Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Nice Melon skeggley

Wowsers!

Ive always been fond of a good sized melon or two..

Two is definitely better

Thanks, I aim to please.
Had a power outage this morning, 2 hours.
No backup aeration, system on 15/45 so could have been nearly 3 hrs...
Fortunately no problem.
I need a back up plan...
Oh and a pic of the patch, bit blurry but it's blowing a gale out there.

Hiya peoples, March update.
Not much to say so more of a reference than everything.
Veggies ticking along, no booming growth yet and coming up to my 1 year anniversary. Best producers in the warm weather so far are; capsicums, rock Mellon, celery, kale, okra and of course, leeks.
Beans fizzled, strawberries faltered, lettuce bolted and tomatoes got ravaged by gvb's and fruit fly...
All in all fair produce but less than expectations.
Fish going well, no sp deaths and smoked a couple of summer trout which were probably the best tasting trout so far, smothered in marmite pre smoking, albeit a bit thin. Fairly confident of carrying them thru summer. Waiting for the weather to cool down before switching the fish in the tanks. Still debating on wether to get rt fingerlings this year.
Expansion still waiting in the wings.
Can't think of anything else so thanks for reading and happy aping everyone.

Howdy fellow ap'ers,
It's been a year since "Skeg in the hills" was started following the aquaponics set up in the Gooseberry Hills here in Perth, W.A.
So far it's been a pretty painless beginning into this new hobby with no major catastrophes and a fair dividend for a fair investment in components and labour. Nothing flash, but a look into what could be.
It's been a great learning curve into the world of fish keeping and plant production in a recirculating system, I've learnt heaps, thanks everyone, I have the bug and like it.

My partner, Jiggy, likes the idea of of home grown veggies and the occasional feed of fish but isn't so keen on my time spent wandering around the ap patch, mostly I'm contemplating and planning, and is constantly reminding me of the 101 other things I need to do around the rest of the property... I'm sure a lot of you can relate to this.

The patch itself is plodding along, the rt's made it through the summer and am expecting to impress in the 2014 trout brag thread although technically they are 2013 tough ass rt's from that great ap fish ambassador, Fergusson Springs,( ) who has been a great provider of healthy kick ass fish and great informative advice but I digress...
I blame the lack of veggie growth on my minimalist fish stocking densities, of which I am a fan of, and maximist veggie densities and the age of the system. it's common knowledge that it takes a while for the ap ecosystem begins to show its colours and am expecting big things this next year from the patch.

Patience with a new system is the key people, keeping the stocking densities low in the first year to keep the fatalities at a minimum and wait til you get a feel for the fish, I know when something's wrong with a look now. I learn from others mistakes and really hate it when fish die from silly mistakes.
Fish won't die if they aren't fed for a couple of weeks...
Salt....
He who listens learns.

I've seen a lot of members come and go this past year and am appreciative of the members and moderators who keep this great forum ticking along, well done all , I hope to be able to continue to ask questions, give advice and support new members, hopefully I'll also start typing nitrites instead of nitrates too...

Thanks again for everyone's help and advice this past year, special thanks to Uncle J and of course BYAP, you bloody legends.

Pictorial update later with expansion progressing.

Well that's as far as a few whiskeys take me ( )
catch ya.

P.s. I miss Rupe.

Nice update!

YAY!!!
keep up the good work Skeg

Hi peeps, not really much to add to the previous update except some boring pictures.
Veggies have stalled a bit, plenty of kale and celery but everything else is still alive but not really producing. Self sown lettuce is sprouting in the salad bar, gb3, and have had a few small beetroot from root crop, gb1.
Gb1 is all clay balls, gb2 is 18mm gravel with clay ball topping and gb3 is cracked gravel with clay ball topping. Gb2 seems the busiest however more to do with what was planted I think. The little expansion is going to go the way of gb2 and I picked up the gravel last weekend. Still need to plumb the drains and modify the supply lines and am trying something different plumbing wise using a heat gun but more on that once the build is complete.

Tomato's are improving with weekly dipel/neem spraying and have had a couple of bug free ripe fruit, neem would be less than 1/2 teaspoon per litre. They've gone a bit out of control and I've stopped pruning and tying up but there is still fruit setting. I'm also guessing they are a bit of a nutrient drain on the system.
The trout are eating heeeeeaps and my plan was to swap the fish in the tanks but I think that the feed going into the trout is more than the sp's and the 350mm+ trout might feel cramped in the 1000 l tank...
I'm getting more trout at the BYAP car park sale but will not try to carry them thru the summer again, in fact now I'm struggling to keep the sp tank warm enough. Mind it's warming up here again with temps in the low 30's so care will still be required for the rt's.
That's about all folks, till next time, ap on.

I am really impressed that you pulled some trout through the hot perth summer. I will try to do the same next season.

I find it hard to believe that he could keep the trout through the summer. I think come end of winter he will just buy some woppers at the fish markets and claim that he kept them for 18 months.

Trolling? Yeah, just a little.

Thanks Gabe, I was only doing it because I was told it couldn't be done.
I used the shade cloth ft covering as an evaporative cooler spraying the sump return water onto the covering and that seemed to remove some of the heat, fortunately there weren't too many humid days. I also had aeration when the pump was off. The volume of water also helped and the quantity of fish of course. 28c was the max measured temp which caused 2 rt's to smoke.
They were delicious.
They seemed to get swim bladder problems and kept floating up when sitting in the current. This is a guess based on the fact that when I gutted them they farted. There were 3 with this problem and I've left the 1 which had the least symptoms and it's still eating and seems to be on the mend.

Yes JeffJL fair call, I do need to post a pic so you can see them..... Again. (probably better than my boring gb photos...)

35c today with more to come, it seems I'm not out of the woods just yet.

Soooo, thanks to EB, and an offer I couldn't refuse, my FINAL expansion needs to be revised...
Curse you, and thanks, oh boy am I in the dog box.
Like I don't have other things that need doing...
That aside;
Plants are starting to perk up now that it was starting to cool down and feed rates have increased.
Having said that, 'was' is the key word, mid 30's for the last few days and the tank is up to 24 so running cf and air full time to combat this heat. Min temps 20 at night so so am in code red which is why I'm not going to try to keep rt's thru summer again, I'm over it.
Got some more seedlings and seeds, so will plant up once it cools down.

Oh I also met a new friend today, I've called him Nat.

I can see the resemblance.