Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Looking good!

You are a craftsman indeed

Slowly getting there...

The new grow bed in the aquaponics is online now, with auto siphon to add more aeration to the root zone. The siphon starts at a water level of 250mm and stops at 100mm, i want to make sure that if it fails to stop there is still lots of water in the root zone. We have planted some kang kong and cucumbers so far, i am waiting for beans to sprout. The white pipe in the front will be moved to the container wall when the next bed is finished and the trellis is an old weathered piece of fence, i hope that won't be too much galvanised wash off into the fish water. I have to have a look for some alternative material for the trellis.

There will be another one of these grow beds in two or three weeks time, one more before the next dry season starts, the stand and pipe work will be in place a lot earlier, and one off this size as a dwc with a rff for the lettuce, but that is also not needed before the start of the dry.

I added another 2 legs to the stand because i could see a little flex in the steel work and placed the lid of the trough underneath it to go from 5mm bottom material to 10mm, the next grow bed stand will have more cross member to support the bottom of the trough.

Aquaponics Update...

I found the time in the last two days to finish the second grow bed stand and put it in place. The clay pebbles are partly washed, good chance to get rid of nearly 2 years worth of root fragments, worm castings and other debris. We still found lots of red wriggler worms but they need restocking when the tub is running again. They are very efficient in breaking down uneaten fish food which made it through to the grow beds and dead plant material.

Unfortunately i am missing one pvc connector otherwise the grow bed would be online now. As soon as it is, the last ibc grow bed will be dismantled and i can start work on the third stand and to move the white pipe from the front of the grow bed to the shipping container wall and make better access to all parts of the system. Now with all the room i have gained i am thinking about building a radial flow or swirl filter to stop the fish food from getting into the beds completely which reduces maintenance in the long run.

When the third grow bed stand is in place i can also start to install a better shade cloth over the plants to reduce heat stress and water ingress to the system.

Each bed will have a separate trellis.

The cucumbers which went in 3 weeks ago are growing like weed and the first small cucumbers are already set. The chili and capsicum plant have survived the move into their new home and have lots of new shoots and the chickens and turkeys feed happily on the fresh kang kong.

The blue drums will be replaced before the next dry season with one more trough as a floating raft system for leafy greens and lettuce.

Hiya Gwydion, thanks for the update.
I saw some 'Barra from Humpty Doo' in a fish van the other day, thought of you.

Would have been a long swim for my little fishies.

You can buy the Humpty Doo Barra here for $45 per kilo at wollies.

Today after work i have finished the plumbing and the new bed is online, not quite enough clay in it but i still have to dismantle the last old bed and after that i will have leftover clay until the next bed goes in. Just didn't want the clay to dry out and harm the bacteria and the worms. We were thinking of planting some beans and more kang kong over the wet, maybe another chili, but i want something mild and big for cheese filled snacks etc.

Aquaponics update... We have installed the third grow bed today and removed some old structure to make room for the fourth (and last one for a while), it will be a floating raft bed for the dry season lettuce. On the plan for the weekend is to build a small rain proof shade house for seedlings and to plant lots seeds for the new grow bed.

We are still trying to organise a bigger order of barramundi fingerling from the fisheries, if anyone is interested to take part in the order please let me know. The fingerling are $2.20 and will be ready by the end of February if everything goes to plan.

Small update, 100 new fingerling went into the system on Friday. The nutrients are well needed as the last two fish which where in the system until two days earlier couldn't supply enough.

But the last fish was 700mm long and weighed in at 2700g fillets.

The dry season crop is already sprouted but i hope for some more rain and decent monsoon before it gets planted out.

And some pics

named them all yet?

All named Barry

haha makes it easy to find Barry then. great job on the system

Thank you, i have to add the next tub soon for the raft system/dry season lettuce

They all make it? I lost 3 pretty happy with that.