Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Is anyone noticing how much quicker newbie (sorry TT ) systems are moving from the planning stage to the completed stage.

What a testament to EVERYONE!

This is what its all about

TT, sad isn't it? A system that works fine, no faults..............and we get dissapointed that there is nothing to do I hear ya.

No offence taken Steve. Reckon i have 200-300 hours reading up by now. No, it doesn't replace practical experience, but the things i have done so far have fallen within a set range of expectations given my reading.

I am reasonably motivated by our water shortage in Geelong and realistically this should present good commercial opportunities to a savvy local operator. (Not professing to be one yet.)

Can't realistically water a satisfactory home vege garden from a 13600lt water tank, but CAN have a lot of AP fun, and get fish too. If that is all that happens, so what, I have fish and veges for my family that i currently don't.

Guys like Muzza seem to be leading the way and are just getting in there and doing it. The safety net is provided by this forum and its wealth of AP specific knowledge. It's all good!

Yo steve 2 me it seams as though the the average 'newbie' has a small system already going.

TT- I think you ought to change the name to Tragic's new obsession! lol

Hey greenedo, how's things in the land of The Nature Boy-Woooooo!
I tend to get a bit obsessive. I have really missed growing veges this year, with our water restrictions. I found it a great stress relief after a day on the road. I reckon my kids have not been quite as healthy these past 12 mths bc dad's garden is a dustbed.

That's a big part of why i am pumped about AP. Use less water,get fish, it has to be organic by definition or stuff dies, it's like "How long has this been going on?" Not to mention no weeding, shorter growing times etc.

Wish i was in NC, it would get me a little closer to Ford Field for WM 23 coming next week. Look for The Heartbreak Kid and The Deadman to take the gold!

I just moved, and need to get a garden in. I have tried a few experiments with hydro before, but I usually had nutrient imbalance and burned my crops. I do well with fish, and this seemed like a good fit. My wife was extremely skeptical at first, but is starting to warm up to it....

I have a small AP system over the fish tank with salad in it. been growing less than a week, and it is starting its first true leaves. I'll get info posted today hopefully...

A female skeptic???? Mine is the same and will continue to be so til i start bringing home the bacon, or in this case, the lettuce. I am trying to keep her in the loop so she feels included and that mitigates the, "WTF have you done to my spa?" (But only just a little!

hey TT just sign her up

and then i can give her a warning card for being skeptical

Not a whole lotta shaken goin on, however:
ammo is starting to fall
nitrite has gone thru the roof
nitrate is rising steadily
pH GH KH readings all really good.

Looks like i am part way thru the cycle. System siphoning beautifully. All dripping from pipes connected to GBs has stopped, as predicted by others. Picked up some duckweed from a community pond in Penshurst today and will see how it goes in a tub of water with some chook poop.

Had 20mm rain here 3 days ago. My new 3000gallon tank is now 1/3 full and that makes me happy. Would see me thru an initial AP production cycle for some months.

Got some excellent plans for a 7.2m by 4.5m backyard greenhouse but all in good time my lovelies.

Hey TT, are the plans public domain or did you purchase them. Care to share a link?

Hi DD. The excellence of the plans is probably merely in my imagination.

Broadly this is what i intend to do:

Inside a 7.2m by 4.5 m greenhouse i can fit 12 standard bathtubs (1.75m by .75m each) in 2 blocks of 6, 3 per row, side by side. This leaves room of 50cm b/n walls and rows. Up one end there is room for one of Murrays 2100lt fish tanks widthways across the greenhouse, with enough room beside it for some vertical towers, header tanks etc.

A bath has a useable volume of about 300lts, so 12 gives you 3600lts, which is pretty close to your 2:1 ratio. I will be trying to stick to the KISS principle with it.

It is a very simple design and if i can figure how to use one of those CAD thingys i will post it with measurements. It prolly won't happen this side of easter but i will put it up when i can.

I plan on placing an ad to collect old baths/spas to get this up and going by the end of the year.

I will then be able to use my spa as a fingerling tank and keep some young ones coming on as the main system fires away.

Ammo under 5
Nitrite b/n 2 and 3
Nitrate b/n 5 and 10
pH in the low 8s, could this be due to the alkaline nature of my volcanic rock in GB's? Looks like low pH will be the least of my worries. I have been using tap water to get the system cycled. Plan on using tank water when it is up and running.
Just tested both from the tap, tank is pH 7.4, mains water 7.8.
Looks like i might need to bang in some acidifying stuff prior to adding fish.

After some forum reading it seems pH values can be higher in the morning than evening. I generally test in the evening, but for a change tested this morning. Hence the higher reading. Nice to answer my own question for a change instead of being a complete dufus.

All happening now. Ammo has dropped to 2, nitrite bout the same, nitrate well over 30. pH has dropped to the high 6s, i guess due to the acidifying effect of nitrate. There are also a handful of rotting leaves in there which would have an acidifying effect.

Duckweed has taken nicely to its new home in a half blue barrel, lotsa pinprick sized new growth.

Just need to get easter behind us and away i go. Got mossie lava in my drainpipes, which get sucked into the fishtank during the drain cycle. It's a crack up watching them. Free fish food too.

Gunna approach one of my local hotel wine clients about collecting their kitchen waste to kick off a reasonable scale maggott production system. Figure if i take it away for free, it will be better than them paying to have it carted by the garbos.

Where's my letter from the Queen? Don't she know I'm now xtreme?