Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

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Well I have bitten the bullet on Biocenosis .. but in my own way..
as already mentioned, the new system collects solids and has no real plants...

I removed the twin swirl tanks, which worked well, but were imperfect in solids removal..

I previously mentioned the Washing Machine outer tubs, and finally got to put one into service..
Again it is sorta inverse cone.. raised in the centre .. and this tended to collect solids, but a bucket like device sitting over the centre, keeps solids at the side..
The electric pump is super efficient in removing those solids.. so that has the solids taken care of.

The remaining nutrients remain an issue, but the concept of Biocenosis seems to have helped..

Now I have a bed of clay balls, purely acting as a FnD Bio filter, so I added six 30L root-pouch bags (3/4) filled with Zeolite.. ie. To the level of the clay
NITRATES have plummeted to zero, whilst the Ammonia and the Nitrites remain at a barely acceptable lever of about 2 each
but with a massively over crowded system, that is what I would expect..

Fortunately the TAN table shows that with the salt and the pH of 6, the fish remain happy.. all? ?? One fifty plus Koi

What will be interesting, will be to see what happens in the fullness of time, when the prediction of the Zeolite becoming saturated happens, and the nitrates again rise..
but I believe that the biocenosis bags will respond anaerobically and act as bog-filters and just release the Nitrogen.. So I cross my fingers, in the hope that the thinking is.correct ..

KOI.. yes another interesting experiment.. add Koi to the SP, and the SP learn that near the surface is not that bad after all..

BTW... don't believe the claim.that Zeolite does not work in salt water.. a great many salt water aquarium tanks are based on Zeolite filtration..
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Good one Buidoi, made me look up two words this morning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biocoenosis and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeolite I think I'm following what you are doing. Got pictures of the Koi pond to go along with your experiment?

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Well.. I bit the bullet and produced a thread, detailing my latest filter..
Yes... another bloody filter, but it does work.. is super cheap, recycles old washing machines, and fully capable of automation ..

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=26269

I.won't waste more time on it here..

BOSS... The Koi are.all in my first real AP system.. the square one, and it ain't pretty. Just intended to be a Poo machine for that system..
I MAY get to sell some one.day.

I have thrown a few Koi into each of the round system tanks, and as reported, the perch have become much more sedate, and will eat with my head hanging over the tank..

Now I can't say that I have actually made Biocenosis bags, but I can surely tell you that they have cut the Nitrates to ZERO..

another poster reported high nitrate readings and lowered them to zero with Zeolite... clearly a tool that few APers have considered, when talking about TAN
You may not be able to have immediate control over Ammonia or Nitrite, but you can have near kstant control over nitrates ..
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Just some of the Koi..

You can understand that I WILL need to get rid of a few.
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Before and Now..

All seems to be growing well in the new RAS .. fish wise at least..

The largest perch are about 200mm long.. I'm looking forward to selling the last remaining fingerlings from the second tank, and start sizing this lot between the two tanks..

Nitrates are still zero, whilst the Ammonia and Nitrites, are 2 and 0.5 respectively.. pH about 6.3
(but it's so hard to really judge the colours , especially of the Ammonia..)
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OK - so how long does it take for all to crash around you..
100plus mature fish (up to 200mm) and virtually no plants (qualified - one shrub of Hoan Ngoc , going mad)



So, historically, I sunk simple bags of ZEOLITE into a bed of clay balls (the primary bio filtration for the new system), and after near 2mths, have got some basic figures on the "N" values.



I have actively tried to keep the pH at the lower end of the dial.. and with some salt..
The problem is not being sure just what the value is below 6, as API Yellow is still yellow.. (yes a pH meter would be more helpful - but cheap ones seem to fail easily )

One thing that I know is that when the fish go off their food, then the pH is "Too Low"..
Throw in some BiCarb-of-soda, and they start eating, and I have a slight green tinge..

There was the prediction that the Zeolite would saturate, and all would go pear-shaped..
There was the prediction that the salt would cause the Zeolite to shed the Nitrates, but that seems FALSE, and that re-activation, requires a salt level , way above where the fish would be likely DEAD..

Now I have taken a small liberty in calling my system, "BioCenosis" , because it is NOT what was described as such , with a core of Laterite, but my feeling (uneducated/unqualified) is that I am getting the same effect, by using Flood and Drain..

Bottom line - the results are very encouraging, and I suspect some will find it unbelievable.
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.Peter

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Now this would normally create total apoplexy, and panic, but fortunately, that is a reading from the new hydro-garden, that is truly flourishing..

The interesting thing is that I have small KOI swimming amongst the Root-Pouchs, containing the soil and plants (WickingBed/AirPrune), and even with that seemingly TOXIC ammonia lever, the fish seem happy..


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The new AP system is split (as per previous discussions), with the RAS working brilliantly, and the HP Growing system in two parts..
the above is Bed1, which is basically three IBC GB's and a SUMP, on a sloping driveway.
The SUMP is tucked under the bottom end (PIST)
One bed is a floating raft, and the other two are Wicking/Air-Prune individual pouches..
.. of the two Wicking beds, one just has about 2" of water flowing through it, and the other has about 3" of river pebbles and then another 2" of water above that..



The second bed , is similar, but uses composite grow technology individual beds of different designs, but all using Wicking/Air-Prune principles..
I used two Blue-Barrels, carefully modified, with 3" of river Pebbles, and X-Large Root-Pouches (Thanks RobBob)
The Fibreglass tub with the Blue-Berry bushes, again has the pebbles in the bottom and Agg-Fabric lining the grow-area.
The large Wheely-Bin is similar designed with two X-Large Rout Pouches and the citrus are going mad..
Looking forward to our first corn..
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Well, FWIW, here we are more months down the track and both systems are working flawlessly..

Blew a circulation pump in the RAS system a few days ago.. Only a cheapie from RockAroundTheBlock, and the failed one lasted a good time (2 years constant running) and does a deal of work. Kept a spare pump for the exact reason.. and now ordered a new spare..

The RAS is working exactly as I predicted and nothing like all the doom-sayers spruked..
The six ZEOLITE bags, buried in the only GB (without plants) have never been touched and the only thing that I add to the system is WATER and some salt for compensation for general losses.. AND Sodium Bicarb to get the pH up above 6..

The ZEOLITE has never saturated and is not affected by the salt.
Nitrates are ZERO, Nitrites are unreadable..
Ammonia jumps up and down in the low range, according to fish feeding..
I stopped taking readings long ago when I realised what a waste of effort it is..

the single biggest problem with it all is that we have decided that Silver Perch are not that great eating.., and so they just sit there getting bigger and bigger.. :-)
65 meal-for-two fish in one tank and 60 almost plate size in the other tank..
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PS - Just realised the Biocenosis / Zeolite system has been running for two years.. and still works..
one change that I had not reported is the Pool-Filter (Canister) which I now stack with a long length of bird netting, intended for polishing the water from the sump tank..
Simple to clean - just drag it out and replace with a second wad, whilst the contaminated one is rinsed in a bucket and then put in the washing machine, and the manky water from the bucket, goes into the mineralisation tanks.
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See ya in another two years.. :-)
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Thanks for the update BuiDoi.

I still hang 1-3 small Root Pouches of Zoelite under the spray bar and GB stand pipes in my sump whenever the ammonia gets a little on to high side.

Its ironic that so many folk fuss over evtea high NITRATES but are not prepared to consider reducing the actual source..

After two ears constant and untouched. I have proved that few know anything about Zeolite, making it a good tool in AP and AC..

Aged Care Provider's swear by it