Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I received the new compressor and have it a good test run. It is a lot quieter than the first one, must have had a fault right from the start.

I am still fighting mealy bugs which are by the thousands on my tomatoes it feels like. I tried the onion, garlic and chili/Cayenne pepper spray... A liquid made or of tomato leafs (soaked for couple of nights), and a dusting with DE (didn't work very well, because the DE was a little bit to moist to create a good dust, but I have bought a new mister bottle and will try spray application tomorrow ).

And another project on my mind is a chicken poop liquidiser... I am thinking a blue drum with just the top lid removed, another third of a drum on top filled with clay balls. Running on constant flood and some aeration. A tap on the side to fill a watering can and a chute to fill in chicken poop. The clay balls covered with a lid to avoid rain water and overfilling of the drum. Maybe one plant (something very hungry) in the top and a lid which closes around the stem of the plant (maybe split the lid in two parts for removal or replacement of the plant).

Any objections or comments?

Cheers

Half an onion bag of chicken crap in a drum is enough to give a good liquid for the garden.

I have already a 10kg fertiliser bucket full of that stuff and read somewhere that 1 hen can produce up to 45 pound per year...

A week or so ago a plant popped up in the grow bed and I couldn't remember what I put in there, luckily a Google for images with "light purple flowers / fruit" showed me a eggplant right away and it's a match. Completely forgot that black beauty eggplant I chucked in there.

I can't recommend use of any warm blooded animal manure directly in a garden and definitely not for an aquaponics system. I think all warm blooded animal manure should be properly composted before being used to grow any food one might eat within 4 months of the manure application.

I'm a firm believer in using all manure but composting is an important step in my book for anything from warm blooded creatures or from creatures that eat warm blooded creatures (like large lizards.)

you are absolutely right, TCLynx. the liquidiser is completely seperate from the aquaponics system, I just use air from the same compressor. I want to use the blue drum to water down the chicken poop and was thinking that the same nitrogen cycle could be used to transform the chicken poop. the plant at the top was plant to be something like comfrey (if it grows in such a wet condition or something similar producing greens for the chickens).

So how's the sys going with the barra up there Gwydion?
Missing the pics..

Hi Gwydion haven't been on the forum for a while and just came across your system very nice setup. I am in Howard Springs and have had a system running for a couple of years now, would love to catch up and swap notes. I've had a number of failures....killed my fair share of fish and had some success with things running along nicely now.
I'm running 1 x 1000lt tank and 2 x 500lt grow beds with a flood and drain and just about to expand it with another 1000lt tank and another grow bed.
My mobile number is 0417 874275 give us a call anytime.


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Great system you've got on the go there Gwydion, thanks for sharing your experiences!

Hello UpNorth

As said in the other post, i will let you know when everything is running. The 2 by 2m concrete slab went in today, luckily the rain wasn't that strong. I have to get a price update for the tank and order one.

Thanks for your comment Tang Mo.

Cheers

So, i have just ordered a 5000l tank, ready for pick up on Friday (day off), colour is beige and i will fit some pieces of acrylic glass in the top of the tank for more light and an access hole in the side.

Will be interesting to catch all the fish for relocation and a quick random sample in size and weight.

My plan is to run a vertical pipe in the center of the tank through the top of the tank as support and a barrel union under the roof of the tank for easy disconnection, a t-piece at the desired water level. For the bottom i would like something like a vent cowl like you find in the dirt water pipe range but i might have to be creative to adapt it to the pressure pipe range because you don't get barrel unions in the dirt water range. From the t-piece it goes into another barrel union and out through the wall. Size-wise i might go with around 50mm for the SLO pipework.

For the start the water will go directly to the grow beds but i will start planning/building a radial flow filter after the fish is happy. I am planning to use a 200l blue barrel (got a couple spare) for that project. The filter is required as i have already a tub in place for DWC as soon as the wet season is over.

Good luck with getting your fish out of the new tank mate, have enough trouble with my tank. Remember your RFF or Swirl filter will only catch about 50% of the waste. If going to do DWC or similar then place a fibre/shade cloth filter after the RFF.

I have just finished reconfiguring my RFSZ and have a Matala filter after my RFS to ensure I get the finer particles. I was lucky and picked up an original Matala box from my local recycle centre for five dollars. Worth the cost then for the correct mats.

Hope to be back in Darwin during the dry and will try to catch up. Think there may be a wine session with Upnorth as well. Cheers

Hello guys and gals

Here are some update from my system...

Today i placed the new ft on the concrete slab and started the plumbing, i hope i can transfer the fish tomorrow, but i still want to upgrade the pump and install some kind of a filter (but i got time with that).

I am filling the tank at the moment with water from the sump tanks while topping the water up at the same time to raise the pH slowly, the old system does not have enough water for the new setup.

Picture 3 shows the inlet of the SLO, left hand before modifying the dw vent (40mm fits perfect into 50mm pressure pipe). Inside the SLO riser pipe is a digital thermometer with the display outside of the tank. I have to relocate the control panel for pump and aerator, the air pump is still inside the shipping container and pumps sometimes 50 degree C hot air plus the heating from the pump itself into the water... in the wet season not very good for the water temps, i reached 40 degree C one time... nearly slow cooked the fishies...

Picture 2 is inside of the tank without the air stones and overflow drain holes. The bottom leg of the SLO is removable for easier cleaning or changing of the inlet setup.

Picture 1 outside of the tank. I might drill some more holes in the top (100mm) and cover them acrylic to get more light into the tank. Saves some power on lighting every day.

Cheers

I will think about the filter before i start, thanks.

Let me know when you are in Darwin again, i will try to have a day off during that time.

Cheers

The fish don't need much light inside the tank. They usually only really need enough light to tell night from day unless you are talking about a breeding situation.
You may want more light just to see the fish but letting daylight in from above probably won't help you see the fish most of the time.

So how do you get the bottom part of the SLO off for cleaning/adjustment? Is the entire SLO removable? If so, is it removable in a manner that means a big fish could knock it off? I like to leave SLO pipes removable but have found that adding some stainless steel screws in such a manner that will keep the fish from doing it can be a good thing. (Granted, I've had 3-5 lb catfish knock 3 and 4 inch pipes apart and then swim into them, FYI most fish can't back out if they swim into a pipe they can't go all the way through.)

Hello TCLync

I guess you are right, water will be 1.5m deep, so I won't get visibility all the way to the bottom. Old tank was 0.9m and with air bubbles off I could just see the fish at the bottom.

Here are some pictures of the barrel union connecting the bottom leg of the SLO. There is no chance of a fish knocking that connection apart. I just have to be careful when the SLO is gone, because the connector is 150mm under water level.

Cheers