Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

+1

Nice job Ron.

Thank you guys. Tonight I noticed my raft bed was a little too full. I roots like to clog the drain. When I trimmed the offending roots, a piece of airstone hit lodged in the drain. Before I figures out the cause, I put a small hole in the grow bed with a scrap piece of air hose in it to act as an overflow. Now, of course the drain is clear, but I have an overflow that makes sure the water stays in the system. Though evaporation is likely to be my biggest water loss right now. We have had some rather DRY weather. Perhaps a fire or two also...

Great! Thanks for that. Am thinking of maybe incorporating a half-wine barrel as part of expanded system.

I wish we could send you some of our rain. We just got 5 inches last night and the ground was already saturated. Our river is the highest I've ever seen it and knocked our little pedestrian bridge off it's foundation. sigh.

so yeah...you want some? wish it were that easy...

Send it. Actually, we usually get rains after the Santa Annas. The hot dry wind loads up with water vapor over the ocean. Then when the wind shifts back to normal, that moisture precipitates back on us.

How big are the grape roots? It would be worth adding another barrel just for grapes if they are manageable.

Not too bad. Still plenty of room for other plants.

I loved reading the early parts of this thread when you were diggin that was a mission.

Ya, now he's just lazy.

What was that? Aww, never mind... I'm going back to bed. Can you hand me that remote?

Hello Ronmaggi,
Nice project and nice explanations.
Can you give us some news regarding the aging of the unground rain water tank?
I would like to bury my 2 fish tanks (IBC 1000L like you), in order to use thermal effect of the ground, but I'm afraid that this type of tank will be affected by the ground pressure .....
Did you note some distortion?
A last question, do you use the rain water tank in your aquaponic system?
Best regards,
Pascal

Welcome Pascal! I have not noticed any distortion. My soil type may be and probably is different than yours. When you dig, you will get a feel for how your soil behaves. If it is prone to caving in, then put some boards or something on the outside of the IBC cage.
As for the rain water... I do not use it. I realized my roof was asphalt based, and I just don't want to risk it. Plus, I actually like the fact that my muni water has a high ph. Topups prevent ph crashing.

Dude, you reckon he will understand "muni"?

You're right the French have had privatized water for some time. What is funny is that Veolia manages our municipal transportation here. They are the ones who made Parisians boil their water to make it drinkable.