Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Yeah, they can swim pretty fast. You can't keep up with rocket fins.lol Also, if you did manage to net one, they would probably drown you before the reverse happened. Fast is relative, they're not wahoo or even dolphin fast, but compared to a diver/person, they're blazing.lol

Boss, I acquired that image from google images, but I think its probably just 6-10 frames with some kind of crazy radial gradient in photoshop. I'm up for the challenge if you ever want a graphic made for your newsletter or whatever some time let me know.

Manatee madness...I was able to snorkel with manatee once when returning from catching scallops in the gulf. I guess if what you guys are saying is true the ones I encountered just didn't care that I was so close to them watching them. But I was face to face watching them chomp on some type of vegetation. They moved slow enough I could stay right along with them while surfacing for air.

AP system. I have a little bit of plant growth. The PH is coming down naturally a bit now.

Issues - I had a problem at the sump with surface water after a big storm early yesterday. I am considering making a drainage ditch and filling it with lava rock to attempt to re-route future surface water issues nearby the sump tank.

Projects - We also built a trellis in the soil garden along the fence to hold tomatoes that were just seeded. I'm going to use Colum's trick with those tomato clamps. The same idea near the AP system will utilize the house roof instead of a frame eventually, but the cheap clips look like they make life easy.

Pond,

They day you are swimming with one and see it startled. You will forever wonder "how the heel do these creatures ever get hit by a boat?"

I'm glad the video helped!

Today I have impeller failure... I will update soon, it didn't kill the pump at least but I'm going to need another impeller. I will post photos of the damage soon. It happened much sooner then I had expected but I'm still not ready to change the power cycle aspect just yet.

Really for that matter the impeller isn't damaged so much as the shielding around the magnetic part that spins inside it. I need to do more research before I attempt to explain it much but again better update with photos soon.

Can't seem to connect my phone to PC at the moment to upload a photo but it after reading a bit I learned something.

The impeller wear occurs due to the magnet expanding not the plastic parts as I originally guessed so the damage I'm looking at is in fact the expected impeller wear I was warned about.

I ordered a few impellers for this pump that will be here in about 4 days until then I will be using a watering pale to maintain the few very small plants I have growing. Meanwhile the FT and DWC are still flowing normally so its just a matter of completely dry media that could be helping me to cycle.

I have a sump pump I've used for non AP reasons I may run it by hand from the sump or FT to keep that media wet for the next 4 days while I wait for shipping. Maybe I can use it to vacuum up the bit of algae forming on the bottom of the FT.

If I need a long term solution for impeller failure I will explorer the exact steps that TCLynx used with a diversion valve however I'm hoping to find some method a little less complex with the assumption that some new valve might be available now. And on that note if a diversion valve is used it means I will probably have it divert to another DWC bed or at least right back into the sump until there is an expansion. ...... maybe the title should have been there will be another indexing valve... 6 more media beds... and some fish

My personal lesson from today is that impeller failure is related to the magnet as opposed the the plastic blades and debris.


I have a bag of 500 jumbo "terracotta" color clips for less then .05 cents a clip it makes a good item to give away to local friends who garden or even my mom for her orchids, as for the trellis I built one over our soil garden using your method but nothing yet over the AP, and I already have peas that are going to need to grab on to something soon, so I will do that part very soon over the AP beds.

I have the roof of the house as well as the beams that are near the GBs that will both help me to keep it all simple still not sure how, but I know I will be incorporating the stuff that is already right next to it anyway.

I've got about 300 of those clips, and I went hunting for more, and I couldn't find any, they were all hanging tomatoes up!

Would the pump still be under warranty?

Impeller wear issue: this was resolved pretty quickly I just bought 5 impellers for that pump and replaced it. The only adjustment was the cycle timer is now allowing for additional time in between starting and stopping to hopefully allow the impeller to cool down before heating up again which I believe causes the magnet to warp even faster. The rest is just wait and watch to see how often this will be a problem.


Getting Fish finally?



I found a local source for my fish. This guy is pretty amazing we spoke to his wife today and are planning to visit him some time soon to bring some fish home.

He lives about 45 minutes away so I will be transporting the fingerlings in some type of container? I do have a power inverter in my truck so I can plug in the air stones in route.

Right now my best idea is to use some beach coolers to help transport them, but I am still researching how to move them and keep them alive in route.

Also not sure how many I should buy to start, I am guessing between 20-40 since its a new system and I think my max will be about 45 adult fish in an IBC?

Use the biggest coolers you can find, salt to 6ppt, and aerate till you get home. If they're fingerlings, you should be fine. If they bigger fish, I wouldn't put more then 8-10 in a large cooler. They're still pretty hardy though. I moved 20-30 in a 5 gallon igloo cooler with no aeration...but only 10 minutes away.

It's definitely illegal to posses water hyacinths in Florida also. If the guy is selling from his system, he's supposed to have a license from DAC, and they would not like to see his 20,000 gallons of hyacinths. A great idea though...maybe I can talk my wife into converting our pool and spa.lol

That dude seems like a nice guy, but LOL at some of the stuff he says.

+1 on the water hyacinths

I buy my fish from professional suppliers who have bags and oxygen. I have transported fish while moving houses, used multiple 5 gallon buckets and never used aeration, just normal water sloshing... but if you have one of those portable aerators it's always a good thing. And a ingloo or other type cooler is probably best.

Florida is loaded with invasive stuff, I assume that is why its an issue. I've seen the same plant floating around local lakes and often aim at them when throwing a lure for bass fishing.

I do know his primary food source for the fish is duckweed and I'm going to pick up some of that too, it looks like it just grows out of control once its started so I will be reading up on duckweed care here on BYAP in the next few days.

Overall the system appears to be working great the water is clean clear plant growth is normal but slightly yellow due to lack of nutrients other then ammonia being processed and small nitrite readings from fishless cycling.

For what its worth... Its already a relaxing area to be around with the sound of water and seeing all the little tomatoes and first true leaves popping up. I'm not getting too excited though because I don't expect those plants to do well from bottled ammonia alone.

My big concerns now are how the fish are going to handle the flow of water air the drain jumping into the overflow valves or out of the tank all together? How will the API test results changes once fish are introduced. If my PH level is still too low 6.2?

It's strange that your PH is that low. What was the source water? Is that from the API test kit? Most of the water is much higher then that, as it comes from a limestone aquifer. My PH stayed in the high 7"s for well over a year before it finally started drifting down. Now I dose with Lime and Potassium to keep it around 6.5. Cover your FT, they will commit suicide and jump out.

Also, don't worry about growth, just keep dosing with Seasol/Rootmagic, and Fe, and you'll be fine.

very kind offer indeed. For the moment I'm content and focusing my attention to getting grow beds going before Spring . We did get another snow yesterday, damn you Southerners for you mild weather. On top of that it was five degrees ferinheight BELOW ZERO this morning. Green house didn't even freeze which is amazing as I still haven't insulated it
Brian