Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

That's much better with the covers

That would be 'Quackuaponics'..

There's actually a lot of people out there that do "Duckponics"...

Well the geotextile fabric is doing a great job of filtering the scoria dust from my water!

I can see to the bottom of the tank now:



This is the fabric that was wrapped around the pump outlet.... Time to retire it I think


Two of my GBs were dry yesterday and I had a minor freak out until I realized it was because the geotextile fabric wrapped around the outlets was so full of sediment that it was totally blocking the water flow

Today's readings:

pH = 7.4
Ammonia = 0ppm
Nitrites = 0ppm
Nitrates = 160ppm plus

Sophia...
The energy you and your husband have put in to this is inspiring.
As someone who is also starting out, I can certainly identify with you guys (for a number of reasons).
We (as in, my partner and I) have to deal with demonic clay on our property as well. (3hrs NE of Perth)
In summer, the soil is so hard that the only way to dig it is to chip away at it with an axe.
We tried a petrol powered auger, but gave up on the idea after doing physical (ligament) damage to my wrists and destroying the auger in the process. (4 holes)
I know it's a bit late for you now, but should you ever consider digging in to clay again, I highly
recommend getting a jackhammer with a clay bit. You would have had the top of those sump tanks
at ground level before stumps on day one. They are also brilliant for putting in star pickets and
such things. It is now on our essential item list for our property... Lucinda is only 5'2" and she wields it like a boss. And here's a tip - If you do get one, you don't need a big one.

Incidentally, I had a similar (fast) experience getting bacteria established in our system.
I brought the ammonia level up to 2ppm, then tested for nitrites every 24 hrs.
After 4 days of (only) testing for nitrites and seeing 0ppm readings every time,
I was beginning to think that this was going to take a while and maybe a bit of worm tea.
On a hunch I tested for ammonia again only to discover that it was pretty much gone
and the nitrates were off the clock.
So at some point in the last 4 days, the Nitrites had peaked then dropped back to zero inside
24 hrs.. between tests.

Chilli plants went in yesterday and growing fast enough to notice the difference over night.

More fun than 3 kittens.

best
c&L

Love the write up of your system btw, read it from start to finish yesterday.

Thanks so much Cinder! It's been a long road but I am very proud of our little system and I think it has a good chance of being successful and productive if I can avoid doing anything too stupid.

So glad our build has inspired you. I've in turn been inspired by so many people on this forum - and everyone has been so helpful!

I have to say though: Hubby was building our little girls a cubby house when I started the build for the AP system.

So apart from an extra pair of hands he really hasn't helped much at all! Not bagging him... Just very proud that I've managed to get it to this point all by myself.

Not burying the STs has worked out ok in the end as with the slope of our land it allowed me to keep all the plumbing above ground and easy to access.

As for our ammonia and nitrite readings....

Not celebrating yet as I had to add 400L of "clean" water the other day and this may be diluting my results. Let's see what the next week brings.

Maybe I'll be able to get a few goldfish Guinea pigs into the FTs before the end of the month. Fingers crossed!

Today's test results:

pH = 7.8
Ammonia = 0.25ppm
Nitrites = 0ppm
Nitrates = 160ppm plus

When did you last add urea?

Added small handful fish food on Wednesday, 500mL wee on Thursday, 100mL wee yesterday. Do you need me to go further back than Wednesday?

I have loved following your thread,you get ten out of ten on everything from me.....

Thanks Andrea! I'll have to check out your system thread.

Exciting day here! After letting the silicon on the window cure for a week I finally filled FT #1. So far no leaks! Fingers crossed.

Need to let the water sit for a while to age it and get rid of the chlorine before I connect FT#1 to the system. But still - progress!




A bit of silliness with the kids:

The fish food and wee take a few days to produce Ammonia, so you have to allow for that when measuring your Ammonia and deciding whether or not you have cycled. I don't know exactly how long it takes, other than "a few days" for the wee, and probably longer for the pellets. You could try adding nothing for a few days then add 500ml of wee on Monday or Tuesday and then see if there are any spikes in Ammonia or nitrites late in the week.

Thanks Gunagulla. Like I said - not claiming to be cycled just yet:

Window came up well :-)