Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I don't really expect a system meant to feed some veggies to one person to need the input of more than one person. So far, my system has only been getting dosed about a half to a full pee per day. Since most people pee between 6 and 12 times per day, my system isn't being dosed very much.

Anyway, here are some more readings.
took sample at 6:30 pm 2/14/2008
pH 7.3 (reasonable as I added water to the system today)
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10

Dosed system with a little under 500 mL after taking sample

8:45 pm (2 hr 15 min after dosing)
pH 7.0
Ammonia .75
Nitrite .25
Nitrate between 10 and 20

Things seem to be working well even with cooler temps the past couple days.

I have even tasted some of the lettuce and it tastes just as good as the regular hydroponic stuff. Actually I think I like this idea better since the hydroponic tank had to be dumped and replaced regularly and it tended to attract gnats.

Definitely, when it gets too hot outside for my lettuce, I will have the aquarium going inside and a grow bed under the light for the lettuce. Perhaps I'll even put fish in the aquarium. : )

I can't help but think the idea of veggies from your waste is a neat idea once I get over the "ekkkk" factor. My thought turn towards the new bathroom I will be adding to the house in a couple years. I could get one of those systems that divert the pee to a tank and compost the rest. A house hold should be able to feed some fruit trees or large clump grass. Much better than dumping it into field lines. Perhaps let soldier flies process the compost.. as long as I dont get flies buzzing my bottom

Dan,
A certain amount of urine really does help the compost pile heat up so I wouldn't divert all the urine.
Humanure
A Humanure toilet is really easy to install! It can go anywhere!
I do believe that hot composting is the way to go to safely deal with human poo, I don't know that worms or BSF larva can really render the possible pathogens "safe". A regular humanure compost pile and sawdust toilet is cheaper than special bins and fancy composting toilet systems and it works better as well as not being stinky or attracting flies and other pests.

My wife is a little leery of the idea of a compost toilet. She does not want to smell it or see whats in it, lol. I think as long as it will not stink then it will be ok, but if she has to add sawdust then it will not get done unless I do it. I don't have any saw dust either.

People have found other cover materials that work as well as sawdust. I don't know that there are any perfect composting toilets out there.

For some people, the idea takes a little while to settle in and become acceptable. One method might be to set up your own little sawdust (or whatever) toilet in a shop or somewhere for yourself so you can show that it works and isn't stinky or difficult and let her see that it isn't such a big deal and maybe she will come around to the idea. See the trick is one has to "flush" or cover with the cover material after doing their business to keep it from stinking. We usually cover #1 with shredded paper and #2 with something more like sawdust.

2/15/08
6pm test
pH 6.8 (even with lots of egg shells in)
Ammonia .5
Nitrite 5+
Nitrate 10-20

Ah well, I had been hoping that the Nitrite would have cycled quicker than that so I'll give another day before dosing again (provided the ammonia is gone and nitrite is low.)

You will find that if your buffering requirement is high then crushing or grinding the shells will work better. also direct water flow over them helps

My wife watched some show on the BBC the other day where the lady helps people with nutrition and the lady said that your poo does not stink if you're eating healthy food.

Dave
LOL, I suppose stink is also a matter of opnion to some people.

Steve,
Some of the egg shells are just broken up a bit but most of em were ground up in a coffee grinder to make grit for the worm bin. The ground up ones are in a strainer bag in the flush tank Some of the larger broken up bits were just thrown into the flush tank. Therefore a few of the broken up bits have washed into the Grow beds under where the water flows in. At what pH does the shell actually start to disolve? The flush tanks seems to be the best place to put such things as all the water flows through it and mixes pretty well there. Bummer, perhaps I should have gotten a bucket full of washed shells when I was at Pebble Junction today.

The barrel pee ponic system is now detached from the old in ground hydro tank and the extra troughs of gravel are being put to use for the big system.

7pm readings
pH 6.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10-20

so dosed with 400mL and expecting it to take 2 days to be back to 0 again but hoping to be suprised.

readings from around 6:45pm 2/17/2008
pH 6.5 Ack!!!!
Ammonia .25
Nitrite .25 (cool it's catching up finally!)
Nitrate little over 10

So, at least in a pee ponics system, my water is not enough to keep the pH up (contrary to what the guy at Aquatic Eco Systems thought, thought he was thinking fish but anyway...)

I'm starting to think even harder about using the washed shells for my grow beds on the big system.

I know a quick way to bring my pH back up in this system but it involves adding well water. If the Nitrates were higher I would think that sending a little of the water off to waste on some potted plants or other drip irrigation would be good but as I haven't managed to get much Nitrate going, that seems kind of a waste.

Definitely when I get a few bucket fulls of washed shells for testing, I'll get some for this system and perhaps replace the sand that is in the top bed above the flush tank. So far the seeds started in the sand don't seem to be thriving particularly well.

There is some truth to that! However, someone else's poo always stinks,

Are you saying that the seeds in the sand are not doing as well as those in gravel? I'm assuming same flood/drain cycles and same water. Could it be that there is too much water/too little oxygen around the roots? Sorry I haven't taken the time to review your pics and system descriptions in other threads.

I believe that wisdom of the group is that baking soda would be fine, and potassium bicarb even better for dropping ph fast, but shell is much gentler, esp if you have fish you don't want to shock.

I haven't posted any pics showing the seedlings in sand compared to those in the gravel. The flood drain cycles are a bit different as the sand in in the tank on top of the flood tank and running on constant input with a bell siphon dumping the water into the flush tank which takes much longer to fill before flushing into the two half barrel grow beds. All on the same water. I expect the problem is that the sand stays moist all the time including the surface due to the capilary action of the sand. It might be good for getting certain seeds to start but perhaps just a little too wet for many seedlings.

Baking soda and potassium bicarb will raise the pH, not drop it. Low pH is acidic. The baking soda will work but it adds sodium which will become hard on the plants if used too much. potassium bicarb would be great but I don't know where to go get it at the moment and I think I'd rather go for the gentler methods (I don't have fish yet but the plants don't like wild fluctuations and the bacteria is probably better off with gradual shifts as well.)