Ron and Ruths 1st IBC system

rrjl6572

Hi All

We have just been seriously biten by the AP Bug. 7 Weeks ago we attended a BYAP workshop and from there on in we have become avid aquaponicists. Our IBCs were quickly located and our plan to cut out the large area of concrete to the side of our patio was canned. What better base for our system. Since then we have cycled the system
As we already have a gold fish pond out the front we used some fish from there to get started. We then sourced some Silver Perch. We have delt (successfully we think) with a case of ick. Lost some GF but all the SP made it through and are feeding well. We can see them growing bigger each day
We have been experimenting with different plants in the 3 GB one of which is aptly named the "swamp" as it is shallow and has a high water level in comparison to the other 2 and also is under more shade. We have plans to erect a trellis over the whole area with roll up shadecloth so it can be removed through the cooler months. Have harvested a fair crop of lettuce and tatsoi, a couple of peas, the tomatoes are carrying fruit as well as the capsicum and strawbs.
We are now working on an indoor AP system complete with heater to try our hand at growing Barra fingerlings for our next system (sometime before next spring please Ron)
Will post more pics when we can drag ourselves away from setup 1! and those hypnotic SP's!

DrLuke

Nice work, and welcome. I wish there was a second in my house that was an avid aquaponicist.... Things would get built a hell of a lot faster.

rrjl6572

Have figured out how to post more info and pic's :oops:

Our system has been running for 7 weeks now. The SP are well and the GF fear for their life at feeding time. We've pretty much been feeding them whenever we fancy but ensuring that they finish all the food before tossing in more. Our pH is finally dropping. Last nights reading was 7.6 (Our lowest reading).
Tomatoes and capsicums have had good strong growth and have formed some fruit. The strawbs also. The kids love picking salad greens and are happy now to eat them :lol:

Our corn is stripy but is flowering although it hasnt formed cobs yet. Last night we added a tsp each epsom salts and chelated iron. Oh and managed to foliar spray seasol after sun down but before mozzie time (We just had our lamb chops a bit later)

Does anyone have any idea as to how long before they show signs of greening up? and if we will need to add more?

The 'swamp bed' after getting of to a gr8 start has dropped off and plants are showing signs of being water stressed so may have a little job for Ron on the weekend :love4:

faye

Looking very good guys, love the fairy lights, I bet it looks awesome at night when all lit up

It will be interesting to see how long it takes to green up, I would suggest that you take a photo at a certain time from a set position and do the same in a few days and then again at a week and compare the difference.

rrjl6572

Ah, inspiration for the next photo shoot haha. We have solar fairy lights everywhere. Yes, we think it looks gr8.

back to the corn, will head out this arvo and start the process. do you think that we should add any more epsom salts and chelated iron in a couple of days?

faye

One step at a time, try not to rush or be in a hurry. I would leave a week in between and let the system have a chance to do what it will do naturally

rrjl6572

Cheers Faye. Thanks for bursting my bubble, I am not very patient so you have given me a time line to stick to.

earthbound

Yep, the hardest aspect of aquaponics, the patience required....

rrjl6572

Have made a few changes to our system. Impatience bit again and we moved and converted our storage tank (it was being used to grow duckweed - rather unsuccessfully). We now have 2 separate FTs. The SP have 2 GBs to fertilize and the 6 largest of the Barra have been put into system 2 with the swamp bed. They probably wont make it to plate size but since we got 2 for free it is not an expensive experiment. The cooler weather has upset the apple cart tho, so we have dragged out a timer and started circulating thru GB from 6am to 6pm in the hope that it may keep the water at a more constant temp. The tank has warmed up again and they are feeding well. Can Barra eat too much?
We have the smaller 15 barra indoors but am having a problem with nitrites not dropping. Readings are Am .25/rites 5/rates 80. Thinking we will need to dump some water and refresh.
We salted our outdoor FTs a couple of weeks ago and think we got a bit heavy handed as nearly all the plants suffered - the skyrocketing temps didnt help either. So glad we put the shade over the trellis :cheers:

The first of our tomatoes is starting to blush - only a couple of days till our first serious harvest

rrjl6572

Can Barra eat too much? our indoor guys ogle me every time I walk past the tank and can see me pick up the food jar. They would feed constantly if they could :naughty:

These guys are next Barra Seasons stock so we hope they dont outgrow the tank before next spring :flower:

dr bee

Great phot of the barra in the little tank. So, so envyuos. Just love the shape of their heads.

I see you worked out attaching the link.

Happy to say I can now walk past my tanks and chuck in feed whenever I want and it disappears in a few minutes. Love hearing the sound of them slapping the surface of the water to get the pellets. A few days of neglect while in Albany didn't hurt them, but made them hit the pellets even harder.

Was looking closley at my fish last night and from the same batch of SP fingerlings, I have some as small as 75mm, and others at least 150mm, most 100-125. Can't believe how much difference. They all seem to feed activley, with the little ones not being bossed around by bigger ones. Wonder why so much difference?

rrjl6572

Thanks Dr for your help with the link - I would never have worked it out :oops:

Its a bit of a puzzle but maybe the little ones arent eating as much or maybe they are just holding off so that you dont end up with a glut

It is GR8 to hear them all splashing hey. Ours were limited to one feed a day over the long weekend (thanks Dad) and all good here also. Sounds like you chose the right holiday destination too haha. We went Nannup way and "narry" a breeze all weekend. Very glad that the temps have dropped a little...

rrjl6572

Just a few up to date pics. Have been preoccupied with sowing next seasons crops. Lettuce is sprouting as is beetroot and spinach. Dont seem to have much joy with the pea seeds though...

We have removed all the goldies and returned them to the pond out the front so the SP have the whole tank to themselves now with the exception of a few jilgies and marron.

All the Barra are now outdoors as they grew too fast in the indoor tank. They are not going to reach plate size however. The only nice warm weather we have really had and we couldnt feed them because of the pea soup water :upset:

The indoor tank has been relocated to infront of a large north facing window. We only have some indoor plants in the GB but will experiment with various seeds now. We will get a few SP fry to overwinter in here. Hopefully they can be relocated to the outdoor SP tank in the spring :flower:

rrjl6572

A few more photos

dr bee

Ron and Ruth,

Lookin' Good!! Bet the barra would be nice fried. Be just like large white bait. Take a couple to fill a slice of bread. Bones would be pretty soft.

Just realised why my lettuce didn't work well over summer, its winter lettuce! Have planted a heap of seed, but have now needed to put up some mesh, as something is coming in and selectively eating stuff. My strawberries keep disapearing, and Mrs B promises it is not her. Hoping its just birds.

Had the neighbours dog dig under our fence the other day and used the aquaponics as a stand to look over the fence. Big sandy dog prints as evidence!

Might try some beets. Where did you get your seeds? Winter tomatoes, where are they from too?

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics