Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Re questions:

bshx asked about ratios:

the pond is about 2000 L and I think the grow beds combined are about 900 L so I dont have enough filtration and bacterial SA for max stocking density. I am planning to add 2 more grow beds on either side of the pond to increase the amount of bacteria available and I will have to keep an eye on the water quaility. I am happy to just have a few fish in there as long as the water stays clean and the plants are growing- sorry not very scientific I know. Right now Ive got 25 silvers in there at 4-5 cm, and 30 5 cm goldfish.
I have a plan to move the goldfisdh into another system when the perch get bigger. When the water quality starts to suffer I'll have to cull some of the perch but ive got 5 fat cats to help me so threy wont go to waste.

Got fish asked about colours:
It actually gets worse, Gotfish! On the other side of the garden we have a bright red and dark green brick wall ( very rasta). We do like bright.

Astis asked about the pond:
Its about 80 cm at its deepest - we dug to 90 cms . I wanted a metre but our muscles wore out at 90 cm. All the layers of liner mustve added about 10 cm. I havent remeasured since we dug it out. The walls you can see covered with blue liner are brick - It was originally a very ordinary flower bed full of dirt and rocks.

Greenedo asked about the liners:
First we dug it out and then I got in there and removed all the tiny stones . Then I added a think layer of sand. I then covered the floor and walls with old carpet pieces. The we covered the whole thing with vinyl pond liner, which was a bout 30 bucks a metre. I ws thinking about yabbies burowing so I then added some think layers of vinyl acetate sheets which i boutght from reverse garbage - an industrial re-use centre. Over that we had a roll of ordinary black vinyl to hold the sheets in place and finally we added two massive blue tarps folded in half but then one of them ened up being wrapped around a colum of cement blocks. I have found the tarps are very water proof howver they may not have the 'give' of vinyl liner incase of sharp stones, plant roots etc.
This was a bit over the top but i had all this stuff and REALLY didnt want a leaky pond - very hard to fix with those heavy grow beds over the top.
I also like the blu colour of the tarps - its easier to see the fish.

Hi Monya,
I read and replied to your question about sleeping babies but it never made it on to the thread - lost in the ether!
Anyway I dont think Freya is sleeping due to anything Karl and I are doing - I reckon all babies have their own rhythm and pace with these things. The sleep dep and crying is very hard especially when you then have
to go to work the next day. I have my fingers crossed for you that your little one will soon give you a break.
Let me know how she gets on

Aeon

Couldn't agree more! There is nothing for frustrating than professionals blaming parents for the best job they can do. We our took our son to sleep school at 6 months and copped a bit of slack about what 'we were doing wrong'. BTW they shutup pretty quick when they found out he had a tiwn sister that sleeps like an angel! . Now as I type Little Lawson is just falling to sleep after 45mins of talking and playing in his cot (and he is now 13.5 months old!), now doubt elizabeth will wake in around 15 mins.

just go with the flow and keep your sanity.

It does get bettter with time... When they get to high school you worry again....about being out all night and who they are with.... I guess it never really gets better. We are alll doooomed!

Thanks Aeon, we'll get there. Funny how he's number 3 and yet we still ain't pro's at this LOL

You have moved up in the world with system number 2 Aeon.... Do you still have your first verticle system going, or is it scrapped now you have the big one?

Yep my mini is still chugging along - I'll post some pics when karl gets home to supervise my attempt at web photo surfing.

Aeon & Monya- With our first we figured we were pros, then came the second. Each kid that comes is different. My parents noted that the first two were opposites, they figured that they had the spectrum covered, the third was opposite of both. I have found that there are at least 6 opposites, and my parents said there were at least a dozen.

It does get easier - in some ways. In others, it gets worse. Overall, I guess it all just changes. We have kids ranging from 2 - 18, (that's 2 - 18 in metric), and each gives us times of sleepless nights, and times of indescribable joy.

But, since you can't send them back the way they came, and the warranty has expired, I guess we'll keep them! (and no trade-ins either!)

just a little anecdote aeon... was walking past a car outside the supermarket and there's a mum looking rather frazzled with a two year old daughter asking "why mum" why mum"...

couldn't help myself, burst out laughing, reassured her that the funny side related to my own two children, both teenagers, who no longer ask me "why"...

they don't ask me anything anymore, cos they figure I'm too old to know anything.

Ain't life grand.

Hi aeon love the colours are you priming it with fish junk from a nother system just be careful those blue tarps are not uv stabelised in the sun they last about 2 years

Aeon you a Rasta to!!!!

Thats good to know about the tarps ( lucky there's vinyl liner in there too)
_ when you say junk do you mean bacterial goo? cause yes we scraped some out of my mini system to jump start the nitrate cycling process. I also used water, gravel and celery from my other system as the celery has this huge root system which would be loaded with tons of the good stuff.

Hey there Carribean!
We tend to be more Rasta on saturdays when we ( or should I say I and I ) listen to rasta dub and trip hop on the radio and play in the garden - as Rasta as 2 skinny white kids from sydney can get, anyway!

Ya mon, wagwan me bruddas?

My wife and I have discussed going red, gold and green. So far, she's shot me down. When I have a barn/shed/garage of my own up, then I get to have it.

Aeon, nice system.

You have only the red scoria, do you have your source water pH and the first pH reading after you started pumping through the beds, and average temp in morning while cycling up (pond and outside)

Will help with my notes.

Mum had 6 of us, all different. Grandma would have been interesting to talk to with 12 children. Probably had the whole rainbow.