Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

My netcam is channeling some dead Impressionist today.
Not sure which one.

foggy window?

Long past time for an update.
Got my first eggplant off the still-maturing system, ever-taller okra coming in to production.
As the nights cool down, I do expect the tomatoes will start turning blossoms into fruit... two Romas survive (Mama Mia is growing very well & flowering but plain Roma is stunted at the hot edge) and Hillbilly is spurting but not yet flowering.
Watercress, well it's never done badly and I can't nom nom it fast enough.
Peppers, same as the toms - several have survived the heat, one is flowering, hope for fall crop.
Have installed diapers at GB inlets, still thinking how to catch solids at the return-to-pond while keeping some splashiness.
Invisible catfish are growing - need more growbeds to spread that poo around.
I still need to gravel-up the second 300gal RMST but part of me wants to make it a CHIFT PIST fishtank and add 100gal RMSTs to up the filtration.
Here, enjoy some fresh pictures

More pics

Well, after 14 years I'm back to diaper-changing duty.

This is a 300 gallon RubberMaid Stock Tank with a small clear siphon hose in a solid standpipe. Chlorinated tap water splashes in, mixes with rotting leaf sediment. Siphon (just above the settled crud) takes water and drops it into my return line where it gets more air on the 20m trip back to the pond. Real gradual like an IV drip.

Come On Okra!

Maybe I should start giving this Grape Vine some direction. It likes the "regular fertigation" feature of AP. But maybe needs more iron (pH has been high in this young system).

I never tire of seeing clean water coming back to the pond.

June 19th -

Sept 29th -

June 23-

Sept 29-

OK, class. Let's review.
This

Plus some of This

Equals:

Rick

Have you got the second bed up and going yet (pictures)? And do you still have gravel in your driveway?

1) No, it's a settling basin; 2) Yes


I have a little master-siphon project in progress, though. Teaser pics:Some assembly still required

Hey there, nice looking system. I was particularly interested in the set up you have for your water. I'm assuming you let it sit with biological activity to kill the chlorine? I'm from Southern California and our water is full of chlorine and chloramine (ammonia + chlorine, is more persistent than chlorine) I was trying to think of a way to remedy this and was wondering if you could give me some advice.

Initially when I get my system set up without any fish or plants I was planning on brewing a ginormous batch of compost tea in the fish tank and then running it through the system a couple of times. Do you think this would be effective in killing off all the potential harmful chemicals? Or do you think it might be necessary to run it through a reverse osmosis set up (I'd hate to do this as I'd be wasting more water). Anyway your set up looks great, I wish I had a big pond to work with.

You may want to read on my test system thread about what I was able to find out about chloramines....nasty stuff. I have resigned myself to rainwater collection for the fish. I will be putting in a 1000 gallon cistern sometime soon, but for the time being am just collecting in oversize buckets with plastic sheets to guide the water in. To treat city water, you have to leave it sitting for almost a month. With as much water as I am loosing daily, it was only logical to start collecting water instead of trying to out gas it.

Good Luck!

I have had good results with using my unfilled 300-gallon growbed to gas-off and biologically neutralize my tap water. I am not 100% positive that chloramine is the agent in my area, but I operate as if it is. DejaVoodoo is pretty close by and his experience sobered me up right quick about chloramine. And the lack of DO in straight tap is a concern too!

I splash in roughly 100 gallons and it slowwwly siphons (3/4 inch Tigon tubing) into my return line, mixing with growbed return water and air. About 80 gallons of this comes in over a period of 4-6 hours before the siphon stalls. 80 is ten percent of my pond water volume at low tide.

I have done as much as 200 gallons to replace overflowed GB water, not gonna say that I'm comfortable doing so.

Rupert (and others) have stated a 10% top-off of straight water is OK so let's stick with that. I have extra mixing and aeration and bio-load going on, sounds like you will too.

What I really want to do with the pond is demote it to a clear-water sump. Construct a raised fish tank and go CHIFT PIST. I'm thinking ferrocement but a big plastic tank would be easy if more expensive...

Thanks for the replies. I will have to check out your post voodoo. Unfortunately, it rains on average about 12 inches a year here, and while I did miss a pretty good morning rain, I was not set up to collect it. (Plus being near LA with all the wonderful pollution, I'm sure the rain water is full of nasties too.....) But once I am all set up I will definitely set up a rainwater collection system.

I'd hate to think what that crap can do to us, if it can hurt our fish and plants like it does.

Will it dissipate if I let it sit for a month? Sigh and I know even reverse osmosis is imperfect and will not filter everything, I am probably going to run it through an activated carbon filter a couple of times and then try and brew a 400 gallon batch of compost tea haha. Hopefully that will speed up the process.