Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Well the system is up and running and the coco coir is going kind of ok. I am rinsing it out still and have some mild smelly problems goig out. i am hoping it will clear up but if not it is off to find some other medium to try.

I also picked up a fiberglass bath tub for 2 dollars so will be looking at adding that to the system or atleast making it into a duckweed incubator.

Hi jtjf, Murray was looking at incorporating an activated charcoal filter into his coir bed.... that would take care of both the colour and the smell.

Same kind of stuff you use in aquarium filters.

Yeah I came accros some fairly cheap active carbon filters now just need to figure out how to apply them.

So I went fishing this afternoon to occupy my non internet day. Caught some of the big boys and have they grown. The one that went in at 10cm two months ago is almost 20cm now and there are three others getting up there. I can hear the bbq crackling now. Oh and yeah got bored of chasing fish so decided to take it for the team and say down with no internet day

Activated carbon strips out your nutrients.

Could you put them as last point before water enters tank or would this have a detrimental effect????

My opinion of activated charcoal is that it will absorb a little 'stuff' out of a system, and is then pretty much worthless except as a substrate for bacteria. In aquarium-keeping, I would sometimes use it to pull medication out of the water after treatment, but otherwise, didn't see much use for it. It think no matter where you put it in the system, it will do its thing. All it really is is carbon with lots of texture. It won't magically suck away everything into some black hole, but it does have potential to draw out a little of whatever is around it.

Thanks janet, was having a hard time working it out and If I should bother with it

AA I thought about that as my aquarium filter uses the activated carbon. and decided i would go without. I thik the smell is mainly because the tank was filling up but not emptying completely. Ie anerobic conditions. think I will just add a venturi first to see if i can add enough air to the water to break up the anerobic cycle.

Hi Jonathon and others,

Coco peat is an excellent medium for use in AP.

It is not, however, suited to flood and drain. Murray tried that (and it was pioneering stuff) but he's now reverted to periodic watering because of the discolouration of the water that occurs with coco.

One of the features of coco peat is that it holds water really well. In fact, at the moment (pretty hot weather for over about a fortnight straight), I'm only watering my plants every couple of days. This is a good regime for coco because it works best when it is allowed to dry out a bit.

This ensures good aeration and will avoid problems with anaerobic conditions.

Gary

how is the system going?

Its running fairly well no problems to speak of that is until this morning. Check out the new topic i started Here

Other than that fishes are about ready to be harvested though the chillies are not growing how i wanted i think because of sun light and the aphids.

JT

SO today I went and "Fixed" the pump. I just put the backup pump in with a hose up to the header tank. Is running great so will be happy to let it run. And then when it is fish harvest i will pull he old pump out as it is attached to a pipe at the bottom of the tank.

And a great surprise happened I have babies. A few tilapia eggs must have made it through the pump up to the header and down into the duckweed tank. Now I just have to find the female as all the fish were supposed to be male.

Tilapia are trying to take over the world!!

Well we have had our first harvest of fish. We picked out 5 of the big ones and BBQ'ed them up Indonesia style. I also went out and bought another 90 fingerlings this time black Tilapia. I have no clue what there real name is in English. SO now I am working on hooking a fiberglass bathtub up for duck weed.

Does anyone know who was running sand for carrots in their grow beds. I was thinking of trying it out but wanted to see how they stopped the sand from ending up in the fish tank.