Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Thanks Janet, I have been trying most everything I could possibly think of (in moderation) - it has been almost a month now, gonna try putting the goldfish in with them and see if they can induce feeding (after I have "agerred" the water ) - too last that long they must be eating some things so will kerb my (im)patience and work along with them

G'day Les

I am interested in the wiring. Did you post it anywhere else?
How did you stop GB1 refilling before it was empty and GB2 was full?

Thanks RR

Hoping everyone missed that Rod, will do a complete writeup on it but to quickly answer your question:

WLS1 (GB1) acivates - grow bed1 is full
earth supplied to power relay which:
1) opens outlet flap to GB1 - actuator on standpipe of GB1
2) closes inlet pipe to GB1 - actuator and flap in black box, water is then diverted to GB2
3) closes outlet flap from GB2

these conditions will remain until WLS2 (GB2) is activated, i.e. water will continue to flow from GB1 until it is empty and water pumped from the tank will flow into GB2.

WLS2 (GB2) acivates - grow bed2 is full
GB2 outlet opens, GB1 outlet closes, GB1 inlet opens, the pipe from GB1 to GB2 is elevated so that water will normally flowinto GB1 anless flap is closed, then the water level in the black box rises and pours into GB2.

In the writeup I will cover having more than 2 GBs but all it means is having the same setup as GB1 on all GBs and the connecting pipe is level except the last in the line where the additional black box is not needed, just raise the pipe slightly

Thanks Les. I guess flow in rate has to be less than flow out rate.

Only if you have 2 GBs, if you have more than 2 GBs it then becomes less relevant, my outlet pipe to the fish tank is 40mm which will handle 6,000lph, I have reduced the GB outlets to about 3,000lph, which means I could be filling one GB and emptying 2 comfortably.

My pump is rated at 3,000lph and I have put in a stop valve which cuts it down to about 1,500lph will be posting some pics shortly

I am a conformist ( ) so will refrain from using computer tomorrow so some pics now:

Pic1 - fishtank with SP crowded up into the corner, sefinitely no turbidity in that water

Pic2 - goldies separated by the movable divider, valve connected to pump outlet giving great aeration coupled with GB return (small SP able to squeeze around barrier - folded shadecloth fixed that ).

Water clarity and DO ruled out of the equation as to why SP not ravenous

Well I was but keep getting this message (what has the App Mod done this time )
Sorry, but the maximum filesize for all Attachments is reached. Please contact the Board Administrator if you have questions.

Les, after fixing my ammonia problem (now just less than 1), the perch are ravenous again. I am not feeding again today, to give the bacteria a chance to catch up without the need to do more water cvhanges, but threw 2 lettuce leaves in which they proceeded to demolish.

This is what is getting to me, I have tried lettuce leaves as well, just getting a slight nibble, they are just not interested in eating - have put in the tank divider MkI and added the goldies to see if this will motivate them to eat (did have pics but.....)

Another step is to move some of them out of the new system and back into the old - they must be eating otherwise I would have deaths by now - they are just not rising to the pellets at all (staying on the bottom in a group), this is why I have been thinking along the lines of the water quality?

Water Ager has been added but hasn't made much of an effect on them

The fish are active, darting around etc....not lethargic in their movements

Sorry Mon - yep, its good to see them devour everything in sight

Lwes, if I were you, I would be dumping 90% of your water and filling up out of either your tank or pre-aged water. JMHO

Yeh - I think it has just about got to that stage, my job whilst having nothing to do tomorrow

les can you please post a pic of a close up of your top corners of the greenhouse?

Where are ya? How's those perch going?

Me puter went bung - won't have it (the new one) until Saturday.

Wife has gone out so snuck onto hers, when she found out about my probs, she made up an Appointments book for me if I wanted to use hers, on top of the book was several pages of chores need to be done.

SP eating, but won't do so with me watching - gotta put down the cover and move away - camera software not on this puter so will get pics on w'end.

Gonna see if I can catch up on a few posts

those babies of yours are shy Les! Ours come up and look you in the face and pretty much growl "give me more foooooood"

Finally caught up and wife still out:

Test 1:
disconnected GBs and duckweed tank then did ~90% water change in fish tank (tank now almost empty) - fish perked up but this could be due to the new water - put in goldfish with SP but won't eat with me hovering.

Left fish tank cycling for 24 hours with no GBs - no change

Put in lettuce/cabbage leaves from dirt garden - not touched
Put in lettuce leaves from GB source - devoured (fish don't like dirt leaves from dirt garden)
Threw in azolla and this also disappeared (after bloody cover put on)

Reconnected GBs (now got 2 in service) and DW tank and toss in pellets, these disappear when lid down (getting infuriating)

Conclusions:
Fish are wary of Les and his perverted beliefs in wanting to see his SP devour pellets
Fish love AP grown veggies only

Another option that I thought of was that the pellets may be stale, I put them in glass sealed containers (to keep ants out), how do others store the pellets??????????????

Anyway - the SP are eating and they are still attacking the goldfish