Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Why wash gravel?
Seems to me it has lots of nutrients in it for fish and plants ,and will eventually wash out of the system ! May colour the water a while but so what? I dont mind the water having a red tinge for a few days(not sure about the fish).But it saves lots of work and adds nutrients!

There seems to be a weight of opinion tending in that same direction Niloc

Guess you'd just have to be careful that the media wasn't so dirty that the cloudiness/suspended particles lowered the DO level to the point of causing problems with the fish.....

Would imagine some fish (ie trout) would be a lot fussier than others....

Probably OK when first starting up .... cycling... before fish

...so not a true AP fanatic then

you win ... you win..... just don't look at me like that......

I no longer do - but the fish I tend to keep (Barramundi) live in murky conditions in our rivers every time there is rain - so no more washing for me (and usually within 3 days I can start to see the bottom of my tank again )

For a few reasons Niloc, and especially with the pea gravel that your using... The chips that are in amongst the red pea gravel will cause havoc if they get into your pump, they are often a thin sliver broken off the outside of the round gravel, very sharp and could easily cause damage to seals..

The red pea gravel dust also sets like concrete. When washing a trailer load you find that towards the bottom you come to a caked layer often 5cm or more thick, a mix of dust and gravel that builds up and sticks like the preverbial..

Other types of media like scoria or blue metal may not have the same characteristics, and may not be as bad, I haven't tried them, but I'll always be cleaning the red pea gravel before using it...

And besides that... What Les says.....

I think I probably washed the first batches of my blue metal more than required, but certainly would wash the bul of the crap off before cycling a system if for niothin else than clear water.

I agree that getting the fine stuff out is an important aspect of the process as gravel is often not well graded or 2 grades get mixed up a bit in the storage bays. The problem with just sifting the stuff is that the dust/mud will often stick fine bits to bigger bits and make it hard to the the job properly. I will definitelly try and sift the stuff more before washing next time though.

I suspect that I would have been OK with less washing than I did. My gravel had a good coat of clay, and I don't think that would really hurt anything. However, the expanded clay pellets that I got had a lot of larger gritty bits, as did the crushed coral. I don't think my pump would have appreciated that.

Wouldn’t think of not washing any gravel.
Washed a trailer load of scoria yesterday and the dust was as bad.
Apart of the fish discomfort, if not running your pumps permanently,
as soon as they stop, the dust will start settling everywhere, including inside the pumps.

I know that some have used a sock-type filter on the return to remove some of the particulate out. I think that some washing/rinsing may be a good idea to save your pump, but it seems that many believe that it is a rite of passage into the true world of AP.

It kinda is - I have done it (but not in the quantities that some have )
the stone I currently am playing with is largish river washed stone - not much in the way of fines stuff in there - but the idea of the sock filter on the return is still worth investigating...

It builds character.

(I didn't rinse any of the gravel in my current system. It was frozen solid outside at the time, as well as the garden hose. No problems came up from the sand left in it.)

Mine put the drain in to grow bucket and every time needed a piss, just have gravel a rinse. 2 bonus: no have to flush toilet and system cycled in quick as 2 shakes (mine joke 2 shakes get it? LOL)

"пахнет как"

Packet cake?