Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Does the stem really improve much by covering it and do you harvest the celery whole Terra? I just pick stalks from the outside and it keeps on growing.
What are the upside down pots in the growbed for?

The celery in the black system is in full sun , i find the stalks a LOT stronger in taste compared to the ones in the green system growing in the jungle (Shaded) . I harvest some as a whole bunch but mostly bandicoot a few sticks , i find the cover wraps a good use for Mrs Terras glossy magazines .

The upside down pots are just covers for the media gaurds , the gaurds are 150mm and a bit short so the pots keep the gravel out one day i will get the threaded adapter and screw on cap they are pretty costly in the bigger sizes .

Gravel Washer speeds up the process

I had the same idea with a cement mixer. Unfortunately I don't own one

Cleaned out two growbeds have the other two on constant flood have a SLO with a few holes in the vertical riser as well as the bottom piece and finally after mths of thrashing i have a nice clear fish tank again will leave it for awhile then clean out the other two .

I moved my Raft to the other end of system two , in behind the 5000g rainwater tank is just too shaded for winter , i left the pad set up in case i want to shift it back for summer (great results last summer) .

I have learnt that in AP if you think you can build somthing in 2 hours always always allow 6

Last Post in August where did that 6 mths go ?? , Moving the Raft to a site with better light has been great , Oak leaf lettuce doing great with the heatwaves had a few bolt to seed but the Silvers still like them . Been great for striking new Tom plants .

System 1 and System 2 have been steadily producing , Terrific run of Strawberries pulled them out of the no2 (black ) system now they are finished and filled it with new seedlings , I grow heaps of strawberries in a raised bed as well so next yrs AP plants come from there . Best Tomatoes this year have been the Gross Lisses and Romas the other varieties have had big fails in fruit set (lots of heat waves).

Built a Radial Filter off the side to clean water up a bit , not the usual setup its just the excess flow from the pump running through it and returning to the sump its surprising how much its collecting . Inflow pipe just goes through the large tank fitting into the centre pipe the water goes down and up the outide of the centre pipe and back to the sump via the tank fitting . I did it this way to minimise head and any potential accidental leaks.

Looks great Terra.

The cat looks comfortable

Very old cat he loves the fish water and its a safe spot from the young rough playing Labrador

Yea we have an old cat ourselves and a young puppy, made me smile when I saw that pic because it happens at our place as well. Our cat hangs its tail down just out of reach from the dog and swishes it around just to rub it in that she is boss. Cracks me up.

thank you for sharing your pictures as well as the trials and tribulations of aquaponics

Thanks Boss
Ive certainly been slack with updates Been a lot of water under the bridge as the saying goes , or should say flushes through the siphons.

Incredible Success then despair and depression all very interesting .

Sigh , End of july everything was going great although fish were not feeding as water temps were pretty cold , no nitrates at all I kept my ph sorted . Had 40 silvers 10inches long , 50 golden perch (little tackers) and 3 big catfish , just waiting for the spring.

End of August Canola was sprayed with insecticide (see crop behind picture of system 3 build) 50 metres away , no bodys fault I did ask him when the spraying was happening he did tell me but wifey was in and out of hospital with suspect gall trouble I was shearing (leave in the dark get home in the dark ) just completely forgot .

When this has to happen , and its not very often as wind direction is the key I just run constant flood cover everything over with tarps black plastic ect and turn the air pump off , this time though the warnings on the spray containers repeat aquatic life at risk , and the wind blew from the worst possible direction for days , so the whole garden was gassed.

My next place will be in the middle of a SCRUB BLOCK , or maybe the desert.

Short version some fish were dead Sat morning checked Amm none showing so hadn't been dead long ,three days later one fish left that one lasted a week .

Dumped all my water filled it again (5000L) ran overnight and dumped it all again ( I am hyper sensitive to most chemicals due to too much exposure in my young years when no one gave a damn) .

So lost most of nutrient base only got a few goldfish and about a dozen yabbies in it now , I ran a couple of hundred tadpoles through to frog stage to kick it into gear again . They do plenty of poop . Ive been putting 200ml powerfeed in every now an then , plus potash ect ect have feed stations for worms that I stuff bananas ect in .

Still having a few deficiency troubles but getting on top of it , getting tomatoes now plenty oak lettuce , world keeps turning , getting some more perch around new yrs .

3rd System has one growbed going built in a bird proof enclosure I grew grapes in , eventually have the three sections plus one over 2/3rds of the sump .

I will wang some more pics up when everything gets cranking again .

Pictures are from 29 july month prior to fish loss .

Oh man that is sweeeeet. I've got to get that for my tractor!