Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

With lots of fish I think you need multiple grow tanks or you run a big risk if a disaster happens to the grow tank.

I would think that there would be times when you would need to take a grow tank out of action so when that happens you would need to plan it really well or have a big feed of fish.

I was thinking of having some blue drums full of gravel cycling in the system as a bacteria buffer incase of disaster. Just standing vertical with nothing growing in them.

I guess then there is the problem of getting some plants to start using up the nitates.

It would be nice to plan ahead for some off-chance of disease, so that the system can be taken off line and purged/cleaned/de-parasitized while running. This has been on my mind while my goldfish were dying, perhaps from disease or parasites. I took down my indoor tank with "Twitchy" in it, and replaced all the gravel this weekend as it had become loaded with "debris" (not an aquaponics system yet). Same thing with reconfiguring the system mid-stream, I took out almost all the water to rotate the fish tub and put the grow beds in a different configuration - having a spare or secondary tank would have been helpful instead of a bunch of small storage bins.

p.s. I tried some Glad wrap on the new grow bed, but it wasn't sealed all the way around, so I took it off and am continuing the watering deal instead.

I taped my platic down using electrical tape as it would not stay down - I bought chead sheets of plastic from a $2+ store which are used as furniture covers when you paint as they were thicker than glad wrap...

I have planted seed into rockwool(in preparation for 'cycling' commencement in my first system) and I am thinking that this would be better than washing seedling roots as this exposes the new roots to sunlight and or damaging the feeder roots.
The rockwool blocks have different sizes for the variable plant sizes and can be cut down if required.
Also use the Moon planting guide to get best germination ratio and if planted at the correct time will reduce rotting, which I am sure will reduce baddies in the system.

I liked the idea of rockwool till I learned it's finickey in the way it should be transplanted, can swing pH and cause rot. You may know this info already but for others too...

To address this rot issue, when you plant, ensure your cube is above the water line, or high tide mark, according to the system.

The roots at the base of the cube will touch water and keep your plants alive as they establish.

Top the gravel up over the rest of the cube.

A nice inert alternative to rockwool is oasis cubes.

Here's a sketch of the water level for plantig with cubes.

Oh yeah AM. I don't think a complete seal will be so good there's gas exchange goes on with bacterial processes.

A post by stella back in the dark ages of the fourm

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum ... .php?t=144

Are you still with us Stella?

Stella!!!

Always the naysayer... Why stop?!

Peat (Jiffy) pellets have fertiliser in them.

I have an "inspection" flap which allows some atmosphere to pass through from the grow bed to the surrounding atmosphere and visa versa.

At the tip there are a stack of propagation trays. Each cell is only about 1.5-2cm3 and there are 512 cells per tray.

Would these be good to propagate seeds in and then transplant to growbeds or are they too small?

Stuart

Who has spent all day reading the plants section.

Stuart, it depend on how good you are at rinsing dirt off little tiny plants and transplanting little tiny plants!

I have now formed the opinion that I do better if I just plant directly in the gravel. I was using some transplant plugs for my smallest seeds. They are a combo of peatmoss and some sort of binder -- kinda spongy in texture. I got good germination, but then the seedlings remained too wet and would rot out. Instead, I sprinkle tiny seeds over the gravel, and then tap the gravel a bit to get them to fall in the crevices. For a few days, I spray the top of the gravel with water. Voila, seedlings. Larger seeds get buried and ignored.

I for some reason don't have luck with raising from seed in the GB.

I used to was all the potting mix from the roots by submerging in a bucket and "playing" with the roots until all the dirt came off. I did find that there was about a 1 to 2 week lead time before they adjusted again before a real growth spurt.

recently i have just washed SOME of the potting mix off leaving what i couldn't get off with out damaging the roots.

Does anyone forsee any real dramas with this?

Nah - reckon it will just break down. Worms will help dispose of it.

thats what i'm hoping.

Alright, here is another weird one.............

what would be the problem in putting normal dirt potted plant into an AP system, with water (small amount) flowing directly onto the (free draining) dirt?