Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I mean algae on the insides of the IBC growbeds.
Also does it get lots of sun?
do you have trout or perch?

Hi Jay, thanks for your interest, there is a fine film of algae on the inside walls (facing the sun) of the growbeds but when I moved the gravel out of the way to inspect it it didn't go any further than the the wall itself (other than maybe the gravel touching the walls, do you think that would be enough to make a real impact? After my rant yesterday about my pH not moving it has suddenly dropped to 7.4 Tested all levels when I got home tonight, High range pH - 7.4, Ammonia - 0, Nitrite - 0, Nitrate - 80 to 160. My Nitrates have been that high since the system cycled. Also when I got home from work today I noticed that (since yesterday) the plants leaves seem burnt on the edges, tomatoes and beans especially. Is it possible that because the Pea gravel wasn't cleaned properly when I filled the beds initially that the mud off the gravel could be causing an issue? The Bok Choy doesn't seem fazed at all by the levels. I have eight Koi around 100 - 125mm long and six Goldfish around 125 - 150mm long, I don't have any other fish at the moment and the fish aren't really eating a lot so I don't even know where the Nitrates are coming from, maybe I should get another Nitrate test kit to see if the reading I'm getting is accurate.

Looks great HC. Have a beer and watch it grow!

Must have my web cam on, can you see which brand it is?

Great system mate!

Thanks Matthew

Little creatures?

Can'afford that, cheapie Carlton cold until next pay

I just took a wild stab hehehe. I lived on Carlton Cold for years, did you ever get the cans when they came out? I kept one when they stopped making them, might be worth something one day. I brew a lot nowadays.

My beer of choice is governed by the almighty dollar these days, I did like the Little Creatures beers but for some reason they gave me thumping headaches, I actually love Gin and Tonic but my love handles loved it more. I didn't get the cans once stubbies came out and back then I was more of a spirits drinker, Jack Daniels and coke was my regular those days but it seems too sweet now, getting old. But never too old to drink

Thought I'd try a little experiment I put Stainless steel wool (course) into a net pot, made a hole in the middle to accommodate a little cotton wool and dropped a pea seed into it, three days later it has started to sprout. I want to see if the plant will root through the steel wool well enough and grow as it would through gravel and if it does then when it's time to harvest the plant I'll break off the roots and just let them dry out and I don't really know why I'm doing this, sometimes I just do things

Do you have a update on how things are going?

Hi dasboot, a quick update on the new DWC setup, it seems to be working pretty well so far, root growth is progressing and the veggies look healthy. The photo of the gap between the raft and the water is a bit hard to make out, there is about 1 inch gap and no additional aeration. Don't know if the Pea sprout will work but thought it was worth a try.

Everything does look strong it will be interesting to see how this goes,that sprout looks like a fried egg sat in there..

I love fried eggs, but maybe not that one ..