Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Everything is good . I am posting often to catch up I want this more real-time because I want the input! The positioning is to help the bell siphon kick in at a lower flow rate. I want my GB to take .5 hrs to fill and drain. I am there at this point.

Ahh yes... thought so. Nice one. The fact that you're siphoning the water out moves water to all parts.

8/15/2014

Still a CHOP system, but not a CHOP. I decided to add a second pump. So one pump feeds just my FT and the other my GB's. This fixed my flow issues instantly. I am now cycling my FT every hour and the water is now so clear I can see the bottom. The GB's are now not having any issues with the Bell Siphons. Have a 400 gph for the tank at the lowest setting and a 500 gph for the GB's at the lowest setting.

0 dead fish! (since 8/10/2014)

TT - 76 @ 11:00 AM
pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 2.0+
Nitrates - 20.0

8/17/2014

I caught some visiting children playing in my AP area and this morning noticed all my GB valves were on the highest flow. I am goin to have to fence in the area and put a gate on it. Either way it dropped my Nitites considerably.

TT - 80 @ 11 AM
pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.5+
Nitrates 5.0

Leaving for a few days.

8/21/2014

Back from work.
TT - 72 @ 9:00 AM
pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 0.0

Leaving for 8 days.

8/27/2014

Back from 8 days away! I was anxious to see my system after 8 days of me not staring at it!

TT - 74 @ 9:30 AM
pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 0.0

At this point I believe my Nitrites spiked because of inadequate flow from my FT to the Sump. Since I added the second pump and increased flows, the system seems happier. I am going to buy some Blue Nile Tilapia on Friday (8/29/2014)!

Added 2 additional GB's. I now have 4 GB's. I will add gravel after my new fish are in the system, now I have to deal with my 30 goldfish. I am thinking I will just isolate my Tilapia and once they are the same size as the goldfish set them lose in the tank. Then when the Tilapia are bigger the goldfish will become food one night when a Tilapia wants a Midnight snack.

8/29/2014

Today I added 25 Blue Nile Tilapia. I also added Duckweed into GB 4. I have isolated 23 of the Tilapia. The first two did not fair well will the goldfish. They did not die, but they were chased into a hiding spot never to be seen again. Someday the goldfish will regret this decision when they become a snack.

TT - 74@7AM
TT - 76 @ 11AM
TT - 78@4PM
pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 0.0

8/30/2014

TT - 74 @ 7:00 AM
pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 0.0

9/2/2014

TT - 76 @ 9:30 AM
pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 0.0
Created a top up tank. Treating tank to be 6.4 pH and adding until I no longer struggle with high pH. Added new gravel to GB3 and GB4.

9/4/2014

TT - 76 @ 9:00 AM
pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 0.0

Saw the 2 tilapia swimming nicely with the goldfish last night. This morning I took my 23 Tilapia from the net and added them to the general population. All seems well. Everyone is eating and everyone is playing nice...

9/3/2014

My first Ap accident. I stubbed my toe on the retaining wall that surrounds my project.

ouch!

Sorry about the toe! Your siphon issues can be resolved by increasing the slit size in your media guards. It is a common problem. To somewhat easily remove the media guards, people will cut the bottom off of an old bucket, and scoop out the media while jamming the bucket into the bed. The goal with the media guard is to have more space than PVC, while still being strong enough to exclude the media.

9/4/2014

TT - 76@ 12:00PM
pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 0.0

9/5/2014

pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 0.0

Leaving for work.

9/9/2014

What was only supposed to be work for 48 hours has turned into an ordeal. I started having abdominal pain at work and it turned out to be appendicitis. I had surgery and now I am home on recovery. Doing very well and able to test my system, but NO LIFTING so that means no additions or changes. The good news is the system seems to be operating just fine without me. Plants are huge and the third GB is starting to show some plants sprouting.

TT - 74@7AM
pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 0.0

That is a decent stub! Nicely done, it would have made me jump around and yell.

9/15/2014

Harvested my first veggies from the system. 3" radishes (2) and 2 Anaheim Chili's that tasted great in our guacamole. In their place I planted some beets.

TT - 76 @ 7AM

pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.0
Nitrates - 0.0

I am currently trying to get the goldfish out of the tank. They are consuming too much food and I do not want it to effect my Tilapia growth. It is hard to catch them since the tank is so large and I gave them clay pots to hide in!

This has been a really interesting read so far! I've read it from the beginning until now. I'm very into aquaponics, but have not been able to start my own system yet. Hoping I will finally be able to get my hands wet come early next year!

I see you're growing some duckweed there, and was curious if you plan on making that your main source of feed ultimately, or are you still going to be supplementing it with something else? If so, what else are you feeding your fish?

Thanks man!