Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Sounds good Mate!

Will have to try organise a time to come down in the next couple of weeks, got heaps on at the moment with work and stuff but i might have to duck down to melb in the next cpl weeks.

is the bath a fibreglass one or one of them huge steel ones??

had my eye on two at the eaglehawk recovery yard few weeks back but i didnt have the cash on me, went to the atm after work and went up there and they were gone....

I know someone on here got them.... im looking at you mizzie!!!!

hahahahaha

Time for sleep i think... missus is watching Housewifes!

Tonights tests

Am 0.4
Ites 0.1
Ates 12.5
Ph high 7ish

Water temp would be cold! Don't have a themo yet slack I know

Would this be a good time to add some hummonia?? If so how much should I add to approximate 550l of tank/sump with prob 260l of gb??

Hummonia is aged bout 2 weeks

tonights tests
(still no thermo)

Temp = Bloody Cold

PH 8ish
Ites Trace....
Ates 0
Ammo 0.4

looks to me not much is going on cos of the cold.... i will just wait wont add hummonia til ammo is 0....

Plants are Healthy as... new growth & all nice and green.

fish are invisible ohh i dont have any yet (dont mind me 6 coops tonight)

time to go watch penny get with sheldon on Big Bang Theory... oh the painfull memories of teenhood.... hahahahaah

night guys

Planted bout 7 Cauli's, a Mint Basill, 8 Peas, and 7-8 spinnich Seedlings sarvo, moved all my brocoli out of the hothouse bed and into the unprotected bed with the peas and Caulis. got the spinnich, silverbeet, basil and Oregano in the hothouse bed.

hoping to get the hothouse started next week sometime, once iv worked out the size i will order the film off eb'z then i will have both Beds under a hothouse.

also planning on starting another GB Soon for Tom's and another for lettuce's, Capsicums, celery, and what ever else i find.

Thinking about getting an IBC, Making a 400d Growbed and using the rest as a sump. and then eventually there will be a Full IBC as a tank and i will convert my 2 barrells into beds.... but this is down the track.... just need another deacent growbed and for that i need to upgrade my sump... so the IBC is practical.

Brought an 1100lt IBC today

going to cut 350 off the top for another GB, use the rest as a tank, clad it in Insulate and put a Lid on top, and a mesh cover so i can open the lid on a nice day.

thwn going to Run another one of the barrells i use as a Ft as another sump and join them with a 40mm pipe, and make another GB out of my last barrell.

Leaves me with 700l FT(More room for fishes to swim), 400L Sump, approx 700ish GB.

them down the track i will grab another IBC which gives me another Bed, a Sump and two more barrells (Exsisting sumps) to use as GB's, this will then hit the mark as a Well Balenced system with plenty of planting room. (700FT, 700Sump, 1300l GB)

Will get some photos running as im doing more, System is still plodding away, not doing tests atm as i think iv got limestone in one of my beds and it s buffering me a high PH, Plants are healthy and loving the seasol, working lots of hours this week so not much time to play, and without the Welfare of fishes i dont see a huge need to do a great deal as long as plants are healthy.... just let the bugger cycle!!!

Hoping to find time this weekend to Change media in Small GB, Make another GB Stand, Cut the IBC and get the IBC Bed Running (Hoping my sump has enough room to allow me to run the IBC top before i change tanks around and make my new sump.....

Will work on new FT over the coming weeks to get it cladded, insulated, cleaned, a stand made for it, the mesh lid and insulated lid. also going to make a small enclosure for my electrics & Air pump to live in. pwahhhh lots to do again

Cut IBC and Frame today, made tank stand and Brought Colorbond (Pale Eucalipt) sheets to clad it (Flat Form not Roofing sheets) Just gotta Fab up the half cover and lid to put on top and fold up the colorbond to cover it.

also working on cladding GB Surround and making a Stand for it.

Hoping to get another hour or so on it tomorrow, working sat morning so might spend a few hours after work sat arvo to cut and fold my sheets and fab up the gb stand, then hopefullly bring it all home and plumb it up sunday.

Lets say im a sucker for punishment... been working through lunchbreaks and for an hour after working 9h Shifts. boss has let me do as i want with factory & Machinery and iv got the account at our steel Merchant at my fingertips....... this could be dangerous hahahahahaah, if only they sold IBC's... id be poor...

Will be very happy with end product tho, making an IBC Look Sexy is a job on its own!!!!!

Pizza is here and beers are flowin!!!!

Oh and my wrist is feeling a bit better... still that twiggy pain there and im that used of the toe pain that i dont feel it anymore hahahahaha the body will heal, strengthen or break down........

got tank Cladded, Insulated and Dug Into Place, Filled with townwater for the week to let it settle in and make sure it doesnt sink like my last one did....

also dug hole for 2nd sump, got all the fittings and pipe needed for the job.

Went to the local for it all and i also got another 1/2 mt of aggy, he threw in an additional 1/2mt cos im such a good customer also a bag of rabbit mix food. only prob was then i had to unload 1mt of aggy im rooted.....

System is currently cycling on 1 GB and my Sump and iv planted all the plants in the one bed....
Hoping to have it somewhat nearer to finished next weekend.... New tank will be sweet.... kicks over the modular barrels fish will have plenty of room...

Prob start a new thread For my New system Next week when iv got some photos etc..... too knackered to take photos or even move atm..... too much working.......

Just read back through a lot of this Jamie.. Nice work.....

But photos mate, photos......

But then I know what it's like to unload a cube of rock, not fun and you certainly don;t feel like doing anything afterwards.

system is on hold now until my stitches come out....

plants are looking well plenty of new growth and she's still cycling

new tank only sunk about 20mm in one corner, so thats ok cos i allowed for that corner to sink, however its raining tonight so we will see how it fairs up then.... not that i can do much

got 1mt of gravel to wash and 3 GBs to fill, a sump to plumb to the exsisting sump, a trench to dig between my FT/Sump and the other Sump and GB, move my pump to new sump and re plumb it with some 25mm pvc, so much to do...... and i wana go for it.... BUT i need a new hand if anyone can Email me one that would be awesome

Hrmph! no ap'n today........ bloody injuries

Bugger. Hope you can get back to it soon

Got few photos of system

New Tank




Few Planty shots





Lastly i think the Rhubarb got into the viagra, Up Up and Away



plant health is going well everything is growing well.

system is only running on round 150l atm til i plumb 2nd sump and new tank in... next weekend is looking good!

Hey Guys

Just put in my Sumps and plumbed them up, Seems that one is too low as when one is full the other is 4 inches from the top, i figured this would be the case but the opposite of what it is, the one i had trouble digging in as it was like chiseling concrete is too low so i need to back fill that hole 4-5 inches and level them up.

All looking good iv got photos as im going but missus has the new camera with her and she took the card reader with her so i cant get the photos off.

she will be home sarvo sometime (cut her trip short)

then it is time to put the pump in the new sump, plumb it upto the ft and plumb my SLO over to my GB's

back to it

Good stuff, but shame about chiseling a hole too deep. Sounds like you deserve many beers tonight

All up and running

System Update

- 700l FT (IBC) 40mm SLO Drain to GB's
- Dual 200l Sumps (One has the drains feeding into it, Plumbed down to the Sump under the FT with my Pump in it)

- 350L Gb Filled with blue metal (25mm Drain, 50mm Bell, 85 Strainer)
- 200l GB Blue Metal (20mm Drain, 50mm bell, 85mm Strainer)


The Sumps



Sump Plumbing




Washing some gravel with a good little helper, he filled the buckets with the gravel for me


Gb Filled and Moved over my Brocoli and Caulis


GB Feed Manifold - Iv got it open at that end too to keep the atmospheric pressure even at both ends for better flow it works too.


and as iv seen before The standard unit of measure!