Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

that's what we've done

Steve - that was what I was talking about in my post when I said 'white stuff'

that would be the technical term VB

Thanks all I will check into the white wash, but shade cloth sounds easyer.

Aussieponic

the shadecloth to some extent also protects the film against falling sticks etc

Good point Jaymie, thanks.

Aussie

VB, it always seems to be you that busts me for skimming the posts

sorry..........again

Aussie, are you going to do F&D on the 9 GBs, if all flooded at the same time means about 2,000 litres in the GBs at some time, or are you going to flood the GBs sequentially? (if so how?)

Aussie - was out at the AP system yesterday and the wife was nearby. I called her over to show her what was in the bed at present.

I told her that the plants are not growing particularly well because of their full sun position. Told her it would probably be a good idea to get a greenhouse to house the big system in. She said - yeh probably. I said - it's gonna cost. She said - that's okay .

Don't tell me I've got a supportive spouse all of the sudden. The reality of it is that I think she just likes the idea of have a structure over the AP to hide what she considers to be a mess . Either way I'm laughing .

Order it tomorrow VB... just in case she changes her mind

Nah - I was always going to get it anyway. Is just less painful if she is agreeable .

EKB, my tank will hold 3120ltrs, but my fish density will be based on 2500ltrs, I was hoping to flood all the beds at the same time. Do you think 1120ltrs of water left in the tank during the flood cycle will not be enough for the fish? I have revised the growbeds down from 9 to 8. ws planning on having 300 jade perch harvested at 500gms. Also was planing an a 500ltr sump.

VB I though she would come around to the Greenhouse idea. I could tell that the day I was there. She did say having a greenhouse to house all the ap stuff was neat and tidy. But yes it is better to have the wife onboard with what you want to do. All is good.

Aussieponic

Aussie, how deep will the water in the tank be at 1120L? Will the fish have enough depth?

Aussie, 66% of the water disappearing from the fish tank each flood is a bit of a concern, 3 options:

a) decrease the grow bed size (not really an option)
b) go ahead with the 8 but regularly check and top up tank (Steve lost 200l in a week due to transpiration - lot of plants, lot of water used)
c) flood beds in sequence, only system that I know of doing this is mine with the door actuators - extra expense tho and may not suit you

It will be difficult (near on impossible) to bring 8 beds on line at the one time successfully, so as you commission each bed, you can monitor the water levels and act accordingly.

If you want more info on the door actuated, Sequentially Operated Growbed (SOG) let me know.

SOG - another one to add to the list Jaymie

Ell, How forgetful of you. My system fills in sequence with three pumps, three timers, and three beds. The timers stagger when each pump kicks on. Perhaps the growbeds in this case could be clustered--fill three at a time with one of three pumps.

Of course, I'm going to be transistioning to filling all beds off one pump, and let the autosiphons go in and out of synch as they will. My fluctuations are not as bad as I thought, and I need to get more water through the beds.