in. All color co-ordinated of course!!



One guess what the "War Office's" favorite color is? oh well at least it matches the tank!
Stay tuned
Marc

Look like things are moving in the right direction there Marc

...And to finish the update.

The "War Office" is eyeing off the tin of blue paint and the beds!

Reminds me of the Inventers from many years ago when one of the judges would always ask what color they came in. Oh well it is better than the drab finish I started with!! and will keep any of the CCA treatment away from the fish, not that there should be much left to leach out as the timbers have been in a permanent state of being saturated for the best part of the last 15+ years when it was a greenhouse.

Tank all levelled up and now to put the water in.



As our only water supply is from our rainwater tanks the water is very cold (8C) and brown, at least when looking through nearly a meter of it. It is brown from all the Tannins from the trees, particularly the Casuarinas (yummy) and has a pH of 5.5. The pH wont be a problem as it has no buffering capacity and a bit of sodium bicarb and sea shells should see it settle at 7.5 (at least that's what the indoor tanks do).

I'm going to cycle the tank before I add the fish. I have the time as Gavin wont have SP available until late August and I would not mind trying peeponics as it is probably the only chance I will get to try this method. (I can't see the Missus letting me try that with one of the indoor tanks ) And get to play with cycling without upsetting any of the fish.

Now all I need to do is get that water temperature up to speed up the cycling process and to have the SP feeding when they arrive. It was 14.5C outside today and 27C in the green house so I'm in with a chance.
Stay tuned
Cheers
Marc

Thanks Faye. Been a long time thinking and planning. It's very exciting when it all begins to come together.

Nice blue Marc...

Now I feel guilty, we should have tried to get you in some blue beds to match everything else...

Pfft that was my first thought too. Only thing is though Joel, you just say NO, no no it only comes in two colours. I had to fight to get a third colour in the balcony system and that then turned in to a choice of 42, so be very careful here! LOL

"Reminds me of the Inventers from many years ago when one of the judges would always ask what color they came in."
That would be Diana Fisher. Her other question was "Is it safe for kiddies?"
Congratulations on digging a hole in the Hills!

LOL

I have come to regret digging the hole as the tank is now just at that height so that when you lean over you end up getting close up and personal with the fish. I can tell you that the water is cold. I can also tell you that the first thing you think of as you end up head first into the water is that "I'm cycling this with Humonia"

is it safe for kiddies? It sure ain't safe for grown ups with an aquaponic fetish!

System is coming together very nicely.

Yeah, digging in the hills - at leasst you've got some flat ground to work with though.

What water temps are you getting ?

Thanks Chillidude. Still have a fair bit to do. I have to get the 1000l sump in as well as the next 2 beds. Still tossing up whether to put them inside or outside the greenhouse.

My place is sort of flat but when compared to your place my place is like a pool table.

Water temps are 15C in the morning and still climbing (slowly now) from the 8C when it went in.

Do you think the SP will establish OK at those temps? Troutman is delivering SP in late August. I would love to get them then.

The 4 air stones are not in the tank in the above photo - I just had a couple of 50mm balls that I picked up from the local fish shop. So the effect those air stone from spectrum can't really be seen.

I have a query for you learned Aquaponicistas. I have a "grow bed" well actually it is an old thermofilm hot bed 2m X 1m and an effective depth of 120mm. Could I use this as a growbed? - I was thinking of something that had a fibrous root system like lettuce.

I appreciate that everone says that the grow beds should be 300mm deep but this is free and if I can't use it for aquaponics the "War office" is going to make me throw it out.

any advice or thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Cheers
Marc

If it is only 120mm deep, does that mean that the growing depth might only be 10mm. It might be okay for shallow rooted plants that are harvested regularly, might also need more maintenance and become rootbound fairly quickly, can you give it a try?

Hi Faye,
thanks for the response. The 150mm is the depth of Hydroton so i guess the growing depth would be the same.

Are there any problems having beds of different depth like fill and drain times? I appreciate that the fill time can be regulated by the tap but it could drain twice as fast as the other deeper beds so that in summer leafy crops like letttuce may suffer.

a quick update on the system
PH - 7.5
Ammonia - 4
Nitite - 0
Nitrate - between 0 and 5.
Temp - 15C at 8am
I've been fishless cycling for 3 weeks now so the nitrites should kick in soon.
I added gunk from my fish tanks inside so maybe that will speed up the process.
Hmm inside tanks and now a big outside tank. Maybe I should move that big pleco outside and join the silvers when the water gets up (assuming I can catch it)