Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Gary, do you want one of us to prune out the banter? Let us know which bits.

Hi Jaymie,

It can be transferred the way it is......it will continue to be a work in progress until I eat the fish.

Thank you!

Gary

Here's the latest photos of my coco peat trays and satellite pots.....and my little gravel/expanded clay grow bed.

The silver beet and lettuce were planted on 31st December. We're eating the silver beet and the lettuce are already past their prime and show signs of bolting.

The French Beans are flowering.

We've had pretty hot weather for the past month but I'm still only watering the trays and pots every couple of days.....sometimes longer.

Never heard of somebody being able to harvest in 3 days before

not sur what you are feeding those fish and plants, but I want some for my system

Thank you Gentlemen.......I've edited the post. It should have read 31st December.....still faster than anything I've every grown in soil.

Beans have certainly been a big success in AP. I see you have flowers on yours Gary - so won't be long before you have a crop. I am looking forward to it getting a little colder so I can put some snow-peas in. Fo my family, snow-peas are a staple winter crop.

Hi VB,

Yeah.....I like fresh snow peas, too.

I must confess I'm still trying to get over the novelty of being able to eat any home-grown vegetables. As we've discussed, the insects and weather usually make gardening, at this time of the year, more of a challenge than I can usually be bothered with.

I recall from a previous post that you were still getting lots of insect damage. Do you think that the height of my growing systems is a factor?

How high are your stands?

Gary

Mine are quite high also - the top of the beds are about 1 metre. I think it is inevitable that the insects will find your stuff in time - but the favoured organic pesticide of thumbforefinger as well as keeping plants healthy should assist greatly.

In time - I would like to see my beds in some sort of enclosure that excludes many of the pests, but then polination can become an issue.

Edit: The bee discussion has been split off to another thread

Gary - when the administrators and moderators discussed how to make the forum more useful - one result of which was the creation of the 'completed systems' topic, it was done on the basis that completed systems would have to satisfy certain parameters before they could go in that area. What we have neglected to do is document in an appropriate place on the forum what these parameters are. I will endeavour to get this organised ASAP. In essence the parameters include:

- system has grown plants to maturity
- no modifications have been made for 3 months

I can't remember whether having harvested fish is a requirement. Will have to check. As I say these requirements should and will be documented in an appropriate place. Once a thread goes into this area - it will be locked. It is a locked area and will only be unlocked if editing is required (e.g cleanup). The point is that no further posts should be made to the thread - it will be there as a reference tool to users.

While my system would meet these parameters (except for the fish harvesting if that is one), I will not move it there as I intend to make modifications shortly by moving the fish into a larger tank.

Thanks VB. I had no idea the completed systems was locked.
I hope you find a very prominent location for the 'rules'.

My system will never settle down, so it never goes to 'completed systems'.

It looks like bees should have a topic, like Black Soldier Flies.

For some there comes a time when they are content with the operation of their system design and operation.

That is not to say that system number two sn't on the boil.................i'm in that boat very soon

The 'rules have been sticky'ed in the completed systems topic

Hi,

Sorry, I was unaware of the rules.

This system is still happening so it should remain where it is.

Can we split the bee discussion off (it deserves its own line of discussion) and give the thread a basic tidy-up......making sure that any questions remain in the thread.

Thanks guys.

Gary

Hi,

I was so excited at my recent discovery with Soldier Fly larvae that I feed too many of them (on top of the fish pellets). This, coupled with a partially blocked stopcock, created an ammonia spike......fortunately not fatal at this stage.

Gary

Gary, what is a stopcock? Where is it in your system? Part of the flood and drain?