Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Looking good

Thanks Jayendra, I'm still amazed at the productivity of such a small footprint.

Definitely hard work. I didn't wash mine though.

I'm still unsure if was really required although now when digging through it to plant at least your hands remain clean instead of being smothered in sand/grit.
Cleaning the new bed beforehand has definitely made a difference in that only an ultra fine sand/dust layer settled in the sump barely 1/2 a mm in a couple of areas whereas the barrels have at least a 5-10 mm layer in their bottoms.

The radial filter in the blue barrel takes out a heap of muck but opening the bottom tap only pulls a tiny fraction of the total muck layer in the bottom so I made a cone of thin plastic to fit in the bottom third.
I also added a flat plate at the top of the water inlet pipe so the water flow spreads outwards towards the suspended inner large pipe. This has totally stopped all the circulation problems which were stirring the water.
Now all the muck falls down into the cone and all empties when the tap is turned on.
I also added another tap below the cone so the dead space water can also be replaced just in case.
I am finding I have to purge the filter morning and evening because it collects so much muck which is then spread onto the dirt garden.
What is very surprising is the smell, its very anaerobic in such a short space of time.
I'm now wondering what nutrients I am loosing from the grow beds.

I think the water that accumulates between the bottom corner and the cone might be the anaerobic spot.
Most designs I've seen use cement in this gap.

Thats why I added another tap to replace this dead water. It doesnt smell when opened, only the fish poo in the bottom of the cone smells and damn quick at that.
I will keep all informed whatever happens.

I decided today to see how large the fish really were, I mean, they look big in the tank but we all know that's deceiving.
I used a pea with a hook and line and caught three within 25 seconds, maybe quicker even.
The first one was pretty plump at 285g


The second one was a bit of a disappointment at 156g


and the third was the largest at 318g

The amount of fat in the body cavity was huge so maybe I have been over feeding and should cut down a tad.
I didnt purge them just cooked them very simply, dipped in flour, shallow fried in a tiny amount of oil then coated in butter - lemon and parsley


The flesh inside was soft and white and tasted very nice. No earthy flavours, not oily as I expected from others comments and the one fish was sufficient for the meal. Cant wait till we harvest some more.


A not very good photo of the fish in the tank.

I take this gunk and run it in a barrel with a lot of air and a dash of EM1A,this changes the smell completely,after 48 hours i turn off the air and let it settle,the clear water is decanted back into the sump,then i fill the mineralisation tank again from the swirl,turn on the air and let this run for another 48 hours,once a week i then drain the remains from the mineralisation tank and start again.

nice looking fish savarin, they certainly look well fed.

I decided that the smell from the muck in the radial filter was not good for the system (no facts here just a feeling) so have removed it.
Within 5 days I noticed a huge jump in the growth of my cress and mustard greens and tomatoes.
The parsley which up till now was growing ok has gone absolutely berserk.
I think I will leave the radial filter off.

Two more fish to eat.



one at 424 grams and the other at 333 grams.
They produced a 280 gram and a 220 gram prepared weight.



Guts were 148 grams combined and the body cavity fat weighed in at 117 grams combined.
I rendered the fat down as an experiment to produce an omega 3 oil and it produced a whopping 87 mls of pale orange oil with a very faint aroma of fried fish (not chip shop smell) and a nice taste, nothing like fish oil capsules. I think I will use the oil to cook them in.


In the fridge it solidifies to a fat. For those of you who freak out at the word "fat" the only difference between the two is a fat is an oil that is solid at room temperatures, or vice versa.
For some reason I forgot to take photos of the fats and guts.
I caught the fish on a hook and line and flipped them into a bucket of tank water with about 20 drops of clove oil, within approx 1-2 mins they stopped moving and by 3 mins floated belly up. I left them in the bucket for a further 10 mins whilst I got every thing together to prepare them.
I tippem them into the sink and washed them before cleaning.
Interestingly the larger fish just started to move slightly by the time I finished cleaning and gutting the smaller fish. I guess this means they would probably recover if placed back in the main tank.
The prepared fish does not appear to smell of clove oil but my hands do faintly.

Dasboot, what does EM1A stand for?
Thanks!

Thats very interesting savarin