Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

The fish were happy, lively and feeding well but the growth with fish waste produced this only:

The AP tomato in comparism to the one out of the same punnet but grown in Hydroponics

The Wicking beds I made from my first 'fish killing' IBC.
They sit happily behind the pine logs and will get company soon with the now abandoned IBC cut in half.

And here are some of the wicking bed results

more pictures from plants in Wicking beds

.....and more

And this is what I did with the big AP growbed
It will be another Wicking bed

I wish you guys all the Best with your AP, unfortunately it is not for me.
I emphasize on my vegies, fish are not my priority.

You gott stick what works for you Gran. Veggies look great

I'm sorry about your troubles - thanks for the info on wicking beds, might have to look into those. Good luck

Sorry to hear Gran.

I just read through the entire thread... hoping that on the last page or two would be discussions of a resolve and how great your system is going.

I got to give it to you, you put in the hard yards to try get the system to work for you.

Best of luck with the future gardening.

Oh... one last thing, is that a papaya (paw paw) tree in one of your pics of the lower garden? I have put one in a few weeks ago, not looking too good.. I am unsure whether to water it or not or feed it anything I heard they're quite hardy and like a dry sunny position.

No Papaya tree in my garden, it is a simple Black Genoa fig. Papaya I would guess has to be feed and watered in order to produce. I don't like them very much so I decided on a fig. Planted out in the garden it probably would go wild on the retaining walls but in the old swimming pool filter pot, now wicking pot, it can't do any damage and they do produce twice per year. I wanted one for years but never got to it until last year, when I started to think about what to do with the first IBC, after we ripped it out. I hate to invest and then get rid of it whatever it might be. Some family members think I am a horder, others come to look for a small, thin wire or a spring or whatever is not available in a 'normal' household.
Our block is a only 753sqm big, not much room but what is a shame on one hand, is a blessing on the other.
My husband is convinced that any bigger premises would be the death of our marriage
Lucky him, I never felt the urge to move!

And yes, it really seems that I took on a task that was doomed from the beginning.
Ironically the one SP who disabled my goldfish when they were swimming together is still alive and has the last IBC entirely to itself.............for now!

Very interesting information on the wicking beds. While I intend to have regular GBs I have one giant dirt media bed which is where I plan on growing Kiwis. The dirt is part of my earth-sheltering system. So I was unsure how to incorporate it into the AP. Ideas are now coming together, thank you
Brian