Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Sellys roof and gutter silicone

AHHHHHH,,,Bunnings and Selleys roof and guttering silicon,,,,I spent a frustrating hour trying tofind this,,all the silcone products where in one place EXCEPT the roof/guttering one which I eventually hunted down in the plumbing section. This info may save you a bit of time.

YES/YES I should have gone to the plumbing section first but on the way there I saw all those tubes together in one place,,,just minus one type:)

Just got back from Bunnings ended up getting Selleys Glass which says is also suitable for aquariums.

The only thing that concerns me is that on the tube it says not suitable for below water level situations, Should I just use it anyway or try something else

Try it i dont think it sticks to anything but glass [roof and gutter sticks to everything]

Yeap I will give it a go, says to let it cure for 7 days if using for an aquarium but I doubt I can be that patient

I used it on my GBs... no problems after just over a year (yet ) seems to stick to plastic fine - but I will give the roof and gutter a go next time as I have not tried it as of yet).

Hello all, looks like I will be running my setup outside was wondering if I will be able to get the seeds
to germinate by themselves or will I need to add a heater to keep the water temp up, Its pretty chilly in Melbourne

Maybe I should get them to germinate inside then transport them outside to the system once i have some leaves going:)

Just plant them, even broccoli and radish seeds germinate straight into gravel.

I have started seeds in the glasshouse and planted some outside and some inside with little or no difference [only the ones in the glasshouse are growing slightley better because of the constant heat]

i just use the roof and gutter silicone. i feel better with the AS4020 specs for potable water

starting seeds can be done in many ways. Larger seeds are pretty easy to plant right in the gravel since they will stay put better and can usually be planted deeper.

For smaller seeds that you might want to start right in the gravel, you can use a bit of paper towel, tissue, or cotton ball to help hole the seed in place and wick water from deeper in the grow bed up to the seed. That way you don't have to flood the bed too deep and you can still start the smaller seeds.

Some plants will start from see in the grow beds easier than others. Also, some types of plants are more particular about their germination conditions than others.

Lettuce/spinach/broccoli/greens/beets/carrots/turnips/snow peas/onions/potatoes and many others are good cool weather crops. The peas would like their seeds to be in a rather warm media in order to germinate though.

Beans, corn, melons, tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, and more are examples of warmer weather crops.

That said, I still have lettuce growing in my outdoor AP system here in central FL and we are in the middle of summer right now. Yea, much of it keeps bolting before providing much salad but the tilapia like it for a treat.

Here and some other places I've seen it implied that autosiphons do not equal flood and drain.

But they are flood and drain, aren't they? The 'drain' just depends on how you have the siphon set up? How deep in the bed, etc?

I think flood and drain is usually a standpipe with holes drilled around the bottom, pump fills bed, overflows over top of standpipe. Pump turns off, bed drains to the level of the holes in standpipe.

It is flood and drain with siphon for the other type. Its still equals flood and drain as far as I am concerned

Yes, autosiphons are flood & drain Karen, normally there is about 1" (or less) left in the bottom of the GB, but on the next cycle that water is mixed with the new and as such stagnant areas do not developed

Damn, beat me to it OBO ... my answer is much more succinct tho

You just used bigger words