Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Ok,

So i just picked up some fresh olive barrels...greek imports and really new (they have dec 2012) on them.



Not much to post now as i have just cut one in half (not lengthways) im going for two deeper beds as most things i grow are climbers etc.


I will be running constant pumping system as my FT will also be an olive barrel.

I am going to lie it down on its side and just got an oval in the top.


If the barrel is 200l whats the rough idea of how many trout i can have in it when it cools.


Whole system is under shadecloth and the barrels are brown so there wont be any light getting in, plenty of GB as the GB to FT ratio is 1:1


Also lucky ive been hitting the gym recently...i used a hacksaw to cut the olive barrels....lots of work when its a fine tooth blade...

hi jay can we see some photos? we like photos

A 200l fish tank is to small for trout, but the 200l of media will do around 8 trout if you used a bigger tank about a 1000l.

You don't need to worry about the tank to bed ratio the one to use is fish to GB media volume 500l GB media will do 20 to 25 fish from fingerling to plate size 500g.

hope that helps and don't forget the photos


Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2

_________________
nats blue barrel system
mum and dads system

single barrel system
T barrel system (1.5 barrels)
three barrel system

i Guess as its impossible for me to get a larger tank then goldfish it is

Filled the fish barrel up with 9 feeder goldfish.



Also the worm farm convert is next to it. Basically acts as a filter for my pond in the rental place im in.

what have you planted?

what feed are you using?

If it's none because you can't find it I think there a 500g container of 2mm back at the shop with your name on it.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 2

_________________
nats blue barrel system
mum and dads system

single barrel system
T barrel system (1.5 barrels)
three barrel system

Nah i got the 2mm here

In the new stuff i only have snow peas again to get things moving and filtering whilst my other things germinate in my germinating tray.

Some superhot chillis 1mill+ scoville units. black russian tomatoes. eggplant. ive had bad luck with those in the soil so i want to do a comparison.

once its up and running ill get some nicer things going. its deep enough i guess for some larger things like miniature fruit trees almost


come winter i guess leafy greens etc and SNOW PEAS!

just a brief update (ill get some photos soon).

My tank has finally cycled, i was suprised the comets did well. The ammonia was up above 4ppm for the last few weeks, i was suprised how fast this all happened but one day i measured it and ammonia was down to 0.25ppm and the nitrites were off the chart.


Anyways i have had snow peas going in the system (working as filtration as they are fast growing) because i started fish and plants at the same time. Peas were a place holder until chillis etc have grown enough to use them for filtering.


All is going well and im happy so far, i will wait and see in the next two weeks how things start to grow as most of the seedlings all have their first true leaves now.

thanks

well after over a month i ahve barely any growth from anything except snow peas.

some plants wilted looked like they rotted from being too moist or something...

Others all the ends and surrounds of their leaves were yellowing off...


For now i have put it down to the lack of good sun??


I have moved the system out of the shade cloth now and into the sun (i have pulled out almost all the plants).


My important question is,


I have ~180l of growbed and about the same size FT.

In my FT i have about 10 comet (like goldfish)


Im wondering if this isnt enough to produce enough waste to keep the system going with nutrients...

any thoughts?

What are you feeding them

_________________
~2010/2011~
~2012/2013~
~2014~
~Backyard farming~

food from BYAP, those pellets

also generally the water quality the ph was around 6.8, ammonia and nitrates are normally at 0



The fish are like less than 7-8cm in size so there isnt a lot of fish volume in 200l of GB i would have thought..

I have a single blue barrel system, it has about 70L FT water capacity and about 50L GB gravel capacity, but only about 40L of wet gravel. It has 6-7 x 8cm Bronze Comets powering it (normally 7 but every few months one will jump out and is replaced a.s.a.p.). They are fed on crushed Barra pellets, so good nutrient content.

I can grow Lettuce, Coriander, Bok Choy and other Asian greens okay, but if I try Capsicum, Tomatoes etc, they become deficient in Potassium (K) very quickly. It shows as yellowing between the veins and around the leaf margin (edge), on the lower, older leaves. If the deficiency progresses the yellow margins turn necrotic (dead), giving the leaf the appearance of being sun scorched, or burnt from over fertilising.

Even when I'm just growing the leafy greens I can still get K deficiency if the GB is brimming with plants. Seasol contains Potassium and will help, I add one capful (15ml) to my system every 2-3 weeks, but I've never been able to fully correct the deficiency with Seasol alone. I foliar spray with Eco-fungicide (Potassium bicarbonate) at the first sign of K deficiency... until recently the system pH has been too high to add into the water, but if your pH is below 7.0 you can do that. I've only added it to the water a few times now, I dissolve about a 1/4 teaspoon in a bucket of the system water, then gradually add that back into the system in 2 or 3 stages over an hour or so.

Long story short, 6-7 x 8cm Comets don't provide enough nutrients for my single 50L GB, so IMO 10 x 8cm Comets won't be providing enough nutrients for 200L of GB, I reckon you could safely run 20 comets in your situation... they don't need anywhere close to the Gravel:Fish ratio required for Trout, Barra, Perch etc... 10L of gravel per Comet is fine.

_________________
Mr Damage - a.k.a: Yabbies
Owner at Perth Aquaponics - Aquaponic Consultant & Trainer
Trade certified Horticulturist & Cert IV TAE

thankyou sir for so well defining my problem...

The older leaves would go slowly yellow around the edges and then shrivel like they were sun burnt.


I did add some liquid powerfeed which is similar to seasol but made from fish and it has NPK in it, that helped for a little while.

Recently after over a month the growth was just horrible, and the root systems were small...


I think you may have helped by giving me the stats of your system...definitely need more fish then...

Im just wondering i was going to have Koi when i moved into my new place so maybe now is the time to buy a few and just put them in my barrel...i have read they are messy and make a lot more poop and eat more than normal fresh water fish,


Its just going to be way to expensive to buy 20 more comet, unless i go feeder fish which are bronze and invisible in my brown tank (however a few from last time have turned half gold).


Coming up to winter i assume the water temp being much lower the fish will eat less too???


My chilli plants after a month were about 5cm tall...pretty bad growth rates.

Just added some powerfeed again to boost the potassium levels. i think its something liek 14:2:9 or somewhere close.


How will more fish help the potassium levels???



I may also go buy some chelated iron.

They wont... or at least to any recognisable degree...

When it comes time to buffer your pH up... use some Potassium BiCarbonate (sold as Ecofungicide at Bunnings)... as Yabbies suggested....

Or bury a banana in your grow beds....

Seasol is better than "powerfeed".... has a lower "nitrogen" content...

Twice as many fish will eat twice as much food, so twice the nutrients, including Potassium, going into the system. Twice as much nutrient with the same GB area has to better than what you've got now... but IMO you will still need to supplement with K, especially if you grow fruiting plants... just not as much, or as often.

_________________
Mr Damage - a.k.a: Yabbies
Owner at Perth Aquaponics - Aquaponic Consultant & Trainer
Trade certified Horticulturist & Cert IV TAE