Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Nope, we require more.



Is it most of Perth with that soil?

Basically all the low areas have this junk or whiter/yellower versions of, and in the hills it's rock and clay.
Red dirt once you get further North and East. Not sure what that's like to dig/plant in. Always strikes me as being quite hard though

that’s why they call us sandgropers? Life’s a beach in your own back yard,

I have the added bonus of the builder burying half of the construction waste just under the surface, good for drainage but not for planting, I got my roll-on lawn from the side of the road, its amazing what you find, for free!

Epic fail on the toe pic Kat

People pay good money for rocks around our area, I see them regularly advertised in the paper. Bush rocks they call them. We have tons of them on our property and will be advertising to get rid of some of them that don't serve a purpose. Ours have a lot of moss and staghorns growing on them so they fetch a better price.

Yup yup, same here Charlie, there are lots of people wanting lots of money for them. But then at the other end of the scale some people just want their garden space back and are happy to give them away. Luckily for me! I was late to discover Gumtree but now I'm a massive fan :-)

Rocks with green bits here would fetch a fortune, hope that dosh is going to be immediately converted to aquaponic goodness Charlie?

Blizzard, I reckon I've got half a house buried on my block. We were one of the last houses built and everyone used our block as a dumping ground. I watched the builders one day bury the remnants of their boozing session with a bobcat - still pull out plenty of glass whenever I dig. Yuck.

Gosh I hope I get some energy back tomorrow to do some work out the back. Right now I feel like I could sleep for days.




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Spring has sprung! Buds on my catalpa nanas as well as the silver birch.

Had a HSM today! Woke up and dawdled around before checking on the fish at about 9:30. Suspiciously quiet as I walked outside... The dogs had run through the cord to the pump and shut it off overnight. Given the state of the pond at the moment, I thought the low DO overnight would kill them for sure, but everything seems ok thank goodness.

This afternoon I've been making an extra filter/small GB to try and get it back up to scratch. Will post some pics once I'm done.
No one ever really lets silicone cure for a full 7 days right?


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I bloody hope not on the silicone front ahaha


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Just be careful with the silicon if it's always under water. I lined the edges of some of the beds I built with regular silicon (the food safe type), and after a few weeks they started leaking like a sieve. Silicon works well if it dries out after getting wet, but can't handle not drying out.

There is another product you can use:
http://www.bunnings.com.au/sika-310ml-b ... t_p1210247

Works well.

Thanks Colum, I was looking everywhere in Masters for the right stuff and couldn't find any, so did the same as you in the end. I will have to make a trip to Bunnings instead to get stuff for my proper bed.
Although to be honest this is just a quick fix, and I'll be happy if it just gets me through til next weekend even

At the moment because the water is so bad after all the stuff that blew in during the rain and storms, I am using this is a mechanical filter only. Therefore it is currently shoved full of two pillows and a sheet, with a heavy towel on top (don't ask - it all came down to adjusting flow rates in the end), but in a couple of days once they have hopefully cleared things up a bit, I will rig up a mini gravel guard and fill it with pea gravel and throw some herbs and lettuce in there. No standpipe, just seriously basic for now.

I am impressed with the increased flow out of the 25mm pipe though! Thanks gravity!

Oh gawwwd this is embarrassing - but here you go, another 15 minute creation from bits scrounged out of my garage:



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And yeah, it's literally just silicone holding that elbow in place

Woohoo! Filter has been ticking along all day while I was at work with no overflows or other mishaps.
The water looks cleaner too, but not enough for me to be happy yet. I will wash out the canister filter again tomorrow and hopefully that will help as well.


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Purple/pink - such a girl colour
Looking great

Haha true, I hadn't even thought about that. It was one I got given a big bag of mussels in and says on the side it was 'stolen from' some seafood place if not returned. Oh well! It was the right size and is actually fantastically sturdy.

Once I clean the canister filter again I'm going to fill the container with gravel and see how I go with some seedlings. Fingers crossed.


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what is your gardening experience? Have you tried many different varieties?