Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I want to recycle the fish waste of my AP system to decrease the amount of input i have to put in and just wondering what you guys would suggest? I know most people use worms but is there another way? Possibly Ghost Shrimp they are inexpensive and could also be used as fish feed. Crayfish i heard could also work or "Yabbies". I want them to take the unusable solids from the system and convert them back into minerals the plants can use. So please give me a link if you know anything about this, or any other creatures that might work.

Hey dagger, try doing a forum search for "digester", plenty of info.

Didn't see anything specifically....

Dagger,

Before I try to give you some info that may not pertain to your system. Could you Give us a brief overview of what it is. I.e. shapes sizes and layout of your system, types of fish, stocking density, and feed rate if you have it. Pictures would be better. But a sketch helps also. As each system is as individual as the person who built it.That way we are not giving you advise that would work well on a large system but not on a small so well. Or visa versa depending on your individual system. Plus often times the knowledgeable minds on here notice something to make your system work better. While your are doing this you can also look up "MT" or "Mineralization tank". But as I said all this is a shot in the dark until we know what we are dealing with.

Well i only started last year and it failed horribly. I have a 275 Gallon fish tank , an IBC tote and the top part is the grow bed. I was thinking why it might have failed and there a lot of things. Possibly more fish last year i had only 2 bluegills, Algae coating on the sides of the tank. i didn't have a sump or a bio filter. And i couldn't get a PH read on it. here are some pictures.

No idea why there sideways, (Sorry). And the water wasn't like that i was just cleaning the colorado river rock

Also how did you know it failed last year. Slow to no plant growth? Dying plants? I am surprised that fish solids are an issue with only 2 bluegill. Are they collecting at the bottom of the tank? Or are they making it to the GB? The answer to that question your pump pickup placement. In a IBC it is better to be in a corner for solids removal. On another note, you should defiantly either paint the sides of your IBC both FT and GB. Or put some cladding on to stop the sunlight from getting inside and causing algae problems. Algae uses up valuable nutrients. Your problem defiantly was not lack of aeration. Also do you have some type of barrier between the sharp rocks and the bottom of your heavy FT? As that could in time create a leak.

Well i had planted lettuce and it died, tomatoes were in a constant state of alive and dead and the peppers did fine. Solids weren't an issue just planning for next year. As far as the algae goes would it be better to paint the outside or maybe use dapnia or some other critter to get rid of it and be a possible food source for the fish. And what would you suggest to place in between the rocks and the tote bottom?

All my waste goes over to feed the wicking beds and heres the result

F&F,
Nice pic

Dagger,

Every time a plain IBC is seen the first advise the person who posted it is given is to cover it. As a sacrificial layer, pretty much anything hard that you do not care about that can stand up to moisture.

Alright but what about my PH why was it always 8 +?

Dagger, what are you using for media? What the water source and top off source? Your rock is your biofilter, and like FF said, you shouldn't have much solids from 2 blue gill. Also, food source and Gb exposure? 5 plus hours per day of sun is best. You can always shade a too sunny area, you can't add sun.lol

Colorado River rock PH neutral. And the water is just from the hose after i removed the chlorine. As far as light goes it was in the sen about 5 hours a day.

My system didn't start dropping until almost a year. i have the same size FT as you. Appx 200 gallon, but have close to 40 pounds of fish in it. I'm pushing the limit and need to monitor Nitrites and slow down feeding when the temps drop. But, I would suggest being patient, which sometimes is hard to do, but seems like often the best advice. Adjust top off water to around 7.00 and then feed the fish till your sure the system has cycled and then add a few more fish, and see how your growth is. Doing a simple RFF and digesting solids in a bucket with air is not too hard, but i don't see your current fish producing enough solids to collect??

It may have either been your water source was at 8 plus. Try testing water from your source after it has set in a glass for 24hrs. Then you will get the true PH of your water. It could also be that your "neutral" GB media is not as neutral as advertised. It happens. I would test it too.