Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Sounds like a candidate for Gardener of the year- keep up the good work!

Way to go Robyn! You do know there is no cure for the AP bug byte only relief by doing AP

BTW you don't always have to be a fish killer. I have not killed any fish other than a few that got sucked into the pump while they were little. Well, never mind, ok so most of us are going to kill a few. Its worth it

For the pleco you will need a piece of wood in the fish tank, they need cellulose to digest and grow and it will put some relief on the plastic.

I would say that plecos wouldn't wear though EB's tanks. I have seen plecos in acrylic tanks they just scratch the glass but if one was left in one spot then maybe. Not likely a 1000liter tank.

Btw the plecos are nearly all gone in Qld, i can only get 10cm ones for $50ea.

They used to be around $30 for 10cm ones.

Nic

Have installed the plumbing and have the pump on a timer. Have been playing around with the drain system, standpipe and outside holey pipe. Fitted an end cap with hole at the bottom to stabilise the outer pipe and keep pebbles out.

Have also used a $2 peg holder tied around the outside so I could remove the outer pipe to make adjustments like more holes etc.

All has been working beautifully since Tuesday, and considering I am so inexperienced with plumbing thingies, I am surprised and thrilled!!!

Have also filled growbed with washed hydroton and last Tuesday evening I spread lots of seeds - silver beet, broccoli, dill, pak choi, golden beet root, golden celery, hales rockmelon. Some pak choi have already sprouted.

Have covered the ft temporarily with an old bed sheet to reduce the algae growth. Hope to make a better "hat" from shade cloth later on!

Confused

I have been testing regularly, and ammonia, nitrite and nitrates are fine. However, the PH seems high at 8.0. Everyday I put approximately two buckets of water from my rain water tank in to compensate for evaporation etc... Now, I know this is not much in a 1000l ft, but I have been doing so for weeks now, and still the PH is 8 so today I tested the rainwater - 6.4!!!

No I don't have any rocks in, though for a week at the beginning I did have a brick - tried to balance the pump on I removed it as soon as the PH went up. That was about four weeks ago, and I reckon I would have replaced at least half the water since then.

Woo Hoo, Robyn, looking great..

..you dont seem like a newbie with that set up, more like a pro!!!

Do you wait with the water sample before testing, a high DO value in water can increase highly the pH a testing.
Have you put salt in it too?

And it looks great you're gonna have tons of fun, veggies and fish by the looks of it.

Thanks for your encouraging words, Jeff. Can't wait til my plants are the size of yours.

Thanks, Amacafish - Yes I have put some salt in - probably only 2ppt. No, I don't usually wait before testing, but will definitely try that.

Yep, I am having lots of fun, and hope to add 25 perch later this week to provide some good things for the plants. Some silverbeet have sprouted today!

Oh No! The third of my golden perch died this morning - starved to death I think. He was barely bigger than when they arrived four weeks ago, and he was a real scaredy cat - lived under the pump and I rarely saw him come out He never fed like the others, not moving more than two inches from the safety of the pump. The others greet me at the top, and feed with gusto - I even left duckweed, celery and cucumber in the tank, hoping he'd eat when I wasn't looking. Also covered the tank during the day (mostly to try to control the algae!). There was no way I could catch him without stressing him (and the others!) RIP little fishy!

Have attached pictures of the healthy fish to show relative size of the perch compared to the comets and shubunkuns - if you compare with the photos as seen on p1, the perch have grown heaps.

Also a picture of what's left of some celery leaves I put in two days ago - they seem to ignore any vegies for a day ('til it softens a bit??) then attack with gusto. They also love cucumber and eat the inside, leaving the skin.

Yay! I have nitrates!

In fact they reached 5 (yes 5!) 10 days ago so I spread lots of seeds. Now they are 10!

All varieties have now sprouted, with the celery being days behind the others, but even they sprouted yesterday! I am nearly as excited about the nitrates as I am about the fishies growing - it just amazes me the absolute MAGIC of unseen bacteria doing what they should do and I guess I see the nitrates as proof that it is really and truly working - not just a theory in a (wonderful) book (thanks, Joel)

Am testing twice a week at the moment, and last results were:
PH 7.9
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 10

Have attached picture of the newly sprouted pak choi - yes I know there are too many, but I didn't know the success rate, and thought any spares would make yummy fish food - put a couple in tonight so will see how they go with it!

Looking fantastic Robyn..... Unfortunately I can only get the brief, weekly updates from you now. Its good too see the progress on here... Pictures speak a 1000 words.

I gather you are going a wait a bit before getting the new guy hooked on AP... But I am sure he will have BAP, bookmarked at work soon enough...

Just a heads up... I might have sort of planted the seed today (blue marron picture), oops! He might ask you about it next week... If he does, he didn't get it from me OK

Well done Robyn, its good to see the success coming. I just find it such an amazing feeling seeing a complete ecosystem grow before our eyes!

Nice to hear from you Tim - I really miss our aquaponics chats and your interest, encouragement and advice!

Thanks, Jeff! And thanks for the stainless steel skewers and the zucchini idea - have attached a photo of before and after. The little fishies obviously love it!