Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

with winter here it's starting to cool down into the low 60's now.. most of the summer it was in the mid 70's with a few cooler/warmer days here and there
by mid winter it's in the mid to low 50's, last year by spring it dropped to the high 40's, i turned a heater on and as soon as it warmed up a couple degrees i had a perch spawn

Sounds similar to the environment I'm dealing with. It's been in the high 50's recently. Started to insulate my tanks. I just asked because it's inspiring to see actual growth in a system with similar parameters as my own. At this point, I haven't had much success plant wise.

Forgive me if this was already covered in your thread, i have read it all but it's been a long time but those are just shop lights with daylight bulbs right?


brian

i normally use 1 "cool" and 1 "warm" bulb in each fixture, but i got 8 free bulbs and changed out one bed.. the carrot bed.. i think those were all "daylight" bulbs

what a weekend! the wife had surgery on friday, lost power saturday around 11pm, and it's been cold..we used our stove burners to keep us warm, but the mrs was not in the best of shape after the surgery,, hoping she starts to feel better today - she had a "trial" implanted a while ago and by the 5th day (when the removed the wires) it was helping with the pain..so fingers are crossed that the permanent implant helps.
as for the fish.. my battery backup only lasted about 8 or 9 hours (just running air) - so i ended up using my car and plugging my pumps into it for the day, power was back sunday evening by about 8:30.. no fish lost, but might have stressed the tilapia.. the water made it down into the mid 40's
this cold weather is starting to get to me.. and with the lakes frozen so much, we'll be in for a long spring

Sorry to hear about the mrs. Hope she recovers soon.

Been there with running pumps via the car. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Glad everything worked out. I was desperate to keep the water temps us so I used my grill to warm up some water bottles. Also used some hand warmers in plastic baggies. Glad I got one of those propane heaters.

Ready for spring!

That's a rough weekend Keith. Glad you both made it through and hope that your wife's surgery did the trick.

Cheers

What has your power bill been like running all those lights etc?
Perch up here will spawn as soon as the ice is off the lakes. So they might need that cold from the power outage to go off as soon as you get the water warming.
I noticed a couple of fish farms advertising in the local free paper this week. No prices listed and don't have a copy handy to species available

i haven't really payed much attention to the power bills..
i had a few 3yo yellow perch spawn last spring when it started warming up, lots of bluegill eggs too..
all the eggs were a real mess for the plumbing for a few days
a fish truck is coming into the county next to me in a few weeks but i won't be ready to restock so i'll probably just let what i have grow through the summer
on a positive note, while the mrs still has a few weeks of recovery to go, the implant is definitely helping mitigate the pain

Couple ?? Kieth
1. How's the wife doing
2. How many 2-3in fhm will max out a 55g barrel with a vertically split 55g growbed? They are cheap at $2 for 3dozend

wife is doing very well, thanks for asking! the electrical impulses are interfering with the pain, and after the scar tissue forms (so that the wires are set in place) we'll be able to look at decreasing pain meds!
i think having 100 would be about the limit as far as space.. really less, but you'll have some losses, just because they're fhm..

Wow more than I was planning really. Probably pick another 3doz up sat as long as my ph starts to come down from the very high 7's

your "high" ph is perfect for cycling, and will come down over time, unless your media is buffering..
i was running at the high 7's/low 8's for 8 or 9 months

keeping busy with work, and had to take care of the yard this year, the neighbor's grapes went outta control..managed to clear out a couple growbeds and replant. a contractor that works for the company i work for gifted me a couple ups units that he got from a job, batteries only a year old, but i don't have any 220 outlets in the basement (and i can't figure out why i have one in the master bedroom...) but things took one of those turns as sometimes they do... we recently purchased a fridge and our old one was in the garage, a neighbor stopped by to ask if we would sell it, and i said sure, as we were talking i mentioned my 2 su3000 smart apc's and we worked out a trade, he gets the fridge and i get a couple outlets installed right next to the panel..the ups that i'm using now for my air pump will move upstairs and take care of the new fridge..
lots of traveling for work coming up this year, so i'm sure my system will face a little neglect, but everything is powering along.. finally solved the fungus gnat problem with some mosquito dunks.. took some pic's so without further ado , since i usually start with the growbeds, we'll start with fish this time

some growbed action


kale and a single fennel.. no matter what i do, i can only get one fennel to sprout at a time!