Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Help,i was trying to load photos but it says they must be 880x600 mine are 3280x2460 how do i change this any ideal,i know little about computers to quote someone famous wheres the any key doh

What computer are you running? Mac or PC? What operating system version?

This thread may be helpful also.

Hi,
PC, XP home version.

Download and install this.

The you can right click on the image, select resize and then the size you want.

Many many thanks,it is so simple when you know what your doing.

Andy w

Just a note... M$oft discontinued that software after XP... if you upgrade to Vista (why would you?) or Windows &... you'll need to get the revised third party version...

http://imageresizer.codeplex.com/releases/view/30247

This is not exactly aquaponics,but its a easy way to grow a food source,this a really simple but very effective way to grow Mung Beans or bean sprouts.Our small bin wii produce 3.5 kilos plus easily,this from 500gr of seeds,we normally do 250gr giving up to 2 kilos,when dried properly willkeep nearly a week in the salad tray of the fridge.
Ok you need,
Small bin,
medium bowl,
small basket,
plastic fittings,
powerhead,
sprinkler head.
First job is to drill the bin as you can see from the picture you literally pepper the bottom with holesmthe outside being small enough to stop the seeds falling through,i also drill the outside ring of the basket to ensure no standing water.For the lid drill to take 1/2 inch fitting to screw the sprinkler head to.Power heads are high volume low pressure so i open the outlet to reduce back pressure.As you can see from the pic i used plastic pipe with a hose tail to cnnect to the pump.To run put the basket up side down in the bin stand the bin over your bowl and fill the bowl with water, i fill to cover the pump this ensures safe cool runnig.When you swich on you should have an even spray around the bin.Before you put your seeds in rinse with a 5% household bleach solution this sterlises everything,then rinse with fresh water.Now wash your seeds this makes it easy to pick out any that look like they wont germinate,broken discoloured etc.Now pour them in the bin in the gap between the basket and the wall of the bin fill with fresh water and swtich on,depending on the size of sprouts you want from 4 days on they done.The first fill of water washes the beans so i change twice the first day,after that once a day is enough,you can do more if you want.Hope this makes sense more pics to follow.

More pics[attachment=0]beans 10 (Small).jpg[/attachment
I have one more pic will post again.

Using a bigger bin we were getting up to 10 kilos but that was right on the limit,problems with fungus because of the amount of heat generated during germination,this doesnt happen in the small bin due to the constant light flow of water.

Another benifit with the bin is, if you fill it with bio balls it becomes a bio filter, think i would add more holes around the top of the bin,the water should pull air in as it falls though the bin.Food for thought,if it was ticking over somewhere, in the event of pump failure on a heavily stocked tank maybe save lives

That looks really cool Dasboot

Thank Faye,
Its cheap as easy to make and cheap to run,you can run it with a timer 20 mins on and then anything up to three hours off,you just need to keep the sprout clean and damp,the on and off cycle would just need some experiments to get the best results.Also although i havent tried it the bio filter should be a goer as well.

Hi what is the blue strainer for?
To protect the pipe work or to strain the sprouts or both or something else?

The blue strainer is important to the working of this system,You shouldnt grow sprouts in a closed container,they need more air than water,so by peppering the bottom of the bin and then placing the strainer upside down you have free flow of air into the bin,you put your seed around the outside of the strainer.They get a sprinkle of water plus air is drawn in due to the action of the water.I found this system gives the best results by far giving a 4 to 1 return,the best i had was 3kilos for 500grm of seeds.You can improve air flow if you use two plastic elbows though the lid, 1 inside the other outside,light cant go around corners so keeps the inside dark.This extra air will help if you start growing 1k of seeds.This system enables you to put this anywhereas the sprout are always dark.
The sprouts you get although very good dont like commercial sprouts as there fed air with ethynol plus nutrients for growth,but iam working on it.

Nice one dasboot, you must eat a lot of sprouts......