Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I live near Houston, Texas, and its gets pretty darn hot here. Not Africa hot, but still hot. 105°F a couple weeks ago. Anyways, I think that I was baking the bsf in their pod. they put off quite a bit of heat on their own, and with some afternoon sun and some high ambient temps, they got dealt a real setback.

Since I already have a ready source of 85°F moving pond water, I could add a pump,..... naw, I'll just route a small bypass stream from the FT to a bsf pod that is set up like a double boiler. I already had two muck buckets and I decided that I'd use them. They are from Tractor Supply Company and are quite sturdy. Lowes and home depots are cheap junk in comparison. I had a third one, but I had cut off the top rim to make it into a grow bed. I cut down the top rim until it was nearly just a ring. I bonded it to the inside of the muck bucket with insulating spray foam and caulk. The foam in here will not contact the pond water.

I then added a drain port to the side of the outer bucket about at the point where the bottom of my inner bucket will be. Water comes in thru a hose shoved into the anulus between the two buckets. The water level rose to within about 1/2" of the rim. A bit close for my tastes. I wanted there to be water between the two, to hopefully keeps ants from crossing.

On to some pics.

I had a small bypass tube that ran from the FT to the sump anyways. I added to its length and shoved the end of the flexible 3/8" tube into the space between the inner and outer buckets. The drain comes off the side of the outer bucket and flows into the sump.

The square lid actually works well. It keeps the rain out, and lets the moms in.

A side effect is that the bsf pod will heat my pond, ever so slightly. Hopefully this keeps the stink down too, and since its not hanging from a wire, I can access it more easily and perhaps keep it more stirred. My friend's system has no drain and has been working well. In fact, he has been adding water to his to keep it from drying out.

Now, I don't have to worry about shading it as much.

Good lateral thought merkurmaniac - keen to see how it works for you !

Nice brain using.

What temperatures do BSF enjoy?

Can you grow them or keep them through winter?

I'd like to try them as a winter food to encourage my silvers to eat even when it's cold.

I've not yet created an ant free zone, so for now, the bsf get no peace and quiet. The ants are marching up the water supply tubing and using it as a bridge to the "island" in the moat. Currently, its stuffed into the gap between inner and outer bucket, and it effectly bridges the gap for thei nvaders. I'll drill two holes, and zip tie a fitting to the bucket rim, directing the water flow at the inner bucket and making the ants work harder to get in the buffet line.

The water temps in my pond are mid 80's in the summer, lower of course in the winter. I hadn't really thought about overwintering the maggos, though. Mainly dealing with the heat. It would be wild if they could heat the water for the tilapia in winter, but I am sure that's impossible.

Merkurmaniac....to stop the ants using the hose as a bridge, smear some grease or vaseline in a band around a section.

Well, I am still being outsmarted by the wee ant brains. Last night, I mounted the hose to the rim of the outer bucket (via two drilled holes and a zip tie). The supply hose now directs a gentle stream of water against the inner bucket wall. It no longer bridges the moat. I also used a long screwdriver to chisel away any bits of foam that were in the "moat" and spanned it, even at a lower elevation.

This morning, they had literally built a bridge using some salvaged debris from my bucket contents. I plucked their bridge away.

For some reason, the water level in the moat (3/4" across, btw) has fallen. I have come up with a plan to create a high point in the drain line that will determine the fill level of the moat. I will execute it tonight.

The current situation is as follows. Ants can crawl up the outer bucket (its just sitting on the ground) but have to traverse the "moat" to get to the inner bucket. Hopefully, there will only be water spanning that gap in the near future.

Well, I have to admit that the moat dimensions are two narrow to stop the ants. They seem to find a way to cross. I also suffered a blocked outlet that permitted the system to overflow. I lost about 10 gallons of water, I bet.

I had to put a stop to the intolerable ant raids, so I placed the colony in a shallow pan and encircled it with Diatomaceous Earth. The ants were immediately dissuaded, and as of this morning, there were none raiding the colony. It may be that ants are a problem to younger bsf colonies and don't pester established colonies, or.... that may be a myth and the danger could be persistant.

I have been suffering these ant depradations on my bsf pod, and they are getting to be a pain. I am pretty sure that the "bro" are outpacing them, though. I went to stir the bucket and there are literally thousands on the way. Its incredible the way they can mow down the groceries. I have a five gallon bucket of coffee grounds and a co-workers old mash from beer making. Lots of good stuff on the menu for this week. They seem to be very happy in their "cooled" environs, and it keeps the stench to a min.

I think at this point, I'd have to recommend water cooling the bsf pod to anyone with aquaponics. You are already most of the way there, equipment wise. If that professional biopod II is a double walled injection molded piece, I'd consider putting in a inlet and drain. Never seen one in person, so I don't know.

I think the BioPod is solid plastic but you could coil tubing or hose around the outside to get somewhat the same effect. Thanks for posting about your bin here and over at Black Soldier Fly forum (link).

A datapoint. The temperature of the water entering the pod is 84.3°F. It exits the pod at 86.1°F. So, at the slow flowrate, and with poor mixing, it is still picking up almost 2°F transiting the jacket of the biopod. Long term, I bet its tuff for the worms to heat the pod much beyond 95°F or so, but I have not checked the temp of the pods contents. The best thermometer for that is the kitchen thermometer with the stainless steel remote probe. I may consider doing that fairly soon, but it would definately raise my wife's hackles if she were to find out.

The biggest problem that I have been battling is ants. They are really persistant. Apparently the allure of rotten food, dead fish, and dog poo is too tempting for them to ignore.

Yesterday morning, I found that they were employing a leaf as a raft/bridge to span my moat. I tossed it. The bsf cannot get much peace and quiet with the ants around. I also layed down the smack on the ant mound today with 3 mixing bows full of boiling water. It's like I am hitting them with a napalm bombing run. Cept its all natural and no pesticides.

Get those ants MM!

MM.. any updates here?