Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I wondered about this as a plan. 12V pumps aren't as cheep as I thought they might be, but I haven't checked the price of inverters yet. If I had one as a part of my back up system, I could borrow it for collecting the fish for the day, but you know when my blackout would be!!!

I am about to pull the trigger on a purchase from Guppys, but..... Seriously!! $42 in freight? Surely there is someone selling this gear in Adelaide?

IMO, the battery backup system should have at least a 300W inverter. The transport system you can possibly get away with 150W inverter, but the good thing about having a 300W inverter as well, is that it could be a spare to the battery backup inverter... Depending on how you configure your battery backup circuit, the inverter could be left running 24/7...

Oh yes, I paid quite a bit for the Guppys freight as well...

ageof aquariums.com.au has $7.50 freight.

Are these numbers relative to the size of your tank? You have 1000L if I remember. My tank will take 8000L (probably end up with 4000). We've got a electrical wholesaler in Berri. I should ask them what they think.

Where did you buy your inverter from? Online or locally?

Age of aquariums does have cheeper freight but their product is dearer. For me to ship to Adelaide, Guppies would cost $103 and A.O.A would cost $127.50 for the 100lt/min pump.

Well not really... it depends on the wattage of your pumps... I think one of those air pumps is about 80W... so I think I can run another one without much problem... but if your system is to be a bigger system, you will need both a bigger inverter and a bigger battery or 2 batteries, bigger charger...

Bought my inverter on ebay...

And yes, cheapest air curtain is from guppies... cannot find any cheaper one... for me anyway...

The olds might have one on their caravan or camper. Might be built in, but nothing a pair of side cutters can't fix!

Order going in to Guppys now.

Planted some more seeds today. Broccoli, leek, lettuce. The carrots the boss planted a few weeks ago flew out of the gravel, but the broccoli and lettuce I planted at the same time never went, though the peas have come up. So larger seeds worked but the little seeds didn't except the carrots which were on a tape. Therefore I have figured the tape is the difference and bought broccoli on a tape and planted the other on a narrow strip of dunny roll. We'll see I guess. I put some seedlings in a few days ago too. Tomatoes and beetroot look good. Cabbage seems OK, but I'm waiting for problems as they were so rootbound it was like trying to unwind a golfball getting the dirt out.

On a different note. Compost worms? Are they just worms, like earthworms? Or are they specifically called "compost worms" for a reason?

They are different worms Dexter, different than all the australian earthworms anyway - although one of them - the reds are found in southern gardens (Melbourne ,Hobart) guess they originally came from an area with very high organic material in the soil.
The common ones we use in vermiculture in Aust are Tigers (EIsenia fetida) and Reds (Lumbricus rubellus) Most "compost worms" you buy will be a mixture of both - they don't seem to crossbreed. There are a few other species that work well in waste reduction in different parts of the world and a few for specific waste streams. Neither are native to Australia (in fact most garden and cultivated land worms in australia are not natives)
They will only survive in soil with constant high moisture and heaps of decaying vegetation or compost.

If you have more interest see if you can get hold of the "Earthworm Identifier" by Geoff Baker and Vicki Barrett published by CSIRO ISBN 0 643 05690 4 or there is heaps on the net with a vermiculture search.

Regards
John

And high levels of oxygenation...

Does anyone measure DO levels? I had a look for a meter and they are dear!!

That's why you spend the money on bigger than required air pumps...

I only test rarely and use a titration kit from an aquarium shop. Seems to work OK, but takes about 8 minutes to complete a test, so I only use it occasionally.

Has anyone bought pumps from www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au ? The bottom 6 in the 'fountain pumps and accessories' section look likely. They are the only ones with flow graphs too, as far as I can see.