Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

AP additions look great. And your yard looks awesome!

Yey, progress!

I bet you're happy it's all running now.

Sooooo happy It feels like it's taken a lifetime.
The fact that it all basically worked as it should, without having to make any real changes was such a good feeling.
The triple return out the front was always going to be a bit fiddly but it really does seem to be working OK, and only the slightest of adjustments is required.
Hopefully the fish will be much happier with some stability in the water levels now. I can already see that they're more active again with the extra oxygen in the water. And it sounds fab too, we were standing outside this morning with our coffees just listening to the water and surveying the progress.
The lawn looked awesome too until the lawnmower died and it got cut with the whipper snipper/line trimmer instead. So it's going to be a bit patchy for a few days. You win some, you lose some

You should see my backyard at the moment. PVC pipes everywhere, grass overgrown, half dug lines for more pipes underground.

I meant to finish it earlier, but it was hot outside, I was a little hungover, and my thumb was sore.

Are you still getting the lion heads for the water to come out of?

Yep, still going with a fountain head which is why those black poly barbs are on there - to check that the 19mm diameter allows enough water flow.

I'm tossing up between the lion heads and the Poseidon heads...
I reeeally wanted lion heads but they are really hard to find in smaller sizes (that look any good anyway) and I dunno if these ones have quite enough detail. The poseidon heads definitely do, but I'm not sure about the angle of his dangle...
By that I of course mean his little mouth spout. Is it just me or does it look like it points basically straight down?

Poseidon is a little bigger than the lion. Maybe that would be better on what will eventually be a quite large expanse of stone-look cladding? What do you guys think - these are the options I'm looking at:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/151262544325?var=450333535208&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Gosh I love being crippled with indecision about the most basic of aesthetic choices haha! Being a woman is tops

I'd say go huge with the lion heads.

Or one big head, hooked up to a siphon, so it kicks on and it looks like the head is gushing water.

I like the Poseidon.

The Poseidon kind of looks like he is about to spit, lol. I don't like the look of that lion, have you had a look at the cast concrete, terracotta, stone ones? I've seen some with a lot more detail than that one you linked.

Your setup is great, it's going to look brilliant when it's all done, it already looks great. Nice work!

*edit* I just had a thought, what about a mould and try casting them yourself? In theory you could just use some plastic hose while casting to make the hole for the spout, and you could always finish it to get the look you wanted.

Something like these? Just fill partially fill them if you don't want the plaque part of it.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Large-Lion-F ... 3cd72d4eaa

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Lion-Face-Co ... 4ce8057968

Azira you're a genius! I'll see what I can find, cos you're right - that lion isn't anywhere near as pretty as he could be.
That way I can make sure they're not too heavy as well

Planted some more of the grow bed last night after work.

Lemon Balm,
Lemon Verbena,
Pineapple Sage,
Gai lan,
Spinach,
Cos Lettuce, and
Silverbeet/Chard

I also bought a black pearl chilli which I might put in there too. There is plenty of room and I'm certain plenty of nitrates.

I am so looking forward to making tea from my garden!

Thanks to Azira I think I'm sold on the mold idea But now I have so many more options!!! I'm enjoying the search anyway

Photos tonight assuming there's enough light when I get home.

One question, some of the seedlings I bought were very root bound, and it was hard to get the soil out of them without destroying the roots, so some of them still have a bit in there - do you think I should be making more of an effort to clean them properly? I was just going to pop some earthworms in there and call it a day...

Get a bucket of water for the roots. Put them in there and shake it around.

The soil all falls off and sinks easily enough.

Then gently pull them apart.

That's what I did, but it was all so matted together that there was still a ball of soil in the middle.

Buy better seedlings?

I heard you should only get them when the roots aren't coming out of the bottom. I try to get the smaller ones though.

lol true true, but it was getting dark when I got to Masters. The only reason they weren't coming out the bottom was probably because they were a matted mess inside instead. Oh well, will see how they fare. There wasn't a lot of choice unfortunately.

I'll throw in some seeds too, just in case.

On annual plants, I don't worry too much about some soil staying on the roots. If it were a tree, I would say keep cleaning.