Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

What do you mean by "wicks" TC?

uh, lets see if I can find the blog post with pictures.
http://www.aquaponiclynx.com/my-net-pots-or-cups-with-wicks

nice tip, thanks TC

and it seems we took the same photo, but I used a worm in place of a mop string



Left image linked to from http://www.aquaponiclynx.com/my-net-pots-or-cups-with-wicks

I think my mum buys those yoghurt tubs

They are handy with the lip to keep them from falling down into the holes.

I see your avatar found himself a BYAP hat.

I think I look dashing

and there is really no way to introduce a stubby holder into "the scream" so it had to be the hat

perfect !

it looks like they are made from the same mold (mould) as lettuce cups

My plastic cups have a bit of a lip, but they are just tall enough to sit in a 90mm PVC pipe regardless of the lip.

What depth/flow should I be looking at with NFT?

At the moment I have a test pipe with 10 pots and a dripping flow with some strawberry plants.

Well in a true NFT trough with the flat bottom, just a thin film of water flowing in the bottom is what they do.

However if you are doing a pipe, you normally have deeper water since a thin film would be only a trickle.

The flow going through mine is about 50% of a not too high pressure flow from 1/2" pipe. Much less and the ball valve needs to get excersized more often from clogging and much more flow can tend to overflow the pipe as roots grow. I expect each situation will be different though.

So far this month I've leant the following....

- you shouldn't expect fish solids to pass through 4mm poly pipe for very long before blocking

- clear plastic water tubes grow algae faster than any one person can reasonably deal with

- even white PVC tubes get really hot in a hothouse

- strawberry plants dont seem to mind when the water stops flowing for a day and their water is 36c.

- buying the 7$ hole saw kit with 10 different blades is false economy if you value your life

- an espresso machine's cup warmer plate is a great place to inoculate milk when making cheese

- it's much easier to change a bent drill bit on a 7$ hole saw kit than you might have first thought

-safety glasses made me have one more eye than I might have expected had I failed to put them on. ("zghzzz, BOING! Aarggh!")

-new, divot free safety glasses only cost $4 and you can see really well out of them

-strawberry cultivation from seeds is a myth

-honey eaters enjoy the bugs from my compost bucket so should really be called "honey and bug eaters"

-its possible to become a spider whisperer with only 3 days training

-my feet hurt

-worms go where they please, when they please

-thistles aren't lettuce even when they pop up in your grow bed and you re-pot them

-thermodynamics is not only an interesting subject, but turns out to have practical applications as well

-TV is not as good as TV says it is

-you can use the strings from a mop to "wick" nutrient rich water up to your seedlings in NFT pots

-if you sit in your grow house for long enough, eventually you will witness someone entering your backyard without permission, and creeping to the back door. You will get to watch them for a bit before springing (slowly and awkwardly unzipping from the inside with a zip that was never designed to be operated from said side) your trap and discovering that they are actually delivering a parcel from Perth, and really don't need wrestling to the ground after all.

-BYAP hats and shirts, are of absurdly good quality

-list making can draw you away from other, more pressing duties

-no matter how hard you try, deciding that sleep is a waste of life will never gain you even one second extra

-kidney stones can really spoil your day

-generally speaking, seeds are over priced

-people tend toward being opinionated and self serving

-chaotic water systems can make your fish grow faster

-you can tell when water is no longer flowing through a pipe in your hothouse because the lack of condensation gives it away

-I tend toward being just like people

-I have only self serving anecdotal evidence to support my theory on chaotic water conditions being good for fish

-graphs are our friend

-Currently, 9 out of 10 brain cells think it's bed time

-it's currently bedtime


goodnight

I really dont understand the dynamics of what is going on within a grow bed, NFT tube or whatever.

Does the bacteria take all the ammonia/nitrite out on every pass? or are we talking a tiny percentage removed each time the total system volume passes through the media.

I'll do a test tomorrow and see if there is any difference between the water flowing into the GB and the water flowing back to the FT

I suspect there wont be any detectable difference, and if that's the case, I am even more confused. No difference might indicate eventual nutrient overload.

sleep

Bully If nothing else your posts always make me chuckle I particularly liked the delivery man point

Go get some sleep, dude. There is always tomorrow for more sideways thinking.
+1 on the delivery dude.

I would hope that ammonia and nitrite go from a trace before the grow bed to 0 after the grow bed. the nitrates generally run a bit higher and I don't expect that you will see a measurable difference between before the grow bed and after unless you have an excessively long trip through the growing areas.

Bullwinkle.... each pass through the grow bed, nft, etc... will remove a "percentage" of the available nutrients....

But the nutrients are being constantly replenished within the system... and constantly supplied....

The plants will take up what is available, and/or what they need...
If there are excess nitrates available... plant more plants.... if the plants appear to be suffering from lack of nitrates (very uncommon)... or slowed growth... then you could probably add a few more fish....

Ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels of zero,zero,zero..... are entirely the norm... in a well balanced, properly stocked and filtered AP system...

hmm

come to think of it I test the water as its coming out of the FT and I read zeros so there's nothing to test.

It would be interesting to see some really accurate test results and see what everything is doing as the water flows through a system