Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Started posting to my 2011 thread, which is weird because it's now 2012!

2011 thread here: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8849

My first thread is here, BTW. Sigs don't allow more than 5 links so can't show them all in my .sig: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=244

I'll have a few beers and list my goals for this year AP-wise.

For now, I wanted to show a picture of these neat square storage tubs they sell at Lowe's now. The brand is Contico, 32 gallons for $24, thick walled, nice square shape which may be more useful than round or the usual rectangular ones.

Hey Jerry!

This morning very frosty, 28F/-2C outside air temp, water temp was 44F/6C so that's pretty good. Sunny today so should help keep the water temp up as well. I have a single 300 watt heater on a timer in the water, was at 15 minutes every two hours since the temp dial only goes down to 71 and it would be on all the time, switched it to 15 minutes every hour to help fight the cold a bit this weekend. I expect things to get worse when we're in the teens in a few weeks.

Brrr.
How long does it stay that cold?
I'm guessing similar to the UK, end of Feb...
28C again here today though

Here's a good graph of average temps for our area from the Weather channel:

Water temp this morning after several cold days was 41, now with the sun out it's almost 45. It seems to be in the 90s air temp in the cold frame.

One trout has died so far that I know of. Have been leaving them a small sprinkle of food in the morning, but after looking around they don't seem to be eating much. Checked the air lifts and one was very clogged with string algae, cleared that one, the other was somewhat OK. There are too many particles floating around, I think I need to get things filtered through media to get the water cleared up or something. I'll rig something up when I get the time.

A bluegill was floating around with what I suppose is white fungus on it, but I wasn't able to catch it. It's very hard to see what is going on down there with the dark pond liner and algae.

Edit: changed the outlet from the trash can to an elbow to make a stream for the trout to swim in if the mood strikes them.

have Dave if you water if full of particles.. it sounds like you need to have one of these..

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthrea ... ight=phoam

I'm making one for my system.. But that is further down the track.. Yes I have all the stuff for it already..

Juergen

Interesting link Snow, wonder why that guy insists on mis-spelling foam fractionator throughout the thread?

I think I can get the water cleaner through other means like running through some filtering, and longer term I want to make another trough with media in it for the front. In warmer weather more beds and more plants.

16F/-8C this morning, water temp was 40F/4C, frost on the plants too. Normally the inside plastic is clear or only has some condensation on it but this morning it was frosted.

we had over 2' of snow over the weekend, spent all day saturday digging out.. supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow though.. crazy weather!

Hmm, we haven't seen any snow of note since that one crazy one in October. It could happen anytime now, I expect another maybe two months of bad weather with the AP setup on life support so to speak. Any day that is above freezing and sunny is really making me optimistic, just sheltering from the wind is a big gain over an exposed system. I think the greenhouse shifted from all the wind a few days ago, because the door catches on the ground and it didn't before.

Actually maybe just until the end of February and then everything should kick in after that.

We've already gained 15 minutes of daylight since the beginning of the month. Woo hoo!

Hehe the Chiang Mai ex-pats are all moaning about the 12.5C we had last night.

Thai people go around looking like they've just come off the slopes in Val Thorens.
Fleeced Jackets, woolly hats, scarves, the works

Having said that, that is the lowest Temp I have seen in 10 years here.

One of the places we're looking at moving to basically doesn't include a yard, because the landscaping is managed by the neighborhood association. So, I've been thinking about more constrained AP and I think a decent amount of fun could be had on a modified deck, if the beds and/or FT were sunk in between the joists. Maybe mesh screen screwed into the joists could help hold weight as well as liner under tension attached to the joists. Decking could be mounted to the bottom of the joists to make a sunken walkway between the planted areas maybe. Plywood FT or liner with additional support underneath to embed the FT as part of the deck. Maybe a sump tank under the deck too.

The beds and FT stop at the beam in this mockup, which is why the whole 12'x12' area is not used. I think just the right side with the FT and the one bed would be enough to grow some fun plants.

I added the additional troughs above the flush-mounted beds, but then weight might get to be a lot there. Maybe a few posts underneath could take the load off the deck for those.

Cross section of the front, to show how the liner sags in between the joists.