Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Plant food right? Is it ofted discarded when cleaning filters?

I gather some vac it up then throw it out, or get occasionally hit by the pump impeller and wind up as food for biomass?

Would anybody care to explain the best case scenario?

I'm working on a somewhat automatic process whithout wasting any waste if that makes sense. Or am I wasting my time?

Thanks

A2Z

Okay i will bite here. Its a bit more complicated. Mineralization has to occur first. So while yes there is nutrients in the poo. It isnt available because its not in a use able state. Same concept behind an iron nail in a grow bed wont solve your iron deficiencies. Personally I vacuum it out and clean my pumps and pour that off into my garden. Let the worms take care of it. I dont like my growbed media getting clogged. Oddly i have never added worms to my grow beds but they always wind up in there.

Mineralization will happen in your grow beds and tanks. That's why our grow beds smell like dirt and not a ses pool. You can make a Mineralization tank to spead up the process but it still takes a month or so.

I like a solids filter. That way i can collect the solids and put them where i want them. Keep my pumps from degrading and keep the media from clogging. You can toss the solids into a compost, add to garden, into a mineralization tank or a corner of the grow bed where it wont clog the input pipe of the grow bed.

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Interesting food for thought. I'm so new at this, I don't really kno w much about any other system, or operation of such. My first 3 towers are filled with lava rock. 3 or so years old & never dismantled or cleaned. Currently still producing. But not as good as it should.

My recent improvements consist of a solids pulverizer, and a quarter turn flush mechanism haha I prefer the fish do most of the work. Ever seen a treadmill or squirrel cage for fish? Might have to make one up.

Thanks for the valuable info.