Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

It feels good to have some plants in! From left to right are two grape vines, a cherry tree, an olive tree, a grapefruit tree, and a limetree. No lemon tree yet because all they had were Meyer Lemon trees, and I believe enough people know how I feel about trendy fruit trees. The owners of Meyer Lemon trees always have to make sure people know that they are Meyer Lemons. Eureka Lemons will be fine for me when I can find them.

To wash the gravel, I just filled the wheel barrow with water from the system and shoveled the gravel into it. the current water in the system will be drained out as I have just been using the water to clean up the system, and make sure everything runs correctly.

Then I dumped the water out. It seems to have worked well. My systems water is not clear, but as I mentioned, I will be doing a water change before I start cycling anyways.

I added a GFCI outlet. There was an outlet, but I moved it and noticed that it was not a GFCI. Considering it's proximity to water, I thought it best to upgrade it. I also upgraded the housing.

I planted some herbs too. Parsley, sage, basil, and dill.

Things left to do:
1. Do a water change. I have been cleaning the system with the current water, and I have been using vinegar. Also, I think there may also be dish soap in there from uniseal installations.
2. Put the upper grow bed back on top of the fish tank. I need to build some supports for it still.
3. Finish the plumbing from the pump to the fish tank. Right now I am using flexible tubing on a hose adapter. It will all be hard plumbed.
4. Finish the plumbing for the top off valve. The piping is run close to the hot water heater. I am going to tap off of the water inlet for it.
5. Cycle, then get fish (duh...)
6. Set up the grow bed out front. The return piping for it is ran. The inlet piping is also ran, but not plumbed into the fish tank outlet yet.
7. There will always be something, wont there...

Hey...

congrats on the plants... its always fun to get something growing...

it's hard to tell, but how high are you flooding your beds? by the pics, the look wet on top...

but like I said it's hard to tell....

JT

Love it!

Looks great

Some of what you're are seeing is gravel that was taken from other grow beds to fill in. Once I get some trees in, I will fill more in. Some is kind of wet from that, some just don't have enough gravel in them yet. Now to get started on the water change...

Thank you!

I finished the water change, dosed up about one liter of humonia, let it run for a bit, and tested.
The results:
Ph: 8.2
Ammo: 1.0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
The ph is higher than expected, though tilapia like a higher ph. Nitrate and and nitrites are no surprise as I just added the ammo. I did let it age, but I am not sure if it completely converted yet. No big deal, but I do forsee a bump up in the ammo if that is the case.

I put the upper grow bed on top of the fish tank to gauge how much support was needed. I put all of my weight on the side and it barely moved. Filled with water it does not move at all. It is quite stable without any additional supports. That makes me happy, one less thing to do!

Congrats having plants and water and gravel. Good to see your hard work paying off.

Thank you DrLuke.

I am in a bit of a quandary. This weekend I will be by the Salton Sea on my way back from a camping trip in Arizona. That means that I have an oppurtunity to pick up tilapia for free. The problem is that my system is not yet cycled. Should I take the oppurtunity while I am there, as tilapia are hardy they would probibly do fine while the system is cycling up? Or is it better to spend the gas later, when the system is completely cycled?

get some now.. cycling with fish is doable if you keep an eye on things..

That is some nice looking plumbing-action-thing you've got going on there!

+1 Get Tilapia now...
Very sturdy fish, watch the numbers and save $
Brian

Thanks for the responses! That means Monday evening there will be fish in my system. Thanks for the complement Hoeve. I am about to do some more plumbing work. The line from the pump to the fish tank is in it's temporary state. And not in a state I feel comfortable with leaving on for the weekend while I am away. The permanent line is about to be made!

This is one of the coolest I have seen on here! I love the plumbing idea and that you are planting trees! So cool! Thank you so much for sharing

Thank you Pioneer Lady! It has been a bit of work, but I am ecstatic with the results so far.

Now for more pics!

I got everything glued up, tested it and found that the upper GB was receiving no water. I realized two things. First, the assembly needs to be removable, so I added a coupling. Second, I needed another ball valve to regulate the flow into the fish tank.

I put a venturi fitting in to help with aeration. I don't think it is doing much, but it is glued in so i guess it may help some.