Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Stage 2: Complete.

Nitrates need some lessening, Stage 3 will help with this.

I added a net basket with Scotch Brite pads to filter solids from thew drain. It is full of poo and overflowing now.

Looks like fun Dave. What sort of cost does ur artificial lighting run into, if u don't mind me asking?

Hi TT, I don't know, but it would be 400W x 12H = 4.8 kWH for a 12 hour day.

Right now I am using a 40 watt pump and two 300 watt heaters. The heaters are going a lot more when the weather is chilly, hence all the blue board and insulation pillows.

Having just moved my tilapia into the basement for the winter, I'll be checking into your lighting again Dave. Any problems with it?

No problems, just a lot of power usage. I only turn it on to see better now.

Today I took a detour and bought some sand from AgWay and reused my old drainage pipe standpipes to make RSG sand columns in two of the grow beds. I didn't change the delivery so these just fill from the ambient water in the grow bed. These are smaller than JP and Les' pipes.

I also bought some shell grit, and filled a net basket in the sump with it. The powder was pretty crazy even though I rinsed it outside first. The sump looked like milk. I also took the remainder of the sand and filled a medium sized planter with it and placed that on top of a shell grit-filled riser, to make another sand column-like apparatus. The top of the planter was supposed to be just under the water surface to keep the tilapia from trying to breed in it, but it is a little lower than where I wanted it.

If I didn't kill the fish with the shell grit and fine sand/silt floating around, then maybe these will take up nitrates someday. I was expecting the pH to go way down after this, but no it is still 6.4.

I stole some duckweed from the fire retention pond the other day and that is in the plant sump outside, but I may have killed it with the shell grit washings (it still looks like milk). I hope the shell grit doesn't have chlorine in it...

I had seriously considered taking a small storage tub and filling the bottom with sand, diverting some water with a valve to slowly circulate through, and maybe even grow duckweed on top using a small fluorescent light. I think that duckweed may be a good bet for removing nitrates, as it is getting colder and dimmer outside now and regular plants might not be prolific enough to keep up. A duckweed stack-like thing or other may be helpful as a nitrate sink. I'd love to have something like Les' duckweed tank right now.
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum ... weed+stack

Your bacteria will be a lot happier if you can raise your pH. How are your ammonia and nitrite? I have had to start adding a little potassium bicarb every day to help keep the pH closer to neutral.

I know I'm keeping up with your efforts - they didn't have potassium bicarbonate at Agway. I was going to go to the winery but didn't. I used to go to a homebrew store near work and I will try that... I hoped the crushed shells would have some effect but I am wondering if they do anything at all.

Stage 3: Partially complete.

I hooked up the mortar tub outside and filled it with gravel ($2) and was going to hook up the pump today, but this morning the pump downstairs was silent - uh oh. It was still warm when I took it out so I think it failed sometime in the morning. Hooked up the other (identical) one which is quieter and things are back to normal. I will be looking on the intertubes for a pump, around 200-250GPH.

No pictures yet sorry!

Leraned something today, frayed twine looks a lot like roots, and may be an alternative biomedia. Just fill up a wet area with frayed twine and it would provide a lot of surface area.

Thanks for that Dave, now to work out the simple AP way to fray the twine

Tie your tomatoes up with it for summer.... bet by winter you've got frayed twine

reminds me of the string joke

Disassemble the pump and check for bits of stone caught in the impeller or magnetic drive part.

OK, I will try that, it can't hurt! It says thermally protected on the side and it was hot so I think that may be why it shut down. I topped up with more water to make sure the pump doesn't go dry. The other one is way more quiet; you can barely hear it.

Sorry Dave, got carried away a bit there and glossed over your problem