Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey all,

I was planning on adding urine to the water. As to get it into the system, no real problem there. No bottles needed!

I regularly go out and urinate on the orange tree which is right next to where I have placed the tank so I think direct addition rather than via a bottle not required.

At the moment I am playing whack-a-mole with leaks anyway. Fix one and another appears. As a result, not cycling atm.

I am also reconsidering having a timer rather than just depending on the float switch.

It takes approx 10 mins for the barrels to fill and I am going to adjust the drainage so that it takes approx 15 mins to drain. That way, if I get a time switch that allows me to have the thing on for 10 mins then off for 20 it will ensure that the barrels fill and drain correctly. This is all dependent on me finding a timer that can cater for that. At Bunnings they have a timer that will allow for the 10 minute intervals for only $25(ish). Problem is it only allows for 14 on/off cycles and I need one which allows for 30 (2 per hour from 6am to 9pm). I will have to look on the internet, but if anyone can point me in the right direction I would be greatful.

Also, is it possible to over-oxiginate? The overflow pipe is returning water at a great rate. If it is possible over-oxiginate then I will have to be careful of that.

Thanks

Simon

VERY good question. would you believe i had just been doing research that covered this last night??

Simple answer tailored to AP is NO.

Long answer (in case any one is interested) YES, at high partial pressures (higher than atmospheric), when using pure O2, or when using micro fine bubbles, although this is more due to microscopic bubbles catching inside gills eyes and skin...............

You might check and see if you can find a timer that isn't so much of 24 hr timer, but rather one that is set up to run on an hourly basis. (Some of these are used in industrial plants for the addition of chemicals into the manufacturing processes.) I'm not sure where to find them, but I know they are out there.

Kevin

Another possibility, have it on for 10-15min, off for 45-50 min. I have had problems with plants getting "wet feet" when I had my flood/drain cycle too fast. As long as you are getting enough oxygen to the roots, you should be okay.

Thanks for the replies all....

Greenedo, what you say sounds good. The question then has to be asked, how can you tell when you are not getting enough oxygen to the roots?

Thanks

Simon

Short answer..... root rot..... anaerobic zones form in/around the root ball and literally it begins to rot.

long answer:

When you have "sufficient" you won't get root rot, when you have excess you will get surprisingly quicker growth

Is that quicker root growth, or overall plant growth?

overall plant growth

Hi all,

An update on my system.....

I have started the pumping into the grow beds. Still fine-tuning it to get them to fill properly. Have 3 of them about right with minor adjustments to the others.

I have to laugh at myself. The 2 on the balcony are not filling all the way. I have the inlet pipe open all the way and the outlet closed off as much as I can but still not filling. I have been trying to adjust the outlet pipe so that it was just the slightest trickle so I could get more water into the barrels. Then finally, common sense kicked in. If I can't get enough water in as it is, just drill more holes in the inlet pipe stupid!

I just did my first ammonia test today. I have urinated into the tank a couple of times. When I tested it it was 2ppm. Initially I thought Wow, that is some pretty powerful urine until I read a posting that said that if you use Ager (excuse spelling) then that will cause an ammonia spike. I used Ager after filling the tank so I suspect that that is accounting for the ammonia.

Anyway, I have the pump on for 8 minutes every hour. It pumps approx 1/3 of the tank into the grow beds.

Now I wait and keep an eye on the ammonia levels. When they drop to a sufficient level and the nitrates pick up, then I will get my first ten SP.

Simon

Just an update for everyone....

After eliminating the leaks from 5 of the 6 barrels I have had them running for about 2 weeks.

I have tested the Ammonia levels and they are now about 1.0. Nitrates are at about 80ppm.

I have planted the following seedlings.
zucchini
rocket
lettuce
tomato (Tommie Toe and Yellow)
parsley
eggplant

and I have sown the following seeds
capsicum
spring onion
cucumber
strawberry (yes, strawberry seeds!)

I have not got any fish yet because the ammonia is still too high. I am waiting for it to finish cycling before adding my first fish.

I was surprised to find strawberry seeds. I know that the seeds are on the outside of the fruit etc but I was planning on buying some runners in a few months. I saw the seeds and thought "To hell with it. I will give them a try!" Never know until you do!

The 6th barrel is not cycling as it has a leak that I need to fix but have been too busy to get to it. With all the rain that we have been having, there is no way that I would be able to do it now anyway. 2 days of constant rain. Not heavy, just constant.

I was down at the tank today while the pump was on and noticed that one of the overflow pipes was not overflowing. I looked into it and eventually found that all the hoses were blocked. Not at the grow bed holes like I expected. It turns out that the taps that I purchased to control the in-flow have filters in them and they were blocked. I have had to go out and purchase inline filters for the lines as the flow was almost zero. I had to cut the hose to clear them out. It seems that the birds have been bathing in the water and adding too much crap in doing that. Time to put up the net!

I knew that there was a lot to learn, and I have to say, this small system that I have set up has been invaluable from a learning perspective.

Good stuff psycho. Have u had many frosts this winter? We have had hardly any and normally get several.

Hi TT,

My wife is from Geelong! You must be loving the footy atm...

We had some nasty frosts up here this year. Severe frosts for about 5 nights in a row. Lots of badly burned tropical trees around. Killed off all of the grass. Some of the sugar-cane farmers have had very bad losses (I had no idea that sugar-cane was so susceptible to frost).

One night it got to -5 here in Lismore, with no cloud cover and no wind.

Still raining up here. Non-stop since Sunday evening. Hopefully it is getting into the town dam as well (though I would be amazed if it wasn't! It is raining everywhere).

Simon

Everyone else is playing for second psycho! We are hardcore, go to all the games, but no interstate ones this year. GF here we come.

We had a solid 2 months rain but it seems to have disappeared at the end of July. Doesn't even look like raining. Our water storages are still under 30%, well down on this time last year and at the end of summer last year things were very grim. Doesn't bode well.

Need to get my system up and running to offset the unbelievable cost of veges here, and allow me room to refill my watertank, to give me a summer ap water buffer. I think things are going to get worse here waterwise, hope i am wrong.

Got to be honest TT,

As a Hawthorn supporter I hate Geelong. After the 1989 GF when you tried taking out players behind play and all.....

But seriously, my wife and I are hoping for a Hawthorn/Geelong GF so we can go the the pub & cheer on our own teams!


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