Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

WTF..

Went out this afternoon and my thermometer is floating on its side. The glass broke dropping all of the little metal shot into my fish tank. Figured it was lead and I was going to be screwed having to figure out how to get it out. Turns out it is magnetic so I got most out with a magnet and will get a bigger magnet tomorrow to go over the whole bottom.

Since I am now feeding I see how much solid waste the fish are putting off. I will have to figure out a solve for that because I don't have a sump so I am not sure how to set up a solid waste remover.

One idea would be to pump the solids to the grow-bed and let some composting worms break them down.

My pumps should pick up some. What is happening is they are settling where the pump doesn't get. So, I have to figure out how to maybe push the stuff over towards the pump. I have an idea, but it will mean giving up one of my inlets which provides some aeration.

I am thinking of taking the return of the horizontal grow tubes and extending it to the bottom of the tank and putting a 90 on it so it pushes the solids towards to pumps on the other side. I'm not sure if there will be enough pressure, but only one way to find out.

Will the fish keep the solids stirred-up enough to avoid problems?

Not the current level of fish. If I get some tilapia maybe. I have hide tubes on the bottom of the tank for the catfish so they stay in there during the day and the solids collect around them. It's not that big of a deal to clean them out every few days, but I would rather try to find a way to not have to. However, I am not throwing a ton of money at it because it's not worth. Right now I can use a pice of pipe to do a qhick siphon and drop the solids in the bed. Then I use a pool net to pick up more of the solids.

Crawdads would love the solids I am sure, but the catfish will eat them.

Lost my second fish today. Not sure what happened as my ratios are all inline.

Water temp 72F
pH 7.8
Ammonia .25
Nitrites .25
Nitrates 10

Found the fish in the back of the tank with it's head tucked into the spot where the IBC drains. One of the pipes I keep for a hiding place was sitting on it's tail though I can't believe that contributed. Other fish have gone in there before with no issue.

Fish looked fine other than some small spotting on the fins. Pics to follow for your thoughts. Some of the slime coat damage was me trying to get to it since it is at the very back of the tank.

All I can think of is left over damage from my nitrite spike a few weeks back.

The pipes.

What about the glass?

it just broke a small piece out of the bottom and I will try to find that piece but I haven't been able to locate that single little piece. May never find it.

Haven't posted in a while as there isn't much to post about. The system kind of is on auto pilot now. Check the pH every once in a while but I can't get it to drop or go up from 7.8. Everything is going fine. Every once in a while I siphon some of the solids up and dump them into the grow bed. I know some are going through the pumps as well since I can see the build up in the grow tubes. I threw a couple worms in the grow tubes, but can't find them now. Maybe they went down the drain and got eaten by the fish.

Fish are doing well. 3 or 4 of them stay out all day and hang out where I feed them. If I make a bunch of noise they will swim off, but other wise they just hang out waiting for food to drop.

Temps haven't gotten warm yet but they will soon and then we will see how all the fish do with the higher water temp. I never added tilapia and I think it is too late for this year.

We have an aphid problem, so I will be getting some lady bugs released tomorrow or the next day so that we can get that under control. Carrots are sprouting which is exciting. Some of the vines are flowering, but they aren't very long. We'll see how that works out. Spinach is done as it is bolting with the long days we have. Lettuce probably is as well.

My plan is to make an indoor setup for the winter to keep the bacteria growing, start some plants and start tilapia earlier.

That being said, I will have to dismantle this system sometime in the next few months. Wife wants to move and that means when we find the right place, it will come apart and get transported. Hopefully, it is at the end of the season, but if it isn't, so be it.

Kind of bored these days. The system is just humming along. Fish seem happy. Veggies are growing well. All spinach is gone as is cauliflower and lettuce. A little worried about the bare spots in the grow bed and the lower number of plants. Nitrates are in the 40-80PPM level so I stopped feeding for a couple days. I have quite a few things just sprouting so something is using the nutrients, but I don't want them to get too high.

I guess this is that crossroads time when it is going mostly smooth.

Temps are now getting to be 100+F on a regular basis. At what point do y'all put up shade clothe?

I put my shade cloth up by the time the outside temps were touching 90.

The water was starting to feel warm in the afternoon.

Shade cloth is up. It is keeping the water cooler and I am sure making the plants happier in the upper90s to low 100's temps.

System is doing on. Getting good growth and getting some production

Main issue is bugs. I have been killing squash bugs and have removed a couple leaves with eggs. Aphids are pretty bad but I have a bunch of ladybug eggs that should be hatching this week. If I don't start seeing them go down I will have to look into other options to get rid of them.

The ladybugs are hatching. The ladybugs are hatching.

And I found some lacewing eggs on the fence. I only hope the larvae can make their way up the chain link fence to the plants with the aphids.