Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Worty, could you show us some pics of your in-pond bio-filter? Is it Filled with gravel? got holes on the bottom? in the side? runs 24/7? How often you clean it out?

Sorry Taz and others, I don't have any more pictures of the bio-filter. It has a couple of dozen circular saw sized cuts in the bottom/lower 3" of the bucket, and is filled with the same gravel as I used in the beds (1/2"). I haven't had it running very long (2 days now), but it does run 24/7 in conjunction with the airlift pump. The lid won't come off of it to show the insides, but it is just a 5 gallon bucket filled with gravel. The pump is simply sucking the water through all the gravel and then back out the top, only aerated with the Venturi.

I like it. Like to see how much poop it sucks up. Let us know how it goes. I guess once a week back flush it into you BG's?

We will see. I was going to wait and go by flow rate.

Wow, the pond is clearing nicely with the first full 24 hour cycle with the new bio-filter. The water is smelling really fishy now though, so something is definitely happening. I think the bacteria are on the verge of takeover and will start making lots of nitrates for me (wishful thinking?). The fish love their clean and aerated water, and are starting to eat (which means more fertilizer for me yay!!!). The worms are still on their way, taking a little longer due to the harvester having health problems. I'm anxiously waiting to experiment with them in the new bucket bio-filter, the grow-tubes, and the new vermi-composting bins I will be making upon their arrival.

Can anyone tell me what kind of exchange I can expect with the 300 GPH pump on the 5 gallon bio-filter bucket? 110 gallon tank should turn over a significant number of times a day shouldn't it?

Worms arrived and were put in their places. Everything is looking really good as of today, so fingers crossed.

Guys, thought it was time for updated pictures. These are all two days ago. Enjoy....

and the pictures...


Look at all this new growth and flowers forming on the peppers and squash.


Ok, I feel like a Bob Ross moment, (all take a moment of silence to remember The Man) and say, "Look at the beautiful little fishes just swimming around in their happy little bubbles with their happy little fins. We'll just paint some food there for them. They look like happy hungry little fish."


And we have limping... damn this rainy weather and unlevel squishy ground. Next year I am making a tank foundation.


Another view


Remember the original batch? This is still hanging on and finally producing bigger leaves. a stick Roma tomato variety perhaps... definitely a tough little bugger.


Sweet bell pepper flowers.


You can see the plants get plenty of water even though it looks like just a trickle on the exit end. The water just burps into the grow-beds and you can constantly see crap from the bottom of the pond entering the beds for worm food. By the way, haven't found any dead worms yet. Actually, it's like they don't exist but my coffee ground keep disappearing.


Okra


and more okra... I love okra!!!


I keep finding cucumber beetles on my plants. I am starting to get aphids and praying for the ladybugs to find my garden, and as an added extra bonus I also have black ants (don't know if that is good or bad, but watching them they haven't looked like they are eating the plants). Also, I didn't even notice the mosquito larvae in the bubbles. I topped off from the pool before taking the photos so they probably came from there. More fish food? Hopefully yes and I am not breeding the nasty little buggers in my tank. I have started to keep the reservoir pool empty until the day before a rain or me filling it to de-chlorinate. I hate mosquitos!


My rain catching/de-chlorinating top-up reservoir.


Ok, here's a pic of the soon to be aquaponic hops. It is about 9" tall now and I am still debating the best way to propagate it and add to the AP system. I'm having to be very frugal, as this is the only shoots on and out of 4 rhizomes. Cascade seems to like Oklahoma. I promise I will get there... I promise!!!


And one more of the habanero as she looked yesterday. The original jalapeño's are still there, just not as nice looking as this baby.


The system has been so much fun, and is still running non-stop. The plants are losing their yellowing and starting to deep green nicely. I think the daily dumping of 3-4 gallons in each tube has really introduced a lot of the worm castings out of the gravel and into the tank, and so back into the grow-beds.

got an update on the in-pond bio-filter mate?

Do you have the little check valves on the air lines running into your fish tank from the little air pump? If not, you probably better install them since you have the air pump sitting lower than the water level in your fish tank. If power cuts out, it is possible that the air lines could siphon water out of the fish tank and into the bin where you have the electrical plugs and the air pump.

What would you like to know? It seems to be working as the majority of my bio-filtration. It really aerates the water well. Just let me know if you need any specific information, as I would be glad to provide anything I have done for you guys to look over.


Actually, I removed them and never added them back. Guess I need to go get that reinstalled. Never thought about it siphoning back into the pump. Thank you for the heads up.

How's the flow after a couple of weeks, have you opened it up to see how much solids it collected? How have you attached the pump to the lid? cheers.

Oh, I get you know. No I haven't opened it since adding the worms. It seems to be pumping at the same speed so I assume it isn't getting fowled up with any debris. The pump is just your run of the mill garden fountain pumps from Lowes/Home Depot/etc. I cut a hole in the center of the top of the lid and put the pump entry port through the lid, securing the pump to the lid using the threaded cage screen as a bulkhead fitting. Very easy installation, and if another bucket is ever needed a lid swap onto a clean gravel bucket gets you a brand new filter bucket. Of course you would have to move worms as well.

Well, sort of LOL. I was able to take bine cuttings yesterday before the rain hit. It worked out perfect and they are doing great today. One slumped a little yesterday but by night it had curled back and wasn't limp anymore.

Here they are for their aquaponic début! Both Cascade bine cuttings, with the larger slumping as I had mentioned. At picture-time I was really worried about the big boy I had waited so long to cut. Wouldn't you be a little frightened as well?


Here's an up-close of the cuttings. I simple poked a hole in the bottom of a styrofoam cup and filled it with gravel. It held last night in gusts up to 75MPH, so... yeah I'm happy!


I trimmed off 3 sets of leaves on the tallest cutting and two sets on the other after cutting them at the base 45*.


Here is the Cascade planter after culling bines. I threw the leaves back in for worms to eat or to decompose.


OMG, when I went to take my one bine from the Cascade, I look and there was another long enough shoot (BONUS 1 yay). Well, I look down on the MT. Hood planter and damned if it didn't have this shooting out. Nothing forevere and then this. I'm a really happy camper.


Then, the biggest piece of good news, or a glimmer of hope if you can call it that too! I dig up gently my Zeus rhizome so I can prepare the space for my new cuttings eventually, and I'll be damned if the whole thing was rotted except a section at the bottom that had a couple of rootlets heading down. I went ahead and put it in the soil in front of another window on the house. If she grows then that will give off a great amount of shade in the heat of the summer. They were right about the toms too, I have roots sticking out of my drain on one grow-tube now. They will be moving shortly to another place to grow. If it sounds like I'm bitching... I'm not, I'm pumped!!!!

oh, the worms are in the bucket under water
I thought you'd put them in the grow beds/tubes!
and the worms don't mind being submerged in water 24/7?
I threw a few in my GB's when ever I found them in my soil garden. I thought they wouldn't mind 15min under water then 45min drying out. Nice work.

Well, they are in both the grow-beds and the bucket bio-filter. I researched on here before I added them to the underwater filter, but the aerated water allows them to live. They breath through their skin, so airy water is no problem.