Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I've been working on putting up bird netting around my systems. Not so much to keep the birds away (at least not originally) but more to keep the squirrels away, but it does have the benefit of keeping most other things away.

I agree a bit disturbing. (even if there isn't anything wrong with the system, finding long dead decaying animals around your food production does tend to be disturbing.)

well no the buck and cape francolins have become relentless. Lots of the plants destroyed.

Work has begun on a serious shade net enclosure that will be completely closed all around and on top too. I cannot go on like this. They have totally destroyed my tomato plants, green peppers and all the spinach.

Fortunately they don't like basil so there is plenty of that to go around. Also seemed to not be too interested in the egg plant...

Well after taking down the rear fencing to make way for the new improved enclosure, the buck have been having a feast and my system looks really sparse. The fortunately don't like basil so there is still a whole lot of that.

On other news.. I have injured myself on the fish tank roof so many times now! So the last time it happened I went and got a screwdriver and removed the damn thing.

So I will just make the shade net box go all the way over the back of the fish tank. The fish tank area I will shade out with 90% shade cloth which will hopefully eliminate the little bit of string algae that grows when there are no fish in the summer and the sun is really hot and bright. Perhaps it will shave a few degrees of the peak summer temps and I can keep some trout over the summer. I have been keeping an eye on the temps and it is actually quite rare that they get up to 28.







So next up is to put up some poles and framing, and figure out how to pay for vast quantities of shade netting...

I have also begun the task of welding up the barrel stands for the greenhouse rebuild. Will post pics shortly...

Easier to pretend you're at the beach

When you first mentioned the Francolins I had to look them up, they remind me of the Chukars we have around here.

I like the quality of the light in your last photo of the tank and growbeds. Of course being in Oregon in the Winter light in general looks pretty swell. We've gotten some sunshine during the past few days but before that it was weeks without.

Cheers

Ok. Serious fort knox ap cage going up here! Taking forever. It is freakishly hot work and killer on the hands but I am nearly there. I have got fencing to 7 foot and then 20% shade going over the top of that. Then on the roof 40% shade with 40% shade and 80% shade over the fish tank area and the back north wall of the fish tank area. Should provide for a nice algae free tank and also hopefully cooler temperatures.

The cage has been going up slowly for the past week and already I can see a dramatic improvement in things. Lots of self seeded tomatoes coming up and the stubby ends of the egg plants have sprouted nice leaves and are taking off nicely.

I will post pics when it is all up.

Right. I have the fencing pretty much all the way around. I have now run out of the used fencing I was using for the job. I'll need to buy a small amount to finish up.

I have 40% shade and 80% shade over the fish tank section. So this should be 120% shaded however it is not. Liars! Can still see quite a bit of light shining through. But it is all cool. Just about all the algae has died and even the pipes which have been green for years are suddenly turning white again. Not a sign of any string algae anywhere.

I am going to put a 20% shade netting around the sides and dig it in a bit to keep the springhares and mice at bay.

One small issue is that the bees are getting trapped under the shade netting at the back. I will need to figure out something to help them escape.

Looking forward to growing stuff again. It was weird as the first two years I had far less problems. I think the wildlife took a long time to get used to the strange plant growing machine...

Now how do I bomb those snails into oblivion again??

Sorry you had to go to such drastic measures... but critters have always been competing with our food production. ARRRGGGG!

I must say that the result looks delightful. But... you didn't cover the FT? Not a big deal, just a bit surprised, since you covered everything else... In your summer... is it worth it to be open, or covered?

Mon Dieu! that is one great looking setup.
I hope you stand back now and then and admire. You should.

Thanks Mr Aristaeus. I do admire. I have a bench that I sit on for the purpose and have a coffee break. Generally it does not last long as I see something that needs doing and have to get up and do it.

dancinhrblady... The pic does not show it well. I will snap another one. The fish tank is covered over on the roof with 80% and 40% shade combined. This mostly to deal with algae issues... and yes you definitely do need a very well shaded fish tank. That is a must especially in summer and especially with lots of nitrates otherwise algae will grow like mad and clog piping and slo's etc. I will now need to stretch a netting over the top when the trout go in at the end of march. for the jumpers....

So I have finally got my butt in gear and tackled the rebuilding of my little greenhouse system.

I removed the existing round sump tank. I was going to ditch this but discovered I could not get it out! Well not without removing a pane of glass. Which would have been a fair mission.

So after much playing around with the layout I came up with using the sump as the fish tank. It is about 600liters give or take. The tank is now fitted with a central pvc 75mm standpipe which has a 110mm skirt to act as a solids lift. I have seen this done in some setups. The tank has a slightly recessed central area where I have the central standpipe so I am hoping to have a very good solids evacuation.

Then I managed to fit 11 half barrels in with a fairly comfortable walkway. 8 along the back wall and 3 up against the front in a line. This up on the 5 that I had before.

Then close to the door I have dug in a 200 liter sump tank in the form of a plastic barrel with a removable lid.

Also half way through putting a topping on the concrete floor which will help with making it easier to clean out. I could not spray the greenhouse out with water before as it would pool so terribly in all the wrong places. Now it should flow out the door.

Plan is to run the system constant flood in a shift pist fashion. That is why I don't need such a huge sump, and can have as much growbed as possible in the limited space.

lastly I decided to make the growbeds a lot lower than they where before providing an extra 300mm for taller tomato and cucumber plants. Still not enough though but it is better than it was.

Once I have it all installed and the cycling started I'll start to work out the venting system. I am thinking to get some roof vents going....

P.S. The full editor won't open right now. No Idea why not. probably the terrible internet we have down here. I'll post pics when it does open...

Here you can see the frames and the fish tank. Frames are 25mm square tube with a 2mm wall welded and primed and painted with aluminized bitumen paint. All pipes are drilled at their lower points to let out any water that may get inside. Should last for a good many years



this is the view from the fish tank. You can see the top of the sump tank sticking out. No problems with it getting algae and other rubbish in it. Nice and sealed up. I dug the hole and then buried the tank with a mix of sand and stone with a bit of cement. A weak concrete mix if you like. This baby is in there for good!



Here you can see the central standpipe in its recess in the fish tank.

Today the rest of the topping is getting done. Then I can go ahead and assemble the whole thing... need some more barrels....

Cheers

slow progress. The floor is done... well almost. The frames for the half barrels are all in. 2 half barrels have been riveted in place.

Hey did you make those barrel frames? Sorry I didn't read your other pages.
They fit perfectly so my guess is yes

Hi Jayendra. Yes. The frames are welded 1 inch square tube with a 2mm wall. The barrels require quite a bit of trimming to fit the frames nicely. Barrels are pop riveted in but you could bolt them too.