DD's System 2011

Dave Donley

Just ordered 12 bluegill and 4 channel catfish from the traveling pond stocking folks who advertise on Craigslist. New fish on Saturday!

faye

Seeing the snow that you guys put up with there, makes me realise that the 50 degree temperature range here is not so bad. I think snow might be a little harder to manage. We have just come out of a very long hot summer and no rainfall to speak of. The nights are cooling off and it is thinking about raining. Look forward to seeing your spring progress Dave. :wave:

Dave Donley

Thanks Faye. I've been talking about getting trout for a couple years now, but around the middle of June it will start getting hot, and I didn't want to struggle with getting them through July, which can get up to 100 sometimes. The outfit that I am getting the fish from does deliveries every month, so I can get more easily enough. I may try getting trout around mid-August because they would be safe to get then.

Dave Donley

Well it turns out the fish truck was too full to accept more orders for this month, so instead I'm heading down 81 to WV to this place to get my fish. They have lots of neat pond animals for sale, maybe I'll try crayfish from them sometime?

http://zettsfishhatchery.com/id53.html

I thought this was good reading, learned a few things from it that I didn't know before:
http://zettsfish.com/cat/Zett's%202011% ... educed.pdf

Dave Donley

Rendezvous Mark IV
After I switched the system around before, the plants were not being swapped into the system so I was hand watering them. They are less happy than before. Rotating them into the system on a regular schedule really kept them healthier. There are ants living in the pots now too, which would not have happened if they were being rotated.

So I unhooked the solids digester, which didn't build up a stinky mess of poo in it so I think it was doing an OK job of breaking them down. I decided to try using the gravel weight to make the filter look more all-in-one. The trash can holds the pump in the bottom under gravel, with a planter for a socket to hold each planter, and a 1/2" fitting from the side to water the plants. This is Mark IV, but I will probably switch again to something similar to the first setup but using the pump instead of an air lift. This setup has finicky issues with having enough gravel to weigh down the trash can enough that it doesn't float, the 1/2" fitting I am using doesn't flow enough to keep the water from overflowing over the edge of the can, and there is very little capacity to handle evaporation - too little top-up and the thing will run dry when the water is not high enough to reach the fitting and then will probably float. Anyway the plants are getting watered fully and rotated again.

Dave Donley

Got my pond fish for less than what the catalog said they would be, like $25 total. Teensy little fish though! Got a dozen bluegill, 4 channel catfish, two dozen rosy red minnows, and a bag of daphnia. The water outside is very green and the fish are hiding still, maybe I'll get to see them when the water warms up more.

Dave Donley

Also scored a dead UPS from work today (battery needs replaced), to re-wire up to the trailer battery for an air pump backup. I don't have trout so it's not necessary, but plan to get some after Summer.

scotty435

Where do you get the replacement batteries from? I know a recycle place where I've seen these buzz through on a regular basis.

Dave Donley

Hey Scotty
We have a travel trailer we don't use and I've stolen the battery from that, to wire into this UPS as a charger/inverter/automatic switchover. There is a post or two on here from folks who have done it, which was the inspiration to me. I have a charger and bought an inverter but don't have the crossover relay, so the air pump would have to be running through the battery all the time, and also the battery charger I have doesn't stay on if the power has been tripped - the button has to be pushed on it to turn it on again. So it will be nice if this UPS can be the smarts for the backup, and the trailer battery has more capacity than the battery it came with.

scotty435

Thanks Dave. Sounds like the way your running the system right now is a bit of a pain. Hope the UPS works out for you :headbang:

.

Dave Donley

Man the garden dept at Lowe's is well stocked this weekend! Got a couple strawberry plants, and ten new small planters for the indoor system, and a long rectangular window box to set the indoor planters in. The little planters are half the price they were when I bought them in Winter.

Dave Donley

Last week a catfish and a couple bluegills were dead, haven't seen new dead ones since. I have been worried about sludge on the bottom so yesterday I tried pumping the bottom, but it turned out to be less of a problem than I had imagined. Also pumped out the digester and it was not built up much at all, but I haven't been feeding a lot either. Put the two outlet air pump outside to give the pond more air. Hope to crush more charcoal with the car sometime today.

Revved the aquarium system again, this is Rendezvous Mark IV. Three pots fit in the planter, one getting water from the pump, the next soaking in the water, the third draining because it is on a riser. I need more planters, right now have probably ten and this system can support more.

Dave Donley

Apparently have to switch to computer, can't upload images from iPad.

Dave Donley

Rendezvous Mark V

Dave Donley

The basil has gone to seed and I pulled it and put a strawberry plant in there. I pulled the plant and though, well OK, the roots are not very long. Then I started breaking up the charcoal and found roots throughout. Lots of surface area, like half charcoal half peat moss. The charcoal seems to have no ill effect on plant roots whatsoever.

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

DD's System 2011

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Backyard Aquaponics A place to discuss aquaponics

DD's System 2011

Who is online

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics