Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Here it is - the reason for my (initial) interest in BYAP. The fish pond which had a serious algal bloom.
The other photos are of my gravel grow-bed (needs more gravel) but has a rhubarb plant and a tray of seedlings germinating in there too,
and the new floating planters in the pond (yesterday's addition).

I took a couple of plants - silver beet and parsley and a couple of seedlings (either cauliflower or broccoli) and a "chopped off piece of silverbeet which came out with the other plant.

From small beginnings....

One feature which cannot be seen, is Johnny7au's suggested gravel filter with water flow provided by airlift.

Some more photos of my trial system.

...and the process continues
looks good.
With the rafts you may find them floating upside down one day when they are top heavy, I ended up using full size trays to avoid the capsize!

Yeah they sink pretty fast when they hit an iceberg lettuce.... boom-boom tss!

whats with the fake ornamental parsley? go the real stuff

good to see another perth aper amongst the ranks.

i had a look at your blog and have a couple q's for you.

firstly are you a lecturer or student at freo tafe? the reason i ask is that i was a student last semester and may have bumped into you.

secondly do you use worms in the setup?

i like the look of your setup. simple and effective. i would love to hear more about it.

UPDATE:
Something ate one of the cauli, but the other is still looking good.
The beans are 5" tall now and looking for a trellis, so I need to relocate the GP to near the fence to utilise it as a trellis. There was some yellowing of the parsley so those leaves were removed. (Steve, What did you mean by "whats with the fake ornamental parsley?", is there a different type? I like the flavour of this variety but I am ready to try anything new.)
The silver beet is still growing and the small one now has a couple of leaves.

Tony, Steve is of wog descent and believes that only Italian parsley is REAL parsley not that pretend triple-curled stuff

(love ya Steve!)

J

Jaymie is correct

Check out one of joels pics from the main websiteand you can see how big it grows.

chooks seem to love it too, there are two dirt bushes here that have nothing but stems left on it.

Photos from tonight (after working on system 2 all afternoon).
I moved the GB to near a fence to allow it to be used as trellis for the beans (purple ones). It is a bit hard to see, but there are actually 2 plants there.

The gravel is a bit low and the flood is a bit deep. The trough is cracked and weeps a little water out. I am working within these parameters and topping up the pond once a week. I will see if I can rescue some more Hydrotron from System 2 event of yesterday to top up this GB.

The floating plants still are alive (apart from one Cauli which suffered insect damage), but are not showing any major growth yet.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

Tony

That silverbeet is starting to take shape nicely, won't be long before it is on the evening menu

Yes,
They are looking good.

Those 2 plants were shoots cut from one of my 20+ silver beet plants which already keep our extended family in this vegetable. The larger one had virtually no roots when I transplanted it to the floating bed, but was cut through the stem. It has surprised me that it survived the shock.

I planted a small variety to see how each plant handled the AP environment.

Regards,
Tony

My Master Test Kit arrived today.
Here are the readings for the fish pond water:
NH3 2.0
NO2 0
NO3 0
pH >8.8

the pond still has a serious algae problem
I don't have many plants, in the GB or floating, and they seem to be surviving, but not thriving.

Should I be trying to drop the pH?
What is a natural acid I can use (lemon juice)? I have plenty of lemons.
Vinegar?

What can I do to reduce the algae? Are there algae eating fish?

Hi Tony... duckweed will help consume some of your ammonia from the system and lemon juice is a quick and easy way to alter the pH.....

Balance out those two factors and you'll probably find the bloom disappears.

You'll also find that the bacterial balance will produce more nitrates and your plants will improve.

Plain white (cheap) vinegar is as good as lemon juice. Go with what is easier/cheaper.

Tilapia would love to eat your algae--if they are legal in your area.

If you can shade the water, either with cloth, roofing, or floating plants/rafts, that will also help reduce algae.