Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey everyone

I have been scoping this site out for a couple of months now.

I have been keeping fish for 10+ years now and decided it is about time that I kept some fish that fed me, instead of me only feeding them.

I got the bug after Faye gave a talk at the PCS club meeting and Ivan kept posting photos of his fish on the PCS forum.
Originally I was going to build a small system out of an IBC and extra IBC offcut, but the missus said it didnt look pretty enough
Pity I had already bought the IBC.
So I took her into BYAP on Sunday, met EB (who was hiding in his office behind his "guard dog" and monitor, probably playing on here), and got permission to start up a 3 bed system and 2000L tank next to my fish shed. YAY!

So next Friday I will be running back to the shop with a ute to pick up some supplies then pulling out the welder. I cant wait!

Looking forward to starting up a system thread.

Cheers

Andrew

Yes it's called working Andrew, not hiding.... (Must get bigger monitors.)

Good to see you joined up, and got your permission....

HA, working!

I was watching, everytime a customer walked past the counter you shrank behind the monitor pretending you werent there!

Hi Andrew,


Hehehe, love it! Another one hooked. You won't look back Werdna. Look forward to seeing you Friday, this AP thing is a lot of fun and it is great to see the things people can achieve.

I thought the forum name looked familiar. Welcome to the madness. Don't worry if AP starts taking over your backyard/shed, it's normal.

Don't forget to post on the PCS as well. A number of people are thinking about it, but not a lot has taken the next step.

See you Friday Faye

Dont worry Ivan, I'll do a thread.
However AP will never go into the shed , that is reserved for cichlids only!

Yes but if you limit the use of chemicals you could still grow food with the nutrient rich water, hence less water changes...

I actually have never used any chemicals in my fish tanks.
In 10 years I have never used chlorine neutralisers, I don't own a single test kit, for water changes I just fill straight from the tap, I do not age water in a tank, just give it a day for the chlorine to evaporate.
I have been making my own food out of prawns, veges, vitamin powder and spirulina.
Also been using BYAP food on all my bigger fish since Faye's talk.

If my fish look unwell I have found a big water change and reduced feeding fixes the problem most of the time, however generally dont have any problems.

I am always amused by how the people that medicate and treat their water and do everything "by the book" always seem to have problems.

The advice on here is brilliant, add some salt or just sit back and let nature take its course.

And the fact that I dont add anything to my fish tanks means that I can empty water from my tanks into my new AP system and have nitrate rich water right from go
I'll also be cleaning out all my filters into the growbeds to transfer some bacteria to help with the initial cycle.
Finally, I wont throw 200 fish in the tank from day one
Hopefully that means some good crops and low deaths to start with.

welcome

werdna

you appear to have way too many clues to be a part of this place.

I come from a background in tropical fish too and there really is very little to worry about. The only warning I will give is that its worth watching your pH. Mine went from around 8 to well below 6 once it finished cycling properly, which isn't good for anyone. Of course, its easily fixed
with some shellgrit, or lime if it takes your fancy. the only other problem had was a little fungus (potentially due to super low pH), which was fixed with 3ppt salt. too easy really.

good luck.

hey werdna
nice to see another west aussie on here

Hey all

Orcy I have some left over Aragonite that I use as a substrate in all my Cichlid tanks that I was thinking of using as a buffer.
Also there is HEAPS of little limestone rocks all over the backyard, especially in the area where the GBs are going, so I could probably throw a couple of those in the GBs below the Hydroton to do some buffering.
That should keep the water ph around the 7.5 mark I reckon.
Ofcourse, with BYAP so close to my work, I know where I can get some shell grit if that doesnt work!
I am a bit weary of shell grit though, I used it once in my tanks and lost over 100 fish in 2 days from it, I still dont know how, but have been a little afraid to use it since.

Looking forward to my build, just have some exams to get through first... AHHH

The advantage of shellgrit for buffering is that it is easily dissolved... and self regulating...

Lumps of limestone might well lead to buffering levels that are beyond what is intended... and/or the need to remove them...

Fair enough, Shell grit it is then.
What ph does shell grit tend to maintain compared to limestone?
I always thought they were fairly similar

i believe shell grit tends to keep you around 7.6. still too high, but possible to deal with. Limestone will probably take you above 8 quite easliy.

most of the literature suggests that 6.5 to 6.8 is optimal for plants, and will keep the fish happy enough, but I dont know anything that will buffer just right.