Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I got the Bio Pod...and it is full of gunk ready for the garden..

Been making gunk soup for the garden yesterday

Thanks BRB.....I will go and tip them back into the Pod....but they just want to keep getting to the catchment bucket before they are properly formed

Mine did that also but mainly when it was nasty. I think it produces too much ammonia for them when it is nasty. Ammonia gas burns your eyes and skin, maybe it gets too strong for them which leads me to cleaning or add stuff to get it to dry out a bit and ventilate more. Cleaning may be easier. Just put some of the larva and old stuff back for the chemical attractant if you clean it out.

Hi Jessy

It looks like a mixed bag to me, some blow fly and some black soldier fly. In the photo of your hand, the very top one that looks flatter (and possibly the two stuck between your fingers) look like BSF. The other rounder ones look like blow flies. The fish won't care either way .

Read a bunch of excellent stuff about BSFL a couple weeks ago and early last week designed and built my own low budget harvester... basically a trashcan with flexible black pipe riveted inside to make a 40º incline to a trap where they fall into an external jar... Anyway, I have a teaming mass of larvae and have seen BSFs laying eggs in the bucket, so chicken feed (and future fish feed) must bee just around the corner.

Best source of info/tests/discussion I found is on the PondBoss forum: http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthrea ... 44&fpart=1

Some guy over that has blogged a two year series of experiments, etc... VERY interesting and informative.

Based on what he says, the larvae bailiing out of your bucket are doing so because the stuff in it has putrefied. Best solution is to stop feeding for a few days to let the larva catch up and process some of the stuff in there...

Seems an excellent way to reduce waste and generate fish/chicken feed! Love it!

my 2 centavos,

CB

Great link Country boy...Thankyou

But here is the deal.....how do you scoop out the gunk from the pod with out taking all the young maggots aswell?

I have added egg cartons, grass and vegitables from the gardens to give the gunk a lift ??? and yeterday emptied half a bucket of gunk and larvey to help the situation as best as I could I just don't think that is enough

Just guessing here... more from reading his stuff than experience, but I would stop adding food and maybe add a little paper to soak up the mess. Move it away from the house and give it a few days to a week for the little buggers to do their thing.

I've got TONS of small larvae in mine, but there is a slight odor that isn't 'organic' and many larva looking for the exits. I'm just not gonna feed 'em til they can catch up with the stuff I have in there. Many besides the attempted escapees are happily munching, so I'm just giving my colony time to better establish itself before adding more food stuffs.

JMO and how I am treating a similar situation I discovered in my container a little while ago.

Hope that helps.

CB

BSFL don't eat paper ,, so better add just a little dried food ,, like dried dog food or chicken pellets to soak up the excess fluid , and yes wait till the colony grows before adding more food.

I recon I have a blow fly colony

Will wait this maggot gestation out to see if I got a few good BSF.

Last week I was getting one a day......I was so happy ( the fish are boring this time of year due to the cold ) So lets hope a bucket full of BSF in a week or 2 ( otherwise I have just successfully breed for Mortein )

I clicked on that pondboss link, and there went my weekend...

Lots of good info. If my living situation ever permits it, I'll be getting a biopod rather than messing about with a diy.

My sentiments exactly! Will try for next spring! That $170 don't look so outragious anymore!

I clicked also on the pond-boss link , there went my shift at work:)

As i see the pod as an addition to the system I cannot justify the cost. I really wish I had the spare dollars to support the company. But ....., well designs are a happening ; design will not be same as bio-pod ,, direct copying would make me feel tooooo guilty.

my bio pod must of been a runt of the batch....

The lid screwed off and I can't fit it back on....got to go to the hardware to fix it

The catchment jar is piss poor quality plastic.....exactly the same as Krafts Peanut Butter jar....but Kraft use a heavier plastic......

and the rubber stops on the legs are nearly trashed already...

mine cost $380 AUD

Pondboss and "GW" for the win! Clicked on the link I'm up too late and I have to work tomorrow morning!

Jessy have you complained to the company? Feedback would be good at least so they can fix the bugs...

Fix the bugs ,, AHH LOVE IT:)

Seriously a $380 product that is poor in construction and materials??? Bad news.

Back on alternative designs....... I recon a $20 budget will do the trick. It may well be only 50% as good as the bio-pod ,, so I'll make 2

hey chappo....if you make 3 ....I will buy one