Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

No Nitrites and No Nitrates, i would say i am completely cycled....

Insect screen for entire greenhouse, and clear roofing for AP side all going on tomorrow if all goes to plan.

So with good weather we got stuck into the Greenhouse today, or should we call it a white house lol.

So it was a long hard day today, but with a couple helpers we got most of the insect mesh on, the roof over the AP system and to finnish the day off fitted some growing frames which i will later fill with plastic grid mesh.
With system fully cycled i am hoping to get some fish this weekend however cant get a hold of them so might have to wait yet another week

Looking bloody good....

That thing is really starting to come together.

Thanks Guys, it is starting to look good.
Today i fitted the bell syphons to stage 2 and fitted the plastic mesh to the growing frames.
Bloody plants in the ground are growing faster than the ones in the AP system lol.

Man your really punching through the build!... Love it!

Looking good, love the size of the green house. Cheers

Thanks ccBear, yeah its pretty roomy in there, the original plan was for 9X15 but settled for 9X12 due to the big eucalyptus at the far end being in the way. But there is still enough room for a few extras like grow towers, duck weed tank and wicker bed although i am now considering above goround wicker beds out side of the the green house out in the back area. If the AP is smashing and 8 beds not enough i can always dig up some of my dirt garden area also and add another system lol.

Hey there Kita,
Great build.
What did you use for the climbing supports? Steel wielded iron and plastic ?

Hi jayendra, thanks mate, i made up the mounting brackets out of 40X40X4mm with flat bar welded to it and a hole and nut on the 40X40. These brackets are screwd to the table and are what the racks fit into.
The racks are 25X25X2mm welded into a large U shape with a cross member welded in part way,
I then used plastic mesh as an infill and zip tied it to the frame.

I simply fit each end into the brackets mounted on the table and tighten by hand.
All tables have the brackets fitted and so i can move the racks around as i need.

I am hoping for plants like cucumbers i can run them up the frames and onto the trusses.

So i added fish this arvo.... Suppose you wondering how many???
Well i took everyones opinion on board, i had a lengthly chat with the fish farmer. As far as fish stocking is concerned he was happy to support 1 per 10l of water but from a stocking point of view not aquaponics.
I decided with 40 per system however i did get all 80 as the farmer said they would probably be all gone by the end of the month. He also said it would be fine to stock them in the 1 system for a couple weeks until the second system cycled.

Second system i have filled the GB's with the first layer of gravel and also with water to gravel height in hope it will trigger cycling. I will fill them with the remaining gravel tomorrow and plumb the system Fri and fire it up. I imagine i will be cycled within 2 weeks from fire up.
Once cycled i will transfer 40 jades over to it meaning i will have 40 per system.

So hit me with it... Whats your thoughts??? Have i done good or bad lol.

Hi mate, how about cycling with fish, maybe 10-20? Ease the load on tother?
Great build btw.

Hey thanks skeggley, yeah to be honest with you i havnt read much on cycling with fish, it was mentioned earlier but been so busy havnt had a chance to look into it much. I was also bit turned off by the stories i heard of people accidentally killing their starter fish??

Is their much of a difference or is it just monitoring water quality and changing out water if gets too toxic??

From what I've read it seems a lot of fish deaths have occurred with water at acceptable parameters ,more oxygen and unknown toxin related. I ran the system for a week to ensure reliability, to start the cycle and let the water mix and settle before adding fish in small numbers, testing and water change when required over the following couple of weeks. Was looking at minimising loss and taking baby steps due to a bad case of beginning ap paranoia. Happy to say all fish doing well. To my conservative ways it does seem like a lot of fish but I'm sure with care and attention it's doable. Certainly a good reason to expand that's for sure.