Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Bit of an up date. Amazing how much plants can grow in 8 days. I've been feeding the fish only lightly over the past couple of days and running the pump CF during the day as nitrites are a bit high. The must have been an ammonia spike at some point during the week but is back down to 0 now. Nitrites are at 2 ATM and nitatrate at 160. Need to feed less while system is maturing I think

Looking good Bender, if you go to the Black soldier fly blog.com and check out V 2 of the bucket it will help with some of the details you are missing.

looks awesome. That bed will be overflowing in no time with growth.

I wouldn't feed at all until the nitrites are right down to zero. fish can survive on very little for an extended period of time.

Spikes can happen often. I have found my huge spikes have occured when I am clearing a grow bed out to start again.

Thanks ccBear. I checked out the BSF blog today. I've added the funnel cut out of a milk bottle and will get some velcro to stop larvae escaping out the top. I have seen BSF flying around near the system but also vinegar flies and bush flies. There are some small larvae in there at the moment but not sure which type. Will have to wait and see. There are definately BSF around in my backyard as I find mature larvae crawling out of my compost bins occasionally.

My filter system at the base of my pod is very different to the one in the BSF blog. Its just a bit of fly screen at the base which covers the drain hole. If this doesnt work ill make something more like in the blog.



Thanks Jessy. Yeah I have backed off with the feed so that I can get the nitrites and nitrates down a bit hopefully. This morning the readings were amm 0.25 nitrites 0.25 nitrates 160. Will keep feeding at the lower rate for the rest of the week then see if theres any change by the weekend. Trout are trying to tell me otherwise though almost launching out the tank to get at the feed!

Heres a pic of the growth this week

Things have been ticking along nicely over the last couple of weeks. Fish and vegies are growing well. Even been harvesting a bit of lettuce and english spinach for salads. Trout have been off the feed a bit though in the last week. I'm thinking its the colder water temperatures but not too sure? Water temp has been down to 10 degrees past few mornings. Water parameters are all fine.

Heres a vid of my trout feeding. Hope this works...

Looking good bender

We had a shower of rain this afternoon so I decided to catch a bit of rain water and top up the fish tank. I put about 100 liters in and just as I finished the rain got heavier, really heavy. The gutters started overflowing and water streamed in under my verandah and into the growbed. Not long after the fishtank was overflowing. The irony! I ended up bucketing water out. Must have been about 20mm in about 15 mins. The street out the front of my house become a massive lake for an hour or so.

Fun times. Just glad I was home to watch it unfold

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Always the way isnt it... wish summer would give us all a bit of that top up rain.

Just going back a bit you posted your trout were a bit slow on the feed, and yes you are right.. it can get too cold for them too.

Its feezing cold here now where I am and my trout are only feeding in the arvo. Everyones situation will be different thou.

Okay I have modified the drain on my system to take more air to the bottom of the tank and create a slight swirl in the fish tank. Full credit for this idea goes to Bunson so thanks for that. See here for details http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5950&p=339240&sid=d90eb7be025471dc435a0f9fe61bf5a8&sid=d90eb7be025471dc435a0f9fe61bf5a8#p339235. I am still using the original 25mm standpipe that was supplied with the system. I tried using a 40mm standpipe with a 40 to 50mm adapter as per Bunson's however it didn't seem to suck as much air down the drain as the 25mm one. I think if I had a larger pump it may work better with the 40mm standpipe.

Here is an updated plant growth pic. Peas are going great guns and have started flowering.

...and here is a video of the new drain in operation. Note I had to drain about 150L of water out of my tank to fit the drain. Picture a grown man in a wetsuit in a 1000L tank in his backyard with his 25 trout. Would have been a funny sight for the neighbours.

Time for a growth update. Peas are growing well. So well in fact they reached the top of their support and started falling over. I've been tying them back up with string. Been harvesting heaps of ruby chard and english spinach and soon will be onto the peas. Trout are ravenous as ever and it wont be long before the first few are tested for quality control

Looking great Bender!
You will be planning your expansion in no time

Thanks SV. It is absoutely true what everyone says on this forum. Once you build your first system you have never finished expanding...

I already have plans for a second growbed on the current system and have been eyeing off a spot out next to the shed for an IBC CHIFT PIST system

Looking good Bender , proof of concept , time for expansion

If you want to muck around with adding more air, try adding 25x40 or 50 mm adaptor to the top of your standpipe and remove/use the one at the bottom of your drain. No need to cut or glue anything , give it a go , see how you get on

Cheers

Surprising how much oxygen gets sucked down the standpipe isn't it? The fern system we have in side here pumps a lot of bubbles into the water with the drain pipe submerged underwater..

Little disappointed though Bender..

Was hoping for a giggle from that video..

Thanks Matthew. I am using a 40mm standpipe with a 40-50mm adapter on it at the moment. It does suck lots of air down when on constant flood and creates a slight swirl in the fish tank. It's also heaps quieter so doesn't keep the neighbours awake at night.