Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Les,

I am in Oxley which will be on the way from the North side to Murray's place if you take the ICB and the Western freeway.

How about I have two bags with 5kg pellets ready for you to pick up on the way down, and on the way back North you drop off the fish? Guessing that you will be coming past on the way up after 5 I will be home. I can leave the bagged pellets on the front porch so you can pick them up.

I guess if Andy's pellets don't have to travel to Murray's place to be picked up there you don;t need to come around twice, in which case I will see you around 5.30 maybe ? ?

Karel

Hey Muzza what brand of cocopeat did you purchase i am looking here but it is hard for me to find the actually peat i can just get husks. I think they think i am gong to steal their ideas.

On a side knote i know of a guy here growing veggies in bales of coconut husks. It alows him to claim the product is 100% organic due to the coconuts being organic.

Hi Jtjf_1,

I got it from an importer who brings it into Australia from Pakistan. It comes in 5 kg blocks, add water and it expands about 4 times its volume. There is plenty avbl here in Australia, but most of it has fertaliser added to the mix, so it would be no good for the fish. I am finding that it is just great for the plants, but the down side is very, very discoloured water, and it does not appear to be getting any better in that regard. I am pretty sure the fish don't mind at all, but it is nice to be able to see the fish
Muzza

You gotta be able to see the fish, very therapeutic :confused4:

I know we have fish, I put them in there... but I think all we have is soup...
maybe its fish and vegetable soup?

I have added a filter to try and clean up the water a bit.
The filter is a blue plastic bucket (1.10 at B) with holes cut around the outside bottom edge, then about 70 mm of gravel in the bottom then about 150mm of FG insulation (pink bats) then some more gravel on top to hold the FG insulation in place.
Water is pumped up to my 230 ltr nursery tank which returns to the sump, so all the water in the system will get to be filtered over the next day or two.

the question being, does the coco peat perpetually release the brown colour into the water? Only time will tell, a very interesting experiment indeed

Monya, I am wondering about the coco peat I must admit, I have isolated the bed with the coco peat at the moment to try and see if the water will filter and clean up a bit. The plants that are in the coco peat are doing great and the fish appear to be ok with the tea coloured water, but I would like to be able to get just a glimpse of the fish once-in-a-while.
The coco peat retains the moisture really well, I will only have to water that bed with some fish water in a watering can every second or third day I reckon, I will soon see how it goes.

At the present time I can see no diminishing of the coco peat releasing its brown colour.

The water looks pretty clear in the pix above, but believe me, it is trick photography !!!! It,s as brown as !!!

In a way, cocopeat could be used as a mdium, with no actual drainage attached, and just as you say, watered like a dirt garden every few days, then you could top up the fish tanks with fresh water. Defeats the purpose a bit I suppose, but it's just one option in a world of many!!

It would be a bit of a shame if the water didn't clear, the coco-peat is a good idea and certainly has a great advantage in the weight department - for those that are not interested in fish viewing it might be worth a shot (need to see if it breaks down over time)

Les

Les, I think the coco peat gets 9 out of 10. I really don't think it matters much if it breaks down a bit over time, it would be very easy to top it up between crops if that became necessary. The 5 kg blocks cost less than 5.00 each.

The drainage is tops, moisture retention is also good, not that that matters when comparing it with gravel, easy to plant new plants in it, nice on the hands, it is just the colouration of the water.
I have had the home made filter in operation now since about 3 this afternoon and I have just gone down to check on things and it is starting to block up already, so that is a good sign, it means that lots of solids are being removed. The solids are being removed at the end of the cycle, just before the water goes back into the fish tank. So maybe the tea colouration might just filter out over time. I will get a clear indication in the next few days. Here's hoping !!
Murray

Don't forget the lack of gravel washing - that is a big plus for it. The best part of doing something different (apart from the pleasure of having it work properly) is to locate and solve the minor irritations that crop up - go for it

muzz, how will you be able to kill fish if you can't see them?

That is exactly the problem Steve, I insist on seeing my own handywork.