Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Planning on getting some grow lights and a timer.

What did you do (if anything) to the inside of the chest freezer to seal/ waterproof it?

I filled the drain hole with silicone sealant and put the caps back on (one inside, one outside), then ran a bead of silicone sealant in all the corners. I used a uniseal on the inside of the SLO outlet hole to seal the wall at the desired water height.

In reality, I probably didn't need to do any of that. I've had the freezer half full of water before (defrosting it) and there were no leaks anywhere. I'm also regretting filling the drain hole with sealant, because now I have no way to completely drain the tank if I need to move it. I'm contemplating removing the sealant, just have to figure out how without flooding my basement.

Gilbert Fritz - where are you in Denver? My family lives in Wheatridge and Arvada.

I'm in Littleton.

So you didn't coat or paint it? There are some people out there who say it is essential. Then again, they sell the paint!

Throwing in the towel -

After 4 months - system not fully cycled, fish are dead, plants are dead, can't figure out why, don't have time or energy to investigate causes and/or solutions, taking away time from other pursuits (such as living a life). I'll just go get a fishing license and do it the old-fashioned way.

Shame, working through the problems helps others in the same boat.
Good luck with your future endeavours Gary.

So - I was a little premature in tossing in the towel. Seven (of 24) fish survived the die-off. Got some new plants, seem to be doing well. System is cycled, but don't know the nitrate level (out of test solution - got to get some more). Ammonia went from 4 to 0, nitrites from 10 to 0, so there must be nitrates.

Problem - fish don't seem to be eating. Purina fish pellets go untouched. Freeze-dried meal worms get crapped out whole - don't know if they're getting any nutritional value from the meal worms - just some undigested fiber. They do eat live worms from my vermiculture, but I don't want to waste all those worms as fish food.

Any suggestions?

What species of fish are you running?

Sorry - meant to mention that.

Hybrid Bluegill and Yellow Perch