Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have worked out that my pump only recirculates about 1.5 times day.
I have read a lot of reports that seem to say we need to recycle the water every hour, then there are conflicting posts saying that once a day is enough.
I am wondering if the body of water is the guiding factor.
For eg: If the tank is small, in order to achieve oxygenation and filtration a perceived number of cycles is necessary.
Establishing that I have a fairly large water body can I get by with the lesser recycling.

Side note:Hydroton how do I buy shares in this company?
What makes water go red?-unwashed hydroton.

I am probably ahead of myself but I have planted out some seedlings in 2 of 3 grow beds. Only growing a few variaties of lettuce which need minimal nutrients.
I am hoping that since the ponds have been used for fish prior to converting to aquaponics and using aquarium water when changing out to start the bio process there maybe some nutrients.
Fish are out there just got to get them in my pond system.

keep a running commentary and pics in your own system thread, will be nice to see the progress as it happens.

My concern with a large water source and not many fish has always been whether the plants will get the nitrates they need unless there is a massive flow of water through the beds. Others have told me this is not an issue, but it does not stand to reason for me.

think of it this way VB, 100ppm nitrate in 20 litres or 100ppm in 1000 litres represents the same nutrient CONCENTRATION available to the plants. True that there is 100X more nitrogen in the 1000 litres but it still has the same concentration.

It will take longer for a given number of fish to raise the nitrate in a large tank to 100ppm than it would in a small tank, but once it is at 100PPM (arbitary value) as long as the fish to plants ratio is balanced, the water volume is inconsequential. if the fish produce 5ppm of nitrates per day and the plants use 5ppm of nutrients per day then 100ppm will always be maintained.

Water flow does not really come into it (as long as it is above a minimum value) as each litre of water that passes the plant roots has the same concentration of nitrates as it would in a smaller tank system

I hope i haven't misunderstood and that this makes sense

Steve

PS i've heard that joel is on his way down armed with 10 hours of cam-corder tapes for minnamurra

That makes a lot of sense Steve. Thanks.

I have given Stu strict instructions on the things he has to check out for me. Photos and video would be good

I check in by phone with him when he landed, he mentioen something about "A check list from VB" Oh, get this, the stewardess server up barra for the meal on the plane! How's that for an omen

Didn't think they served any meals on planes anymore - at least not the ones I fly on

thanks steve.

Water contains O2 as well as nitrates. This is where some systems fall down with poor water flow. Plants like a lot of air.

If you are using floating rafts or DWC you will need to recirculate them more often. But this is not total system volume I'm talking about, it is the total plant water volume, with a big tank, a big difference...

Increasing the water flow over plants increases their feed capability with smaller nitrate readings as well.

Think eating 16 crusts cut off wee triangle sandwiches, or one footlong sub. Same amount of food to keep me building half a day, different delivery system.

Plants will use what they can and leave the rest. You can't really burn organics, but you can pollute your fish.

I've been getting higher production figures per kilo of fish than the scientists for one reason I can pin down only. Circulation. Less food yes, but delivered more often.

AD- The plant watering is way more than I would have watered under normal conditions-knowing that of course these are not normal conditions no added firt etc but still a consideration.
Just wondering how the team are going at the conference- any word