Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

we have the third 18,000L pump attached to the heater... simple plumbing job - pump in sump, through heater and back to sump to mix with returning water... added an elbow to direct the water away from the pumps and into the water flow... seems to be working well and temp fluctuations into the FTs are fairly minimal.

Looking at de-commissioning a few of the two tier tanks for the remainder of winter to reduce heat loss - will see how it goes from here.

Still have the baby yabbies BTW... only see them at night but they seem to be doing well which is good! Dont disturb them much and just let them feed on what they can find, so doing their own thing seems to be working for them so far!!

No other yabby losses either - seem to co-habitate well ATM... can find 6 or more in a hide together sometimes... ranging from tiny ones to real biggies which I find rather interesting.

Thanks now thats a mean heater good luck with the experement

Like the heater set-up!!

hey netab, you mentioned a PVC hide array in a thread about prawns, I was wondering if you had any pictures?

btw if I haven't told you yet, I absolutely love your set-up and hope to have something as big of my own one day. keep up the inspiring work!

Sorry everyone! Been a bit busy, and on top of everything else, just got back from Adelaide tonight from a surgeons appt with daughter... good news is that she doesnt need wheelchair anymore ... (hips pinned 6 weeks ago)... still on crutches, but they are SO much easier to get in and out of the car than that #@&!* chair

Thanks for the heater praise... I think Andrew did a great job of making it look awesome! Still needs some tweaking... more to do with fixing the greenhouse so its able to hold heat than probs with the heater... but it does chew some gas tho - considering we had it on flat out and didnt have time to play with it didnt help much either!

Thanks heaps for your post Steveiscrazy! Will get that pick for you over the weekend... not feeling too 'inspiring' at the moment tho... because...

WE ARE NOW 'OFFICIALLY' AQUAPONICISTS...

Yes, we managed to loose all of our Silvers by the timeless method of 'Oxygen Replacement Therapy'... (as in, we replaced our water with as much oxygen as the air could hold at the time)

So we are now left with two Golden Perch that somehow survived the aforementioned mass fish kill, as well as the rest of its tank mates slowly karking it around them from Ich/Fungal disease...

ATM, because we have NO time for anything else, we are going to keep the system running using Aquasol if I can get my hands on it...

Met a lovely fellow about a month back who had a Hydroponic business supplying Antarctica when it first set up a Hydro system for some fresh produce back many years ago apparently... He was saying that you can grow plants very well using just that and nothing else if you have to... and we are at the point where it sounds like a bloody good option.

It will do until the end of packing season anyway.... or spring time when the water starts heating up again... and we have made a few modifications to the GB set-ups... and have installed those two tanks we scored a while back into the system... and we modify the 2 tiers... and we fix the roof on the greenhouse...and finally install that float switch in the FTs that would have saved our Silvers... and work out how to incorporate SLO's into the system... and so on, and so forth... but Im sure we'll get there... expecially if we want to try Trout next winter... and thats a WHOLE different kettle of fish...

Don't use Aquasol... use Seasol or Maxicrop....

Hi Rupe... why wouldnt you use Aquasol?
Would appreciate your thoughts on why you would use Maxicrop over it... although looking at the write-up on Maxicrop I can see why it would be better, but I always thought that Seasol doesnt have enough trace elements to sustain plant growth if used alone so why would you use that over Aquasol as well? Is it because of a wetting agent perhaps?

I'd like to know as well.

Aquasol will work fine if there are no fish in the system, cause with an NPK of 23:4:13 would create an ammonia spike that would kill them IMO

I am just emptying and refilling my new system and have gotten the goldfish out into the pond as they were doing nothing. Will cycle this one for a few months on charlie carp and pee
I cycled my big system like this and it worked a treat. But again I wouldnt do this with fish.

You said you only had a couple of fish left but you will still have lots of yabbies yes ???

Maxicrop and Seasol are basically the same product... and we use them because they are HIGH in trace element content... and in a naturally chelated form that can be taken up regardless of pH.....

Aquasol is a chemical fertiliser... primarily composed of Urea, Potassium Chloride, Ammonium Phosphate and Potassium Nitrate... with less than 10% trace elements...

http://msds.orica.com/pdf/shess-en-cds- ... 020609.pdf

As you can see by the NPK ratio... it is very high in Nitrogen, Phosphates and Potassium...

The Urea and Ammonium Phosphate would cause hugh ammonia spikes.... killing any fish or crustacea.... and the combination of high nitrogen and phosphate levels... and sunlight... would cause huge algael blooms...

The Potassium would be beneficial for plants... but the Chloride would raise the salinity of the system....

Used in small doses once a month might be alright... but used more often than that would IMO... just result in a concentrated chemical soup....

If you wanted to keep a level of ammonia supply to the bacterial colony... you could add small amounts of urea once a month... and, with the trace elements from Seasol... acheive the same results.... without the huge (and unneccessary) phosphate loading...

The MSDS also states...



The "oxides of nitrogen".... being primarily nitrous oxide... NO2, or N2O.... a fairly reactive and readily dissociated compound...

Yep... you could use it... or you could even use a hydroponic nutrient formulation...

But they're all chemical mixes.... and kill fish....as opposed to Seasol/Maxicrop... which is a natural organic product... and fish safe...

I know that you basically don't have fish in the system... but what sort of residual effects from any accumulated buildup from use might carry over to when you restock...

I'm thinking Copper and other "metals" in particular...

Oh, bummer guys - sorry to hear it. But good news about the daughter

Don't give up on the fish

Awesome... thanks Rupe, very much appreciated - especially with what you were saying with residual effects... agree its not worth it. will give Maxicrop a go instead I think.

At the moment we are looking at using the 3 cam fitting for the spider valve and disconnecting the yabby tanks - will give them a good clean out and maybe throw the yabbies into a 2k tank together along with all the hides.

Thanks Chilli... there is something to learn from every experience, and too many fish tanks to fill to give up on the fish just yet - although have to admit I felt like it for a second there...

Don't give up!

Yeah don't give up on the fish, losses are to be expected, just keep tweeking the system untill you get it perfect.

Nah, wont give up on the fish just yet, the experiment has only just begun...

The losses were avoidable if we just had the time, this is why we need to do some serious tweaking so that for 6 months of the year its as minimum maintenance as we can get it.
Unfortunately we wont have time to seriously play with it until sometime in November as our Citrus season wont finish till then this year... massive crop to work our way through...

Cheers everyone and thanks for your support