Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

well pop in some trout to keep things going for untill november and then it should be time for harvest.

Would LOVE to dont worry... but the nearest source to us for them is over 4 1/2 hours away - so transport enters a whole new realm of difficulties

As far as I have found out, we have a choice of central vic freshwater fish near Bendigo which would be just under 5 hours away I think... but after the probs Mantis and others have had this year Im pretty hesitant there... the other is the one in Mt Compass near Adelaide, but depending on how long it takes to get out of the hills and onto the freeway it could very well be over 5 hours. There are a few around Albury Wadonga but thats nearly 6 hours. So we are kind of in the deadzone here which is a bit of a bugger.

Have been looking at how to put together a long range trout transportation unit using one of our spare IBCs. Saw an old design in a very old book where they set up a wire cage to fit at the top of a gal drum to hold a block of ice. As the ice melts and drips, the cold water sinks to the bottom displacing the warmer water so you get natural water movement... it was also fitted with a tube connected to a bellows that sits next to the driver so that as he is driving, he can occasionally pump it a few times to add some air... kind of a cute picture to have stuck in your head... especially if you imagine the driver sitting in a horse and cart or an old T model Ford.

There are designs tho that still utilise the ice reservoir in the centre of the unit which I reckon is a great idea. Definitely want to give trout a go if we can organize it for next winter.

Welcome to bring some up for us if your offering tho Bndy

Wow Shocked that I've missed this thread all this time. Great system.

Yea, when you get done with citrus season I think you will definitely want to look into converting the system over to something more along the lines of a CHOP mark II (Where pump in sump tank feeds both the fish tanks and grow beds and everything drains back to sump tank, perhaps it would need to be a CHTP, constant height two pump) design or something so you can have constant height in fish tank and get rid of the issues of running your fish dry. Of course this may require additional sump capacity.

Venturi drains or SLO drains all around would help. I don't have a good picture in my mind of your Duckweed bed drains but if the duckweed is managing to clog the drains regularly and cause overflows, I think a venturi or slow drain would be a good option. Of course if you have a bunch of creatures that you need to keep from swimming through the drain and have to leave the screens in, you may still have issues.

Anyway, when I had a duckweed bed I used basically a bell siphon minus the cap as my means of keeping the duckweed from growing down the drain. The bell minus the cap was tall enough that it was above the water level and the crenelations at the bottom allowed the water to flow up from the bottom of the tank and down the stand pipe. Now I did get a fair bit of the duckweed gunk moving on through the system but as you have noticed, the yabbies seem to like the stuff.

Good Luck getting through packing season and hopefully things keep ticking over well enough at a low key for you till then.

Awesome awesome system. I wish i could start at this size . Sucks that here at the end all your fish died off . But good to see in true Aquapon nature you're just trying to find the next place to get fish .

Someday i'll get to have a system as large as your test system . Hopefully.

Hi TCL! Thanks for your thoughts... gonna have to do a search on what a venturi drain is tho - its late and my brain is refusing to function, what can I say

Cheers silkcom... yeah sucks bigtime... but we learn from our mistakes dont we
appreciate your post

BTW steveiscrazy, sorry I havent gotten around to posting that pic for you... havent forgotten just had no time...

Of course, and you have time since I don't expect you will be making any major changes till after the busy season anyway and the first thing will probably have to be sump expansion. Remind me and I can probably draw some diagrams for you.

Netab32,
Nice 1st system
It has taken me a good week or so to read you thread, dont give up on me now

regards
Matt

Cheers mattyry... nah wont be giving up... still lots to learn yet

TCL - thanks for the offer and advice - might just have to pick your brain in a couple of months time!

Just watching 'Food Inc' right now as Im typing... OMG If you havent seen it yet - SEE IT! Its definitely worth a watch.
BTW, Monsanto is the devil - and Polyface Farm ROCKS .

Another good one is 'Fresh, the Movie'

Checking the website out right now... thanks TCL

Hi... thought it was time for a bit of an update

Well, its starting to warm up here. We are looking at building up to 25 deg this week then hitting a cold spell with 1 degree nights straight after that... the point is that Im not sure I should be planting all the seeds that Im planting ATM!!

Ive started the system up properly again... have added over the last 3 days - chelated iron, fish emulsion, Maxicrop... and lots of seeds!

Because we are thinking of setting up a roadside stall!

One great thing is that it has motivated us to get ourselves organised and productive again! But annoyingly, NSW now requires a full Development Application... along with the respective fees of course. So thats something else Im doing in my spare time!

Also, after re-reading the last couple of pages I realised that I didnt post the pic for you steveiscrazy... my apologies! Lost the old one when our computer crashed a while back and camera is dead ATM, but the yabby hide that hubby made for me was a row of PVC lined up... grab a circular saw or angle grinder and along the centre cut down about a third into the PVC pipe. Hubby used an offcut from a split IBC that we used for bits and cut a piece kind of like a stretched capital D... the straight edge glued/siliconed/sikaflexed into the cuts in the row of PVC pipes... the rounded edge of the D just helps to pick it up. Mounting the 'D' through the centre means that yabbies can enter from both sides... I think it would be great for fish hides for young fish too but it needs to be modified so there is less obstruction inside the pipes for the fish to not get damaged scales... and could be a bit more for the yabbies just so they cant reach each other (although that wasnt a problem) Hope that helps without the pics?

When you say "needs a full DA"... are you talking about setting up a roadside stall?????

Hi Rupe!

Yup, although 'full' may not have been the right word... I think a DA is a DA is a DA. All I know is that its bloody hard to fill out when its aimed at large-scale development or housing... and you only need it for this... the wording is very open to interpretation .
But yes, we need to submit a development application and statement of environmental effects if we want to put up a roadside stall here... not sure if its just a local thing, or NSW

So have at least 4 weeks to get ourselves organised before the DA will go through as we also need the RTA to give consent because where we want to put it there is a small 20metre piece of old crumbling bitumen where the old highway used to go before they smoothed off the curve in the road... which is the perfect spot as its easy to get on and off the highway for any passing traffic without creating a hazard... but because that bit of bitumen is sitting there the RTA becomes involved life is never easy is it!

So at the moment we COULD be selling... oranges, parsley, imperial mandarins, old tyres, eggs, kiwifruit, bags of oranges, parsley, locats, persimmons, pommegranates, stray kittens, stray children, cabbages, silverbeet, boxes of oranges, parsley, visiting garden gnomes, rosemary, apples, bulk bins of oranges, parsley, walnuts, next door neighbours yappy dog, mint, peppino, pallets of oranges, parsley, dill, dads chainsaw, peas, snow peas, backpacks from missing backpackers... Oh, did I mention parsley?
So it looks like we will have plenty of time to add to our list of stuff to get rid of... although SOME of it may not be available by then... (mwahahaha )

We are also trying to decide on what we are using for the actual stall and have two options... one is a very tall tin room thats been sitting amongst some citrus for many years - and may just crumble into dust when we try to move it... but would be gorgeously rustic... and lockable.

Or, just as rustic if not more so... we have a small 40s truck that has a timber flat bed, so if we replaced the old rotten timbers it would look gorgeous... we could just drag it out there and load it up... my sister suggested we dress some mannequins in period costume and sit them inside the cab which would definitely be a talking point for the locals as long as they dont find it too creepy!!

Maybe we could add some sound effects...

Good to see things progressing how did you go with the plumbing did you get that sorted

For the heater do you mean F&F?