Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi JimV.
Yes the whole thing is covered in the shadecloth. I am waiting to get some time to put the plastic on instead, but have just been too busy. Hopefully the plastic will extend growing seasons.

NOT HAPPY THE RATS ARE BACK


Other than that setback, things ae going well!
I have finally got the greenhouse plastic on & what a difference in temperatures - 12c under the verandah, 23c in the greenhouse - I was roasting as I did a bit of tidying & seeding today.

The pH is around 7.2 in the hybrid system, below 6 in the bathtub setup. The tomatoes are just hanging in there - they were badly exposed & damaged a couple of weeks ago when the shadecloth blew off in a nasty storm. Broccoli, chillies, beetroots (what's left) & basil is growing well in the baths. The SPs & Murray Cod aren't eating now, so the 24 large trout are keeping the nutrients up to the 8 GBs.

The hybrid system is overgrown with rocket, pak choy, beets, spinach, cabbages & small seedlings of spring onions & herbs. The DWC needs a good sorting, with pak choy, celery & strawberries going nuts, with most plants looking a bit healthier after adding lots of supplements including Manutec Complete Trace Elements. The 70 trout are growing well & some are 200mm long now. The wicking beds have been disappointing with very slow growth, but I believe this is due to the very poor, sandy soil I bought from the local garden centre - it will take a while to improve but I am sure it will come good.

I have been using the yellow sticky paper traps in an effort to keep the whitefly under control, but I am finding every bug (mostly good ones) except the whiteflies, stuck to the paper. Does anyone else have this issue?

I am off to cook a laksa now with all today's goodies from the garden - pak choy, chilli, vietnamese mint, coriander, broccoli & spring onion - I can taste it already

Are you cooking enough for all of us?

My system is cruising along and the greenhouse certainly keeps the temperature up during the day. The celery is taking off in the raft and I am struggling keeping the plants upright. They are still supported by the Growgrips to some extent, but the Growgrips were not designed for these larger plants and root masses.

The trout are growing nicely & I can see quite a difference in size in a few of them in tyhe hybrid system. The 20+ in the bathtub system are a good edible size now, & I will keep them until we travel OS again later this year. Hopefully the good neighbour will look after everything again this year.

The wicking beds are producing herbs and broccoli and most else is growing better now that I have added trace elements and worm teas.

I am trying to build a venturi to add more aeration to the FT but have had little success. I think I will start a thread about the venturi problem - I was quite disappointed today when it was an epic fail!

Hope all is going well for everyone during winter.

Note to self.....If you think there is the slightest chance of a fish getting into a pipe, up an SLO or down a drain, do something about it before it's too late!!!

I changed my SLO this week into a 90mm central, vertical arrangement rather than a slotted horizontal pipe along the FT floor. I found I always had a collection of solids in the corners, which were never moved & I would love to have a clear tank floor, as so many members do. With a more powerful pump, I am hoping to achieve a circular water movement which will hopefully move solids to the centre of the tank & up & out to the RFF. I wondered whether the fish would be able to squeeze through the v shape, but dismissed the thought, telling myself the fish were too big.

The problems started when the trout decided they would follow the solids through the v shaped cutouts in the base of the pipe & into the RFF. I had my suspicions that 1 fish had gone through as I was feeding them before work. Unfortunately I couldn't investigate until I got home. I syphoned out most of the 200ltr into GBs & drained the stinky settled mess into buckets & spread it around the wicking beds.

I could finally hear the splashing of fish & ended up finding 4 six-seven inch trout in the bottom.
My next problem was getting them out!
The fish net I have was too wide to go in the barrel so I dashed to the kitchen cupboard, got a colander & taped it to a length of conduit & started scooping. I put the escapees into a bucket of water to inspect for damage. There were a few marks on 1 but nothing serious, so I put them back into the tank. I checked the pipework to the GBs & fortunately didn't find anymore.

I removed the SLO and have attached some 1 inch sq, fine plastic wire/net over the base & the open top of the pipework. I might also invest in a smaller net.

On a positive note, I have venturis working into the FT delivering lots of fine bubbles - the top of the tank is like like a big glass of fizzy drink! I still need to perfect them, but I have the basics for now.

Pesky fish.

I just spotted a trout that made it's way into the sump tank. I really need a bigger net, will need to invest in one.

Are your tomatoes still going?

Hi Colum,
I removed a couple of tomato plants today, but I still have one which has new growth & is flowering!
I also found a bunch of about 20 tomato seedlings in a GB today - self sown from a fallen & hidden fruit. Not sure what to do with them - split them & replant or just pull them out. Seems a bit too early for them to be successful.

How is your big GB going? Hopefully all running smoothly.

I think it depends on the type of tomato if they'll do alright.

I've still got some going. Some are looking sad, but others like the black cherry are powering on.

New grow bed is going well, the flow is being temperamental, doesn't want to break easily, but everything is growing, apart from a few snails attacking my new rhubarb.

..
Fish into SLO... Some serious disasters come to mind...

I learnt from the disasters of others and fitted a skirt of oversize pressure pipe with a cap and hole there in, that just slide up and down the real SLO.. the weight kept it on the bottom..

No chance of getting through the two screens
..
.

I have been away for 7 weeks & returned yesterday to find my greenhouse overgrown & overrun with aphids, whiteflies & earwigs. My neighbour has been feeding the fish & topping up the water levels, but I was obviously growing vegies he doesn't like because very little had been harvested. Many plants have gone to seed without developing properly, so I must have defficiencies & will go & buy more Seasol & Blood & Bone tomorrow.
The trout seem to have grown well (unlike last year). He only had 1 fish loss from around 100 in that time, so I was really happy how he managed things & that nothing had gone wrong.



This was 1 of 2 piles I removed from both systems.
Not sure how to deal with the whitefly - the sticky traps seem to catch everything but them. I have hundreds of small native bees & wasps & am hoping they might have an impact on the unwelcome insects

system looks pretty good for seven weeks away. Darn bugs! I hear you. I released hundreds of lady bugs two weeks ago, but they seem intent on clustering like they know Winter is coming and they need to hibernate, . We've been busy with flooring and haven't had time to add day light extending lighting. I have had decent luck spraying the undersides of leaves with water washing the aphids off and then with the jet setting on the hose blasting the gravel grow beds with more water to drown the bugs that were washed off. I don't know yet how effective this will be in the long run, but it feels good to fight them one on one.

Hi Brian, I have logged on a few times & have had a read of what you have been up to. Lots of progress since I left! I can't squirt the aphids off - we don't have the water pressure (gravity feed rain water). I have flooded beds to get the earwigs floating & then taken revenge by squishing them, but it was a long process. I might have to get out the neem oil & pyrethrum & do some exterminating.

7 week holiday, T41? Nice for some mate

Always good to have a big spring clean. System looking good man!

Yeah Charlie, we did it tough, following our son-in-law around Europe whilst he raced sidecar-motocross. 27 Aussies at the last race meet for an inaugral national teams event was fantastic. 8 countries & 7500km - awesome!!!
Back to reality now & the battle of the bugs.

Hi everyone!
After cooking up around 40kgs of tomatoes into sauce, chilli sauce, pasta sauce, & drying & storing in olive oil, I am really over tomatoes this season!





I have removed 4 or 5 plants & have just left a couple, to see how long they can keep going in the greenhouse, although I did find a group of newly sprouted seedlings in one of the gbs.
The summer was long & very hot for my system as it was left under plastic & shadecloth the whole season. Apparently it was too difficult to remove the plastic & I had very little airflow, so most plants cooked. Tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, spring onion & chillis kept producing & Vietnamese mint & passionfruits kept growing wild, but brassicas, lettuces, egg plants & pak choy couldn't cope. I couldn't cope going into the hot house other than to feed the fish, so it all became quite neglected. The wicking beds produced zucchinis & pumpkins but are suffering badly with powdery mildew due to the humidity. I am quite embarassed by the photos showing the unloved state of my AP.



The weather has finally cooled, the SPs & Murray Cod have stopped feeding & I have had a renewed interest & have had a massive clean out of plants. When tackling the raft bed, I found baby yabbies hiding amongst the settled rubbish on the raft floor, so that was a bonus. I think I will get 20 trout for each system, as soon as I am sure the temps are staying cooler. I have a freezer full from last season & I don't want the stress of managing high stocking levels again.

I am growing lemongrass for the first time & I am unsure what to expect - it has grown very well but the stalks aren't terribly thick & I'm not sure whether to give it a hair cut.

I have scattered a variety of seeds in the gbs & am looking forward to seeing them sprout.