Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Jaymie,
the ft is actually an IBC and I'm thinking of finding some polystyrene if you think that will help with insulation.

Nope, don't think the seasol will fix your picture additions :groan:


Those stands look nice and sturdy for the bath tubs

was gonna do a one liner on the rubber bands but you can only take soooo much

Yeah, that probably would help with insulation, I just thought that maybe there would also be heat loss/gain through the bottom and sides of the bathtubs. If you could stack bales of hay or the biscuits of hay around the tubs it might help as well.

Gnash06 had lots of trouble last summer with heat. He used a number of methods to help alleviate the problem. I can't remember which was the best bet, maybe check his thread.

Bath tubs are such a cool starting point for AP! Wont be long before yours looks like this

Hi,

An update on my system. The gh took a huge battering from the winds so has been pulled down until hubby does some stabilising.

Had added another 20 gf to the ft and have had a few casualties which seem to be the result of the fish getting sucked up against the pump and consequently suffering injuries. Other than that they seem to be quite healthy and happy and feeding well.

We had a bit of a drama with the timer stuffing up and affecting the pumps - turned the water algae. Replaced the timer and all has been pretty good since. Recently changed the timer cycle from pumping for 30 mins, draining for 30 mins to pumping for 15 mins at increased rate to draining for 30 mins and have found the water becoming more algae again and the sump tank getting very green and slimey. Have taken photos and will attempt to post them. Should I change the cycle back to 30 mins a piece??

Other thing is that the fish poo doesn't seem to be getting taken out of the ft very well and pumped onto the plants. Hubby is right now out there working on the problem by moving the pump into the middle of the tank instead of having it in one corner. He has also tilted on corner of the ft in an effort to get the fish poo to move towards the pump. If both these attempts fail to change the situation, is there anything else anyone can suggest to fix the situation?

some pictures for See-more

last one

Spring is in the air...obviously.....

There's all sorts of systems coming out into the open... and pics.... even Steve's

Well done See-more

Perhaps consider a "venturi" siphon arrangement like VB and Elk useif you continue to have problems with getting the fish poo sucked into the pump

it would have copped a caning in the sun today my lettuce is not very nice looking now

Oh and welcome seemore

The fish poo is no big deal, while you have the pump running just agitate the water with a garden hose on full, lots of poo to growbeds then.

I do not know what is causing your algae - maybe too much sun on the fish tank? Actually after looking at the last photo, I would say that would be the case. Anyone know if too much seasol causes it too?

hello!

see more, i strongly suggest u isolate your fish tank from the sunlight, wrapping it in something reflective(black&white poly or something that doesn't let the sunlight through)
the green color is from the algea and it could clog up your system in the future, at least with RAS hydroponic system water must be protected from direct light

i don't think it's seasol, because algea grows on any N nutrient, and AP is all about N

to aggitate the tank better i suggest you set the incomming drain so that it will create a swirl in the tank(put the hose that leads back to the tank angled 45° in the middle of the tank's edge-see the drawing)

and btw, your fish tank is the same that i'll be using hehe, very nice system you have!

here's what i ment about aggitating tank

so I would assume that algae means not enough grow bed nutrient absorption? hehe that would be why I have no algae - no nitrates or ites and the goldies wont eat any more

outback

no i don't think that's the main reason,
try putting two glasses of water on the window shelf, put only water in the first one and put some AP water in the second one, wait for ~2 weeks or less, depends on the temperature and see the results

the one with AP water will turn green faster than the one with clean water, simply because AP water has more food AND most of all, those two glasses will get equal ammounts of "direct" sunlight

you can put another two testers with glasses wrapped in a carton or something that won't let the sunlight in, one with ap one with clear water

both of them will grow algea very very slow, because algea is a photosynthetic organism

that's why gray gravel is preferred for growbeds i think, it's the middle off white and black, white reflects a lot of sunlight(heat) but it also grows algea just because of that. black absorbs sunlight and passes it on via conduction to water(water temp problems in the summer) but it doesn't grow algea

so gray is the golden middle or red or simmilar

tanks molj, answer is less light for fish

hehe, exactly!
have a look at some natural ponds and observe in which area the fish mostly move, they love the shade as much as we do
hehe, maybe they just need sunglasses hehe

p.s.

another thing i remembered, i have an ap aquarium, that has little or no algea on the glass unless the water flow reduces(sometimes snail shells get stuck in the intake)
so if you agitate your tank more and shade it somehow from the sunlight, you'll have a gogo

good day!

Thanks folks.
Things have improved since last time I posted an update. We have put some cardboard down the sides of the ibc to help with the light problem and now have a much bigger pump in the fish tank and since then the growth of the plants has boomed along. Probably something to do with the fish poo actually getting to the gbs. I guess it's what you call a learning curve. Our fish are much bigger too, just wish they were silver perch and they would be getting a little closer to eating size all the time.
I will have to plant some seeds soon as the broccoli & cabbage and cauliflower I planted got eaten by bugs and the lettuce went to seed because of the small pump. I expect if I plant seeds now they should boom. Time will tell. I should also take some more pics soon but will probably wait for the seeds to show through.