Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Remember... you'll still be doubling the feed... hence load on the system.....

Test... if you numbers are off the chart (temporarily)... either halve the next days feeds, both of them... or halve the evening feed... until the tests show the bacteria have caught up... then increase the feed back...

Test until your system shows nil results when you feed consistently both feeds...

Well what a hobby... My fun has been bound-less since beginning this project and continues still today. This morning for no apperant reason between the hours of 06:00 and 07:00 (my morning coffee time) the soft sided Intex/Pool MAY have taken on a critter.

I know OB... lol disaster barely averted.

You were not the 1st. person OB to warn me of the impending & probable doom associated with the Intex/Pool. This was NOT some sort of structural integrity failure, with the pool itself, as it remains completely undamaged.

It wasn't a tree or a drunk...

well, maybe it was a drunk; cuz I did not actually see anything... I just know it was not THIS drunk. I was good Christian last night- I was in bed by midnight.

At 6AM everything was fine, at 07:05 a mandatory water change was the "plan of action". Seems a critter of some sort and of some significant size was in the tank/pool.

Whatever happened??? the tank drained by 1/2.

With a 50% water change, I guess my numbers today will be fine.

I know the tank/pool is the weakest link in the system, or maybe that honor should fall to me, LOL. BUT I can change the tank... and I will, before the Winter or right after the next inevitable collapse.

I'm really quite tough out here... so if you Fish-Folks want to pile-on and do some ball-busting today... never fear, I can take it- as I have been here before, in one way or another.

So come on, get them all in, give me your "Best Shot"! LOL

Thanks for the brutality.
All is, as expected!

Some minor points you glossed over Don

a) was the critter male or female
b) was the critter fully clothed, scantily clad or naked
c) sobriety is an option

Nice aversion of total HSM

Did all the fish remain in the tank or did some go for the water slide?

do you think the critter got any of your fish?

lol no I never got a look at shim. everything was humming along perfectly just with half the water. The fish were as happy as Larks swimming in 10-12"/25-30cm of water.

I looked for a flood trail of fish or death of any kind... nope. I'm not used to the size/number of fish yet. I can't tell you if any are missing.

Strange tho. Maybe it was a six foot rabbit, but that guy would be, wayyyy off the trail, if lost up here.

I'll bet it was a coon. They're way smart too. I'll have to act fast. I think it's a momma coon and here babies. brown bear maybe? LOL If "It" know about and wants the fish, nothing will stop it.

Time to bust out the deer-cam; maybe I can catch soon cool footage.

I found these today, critter tracks... on the side of the Intex pool.




Is there an Animal tracker lurking out here in the forums?

LOL Well it's no brown bear (dang)

Clearly some sort of rodent / varmint.

With a 50% water change yesterday; I feed twice, each feeding @ 120 for a total of 220g in a 24 hour period. Add this load to whatever was left after the water change...



Tests for 07/6
Ammo 1.0
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 60 ish

Based on these higher numbers...

I have SKIPPED todays Am Feeding of 120g and will only feed 60grams this PM, if the Ammo & No2 numbers start to fall; which it should, by this evening. IF NOT, I'll wait till tomorrow morning and test before feeding.

Thanks,
All is watchful.

Sounds like you are still a little impatient with the feed. If you do feed 60 this evening, then perhaps you can stick to that number for a few feedings (provided the test results say feeding is ok.) As in feed 60 this eve and then perhaps 60 in the morning tomorrow and 60 tomorrow evening. If all the numbers start to look good feeding that amount twice a day then perhaps up the feed to 70 each feeding twice a day, if test results are good after that bump, go to 80 for a couple days and so on. Rather than jumping from nothing to 120 to nothing to 240 etc. It might take a couple weeks to work up to the larger feed amounts but the fish/bacteria will thank you for the gradual shift. If you reach a point where at a constant feed rate, the ammonia and nitrite are not getting to 0 after a couple of days, then you will have found your bio-filter limit and know you need more grow beds.

+1 ... Agree with TCL... better to maintain twice daily fees and slowly increment

Oh no! A big sober scantily clad man!! Now I'm scared...

I was working the plan, i thought was prescribed. I think there is a bigger lag time in this thread, then in my system.

I fed at 100grams for 2 days with no sign of impact. each 100 gram feeding was complete and a single feeding.

So I doubled that amount plus a little, over the next 24hours in 2 feedings, in a quest for some/any reading. I now have one. and am backing off, as described below.

Please see:
viewtopic.php?p=136102#p136102

viewtopic.php?p=136104#p136104

viewtopic.php?p=136106#p136106

I've highlighted a couple of bits there Don.... you were feeding @ 100gm per day...

It was suggested that you feed twice daily and maybe up the overall feed quantity ... see if you got a spike and if so back it off a bit....

What in fact you've done is...



Skipped straight past the 150gm/day that you yourself suggested.... overlooked the 200gm/day that you surmised.....

And gone straight to 220gm/day..... over two feeds....

Not just a 50% increase over the 100gm/day baseline.... not even a 100% increase... but more.....

No matter.... you have a small spike.... just means you've either over done it a "little".... exceeded your growbed capacity... temporarily....

What we're saying is ... OK.... just back it off a bit 'till the spike drops.... ie a total of 150gm/day over two feeds....

If that works fine... then this is your new baseline that you know you can return to if need be....

Then try upping it to 200gms/day over two feeds.... see what happens.... etc....

As TCL suggested.... you will probably get to a point where ultimately your either don't have enough plants to absorb your nitrates... or you reach the capacity of your growbeds to process the load and need more growbeds....

When you do.... you will know exactly what your maximum feed rate can be....

Test numbers for 7/07
Ammo .50
Nitrite .50
Nitrate 70ish

so we processed 1/2 in 24 hours

on the 25th of June,
the beds processed 1.0 - 1.5 of Ammo and 1.0 - 1.5 NO2 in about 30 hours seems we are on that same time-line, this after 10 days of supposed Microbial Growth.

Bi-feeding of 80grams each is the POA
All is well
thanks

It's better to increment than to excrement.

Numbers for 7/8 with the 80g each bi-feedings

Ammo +.25 -.50 (this could be the new Zero as it has not moved but I am, feeding more regularly)
Nitrite +.25 -.50
Nitrate 50 -70ish

Fish seem starved but happy. Two jumped out today at the AM feeding, I've made a sick tank (just in time), salted it and placed them in it; they too seems happy, maybe too happy. lol

The Tank is beginning to turn really Tea like in color. The tank bottom and sides covered in brown mud/slime.

Water displacement in the grow beds.
There has been a steady reduction of water filtration. This is from plant root growth or bacteria and mycorrhizal growth. Brown boogger-like cotton everywhere under medium. This, I presume is the good stuff.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sdismang/TankBeds/photo#s5220779866102416802

I believe the mycorrhizal has taken over the beds and is having a serious impact I'm sure roots have swollen to double or triple their normal diameter. (Mark) Sir, we have Microbial Symbiosis and it's become an issue. LOL

More and more water wrap the beds. The high volume pump, will soon flood the beds at the point of entry, while there is but a trickle of water leaving the beds at the drain side. This is a total reduction of filtration.

Staged water delivery along the beds from multiple ports should be the answer. A single point, "water entry" at the elevated end of the beds is not going to work, much longer. I am already beginning to see a difference in the day and night flood levels, as the plants become larger this will only get worse.

Plants starting to fill with major Chlorophyll. Toms, Okra, Jalapeño, Crookneck, Cumbers and Cherry Peppers really starting pop. Leeks/Green Onions, HOT as hell. Vines about ready to make the horizontal turn. (Mark) Melons appear to be doubling in size every 3 or 4 days, they must grow fast and ripen more slowly.

Zucchini is very sad- missing Macro. The Collards, Radishes and Cabbage have been savaged by bugs.

All is, As Expected
thanks

Do you have worms in your growbeds?