Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Charcoal upwelling biofilter seems to be working OK, but needs some adjustment. I'm splitting off flow from the pump because it's too much flow. Could use a bigger drain pipe and more screening. The other pumps should pick up clean water after this, to do it I plan to put a bucket with the bottom cut out at the outlet from the trash can with the other pumps in the bucket. Right now the other pumps pick up solids that are floating around instead of water after the filter. For the Winter I'm tempted to do a swirl filter then this filter.

Pepper plant is not quite dead yet. I learned that rubber bands break down super quickly. The snow has killed the bean plant that is hooked up to the bottle outside. This idea needs more mild weather to test.

Green beans in the flood table, only two are sprouted but looking OK. String algae has been a problem lately. I plan to use these larger planters more in this season than I did in the Summer. The shelter is good.

A picture of the roots from the trough plants. Never added aeration to the troughs and they were not being turned over very quickly so the plants didn't seem to need much turnover. I would add airstones in the future, might help them take off.

I tried putting in seeds in the pots a couple of times, but got poor germination and growth from the resulting seedlings. I'm not sure why, strawberries would start then sit and not do anything. Broccoli sprouted a couple of months ago but just sat there being small for weeks. Same for peas. Not enough fish, probably. Other plants might also have been interfering with the small plant development somehow?

I cleared out the bottom rail by removing the round pots from the center trough, by removing the plywood top and trimming the liner. Now the bottom rail is just a gutter to hold 10" net pots.

Then it snowed on Saturday and killed most of the plants!

On the fence about whether to struggle on out in the cold or move to a system in the basement this Winter.

Dang. Hard to keep very many plants going with that. Now if you can keep the water from freezing, kale and perhaps broccoli will do ok if you get some sun.

Umm that looks very challenging Dave, very pretty though! I don't think I'd be a gardener if the weather was that cold.

Greenhouse?

Yes, please.

We might be moving next year so I'm not putting anything substantial in. No money at the moment for that anyway. Might put a PVC hoop cover over the FT soon.

Fingers crossed but I hope to get some lumber and make a little cold frame to go over the fish pond for the Winter.

I have some stain for our deck left over, but for the board walk over the water I am thinking latex exterior primer and paint? Anyone think exterior latex would be bad above the FT? I could get clear polyurethane maybe instead - I would prefer wood color over white.

I'm thinking about using 2x2s for the skin rather than 2x4s everywhere, so save weight. I also am thinking about adding cross wires to stiffen the faces and allow less lumber. Plan is to bolt the walls and roof together with lag screws, because we may be moving next year and I may want to move this too. Studs are 2" on center in case I want to cover with polycarbonate panels some day. The frame will sit on the gravel perimeter around the pond. Might try to anchor it down using rebar stakes. This area is pretty sheltered from the wind, but we occasionally have had blizzards and hurricanes and Nor'Easters roll through with winds up to 60 MPH.

Will cover with free used up greenhouse plastic from the local greenhouse who has been giving it away in their free pile by the road.

The pond liner troughs will be moved up against the garage wall, in the front there will be rafts, and there will be a boardwalk over the water along the center line to walk to the other end. The trash can charcoal-filled upwelling filter will be in one corner, another pump will pump up to the rail troughs. In warmer weather more will be added in front.

Took the day off work to start making a cold frame. Spent $120 on lumber today, have framed the sides and the back wall, doing it by myself on the garage floor which is taking forever. It's cold and dark now so I'm going to cut up the wood for the front wall and roof for tomorrow. I used the cracks in the garage floor and some concrete blocks to try to make the framing square. Just got measuring the back wall after screwing it all together and it's perfect! Might not be tomorrow though after the wood gets some moisture in it. It's so cold that staining the wood is just going to make it all tacky for days, not sure if I'll get far enough this weekend. The roof will be interesting because I need to cut triangular notches in the rafters.

Jeez I feel for you DD! You really are tackling the elements there. Your a fighter, Ill give you that.

Cool pics, keep em coming.

Thanks Charlie! I'm pretty excited right now, the cold frame/greenhouse is right now sitting upright in the driveway for the stain to dry. The plan for tomorrow is to figure out how much greenhouse film I actually have (some appears to be doubled which would be great) and at least get the roof covered. Then remove all the stuff that's in the way and set up the walls and toss the roof on. I figure I can cover the sides probably next weekend. Also have to move the troughs inside, make a door, cover the triangular parts under the roof on both sides, and make a runway over the water. Thinking about making those pieces removable to take them out when I'm not doing anything to the plants because I'm starting to think about the humidity on the boards. Right now it's bed time, Aleve is my favorite drug! Here's to a Sunday afternoon erection!

BTW the weather today was perfect, sunny, cool, and breezy, could not ask for better this time of year. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same so we have a good chance at this.

I really needed the exercise, was good to get some sun and fresh air this time of year as the days get too short.

The roof has plastic on the top and bottom. Added some furring strips to hold it better than just staples. Didn't have to adjust the gravel much and it seems to be sitting pretty well considering no site prep. Thinking about using a trick I saw on a link somewhere where a guy used ropes on a PVC hoop greenhouse to hold the plastic down on the low spots between the hoops - might do that over the 2x4s which are lower than the raised 2x2s (the plastic is like draped on the vertical 2x2s with the furring strips and allowed to sag down to the 2x4s). Will finish covering over the next couple of weekends, build a boardwalk, move the troughs, etc etc. I plan to try to iron out the wrinkles in the plastic with a hair dryer. I still have two more rolls of plastic, could power wash those and then have enough for a double skin on the whole thing. I also have window plastic for the Winter that I was planning to use for this, because it is clearer and because the interior film will not be in as tough an environment. Already have some mylar camping blankets in my Amazon cart for the back and side walls to keep radiation in the space.

Looking good

Yes, I'm very excited to be able to keep things going through the Winter this year. Have been ignoring the fish and plants totally ever since it became dark when I get home from work. Saw the large koi yesterday when we were bolting the walls together so that's good. I stopped feeding a few weeks ago because they weren't eating.

I have to say this: bluegill are freaking boring! They are lazy eaters in the best of times and cannot be seen worth a darn. The only time I get a good look at them is when the koi are swimming under them. I think I'd rather have a pond full of anything else than bluegill; goldfish, koi, minnows, are all more interesting.

I hope to finally put trout in, once I get the battery for Xmas from the in-laws, and since I should be able to keep the biofiltration warm enough. They likely won't be fed much through the coldest times though.