Greetings!
I'm Nate from Sacramento, been reading here for a good couple years, on and off at first and seriously for the past year.
My system got started in November 2013 and I've learned from making a TON of mistakes. Like, you know how Perlite is universally disliked as a growbed media? There's a good reason(s) for that, no matter how cheap and easy to work with it is.
Anyway, to keep it brief, the pics are of the bones of the system at outset, the growbed starting to take off, and one of 4 grow towers I've since added to increase the volume of media.
The IBC is plumbed to overflow at 250 gallons/1000L, gravity feeds into the 9 x 12" flowerpots which drain into the sump below. One pump returns from the sump to the FT, and another pumps from the sump to the 4 grow towers, returning to the sump.
Starting in November it took about 2 months to cycle, and another 2-3 months for pH to come down to where nutrient lockout wasn't such a problem. Patience!
Of 12 Bluegill, 6 came to eating size this summer, and the others stayed tiny. Now that the first 6 are out of the way, the little guys are coming along. To keep them company, we have a dozen Channel Catfish that have grown to 8-10" in the last 4-5 months.
Ammonia is typically Zero-low, Nitrites always zero, and Nitrates always on the high end.
I understand I have a lopsided fish/grow media ratio, but it's working more or less for now.
Anyway, this is definitely still the beginnning of this journey, but I wanted to thank the members here for freely sharing knowledge. I've learned a lot.
Thanks, Nate
Attachment:
system dressed.jpg [ 85.36 KiB | Viewed 3571 times ]
Attachment:
growbed june.jpg [ 103.98 KiB | Viewed 3571 times ]
Attachment:
grow tower.jpg [ 86.17 KiB | Viewed 3571 times ]