Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'd be concerned about the resin in pine wood. Apart from borers and termites, there's not much that will eat it......and if you can remember your last walk in a pine forest, there's not much that grows around pine trees.

these are all very good points.
but lets not forget that these chips are sold to be put onto gardens, and that many hydroponics web sites recommend them as an excellent substrate.
I will keep you informed and If I die, I will discontinue using them :-)

All the members reading this should plant flowers now

You think it will take that long?
hehe, I will endevour to get some pics tonight and post them tomorrow, maybe it will make more sence.

Quote: "cypress can be really bad stuff. Never put it in a fire (and that means you Steve), the smoke can make you really sick. Cypress trees drop a chemical around the leaf line to exclude other trees from growing anywhere near them. It's no wonder the fish don't like it!"

I've posted this elsewhere today, but here it is again, sorry to harp

Another reason so little grows in a pine forrest/plantation is that they tend to make the soil acidic... for years we had to go collect pine needles for my mother to put around some of her ornamental plants which prefered pine needles

If the needles are acidic as they break down, surely the bark and wood chips will be too.

Had another thought - I have seen wood chip which has been dyed a colour close to that of terecotta - and when you handel it some of the colour comes off onto your hands - but it looks great around the roses... was your woodchip 'natural wood colour' when you got it?

AM, i can vouch for the colour thing too! We had a cubic meter or two deliverd to a mates place. it took months for the colour to wash off the driveway, and if yuo took a hand full and hosed it, it changed from the "natural" red colour back to plain "pine" colour I woyuld not be surprised at all if they dyed it.

anything for a sale and for the best looking garden in the street hey!
For you they would simply just pre-burn it

Only for the un asuming.

My system at last www.help-it.cc/me/default.htm

looking good - so the only media you are useing is woodchip?

Thats it !
I was searching for "Dutch Buckets" one day on the net. This site showed how to DYI using old cheese buckets (from resturants). All he had lying around as media, was some cypress chips. I found them at the "B" on the
weekend and desided to give them ago.
I think theyll be fine, once I get the colour out of the water.
He was using Hydoponic chemicals, not fish waste. Im going to try Marron.

It reminds me of the time "Hommer" crossed tomatoes with tobacco.
And produced "Tomaccos", addictive eating tomatoes :-)

This is interesting/exciting - looking forward to regular updates!
So will you be building a larger system? I ask because i would l;ike to see how this little one does over an extended period of time

well, im not the only occupant of our house, I had to start using this system two weeks early, after an insident involving my 4 year old son over the weekend that I wont go in to in detail here.
Safe to say that I would love to go bigger, finances and wife permitting.