Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Today I removed the offending plant & some overgrown chives along with a large root ball.





Ready for replanting.

Started planting out the space in the GB today, I noticed the side of the bed was soft. Upon further inspection it appears that the leek may have been happening for a while.

Under the trim I found that the pine side board has started to rot from continually been wet & the ants have made a nest under it. It's not structural as the rot is above the water line in the GB.

So I will just leave it as is & chalk it up to experience & make sure that I keep the plant growth inside the GB in future.

2019

In an attempt to regain some room in the old red GB I started to remove clumps of chives that have been in there since I first planted that Gb out. The clumps are very root bound & the media is clogged with nutrients.


I break the clumps apart wash out the roots through a sieve, recover the media & the nutrients gets washed into the worm farm. The water is then used to water the dirt garden.


We had a few days of +40 *c the other week which made the top of the Yacon die off, it's the only one to survive since getting them from Rod 14 months ago. In the last few days it has shot out from around the base more so I think it will survive.
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1592&start=75

Hopefully Ill get some tubers this year

So I recently viewed a YOUTUBE video showing how to make NFT plugs from a floor mat material & pool noodles.
https://www.youtube.com/watchv=3AbxnWiVTH8&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0BlLmQNQ53c5hAhm5J8py3TKZOMrp6aevC3pQ5m7OQZPoYiTKQsM9lftY
In the description below the video there is
Does anyone know if this is true ?
It seems like a good way to avoid pots all together.
I have used pool noodles before for plugs in the NFT net pots & found that they break down in the sun.

They material is not UV stable & breaks down into small particulates which could end up in the AP system.


The Net pots originally came with foam plugs which work all right but are single use & also break down into small particulates.
I have recently started using Balsa wood for plugs for larger seedlings & have been raising seed in the small tube pots with a mix of coir/perlite then drop the tube pots into the net pots in the NFT system.

Yeah i had the matting in a shed under a polycarbonate roof panel, sun turned it to powder before I could use them for camping a couple of times. Not a big fan. The balsa wood substitute is a great idea.

Thanks Asitis
Yes the less plastic we use in the AP system the better.

April 2020 Hope you are all coping with Covid19
Well all is still going well here. The second big bed is well established now & I will be looking into removing the last off the IBC system. One of the IBC Gb's started to die of over the summer months, after some investigation I found that the water level wasn't coming up to the full height. The steal base of the IBC had rusted out allowing the drain to collapse. Having time to do a few more things around the house I decided to remove it.

The base was all still in place before we removed the GB but broke up when moved.

This was one of the first IBC GS's I had so it's been in the system for about 7-8 years. I guess that's not bad.

7-8 years is a great run.

Hi mate, work for me has dried up and I’m chewing through my holidays due to this virus.
On the up side I’m finding myself drawn back to the AP here which has been neglected unfortunately.
I’ve decommissioned my small system and de treed my larger system and planted some seedlings in it. Not sure about up where you are but here in the metro all vegetable seeds and seedlings got bought up in panic buying and are only just starting to make it back to the shelves in nursery’s.
Finding a lot of goop in the gbs now and am wondering about cleaning the media, probably won’t but there are some parts that are solid suggesting anaerobic areas. Fish still going well and will soon be looking at the perch maxing out in size....
Glad to hear you’re all going well, thanks for your updates bud.

Yes Asitis. It paid for it self several times over. It could still be reused, just by replacing the rusty bottom with ply wood. But for me its time to move on to the larger GB's, they are a lot easier to work on & more aesthetically pleasing.

Hi skeggley
Yes I guess its one bonus of the lock down, more time to work around the house & the AP system.
Those Perch must be huge by now, how big do you think they are 2-3 Kg ?
How are the Bee's keeping ? I have a hive myself now harvested about 10kg of honey last month.
Glad to see you still on here & doing well.
Catch Ya

Good to hear you got some honey, this season was kind to me also with over 100kg from 3 hives, just need to move it all now! (Bit difficult with this virus paranoia.) All Flow hive supers, too easy to harvest with no filtering or anything. I’d certainly recommend them to fellow west aussies who don’t have the small hive beetles to battle. Are they in Gero yet?
Not sure about the fish weight now, close to 350mm, still haven’t eaten one yet, they just keep on keeping on with minimal assistance, good hardy fish these perch.
Yes I’m still lurking here with my two bobs worth thrown in every now and then.

August 2020
Well all is still going well here. Hope you are doing well in these Covid times. My second big bed is well established now. With more spare time to work on the AP system I have removed the last of the IBC system & will replace them with another Big GB.

Any one in Geraldton who would like 3 IBC GB's & a IBC FT free, please contact me.

Area cleared & post in the ground.

So I spent this afternoon painting & sealing the wood ill use to build the Big GB. Hopefully the weather will allow me to finish it tomorrow.

The only way to grow passion fruit, if you put them in ap they grow like yours and the roots block your grow bed and no fruit.

Hi early on when you were getting established you mentioned that you had some cobbler in your tank. How did they go ,every one that I know of that has tried them had trouble with them getting white spot and dying .I am curious to know if anyone has had success with them. I have trouble with some one stealing mine and I thought that it might be a surprise to them if they got a cobbler in the dark when they thought it was a trout.