Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hi Rupert.

good questions, pH i havent tested, its rainwater so I assume starts life neutral (7) where its gone from there i will let you know as soon as i can test it ( friday afternoon)

temperature, well it's winter in the Adelaide Hills so bloody cold,

the system is a CHIFT PIST, pump on for 15 mins in the hour, drains over the next 1/2 hour or so and grow beds empty approx 15 mins. gravel beds 30 cm deep. 7-14mm aggregate. pump runs hourly from dawn to dusk then once every 3 hours during the night to keep o2 levels up and keep the bacteria wet.

how long its been at 1ppm is another good question, it was 0.25 4 weeks ago, i have been on holidays and my parents feeding the fish, 1 ppm on my return. cant guarantee they havent been overfeeding.

i will fill you in on pH temp and photos friday night/ sat am

hi the pH is 6.2 , temperature is still bloody cold, BOM site said nearest town was 1.1 degrees overnight and max 14 today, i assume the water isnt much different to that

view of the gb's and tanks


oops, pretend you are lying down to have a look at this one, the sump is under the wooden palate, it is another fibreglass trough same as the grow beds, the pump is in there. the water goes from the sump to the cut down IBC, overflows from there to the blue IBC and overflow to the GB's from there

Humm... OK... just lay off the feed for a day or two... and see if the nitrite drops...

The whole nitrification process is probably slow because of the temps... so it might take a day or two to convert any over-feeding...

I'd put a tablespoon of slaked lime (Calcium Hydroxide) in there as well ... "brickies lime / hydrated lime".... to nudge your pH back...

How big is that tank again??

The last thing you need is the bacteria crashing because your pH dives below 6.0....

Perhaps get some shellgrit and put into the growbeds... to provide a longer term self regulating pH buffer

cheers, i will get some shell grit and lime or similar, i have plenty of calcium carbonate i use to harden aquarium water.

i guess there is arround 2000l in the system.

thanks for your advice.

well problem solved.... and not in a good way

yesterday the aquarium keeper in me decided to do a water change to drop the nitrates so i drained the sump and refilled with fresh rainwater. the pump kicked in while refilling the sump so i switched it off.
I then continued filling the sump and did a few other jobs waiting for it to fill.

i forgot to turn the pump back on.... 60 dead trout this morning.... all my fault.

lesson learned, need to find some fish so the bio doesnt die, pee ponics till then

That's a bugger Dogboy... but you're not the first to do it....

As to the "aquarium keeper" in you.... keep it for aquariums....

We don't need to worry about nitrates in AP... our plants gobble them up.... and our native fish are not affected by levels under 500ppm... water changes are not necessary...

sorry Typo, i meant nitrites, and i guess i was worried the system wasnt cycling as well as it should.

as said lesson learned the hard way. one day ill learn to leave things alone and not tamper too much, ive lost aquarium fish through stupid mistakes as well.

my boss is happy though, he has lost 2 batches of trout and some sliver perch in the last 18 months so he feels better that its not just him killing fish.

well i got some more trout, they did well for 5 days then one decided to swim into the outlet pipe in the tank effectiveley blocking it, the tank overflowed , the sump ran dry and the pump cut out, 60 dead trout!

picked up 17 goldfish for free, they will have to do to keep the system cycled till its warm enough for barra or perch. can i feed them barra food or stick to goldfish flakes?

also any suggestions for en effective way to stop fish swimming into pipes, i tried some plastic mesh but it slowed outflow too much and then blocked with some watercress leaves and flooded the tank again!

The goldfishes should be fine with barra food. Don't feed them too much...

Not sure what your outlet pipe setup is like, but I used gutter guard cable tied to my SLO pipe and it works well.. Does not clog easier and stops the fishes from getting in... And depending on your system setup, you can get strainers for some tank outlets.

Sorry to hijack but I have to ask why it is a good thing that he has dropped this idea altogether. I thought the efforts of somebody that uses a lot of water for their chosen hobby trying to be water wise would have been a good thing.

System looks good dogboy. Sorry to hear about the mass deaths.

BTW I am an avid cichlid keeper too mostly tangs these days. I noticed your duboisi in the front tank of the shed.

thanks guys,

i thought earthbounds post was a little odd also but i assumed there was a word missing

i.e. "Good to see that you have NOT chucked the idea totally dogboy..."

it seems cichlids are more forgiving than trout, even tropheus, i have over 20 tanks of malawis and tangs and never had anything close to the disasters ive had with the trout. guess im learning the hard way.