Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Also any worms that commit sashimi in the sump with just get mulched in the pump and fed to the fish. I probably get a few, but would never know for all things that enter the sump, enter the pump.

Actually I've had worms go through the pump and come out the other end alive, and in one piece. unless worms climb to the roof of the grow house and abseil down a string that holds a sieve under the water inlet.

Worms can do that?

I don't really care about birthdays, but I guess I wish you a happy one. I tend to fluctuate between having four a year and having none for a bit.

I've really got to learn some social skills.

Hmmm. There's a LOT of gushing, falling water in there right now; I'd think it would have to be pretty well oxygenated. But maybe all the movement is what did them in.. They did look pretty battered.

Maybe I'll stick some goldfish in the sump, once I get things a little farther along. They'd enjoy the worms, and help me get my system cycled, too.

Oh, don't do that. It would spoil your unique charm.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone! Hubs is making me let him buy me an iPad Mini. But I'm making him wait until my locum tenens paychecks start back up in a few weeks. Meanwhile, I'm content with the load of lava rock he got me for my grow beds.

"unique charm" I'll quote you next time I go to a funeral eating bubble gum and a baguette, and wearing nothing but a sombrero,

Ah, but where is the sombrero being worn?

Were you trying to eat the baguette while chewing gum?

It's not the eating, but the blowing bubbles that's the tricky bit.

Thanks for the laughs, BW and RM! It's been a rough day; I needed that.

Did you do any more water tests since adding the ammonia? I fear the amount of ammonia you added could be way high for the amount of water in the system.

The warm water probably is because of ole cheap pump. Do check the pump over, if it has any metal other than stainless steel, it isn't such a good bargain for aquaponics. I had a sump pump from the cheapo tools store, it has a 3 month warranty, it died after 4 months and it was definitely corroding, I'm lucky it didn't leak oil/lubricant into my system and kill fish. Anyway, cheap pumps often use more electricity, are noisy, will produce more heat and probably not last as long as a more expensive energy efficient pump. Right now through winter you might not mind the heating via pump but it is time to start shopping for a fish safe, energy efficient replacement so you have it by the time the cheap pump dies or you see the electric bill.

Good to see you have gotten started on the actual aquaponics.

Yea, baguette crumbs in the chewing gum can make bubbles difficult.

But gives the gum an interesting texture...

Nope, no testing, I was going to check it before I started adding the gravel, and totally forgot. Bah. Now I'm in the midst of a 6-day work stretch, and haven't had time to go out there at all. (I'm driving around with the bed of my pickup half full of gravel, because I had to go back to work sooner than I expected to fill in for an absent coworker, and didn't get it all unloaded. Too bad it's not snowing; I'd have great traction!)

I wasn't sure how much ammonia to start with; guess I should have checked the forums first. The system's only got maybe 1/3 of the water in it right now that it will have when I get the IBC plumbed in. If that's still not enough water to dilute it down, well, then I'll drain it and start over. I can't seem to keep the mud and PVC shavings out of it, so maybe refilling it once everything's actually put together is the best idea anyway.

'Course if I do that, I'll have to apologize for sending my poor hubs to the store for pantyhose to filter out the shavings! I didn't have any handy, since I only wear them when my kids get married, and it's been a while since the last one.

Poor guy, he puts up with a lot.

I'll check the pump. Everything visible on it is plastic, but I didn't take anything apart, so I don't know what's really there under the gravel guard. The reviews indicated it tends to have a pretty good lifespan as a pond pump, so I figured not having to pump pond muck, it ought to last even longer. The $29 reciprocating saw I bought there has turned out to be a great buy. (Can't say much for their blades, though. I like it a lot better since I went and got decent blades for it!)

The temperature thing is really weird. It seems like it spikes after days when I've been working out there. When I go out after not being out there for a few days, the water will be back down to ground temp (52ᵒF) even though the pump has been running the whole time. I have a space heater in the greenhouse, but I don't run it much because I'm limited on how much I can plug in, and I get tired of swapping plugs. Also, it's a small heater in a big space, and doesn't really feel like it helps anyway. I've never seen the air temp even get up to 50 while I was out there (daytime highs haven't been more than the high 40s lately), and that's the only time the heater is even plugged in. But when I go out the morning after a day when I've worked out there, the water will be back up to 58ᵒ again.

It's like one of those weird quantum physics observer effect things. Maybe if I put a Web cam in the greenhouse and get people to watch it all the time, the water will stay warm!

Good luck with that quantum heater

And speaking of electrical engineering, was that the kind of engineer you used to be? If so, can you put viewtopic.php?f=50&t=14584&p=362128#p362128 on your watch list and add your two cents worth.

Or in fact, if not.

Either way your two cents worth is always worth at least 3 cents on the international exchange.

Hi Geek2Nurse!

I have myself only started reading up on AP and have no own experience of it as of yet but some things that keep coming back:

For the fish tank - "the bigger the better", well its not that easy but the bigger mass of water you have the more time you have to react to changes in temperature, DO, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate as well as PH. More time to react and start a remedy means less fish kills.

As for fish kills, it can be good to have another little recreational tub for your fishies where you can take extra care of the ones that do not look so purky. If you see any disease appearing it can be good to take individual fish aside and treat them with a salt cure. Salt seem to help remedy a lot of fish´s illnesses. (separate this water cycle from that of the rest of the system as you don´t want to bump up the salt levels and hurt the rest of your plants.).

For media, gravel give a better support for root structure then expanded clay and other lighter media. Washing of gravel before adding to grow beds is recommended. Stone dust and particles may clog up pumps and siphons.

And for fish, Washington do get quite cold in wintertime. Maybe if you like Tilapia and other warm water fish you should think about having that one as a summer fish and say, trout as a winter fish. Trout will do much better then some others in cold water. I heard of some other Swedes who grew trout quite a bit north of Stockholm in an AP system. So i would think they are a safe card for the cold and the energy bill. Make sure to keep up the water quality though.

Before you start, CYCLE WELL read up on that to get off to a good start!

Let us know how it all works out!

Pictures please!

/H

Says who???...

I grow everything... including tomatoes to the roof of a greenhouse... in grow beds with expanded clay...