Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

The guppies seem unaffected from any of this. They are swimming in a big swarm.

Most new systems go through a 'green soup' stage, it helps to block the sun out from around your FT.

have any clue to what has happened to the little guys tail?

So I got some rocks today and finished out the primary build. I had to add some of my steel poles under the IBC gravel beds due to the weight and me not cutting the right part off the container. A mistake I will not be repeating but deal with what you have done and make the best out of it if you can.

There is a little buckling in the midsection but the siphons are working about once every 5-8 minutes depending on which side your watching. Is that too fast?

I used some 1" PVC threaded connections as a makeshift bulkhead connector and a sink slip to seal the connections which seems to be working well for the siphons. I couldn't use the screw top lids one of them didn't have a tapped head and this way seemed cheap at $1.34 total cost.

My water went from crystal clear to murky soup after adding the rocks even after washing them down which from other posts it seems that will clear over time. The guppies don't care they swarm on the top for the pellets but the last brim is lurking in the unseen.

I have some concerns though the way it's currently setup I can't use one of the Tanks because there is a monster pump in there and it eats anything under 5/8". Anyone have an idea how to simply install a sump tank for this setup?

will a 2" overflow be enough to keep the sump working via a SLO setup?? My only idea was to setup a blue barrel as a sump tank.

birthday is tomorrow so calling this my gift this year

I know that it seems kind of late saying this, but the fish tank can rest on the ground without the pallets. It is better to have the pallets under the grow bed. Sometimes places have spare IBC cages that you could get on the cheap. I would recommend adding pallets there, and recutting the cages a little higher for the growbeds. Two rings are ideal so as to not impale oneself.

thanks. the only supplier i have found for these IBC containers is selling them with 2" of muck in the bottom to clean out and 40$ a pop looking like that. I asked about buying bits and pieces and they said they didn't want to break up the units. So thankfully this is the test system go round I need it to last about 6 months and a full grow then I get to play with some extra cash ^_^

What did you use to clean up the dye?

I found some at a wood yard as well but they look pretty nasty. The dye has dried out in them and just using soap isn't loosening it up.

The only other place I've found IBC's wants $100 each. The ones that held dye or free, so if they job is easy then I'll use them.

update: experimental fish tank setup has been successful now I have too many sprouted starts from a green pepper I sprinkled in the makeshift GB!. .. I need some input from the more seasoned members. I tried to transfer the starts to the IBC beds and they quickly gave up the ghost and moved on to the decomposition stages. The hurricane rain here has been beating everything up outside but I have little choices right now seeing as it is way to packed inside in the small GB. It's either find a way to make this work or kill off 80% of the sprouts inside The first round looked to be almost smashed and I was wondering if the bigger rocks in the IBC GB were to much for them??? can I only transfer in pellet casings or can they be transferred bare root??

Next time: use less seeds!


I don't attempt to transplant seedlings, or any plants for that matter until they have a well established root system. If you pluck out a pepper seedling from your indoor system and it has only one flimsy looking but long root, maybe with one or two hairlike feeder roots, then it's too soon to be transplanting IMHO. When there is a good solid main root and "considerable" feeder roots, then it is time for transplanting. You might have to do sme thinning now, to have better success later.

When I had a gravel system, I used to get a large diameter (wide enough to put my hand through) pipe section 6 inches in length. Place this on the surface of the gravel and with one hand press down on the pipe whilst removing the heavy rocks from the inside of the ring with the other hand, the ring prevents the rocks from falling back into the hole you're making for the roots of the transplant. When the ring is at the correct depth for the plant, simply hold the plant in the hole with one hand, then pull the ring out with the other hand, passing it over the hand which holding the plant and of course, over the plant. The rocks in the GB will "gently" fall into the hole and cover the roots without damaging them and gives the plant a fighting chance of surviving the move. (Dealing with heavy media is the reason I switched over to expanded clay when I had the money, it's just so much easier to work with).


Scott

Thanks for the tip on the planting. I am thinking the river stone may quickly get reused in a gravel filter for floating beds because of this experience or top dressed with another media type. I just can't afford the hydroton it is being sold for 1$ a liter here from the local hydro shop and mail order kills any savings I might get.



The dye was dry for the most part in the bottom of the containers and required me to don yard clothes, use a saws all to open them and literally scrape the bottom of the muck out until very little was left then I scrubbed them with a 3000 psi pressure washer and green abrasive pads until satisfied with the surface about 8 hours work no cleaners. If I was to get a do over I would have saved the 40$ for the dirty tote and bought a clean tote for the extra amount. If your really tight on money and have the time then by all means but if you really want to get going without a cleaning hassle buy a clean one. The only reason I didn't toss the thing after realizing the work involved is because I am stubborn as a mule. beware the dyes they will stain most organic material they touch and fast I had red grass for awhile even with all the rain lately.

update: 09/04/2012

So it seems I have killed my batch of test fish. It sounds bad but it actually let me know just how much I still need to experience.

I decided to shock treat my tanks like you would a pool/septic tank since I had 30 transplant peppers.
I bought some "organic fertilizer" or fish emulsion since from my reading that is what we are doing to raise the plants in the first place, a type of fish septic drain field... everything was going well until I had a massive/noticeable algae bloom from the additional nuets in the water.

For this experiment I used 2oz's of the fish emulsion to inoculate the system and give the plants something to chew on. Second day tests showed the last brim belly up and a massive green blob in both tanks. The strip readings showed 20ppm nitrites, 10ppm nitrates, and 1ppm ammonia. 4th day since addition(today) 10ppm nitrites, 10 ppm nitrates and no ammonia. The suggested products seasonal and maxi-crop I could not find at the local box stores...

end result is the last fish from the scoop net adventure has croaked and all the plants are happy and growing so 50/50 effectiveness. Time to restock the tanks with guppies and brim.

Wintergreen oil is bad. Do not use it with your new fish.

Thanks for the heads up. will the plant wintergreen also screw things up or is it just when concentrated?

The plant is only a bad idea because it will take over your growbed. People have come up with ways to attempt to control it, however I'm not sure of the effectiveness on those measures. Mint grows in dirt well enough, reserve your growbed for plants that play nice.