Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

They say that holidays are a time to recharge your batteries.
Trouble is when you hit 65, everything takes a bit longer.
In Barcelona on my birthday we were upgraded to the Presidential suite.
Gosh. If I had known how well Presidents lived I would have been one earlier.
Private bar. 15th floor. Lights of Barcelona at night!
Not bad!
Home to reality.
One small piece of advice I would give to those contemplating retirement.
Don’t!
You have more time so you need more money.
Plane landed at 23.50. Back to work at 7.55am.
I need to work to maintain my standard of living. Truth is I would also be bored.
Work however sometimes get in the way of doing the things I love.
I can buy pickled onions.
I choose to sit watching old movies wearing a diving mask. Peeling onions.
Pounding cabbage for sauerkraut and coring apples to dry.
I get distracted.
Robert Harris the author was launching his new book in Hungerford. A town about 8 miles away.
My son flew in to Bristol. I picked him up and we went on to The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Australia v Fiji . I have to confess I wore an Aussie scarf but chanted Fiji too. An evening to remember.
I am impressed by Brian's photos of his local state and intended to take some of my town to share.
However this week is, ‘Mop’ week. In the past this was a time local landowners would hire new workers. Today the celebrations include a, ‘fair’ in the main street. I figure you have all seen fairground rides so no photos. Next week.
Busy busy.
Also a time for reflection.
Five years ago I was diagnosed with cancer. Five year survival prediction. Less than 50%
It has been a great five years!
Looking forward to many more!
Oh! Forgot to say. Added 9watt UV light to my quarantine tank set up.
New fish coming soon.

Life is not about delivering a perfectly preserved body to the finishing line.
It’s skidding across, at the last second. What a rush!

A slight change of direction has led me to stocking Crucian Carp.
The last two deliveries have been nothing short of disaster.
The first delivery of 15 resulted in 4 survivors being transferred to the main tank.
The last one was carnage. Only one survived.
Time to rethink and plan.
My quarantine tank is 225 lt. A standard UK cold water tank. Cheap, but a bad choice. Oblong with baffles. I fitted a centre drain but even so it collects detritus.
I have reconfigured this so that in “Q” mode it runs through a pr-filter and then a bio-filter. Both DIY. The last addition has been a 9W UV light. This is fed by a 1400 L/H pump on constant flow.
Connected to the main system I can dispense with the additional pump. It is then fed by an out flow from a media GB and a trickle through the bio filters to keep them active..
The fish merchant claimed warm weather as the cause of the fatalities and offered to replace free of charge, when it was cooler. A fair compromise IMHO.
Last Friday they delivered the next batch.
So far so good.
Really too early to judge the effect of the UV.
The last lot were so obviously healthy compared to the previous delivery.
The UV light has a viewing port. I can sit in my kitchen and see the reassuring blue glow.
I have lost two months. I would normally allow one week for “Q” but the last two lots took longer.
However with luck in a few days I can move these into the main tank and then introduce the winter Trout.
At the moment I am working on a max capacity of 45 fish.
They will be added in batches of 15.
So far the stand alone “Q” system seems to be working.
Despite the limitations of my tank (cost/size/shape etc) I firmly believe that a dedicated “Q” tank should be part of every system. I also think that an isolated/ incorporated bio filter allows the addition of salt without affecting the main system.!

I have been stringing milk bottle tops onto cable ties for bio filters.
In my quarantine tank I use bottle tops scourers etc as the bio media.
Water test show low nitrite levels so I have been thinking of ways to improve the efficiency of the bio filter. I have not used k1 because with the current configuration there is a possibility that one K1 media could get into the pipe and block it.
One of those,’Doh’ moments. String the Ki on cable ties.

At last the crucian carp have left the quarantine tank and joined the main tank.
I am about two months behind schedule.
Yesterday I picked up 15 trout. I followed the normal procedure. Equalized temperature by floating the bag in the new tank. Gradually introducing water into the bag and finally they swam free.
Time for tea.
Quick check. Greeted by one trout lying on the floor, 3 meters from the tank.
Now this tank has a 2cm plastic mesh plus lid covering it. Amazing! I draped plastic bags over the edges. He went back in and seems OK.
I have nothing but praise for the people at Bibury.especially, Martin the Fishery manager.
I learn a lot in the short time whilst I collect the fish.
He showed me the eggs. The single main tube holds just under 250,000 eggs!
Cold today. no food for Carp. Trout ate settling in had snack.

I took advantage of a’black Friday deal’ to buy a new air pump.
Just a little surprised at the size of the new one.
The new pump is 150 L/M The old 45L/M.
The new cost less than the old!

Back to reality after the holidays. System and fish all good thanks to my Grandson. Winter broad beans doing well.

Hi
I am planning a 110mm round pipe, deep water NFT, system. Four horizontal tubes with 7 CM holes into which I intend to insert media (hydroton) net cups.
I want to incorporate a fines filter. Prior to the NFT pipes. In discussion with DB we both agreed that an Up-flow bottle top was the way to go, BUT
This would need to go high up on the wall. A water cooler bottle. Available and would do the job but just looks Naff.
This U bend filter would be in keeping.
Would it work?
How deep would you make the U ? (dotted lines)
Supply lines would be normal 22m.

I have been, tinkering, with this idea.
Unequal ‘U” inlet side higher.
Inlet at a tangent to side to create a swirl.
Also above water level to add oxygen.
The original diagram showed the use of two ‘T’ pieces.
Eliminating them will substantially reduce the cost.
Your thoughts?

I'd bypassed this thread in the past figuring it was about growing vanilla...



It's far more interesting than that..

Despite the separation caused by our common language.You have to love the Australians and the Americans.
Being English I am biased. Our sense of humor borders on the eccentric.
Not with standing the occasional use of prescription medication and the intake of alcohol. Purely for medicinal purposes. Our sense of humor?
Let’s say, is unique.
To paraphrase , Yoda.
Humor leads to Irony. Irony leads to eccentricity!
Eccentricity leads to freedom!
Well, done EB. Irony. You have taken your fist steps to liberation.
PS.
We are sat in a bar.
Being English I drink G&T
An American would drink Bourbon.
I would gladly buy you a beer. But what would you drink?
( smiley face thingies)
PPS I would like some feedback on the 'U' tube

I finally had time to construct the prototype ‘U’ filter. Some of the plumbing is still temporary flexible pipes. However it is now connected and conditioning.
I guess there is about five liters of media. I used milk bottle tops green in the inlet half and tonic bottle tops for the second part. I deliberately separated them so I could clearly see if they moved.
The inlet is fed from the RFF and although I had intended this to have a ‘Swirl type” function, the reality is more ‘Trickle tower’ The outlet half of the U is the up-flow part.
When space is limited going vertical helps.

+1

I may have seen it in the past, may have even visited but mostly skipped it thinking things like "5 pages just for vanilla, sheesh"

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As far as your prototype, the problem will be if the caps pack too tightly in the pipe which I've had happen with K1 but in a smaller (5 cm) pipe so your setup may work. They do have to be packed to a certain extent because otherwise they don't work as a solids filter but they also need to break apart and allow the solids to drain when you clean the filter (I'm not sure how you're setup to do this).

Cheers

This year I have decided to make companion planting a major part of my overall strategy.
Specifically Marigolds or Calendula The varieties I have chosen are Calendula Porcupine and Pink Surprise.
Well known for deterring bugs away from my trailing tomatoes I understand they will also attract pollinating insect to my courgettes and (gherkin) cucumbers.
However I was delighted to read that they were also edible.
Now I can scatter petals across a salad but has anyone ever really used Calendula in food?

My round tube (110mm) NFT system is finally constructed. Although an oxymoron ( Round/NFT) The water integrity tests today were successful. I could never get last years square tubes 100% water tight. Anything less than fully watertight when you are pumping continuously is a nightmare.

The new prototype “U” tube filter replaced the existing up-flow filter allowing me to use this for the new NFT system.
Early days to judge this but so far so good.

I had initially planned to run the NFT pipes water supply in series.
That is tube 1 drains to tube 2 etc.
After thinking about DB suggestions I have now run individual controllable 10mm feeds from a manifold of the 22mm output of the up-flow filter.
All drain to a common return line.
A major factor in deciding to use individual supply lines was the ability to use gravity to add oxygen. There is a table somewhere calculating height/oxygen added but each tube has a drop of roughly 50mm. Think of the bubbles you add to a glass when you pour from a height.

All now ready for the new intake of fish next week into the main tank.
In the other tank I have trout. Some are now twice the size of their companions.
In an attempt to try and balance their food intake I am simultaneously feeding two different sizes of food.
I don’t have the extra tank to grade them or the space to separate the tank with nets.

Same here... just went to an orchid show, came back and saw this and said... oh what the heck, lets see what he's doing with vanilla orchids... must be something interesting with 5 pages...

At last the first hints of spring. Although the winter has been mild not much happens. I have a small 30 watt heater in the sump tank. I aim to keep the water in the Fish tanks above 4*C so a juggling act between weather forecast and switching the heater on. Temperature variations above 2*C per day can stress the fish.
This year for the first time I planted winter Broad beans. My gardening friend said he planted one for him and one for the mice. As a comparison I planted some in the earth garden. About 80% casualties. So very hungry mice. The difference in the AP system is striking as you can see from the photos.
The main reason for the winter planting is to avoid black fly. This can be troublesome with later planting.
After talking to my gardening friend about broad beans I said I would go to the garden centre to buy some seeds. OH No he said. Go to Ron’s Stores in Rodbourne Swindon Wiltshire. They sell them loose. Ron’s Stores is an Aladdin's cave. A true old fashioned ironmonger. They do indeed sell them loose. A quarter pint or a half or a full pint. Imperial measures like these disappeared years ago in the UK. My quarter pint £0.6 were wrapped in a brown paper bag. The measures are older than I am and possibly valuable antiques.
Sometimes you encounter an old tradition that brightens up your whole day.