Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Swed.. Correct is RIGHT.. I'll call it the Lazy Man Food!!

Lol..

Cookie,

I remembered that you placed a lot of your cuttings back into the MT. Have you ran into a buildup of cellulose?

That was an offline MT.. and that was a while aback when I was experimenting with digestion techniques.. but even then yes I had cellulose build up. That was a very random question. why did u ask it.?

I am in the planning stages of the new system to be built once I move to my new property. And I remembered a conversation Ryan and I had at his workshop.

umm I see.. ok hope that information helped u

Heh Cookie, any chance you could do a basic sketch of how your system is put together? even just a drawing on the back of a napkin and photo of it. I'm keen to try it out though still not got a clear mental picture in my head. I think it goes


FT --> Aerated fishing net filter 1 --> Aerated fishing net filter 2 --> media bed (or DWC) ---> back to FT

Is that right?

Would like to know rough figures on
Feed input per day
water flow rate
aeration rate in filters
residence time in filters
grow bed m2
biofilter m2 (or volume)


Other than Ryan C, I've not seen an AP system grow like yours, and especially with fruiting plants.
Cheers
Matt

MattyG- agreed...the key is in the complete mineralization of the solids. By not removing his solids, but also keeping them aerated for extended periods of time, he is having close to the same explosive growth that Ryan C has at his farm. I don't remember the exact figure, but Ryan cut his supplements by 50% after he finished his MT system. I'm sure the solids would in time release and mineralize in a GB, but the O2 requirements may not be met, and thus the solids aren't released in the 30 day period and can become anaerobic and start consuming Nitrates? That was my take on it. Cookies basic idea is close to what Ryan is doing. Same basic idea- with similar results. Remember, Ryan's farm pays his bills and he is on sight for hours every day. Things stay very well maintained. Where as, I think Cookie, like most of us, while loving to spend time in his AP, has the issue of "life getting in the way". With farming, that can cause
you some problems.

lol thats alot of information you asking for.. I should sell it to you..

im joking.. ok the drawing part.. I'll hada do it later.. I'm a bit lazy u see.. xD.
but you are dead on with the arrangements and that arrangement is for my big system. my other system only got Ft---> areated filter--->GB---> FT . its quite a simple system. no additional biofiler no additional mechanical filter.. no RFF and I don't clean the aerated for months and when I implement my new filter design.. I make not have to clean it at all... the reason I even clean it is because I need to access the air stones below all the net to service them so I loss some excess biofilm but they grow back quickly.

ok feed rate big system 400g of 33% protein fish feed per day.. I got alot of fishes in there because they multiple to quickly. my other system used 60g of feed per day.. and the results are slightly Identical once the bacteria colony is established.

Flowrates I believe is 10L per min last time I checked.

retention time is in between 10 to 15 mins.

aeration is I'll average around 20-30 litres per min.

GB 7m2 total.

Biofiler 0m2 just my aerated filter.

ok Update time ok harvested this morning.. and I'm in awe of the size of the tomatoes. I also replanted one of my GB and finally got stuff growing in my DWC system. itz a good day in aquaponics. pictures time.












Stay tuned for more. Happy Growing!!

Oh I forgot!! I didn't get time to make the video of the flows.. but I got a pic of the inside arrangements of my Filter.


in the free space the netting goes. the airstones lies on the base of the tank... the water enter thru the 1/2" pipe and the water exits via the SLO design. but ppl will say. isn't SLO used to remove solids.? that will be true.. but in the filter the water must force itself thru the net media causing the solids to be suspended in the media before the water exit the bottom of the tank. The air flow upwards in a counter current design to the flow of the water.. hence increasing contact time and DO. that it basically.

Very nice Cookie! Thats 60 grams of feed per m2. And you do have awesome growth of those tomatoes.
I like the idea of aerating and having solids stay on top and water leave through the bottom SLO. Good thinking! This way you will also always see how much crapbis on top as opposed to not knowing what tank looks like at the bottom.

Exactly!! plus the solids are always suspended so better chance of the solids not going anaerobic.

thank you Cookie. One of the top systems I seen here for certain. While I admit most of the technical stuff is far above my head it is always a pleasure to read.