Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Just make something up if your not sure, LazyK that's all I do haha.

But honestly, all comments and suggestions are welcome at BYAP.

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+1 to that..

I raised the issue because I found the article, and was interested in the ramifications of solids, given the popularity of the practice...

Thanks Colum for presenting it as you see it... appreciated..

I was surprised this Arvo...
I had said that I was rejigging my plumbing and needed to change a GB standpipe.. I excavated about one square foot of clay balls (pressing a bottomless bin into the media) and the mud that was stirred up.. and I have a fine filter on the input..

JOC.... yes it was likely a bit provocative, but reading that "misconceptions" article, was rather provocative in itself... and the heading was ended with. ????.....

It is interesting that there is just SOOO much politics in the BYAP community.. something that us nooks, just don't appreciate, and the fact that significant "leaders" in the field, seem to have diverse opinions on what are the best ways of doing things.. That adds to the "noob's confusion..
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PS.. the word Dogma was used.. most appropriate..

As a newbie, I tend to think that dogma comes from commercial folk, trying to convince newcomers, that the product they sell is superior to another and thus you had better buy theirs... :-)
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Thank you Charlie, I enjoy reading and learning. Besides the vocabulary, and history lessons, are frequently more stimulating than the Readrs Digest Word Power page.

I am not sure that F&D looses that much solids back to the system Charlie. My reasoning on the Constant Flood beds relates to the fact that Constant Flood relies on its O2 from water being pumped or overflowing from the FT (some depletion has already occured). I would also anticipate that it is more prone to channeling as it matures.

F&D pulls O2 from the atmosphere where thin film exchange occurs on the media which would make it less prone to anaerobic bacteria build up.

Only imho

Gotcha, no probs sleepe.

My F&D beds do far better than my constant flood bed.

Peter, you're fine sludge might have been because you were overstocked, and the filter it was going through was just breaking it down into finer solids (under pressure canister filter I believe?), to the point that they were just sludge. This might have built up, gone anaerobic, then somehow made it's way back to the fish tank, hurting the fish?

But I'd still put my money on it being some sort of external poison, with the gills and mouths wide open. It sounds identical to the fish I killed with chlorine.

That's the first time I ever heard anyone called fine sludge I'm sure you don't really mean it Colum


I think the mouths wide open happens when the fish have been dead for a while, no matter what the cause. With my recent Murray Cod deaths, fresh ones had closed mouths, ones that had been dead for half the night or more had open mouths- I suspect probably due to muscle contraction.

mouth and gills wide open?
thats how most of my last batch of bass and cod ended up, after i thought i had dropped my zinc levels to 0.
they tested at over 1.8 again during the death period.

And a belated +1 to that (thus far)

After my Fish-Deaths disaster I converted my first G-bed to F&D via Auto-Siphon.. and I have to say that I have never seen my sump so dirty.. This is a big positive now, as it means that the rushing waters of F&D are flushing crud from the GB, and the FILTER will be able to do it's real job..
( The Auto Siphon was a small challenge, as it only drained vertically about 200mm - not enough to get GOOD siphoning )

It's ironic that right now (as I wrote these words) the two active threads at the top are rather similar in concept.
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24899
""Passive aquaponics - Fish tank disconnected from beds/DWC.""

I would think that these concepts are really at the heart of AP.. .
ie. it's not hard to go Hydroponics.. It's harder to go Aquaculture.. (growing fish).. It's a lot harder to marry the two without some fairly complex issues and dare I say, anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves or don't get fussed about loosing fish.. ( Or they are Biologists who understand everything and have the resources to measure all and control all.. )

"Fine Sludge" - Call me anything you like but not "Late for dinner"

and , Gunna, I am thinking that you are right about the mouth thing.. and this raises another point with "Common" beliefs.. ie.. that Open-Mouth/Flaired Gills = ANOXIA..
Likewise, the suggestion that ".... it will certainly be nitrates poisoning/ammonia spike... also called brown blood disorder.. when the blood was bright red..

The bottom line is that there is just sooo much opinion and much just does not fit..



How did you test..?
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Heres one of our solids debates if you want a bunch of different views on the subject.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=17593

I converted my GB's from F&D to CF and had great results. Once again every situation and design will have different results. Do what works for your situation.

Thanks Charlie.. appreciated..

and yes - do what works.. but us newbies do like to know that we can select the best options, rather than "What Works"
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http://www.hannainst.com.au/learn_more/c:HI+3854

i used this test kit Bui.

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ccBear has the right attitude ""The Only Stupid Question is the One Not Asked ""
even if it has been asked B4..

Charlie - that thread was interesting.. got a lot more to read, but that opening with all that muck after just two years, should answer most questions..

My only concern was for the colour.. That looks more like what I would call "Bull Dust".. from the western plains.. .. and the interesting comment about NO WORMS..

Stuart Chignell, likely summed it up, and that raises a rule of thumb..
It's said that there should be 25L of media per fish..
I wonder what that figure would be if the solids are removed..

PS - just adding that for anyone interested in this rebirth of a perpetual question, do have a look at that thread CHARLIE referenced..
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Did you see on BHG some time back a hand instrument that read all the concentrations of nasties in the soil.. How good would one of them be for AP..
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