Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

What fish did you end up putting in there? Did you go with a few of your gold fish?

Ill see how i go but ill give you a couple of the fish from my order so you can finally eat something later on

Unless you plan on eating the gold fish

Nic

Don't knock it till you've tried it!!! The Barra doesn't seem to mind the taste...

Yeah steve, im simply amazed at the progress and growth rates. If this holds up over the next few weeks i'll see joel and get another system, somewhat earlier than i thought, but i cant wait

hey nic, i put 4 gold fish in, but i'll see you at LCC this week no doubt and pick your brain about the fish.. ..WA fisheries dont seem so keen to let AP people to use non native species in there systems, pfft

Hi again, i said i would keep the pictures coming, well this is 2 weeks after seeds where thrown in, literally. A few questions for the experienced crew if ya can help..

Ok, well everything germinated and somethings going well, except the Leeks and Baby carrots. The Leeks, germinated and then appeared to have died. Also, nothing of the carrots. My good AP friend Tim C tells me it could be as the seeds are so tiny, they like fell to the bottom and take longer. Could he be right, yet again??? ..and more so, what could be causing the leeks to be dieing???

Also, im thinking strongly about what fish i will put in there, with all the dramas with WA fisheries, i might just forget about fish, and go with Marron. My reasons for doing so are mainly the water level. When the pump fills the grow bed there is only about 35/40cm of water in the tank, its only at this level for about 3-4 minutes before its being filled up by the fast draining grow bed. I'm thinking it might not be enough room for fish, but good for marron.

Feel free to give your advice "O wise ones"

I have trouble germinating seeds in AP, others don't. I transplant larger seedlings and do much better. It is possible that seeds have shifted too deep. If young seedlings are dying, it is possible they are too wet and damped off.

Adding a sump to the setup would reduce fluctuations in water level.

Perhaps adjust your grow bed flood level lower and hand water the surface every few days untill germination. Then go back to normal flood level.
I have not had a problem with seeds starting, but then I just toss em in and eat what grows. So if I had a problem Likely I would not notice?

I am not 100% sure but maron won't produce the ammount of waste needed to sustain a Ap system will they?

Nic

Simmo Seemed to have no problems with Marron ( well till they all got cooked in the tank over christamass)

and Tony (from west Oz) uses a tray with Compost sunk into the bed to the water level to germinate his seeds, seems to be a better medium to get them going

If you could get over their initial territorial behavior I think you should be able to sustain the system with marron. S77 seemed to do it in individual containers with only a few marron in each one. A luxury JJ doesn't have....

i'll probably end up having to put fish in this tank, peer pressure from Robyn T and Tim C im sure, but it will only be a few, like 5.

As for the seeds not germinating, well i guess its still a bit of trial and error. Might have to contact this tony fella for a picture of how he does it.

Its just a shame they never took off, because everything else is doing so well. To the point that i need to put some form of a lattice up the peas are getting HUGE!!!

well it was a monumental day today for my first system, as it was out with the goldfish and in with my dinner - 6 months from now lol

Yes thanks to Nic C and Tim C, i have put in 6 perch, all of whom seem happy after some 8 hours of being in there new home. When its daylight i will have to take a picture, though you probably wont see much, as they are only little.

Its an amazing feeling putting the fish in, not sure how to explain it, i guess its what women might feel when they buy some new shoes or something lol ..just kidding, it is good though, as the system is working fine and i now have some fish - YIPEE

good to see everything is going well and good luck with the perch, hopefully u can add heaps more for the summer bbq's

Have you put any more thought into sweet potatoes? I've heard they can grow well in hydroponics using half barrels. I guess this works well cause the potato can push the media up the rounded sides of the bed instead of busting out a square or rectangular container.

As to the carrots, it can be tricky to get carrots to germinate. They are such tiny seeds and they need consistent moisture yet they are not really transplantable. Perhaps one way to get them to germinate in a grow bed would be to pull aside some of the media and use a bit of paper towel or something to place the seed on and then put some of the media back to hold the toweling in place. This would hopefully provide support to keep the little seeds from washing away and help keep them moist enough to germinate. Carrots require patients too. I've only ever managed to grow them in soil when I had automatic drip irrigation hooked up, otherwise they always dried out.

Carrots start and grow fine directly in gravel. Plant them 1 inch apart the pull out every other one as needed. You can also use sand for potatoes. Just use the water after the gravel. I know I saw some pics somewhere with potatoes growing in gravel also.

"They" say you can not grow carrots in gravel, but I do. So don't listen to "they". Just do it. Make sure they stay out of sun light.