Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

It all seems to be settling in well. The air pump is vigorous and noisy so will not be running it full time or at night. As I have goldfish and they are a lot hardier than eating species they seem to get enough oxygen from the water flow which creates turbulance on the drain site.

Here is a photo of the air pump running and I can imagine by the volume of air it will not take long to airate the water when needed.



In my impatience I have planted a few vegies including a couple of strawberries we had in a pot.

We are up and running and hopefully no major problems ahead.

Well done on the System, looks very professional. I am currently working with a system that is mains powered but am wanting to convert it to solar as well. Can you please tell me where you got the panels from, and roughly how much they were. I have been looking for panels, but have had no joy so far.

Thanks

Dan

Hi Dan,
I think solar is the way to go and in my mind it sits well with backyard AP.

I thought the solar panels were priced well at ~$190au delivered to my door. The panels I used are folding caravan/camping units at 120 watts a unit (2 panels).
The equivalent full size 120 watt panel have a freight surcharge or the selllers exclude Perth due to their size but these ones came at a national freight price. I have had 4 units shipped with no damage as they come in a paddeed bag with extra polystyrene packaging. The advantage of these units is the regulator comes with it so you only need a battery to get going.
Here is a link to what I got but there are more ebay sellers with similar units.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Solar-Panel- ... 3f1eaa054d

I stripped the hinges, legs and handles off the panels so I could place them out on my frame.

Fingers crossed it has been working without a hitch since my last post. oops that is only 1 day ago.

Like Rod, I too got a 120 W panel from eBay. Haven't hooked up my system yet, but soon... I did charge my battery with it, which seemed to work well.

Look for one with an MPPT charger if you can, they give you more battery charge per watt of panel.

An update of my system and seeking some advice.

The weather in Perth is in the high 30's and about to climb to a few days of 40 degrees. Good solar weather and I am doing additional pumps in the heat of the day without any signs of low battery level.
I won't be confident I have the right solar/battery combination until it is tested through winter but with the 240 volt backup I should be right.

Growth in the last week has been very good and a photo on 7th Dec below



compared to today shows things are happpening.



The vegies are showing a lot better colour this week and the tomatoes are flowering. Gold fish are eating well and we are enjoying watching our new friends.

The issue I have is algea is growing on the walls of the tank. I think this is normal but was wondering if I made up covers for the port holes would this reduce the algea growth?

The water is clear so no problem there. If I do make covers for the port holes then will it be too dark for the fish?

You can make up covers if you like, the fish will be fine in the dark.

However I don't think it's necessary, some algae growth on the walls of the tank is normal, it isn't a problem. Most people also go through the 'pea soup' stage as well, this too will sort itself out.


Plant growth looks good!

Thanks
It is good to have answers so I don't head down the wrong path. I was supplied with a couple of vials of bacteria by BYAP which I think has helped condition my system.

I have been checking my dumpster diving supply of acrylics and have some tinted that I might machine up today. Might be a good compromise and with 40 degrees forecast some time in the machine room then inside to the aircon once it gets hot sounds good to me.

Got a bit of algal bloom so made the covers for the tanks today. The added benfit of the covers is that it reduces the noise of the water draining.



I am running the pumps continuous but switching over to 240v at around 8:00pm. Solar system is keeping up with the daytime pumping but not game to run it 24hrs in case I flatten the batteries.

Hopefully I will fix the algal problem with the covers and continuous pumping. Plant growth is good.

That looks amazing Rod! It looks so much more "finished" with those covers on. Comparing it to how it looked before is like looking at a car with the body panels removed.

I assume it's easy enough to get access to the fish? It must hurt having to use 240 Volts. The algae WILL clear up, I promise.

You will probably find that with the port holes on you will still get a slime build up on the insode of your tank anyway. This is the bacteria that is on your grow media too. Nothing to worry about at all. You will probably find that the goldfish eat any algae that is attached to the walls of tank anyway.

It is when you get the free floating algae that it turns into pea soup. I have never had that myself, only the stringy stuff on the sides of the tank.

Either way, those covers look fantastic. You still have plenty of air flow though i assume?

Nebbian,
The covers are sitting in the port holes so they can be removed for access to the tank. I started to explain it but better to show in a photo.



I have fitted the two pieces together with 316 stainless cap screws as I didn't want to wait three days for curing of glues or silicone.

Yeah it does hurt to turn over to 240volt but I am not game to flatten a battery so early in its life.
Hopefully I will get on top of the algae.



rsevs3,
I added to the pea soup by cleaning off the algae from the sides of the tank. I have already been wrapped on the knuckles by the chief for that.
Air flow isn't something I thought about. The port holes are on both sides of the tanks and the back ones (facing the fence) are covered with shade cloth. I can't access that side of the tanks so couldn't use the same covers as the front. The shade cloth is held in place by a bungy cord and then curtain weights at the bottom. You can see the cord running around the tanks in the previous photo. Maybe there is enough air flow throught the shade cloth?

The pea soup disappeared over the last 24 hrs and the water is clear. It took around a week for this to happen and I'm not sure if it was the covers and extra pumping or just part of the cycle for a new system. I suspect the later as it didn't change for days then cleared very quick.

Tomatoes are finally fruiting - there were plenty of flowers but no fruit forming so I am glad this has happened.

It has been hot here so I have spent time indoors reading through the threads. What I gained from this is I have been tinkering too much and need to back off and be patient.

The solar is going well and easily handled extra pumping while I tried to clear the water - I ran the pumps continuous during daylight hours and then went on the timer cycle over night. The battery voltage was still over 12 volts first thing in the morning so there was enough charge coming in to run the pumps all day as well as maintain the batteries. We are in the middle of summer and have long daylight hours and clear skies so it is optimum solar weather.

Love the cover design!

Thanks Charlie
Got a couple of brownie points for that but wiped them out soon after.

An update of my patio system is that all is going well. Fish problem sorted with maintaining 2PPT of salt and water quality is good. Growth the last four weeks has been exceptional. The slightly cooler weather and humid conditions has no doubt helped that. A capfull of Maxicrop to each system once a week to add trace elements and the solar has been running without a problem.

Can't ask for better than that.