Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Aww shucks... Thanks Martin. I haven't achieved much yet except for the eccentric choice of fish species.
Was hoping to have been busier with the system but life and laziness get in the way. Still gotta clad the IBC system, I'll get around to it one of these days.
Hoping to build some of my quiet plans as time goes by, already mentioned most of them in the first post today so they won't be much of a surprise now though.

Not much to report but I finally have no ammonia and no nitrites!
Took long enough to get there but I think I'm past the scary stage now.
I'm blaming the cold temps for the excessive time it has taken, even preseeding the beds didn't seem to speed the process much. Maybe because the seeding material came from heated aquarium filters?

Amm - 0
Nitrite - 0
pH is around 7.6 (used both low and high range tests), pH has so far been quite stable since the system was started.
Nitrate - ?? maybe around 80ppm?? Probably more? Can never read that one properly.

I mass seeded the bed and hopefully the recently germinated seedlings will suck the nitrates up before too long. I noticed that the peas and beans didn't like being wet and only one came up, I guess I'll pre-germinate those in future.
Now that everything seems to be running smoothly I'll wait until the plants are more established and then decide if I stick with bream or move onto something else. I'm known for my inertia so the bream will probably stay and grow big and fat.
At least I'll have my veggies...

Sounds excellent Bodgy :-)
I do love reading your thread, it's been like watching a very cool experiment in real time from across the country.
I'm glad it's running smoothly for you now!


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Oh no, I have expansion urges already...
Still have stuff all space and available direct light but it was bound to strike soon.
Another good reason to file my tax I suppose.
Mind you, I'll be doing it on the cheap again so it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg. Wish I wasn't driving a sedan though, makes it so much harder to gather materials.
Not thinking of too much, maybe another 600L or so of media in constant flow/height media beds.
Here we go again.

Time for some pics I reckon.
A bit over 5 weeks since I first noticed any germination.
The GB is over planted at this stage but I expected that, my nitrates were quite high so I broadcast seeds pretty heavily.
The lettuce was the remains of a store bought plant and the beans showed some minor deficiency so I added some seasol and the new leaves look much better for it.

Out of interest, does anyone else's kale have small spines/prickles around the leaf fringes?

I've also planted some rose and pomegranate cuttings in the growbed and they've budded too.
Hopefully they're also growing new roots while they are at it.

Thats 'Red Russian Kale' Will go purple on the stems.

I've got some super flat 'Madeley Kale' which is great tasting - pm your address if you want to try it.

I like your fish pics in earlier pages.

Thanks for the offer Jayendra, might take you up on that.
I've had a nibble on the kale to test it and it has a really nice taste and I'm sure I could taste salt too.
I'm hoping the mature leaves taste the same.
And I am getting a bit too attached to those fish, when they are eventually replaced by fingerlings I'll miss seeing the big lurkers in there.

I decided to chuck the top of the siphon on just to see how it goes. Well didn't that stir the water up...
Went from fairly clear to pea soup. Certainly pulled the solids out of the GB. Incredibly dirty but I'd bought it as a used system and never washed the media so there was a fair bit of material in the GB already. Oh well, as long as it doesn't kill the fish at least the GB has had a decent flush.
Also, the siphon kicked straight in and dumped the GB water but then it slowed to a trickle and seemed to pass water at the same rate as it was pumped in and never stopped draining.
Not that I'm overly phased as I didn't intend on using it but it still bugs me. Might look into that since it does confuse me.
I can hear air getting sucked into the siphon but only briefly then it just keeps trickling.
Was fairly dismayed at the state of the FT water though, after 15 mins or so I pulled the top off the siphon and tried to ignore it all. The system has been plugging along well so I should have just kept my hands off it.

Nice work Bodgy.

Just need to work on the difference in volume going into your GB. If you slow it down, the siphon should stop, else it means your bed remains at the low water mark all the time and your gravel will dry out. Every now and then I change my system from siphon to full. When I put the siphon on, it pulls all the muck out of the bed, but within hours the water is clear again.

Love the way all your cutting have stuck. Thinking of adding some camellia cuttings into mine and get my hedge really thick out the front.

Just realised that us ozzies need to look to the east now if looking for MartinC.

Cheers guys, I'm pretty happy with things. No leeks or spinach seem to have germinated or survived and the spring onions struggled to get beyond the seedling stage but otherwise all is well. I already decided to pre-germinate the peas and beans since the seeds tend to rot if I don't. Guessing I'll do the same to leeks and spinach too, looks like the media cooks them off in the sun when they are very young?

Gotta say, this AP thing is strange gardening. I cut up a prawn or two and feed the bream, occasionally test the water for something to do and that's it.
Really lazy gardening I gotta say.

Shocked that Martin "The Dude" is a Kiwi, might have to call him Martin "The Bro" instead now... Hope you're enjoying yourself over there Martin. Despite the ribbing Aussies and Kiwi's exchange, it's still the second best country on the planet.

Looking at those pics I'm reminded to buy some more media to fill that bed.

Hey Doc and Bodge! Yeah I'm in Kiwiland now. The guys at work are already on my case about being a Springbok supporter. It's a good spot and I'm very happy to be here. Moving into our new rental tomorrow and Monday. Found a nice little place that the kids love. Not sure if I will find a spot for an AP set up but will start racking my brains as of next week.

About to watch the Boks vs. Wallabies, hopefully will be a cracker.

Regards, MartinC aka The Dude.