Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Not much to update at the moment but I'm bored, lol.

Tested both tanks, they both seem ok except Tank 1's nitrites are a touch high, not quite 0.25ppm but about halfway there. Temps have dropped to about 13°C, but that's to be expected as the overnight temps are getting lower, forecast is below 5°C all this week so it wouldn't surprise me if it keeps dropping.

A quick video of both tanks, Mr Vertical is still hanging in there, every morning I check and expect to see him floating, it'd be nice if he survives but he definitely doesn't seem well.

They look hungry - looking up for a surface break.

Mr vertical is the one in tank 2? always swishing his tail? Maybe an injury or is it his swimming bladder?

Do you put the shell grit in below the splashing water of the return to fish tank pipe? I think its meant to be where running water passes over it?

I took the video just before I fed them this morning but they do all seem to like hanging around in the back corners.

Yup, Mr Vertical is the one in Tank 2 that looks like it's trying to make sweet sweet love to the side of the tank. I was thinking either swim bladder or injury, but not really sure if there's anything I can do to help. He/she does swim normally when not trying to stay idle, it's just a real struggle to stay in the one spot.

The shell grit is just flopped in the tanks, but both sacks in each tank are pretty much below the return pipe from the GB's. I was curious why the fish liked hanging around there and it turns out there is a bit of a current going on in those corners which may help the shell grit dissolve. Actually that reminds me, I was fiddling with the pump position in Tank 1 yesterday and it seemed to stop the current in the back right corner and a whole lot of crud has gathered there, I have to move it back first thing in the morning so it doesn't get all gross. Thanks for making me think of it!

The shell grit isn't doing anything at the moment given the pH of both systems, if it turns out to be ineffective I can always reposition the sacks, I mainly just wanted to use the stockings as they kept reappearing in the clean washing despite me being sure I had put them away, and the big bag of shell grit I bought didn't fit into the bucket I wanted to store it in, lol.

Hiya Azira, that water looks nice and clear. I had trout doing the vertical tango too. It was after a heat spell hirer last summer. I pulled the worst and the other has come good now the temps are down. I put it down to the swim bladder also. The one I harvested did a big fart when I gutted it... Hmmmm.
I read somewhere skinned peas helped with swim bladder issues. I didn't try as the trout weren't eating at the time.

Hmm, Tested again today, Tank 1's nitrites are a bit higher today, should I hold of feeding until it drops? If there's something I need to do I'd rather do it now before it gets worse.

I'm still not overly confident in Tank 1, compared to how the barrel and Tank 2 have cycled, it just doesn't seem as stable.


I've heard that about the peas too, I was pondering giving it a go but not sure, I guess it couldn't hurt to try.

The fish are becoming way more active now when feeding, they are starting to realise that cover off = food and the fish in Tank 2 are swimming forward and circling in anticipation. It's very fun to watch, I can only imagine what it would be like to have 200 or more!

In plant related news, most are growing well but I definitely need to get the iron lockout issue sorted. Foliar spraying is helping a bit but I need to get more into them. Radishes aren't far away from being harvested, I'm not quite sure how big they should get before I pull them out though as I haven't actually grown them before, lol.

Coming from someone who is starting a new system this thread is awesome.
Lots of good info on getting started and cycling the system.
Do you think you could get a recent photo of your grow beds so I can see the growth?
Thanks

I was going to post some today but got lazy, I'll put some up tomorrow. I actually went back through before I posted earlier to see when exactly I planted everything to compare the growth and how long cycling took, etc, it's actually been less time than I thought.

I think it's roughly been about 6-ish weeks since I put the seedlings in GB's for Tank 1, a little bit less time for the ones in Tank 2, but close enough. Apparently I didn't take a photo to compare the ones in Tank 2's GB when they first went in though.

This is Tank 1's GB when they were first planted:



This is both GB's today. Growth is ok but as you can see the iron lockout is still a problem. The beds are pretty cramped but I'm just letting stuff grow until it becomes too crowded then I'll pull some out. I need to get a frame for the beans asap too!





In other news, I tested both tanks, and Tank 1 is still reading that I have Nitrites in the system. Everything else is fine except the Nitrites sitting at or just under 0.25ppm. Not sure what I should be doing about it, if anything...

looking good Azira

I thought I'd try an experiment today, pretty much combining other peoples ideas to see what happens. I was thinking of ways to grow carrots in AP at some ungodly hour the other night and thought about growing them in tubes. So I just grabbed some carrot seedlings and cut up some old foam and left over 40mm PVC pipe to do a mock-up and see what happens.

I'm not expecting them to work but it can't hurt to try, I'm guessing they'll either just become a mess of roots or grow lots of foliage and nothing below, or maybe just rot, but if it works it could be handy.

Some photos of what I did:

More photos because I'm too lazy to upload them elsewhere and link, lol.




All three in:

Getting them in the GB's with all of the other plants around was a pain so I ended up using some 90mm pipe to use as a gravel barrier as I made space for the tube to go.



I put the seedlings in the foam with a tiny bit of the stem sticking out, no idea what would happen but hopefully it means a carrot will grow below it in the tube!



So as for what happens I don't know, but I thought I'd try and see given it didn't cost anything.

When I googled to see if anyone had done it I came across a guy who was growing them in tubes with soil for showing. Not AP related but they were damn nice looking carrots!

http://www.allotment-diary.co.uk/Exhibi ... arrot.html


Forgot to say it before, thanks!

NEAT IDEA!!!
well done, time will tell.