Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Here I am, looking through your thread and have to admire the work you put into your system.
Boy, that's a lot of digging you did. I am not sure if I should envy people with bigger blocks or not. I am torn
You nurtured back one trout by holding it for 20 minutes in the right position? Amazing!
Good luck for you and the rest of your trout.

Thanks Gran, always nice to get positive feed back. there is still a lot of work to do, I still need to tidy up the whole area and make it aesthetically pleasing but that will have to wait cos the rest of the yard is out of control, if only vegetables grew as well as the weeds at the moment. I'll probably need to put some shade over it come summer time too.
Yes I did nurse the trout back to health, it was upside down on the bottom when I fished it out but my son noticed its mouth still moving as he held the net while I panicked, so I did what I've seen on the fishing shows when they release tired fish and held it in the current and it worked. Terrible feeling inside when I thought all the fish were about to die. Not sure i want to go there again. I can see where you are coming from now. The trout haven't touched food since Sunday and all my levels are now sitting on zero for the first time, hope they start soon.
Plants still doing little hopefully they will start growing now its warming up a bit. It's only the caterpillars getting a feed from the ap now.

Ok so I'm thinking that these plants will never take off and because they were planted in an unseasoned system they may have been stunted. All that is growing upward are the leaks, all else is stagnating or dying. No biggie I'm going to get some seedlings and replant some of the bare areas today and am not really expecting much growth until the weather warms.
I have a question regarding the nutrients. For the first time I'm seeing 0 levels in all my water tests and am wondering if my 25 trout are providing enough nutes for the plants? They aren't feeding like they used to before the DO incident. I have been adding seasol to the system weekly and wonder if I should add Charlie carp to the system to help with the nutrient supply?

I can soooo relate to the feeling you get when looking at the no-grow.
I am at the stage where I count the little garlic stems emerging...........it's one per week and it can't be the missing warmth, the whole AP sits in the greenhouse. Maybe it is too warm in there???
Whatever the case, I am adding Seasol too and topping up the water, checking the ph level first.
Charlie Carp..................well, I leave that for the vegies in the soil outside, they like it and I am happy with that growth.
So while waiting for the AP growth to happen I paint the bought seedlings with Rum to get rid of the white mealy bugs. It helps and in this case I am glad that the bush beans are so small.
On top of my list: no more bought seedlings.

i've had heaps mof plants that never took off, didn't sprout from seed, died horribly etc, both in the AP and in the dirt - I just keep on chucking things in, eventually something will grow well

Plant some bok choy or something quick growing for instant satisfaction

Purchased seedlings from an unnamed nursery down in the flatlands, and picked up 5 free punetts for my troubles, happy days. So now I've planted out and employed the gazza method, no bok choi on offer unfortunately.
Fish finally starting to show interest in their food again.
Photos when the rain stops.

Question now is would the trout be feeding 1500l of gb's sufficiently or do I need to add more nutes?

Photos of first systems growth since April.

I've never been able to grow tomato's in the past and not thru lack of effort, trying my luck with ap, here's a progress report.
These barrels have a 25 mm vertical supply risers off the 90 mm supply header, interestingly there are minimal solids being deposited in the media unlike the supply lines feeding the byap beds which come off the 90 mm supply horizontally.

They look great!

I'm really diggin your updates.

So hows the system going>?

Ok due to popular demand an update
Just to prove the second systems current lack of performance, then and now pics.
The weather is just starting to warm up here and I can see the plants are finally starting to grow.
I've added distributor pipes to the gb's but need to open the holes from 6 to 8mm as the solids are blocking the flow. The fish tank water is not very clear so I can't see the fish which is a drawback from the smaller system as I can't see any diseases and I can't brag about fish sizes either...
I'm going on holidays for a couple of weeks soon so it will be a test on the system without me tinkering with it. I have a friend coming over to feed the fish once or twice a week but apart from that its on its own.the fish are currently eating 1 1/2 cups of 7mm pellets a day so there may be a few tummy rumbles in the tank. I think I might set the timer for 30/30 while I'm away and am concerned that if we have a few hot days the water temp may rise to uncomfortable levels. Tank hasn't gone over 16 c yet but haven't had any hot days yet either. I'll add a bit more salt too.
I've hooked up a float valve to the sump for auto top up and last time i checked, due to all the rain the sump is at full capacity 2000l bordering on overflowing.
On return from hols I'm planning to get an ibc ft/gb set up so I can have different fish at the same time. I'm also planning to do some wicking beds in the now defunct soil vegetable garden to grow root crops.
Insulating the gb's is high on the priority list to and am kicking myself for not putting insulation under the gb's during the build. Removing the older system and beautifying the area needs doing too before it gets too hot. Oh and a shade cover for the gb's and a proper cover on the ft..... Will it ever end?

Update o'clock.
I've been on holidays abroad for the last two weeks in the land of the long white cloud and had a couple of ap sitters caring for the systems (one of which took advantage of the 10% off grand final day at BYAP and are now part of the ap family ). Couple of minor hic ups during this time but the weather was kind and all went well.
I was expecting to return home and be amazed by the growth of the plants...
Well, you be the judge.

Continued

Lastly