Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

ok its been a week now since an update. well during the time was conducting some experiments with MT and the difference between anaerobic and aerobic digestion. I wanna thank Swed and Scotty for their inputs and all the documentation as well as practical examples... but all in all I believe we will finally crap open the secrets to AQ sustainability.. o well in saying that.

Amm 0ppm
nitrite 0.25ppm
nitrates 5ppm

Started additions from my Anaerobic MT. and what I saw blew my mind. everything exploded in growth and got bigger and greener as well. Although the additions were high in ammonia.. my system nitrates actually decrease. Maybe its better utilization by the plants. who really knows.. o well on to the pics.

Some more pics..







Trying a wicking bed pepper its growing excellent.!!



Some wildlife in my GB. its actually eating my plants



well happy growing.. Stay tuned for more.

Looking good there!

thanks Swed..[SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

Nicely done!

What are you doing with all your tommies?

Lol thanks Colum... I'm making salsa with them... bess to eat with a dash of pepper sauce and some corn chips

Kickin butt Cookie!

Thanks Charlie..!!

ok three days later.. its very shocking what can happen in three days in Aquaponics. it finally seems like all my research is starting to pay off. The Digester is really making a big difference in growth and quality of growth. I also removed more fishes from my system because I came to the realization that higher density doesn't really amount to better growth.. increased feeding rate does. let me explain even when you don't feed your fishes. they excreted ammonia in their urine. this ammonia immediately puts load on your system nitrification. so when you feed your fishes there always seems to experience a spike. reason being with the same amount of food higher fish density will actually absorb more nutrients from the food and excret more liquid ammonia into the water. lower fish density eating the same amount of food cannot utilize all the extra food. so the majority of the ammonia is locked away in the solid waste released by the fish. this ammonia takes longer to impact your system depending on temperature.. aeration.. pH.. and so on. also using an RFF u can recover the waste quickly and add it to your digester. thats just my theory.. still proving this atm..

o well update.
amm 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 10ppm
pH 6.8
EC 550 uS/cm

pics time..





















Stay Tuned for more!!

Very interesting - thanks for the ideas.

umm its been a while since I've had posted here.. umm where do i start off. well I had pulled out everything from my GB and planted anew.. well concerning my setup.. I am currently cleaning my filters very frequently... about twice per week and breaking down the solids im my offline MT so far thats working wonders for me... there was a burst of growth but the funny thing is that my MT doesn't accumulate nitrates because its being loss to denitrification.. but the plants are growing strong nevertheless.
oh well system specs

amm 0ppm
nitrite 0.25ppm
nitrates 5-10ppm
EC 1 mS/cm3
ph 6.8

below are some pics of my progress

Before pics..






Current Pics...















I love the difference in growth now... I'll let you all be the judge of the difference.

Stay tuned for more

Looking good cookie, About how many gallons is your MT? How much are you adding back in to your system each week?

umm I believe its 20gal and I add back the full amount about 2-3 times per week once the MT cycle is completed.

You are mineralizing things for such a short time. Like 48 hours?

surprisingly something within 24hrs and its not even solids alone... leaf clipping as well

secondary MT
Tomate leaf before. yesterday


MT



tomato leaf after.


we were doing it all rong before.