Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Didn't get time to install extra over flow

On the plus side. Big tank has started growing algea (will have to cover this week), water temps have dropped below 20, have my order for 25 trout in, winter veg seeds sown in small "indoor" system are germinating for transplant in 2-3 weeks to big system.

All the prob I had previously with nutrient deficiency in my small system we due to over planting and under stocking. After I put 10 gold fish in and thinned everything right back, things started growing properly again. Once I thinned tomattoes back to 3 plants, they went nuts with flowering, and my basil finally started growing again with cooler weather.

Since I've moved 5 of the goldies to big system I've been dosing small system with seasol and iron every second day to ensure it can handle excess tomato fruit + the extra seeds i've planted.

Hey I had another look at the photo's of the tank when it is at full water level and I'm afraid to say I noticed that I can clearly see where your problem lies in the system..

The Top of the SLO that would normally be the overflow is actually about 1-2 inches higher than it should be.. The SLO should be 2" lower from the top edge of the tank..

Other than that it does Look great..

Juergen

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Smack me if I say something Dumb..

I'm full of idea's..
That need to put into action..
One of those idea's is happening right now even If I think it is slight void of what It could be..

Can I have a Mulligan..

J

Thanks for feedback Snowy.

Yeah. The SLO top is just below top of tank. U can see I've cut the top off the Ts to achieve this. I was going for maximum water volume and didn't expect the water level to reach the top of the SLO under normal operation. Easy fixed though, I'll just install that extra over flow with a lower max height, 2inch lower. By itself it won't clear enough water to cause a massive reduction in the volume going to the SLOs. If it does I'll install a ball valve to make it adjustable.

Checked system levels for the first time in:

Ages, since I added gold fish-
Small system. Amm 0-0.25, ph <7.4. (didn't bother with low test), rites 0, rates 80-160

Ever
Large system. Amm 0, ph 7.8-8.0, rites 0, rates ~10

I'm impressed with small system. When I was having nutrient problem and only had 5 yabbies I could hardly get a nitrates reading. Now with 5-10 gold fish the levels are off the chart almost. This would explain the recent strong growth despite lots of tomato fruiting and new seedlings bein sown from seeds.

P.s all the yabbIes have died since my first report if a death. It seems either the ph drop or the abundant amount of fish crap they had to live in at the bottom of the slim tank was too much for them. They slowly dropped off the perch.

Do a low range test Luke... and keep an eye on the pH...

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Will do one this arvo if I get time. Also don't know if u saw my PM about my water temps being back up to 22. I dont particularly want to be aerating like a mo-fo just to keep trout kicking when they arrive. Would prefer not to make it more of a challenge than it needs to be.

Thanks for calling me on my laziness Rupe, because my ph was 6.4. Far lower than I ever expected it could get with our high ph water sources.

I'll put the coral back in the tank, and sprinkle some shell grit in gb if things don't change.

Should I take the driftwood out of tank, or leave it in there as a counter buffer to the shell/coral carcas?

Just to ram the "cover your tank" point home. The algae in my big system is dying and falling off the walls since I covered it completely. Unfortunately my SLOs are leaving a dead zone of dead algae "dust" on the bottom. I found an old pump with a Venturi inlet in it, so I might set this up as an aerator and point it at the dead zone to circulate things.

Bah! Water in big tank back up to 23.5 degrees. Not time for trout yet . I've never wanted more for it to get cold in my life!

On another note. I threw the coral carcas and a hand full of shell grit into the small system to try and bring ph back up. Will test again in a few days.

The SLOs on the big system don't seem to be as bad as I first thought. The dead algae is making it's way out eventually.

I love my SLO and watching the leaves and bits and pieces rise from the bottom and dissapear to the GB. Magical

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James' System

My SLOs do not have as much pull as that. Probably due to splitting the flow over two 40mm SLOs instead of one 65mm SLO. It is definitely clean directly below them though.

I know what you mean. We had a cold snap up here and the tanks were getting to a max of about 21.5C. Was getting all excited. Today it is up to 24.5

Rain is a double edged sword. My water tank is getting low but it has pushed my water temps up

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So here is some of the build photos I missed posting.

Here you can see the 40mm inter sump barrel plumbing. This seems plenty for the 1500-3000lt and hr flow the pump is putting out at 1.2 m head.

These pictures were taken the day before the start of the sydney rains.



Here you can what happens when you only have time to burry one lot of the plumbing, not pack any back fill around the barrels, and then get terential rain over night. All I can say was that i was was PEEEEED off something fearce. After all that exact digging and leveling so the barrels were right, one night of rain wrecks it all. Since the barrels were already plumbed, I didn't realy have any option then to try to float them into place. I filled them all with water and wiggled and worked them into place. The barrel on the far left with the over flow hole is now alot higher than I wanted, and so the barrel on the far right can nearly over flow before the one on the left starts releasing water.

Yabbies will start dieing at this level DrLuke

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~2010/2011~
~2012/2013~
~My Yabbie Hunting Adventures~

Thanks for info Charlie. Hence the reason why they started dropping off the perch a few weeks ago I guess. From now on I'll keep a couple in every system as canaries.

Also, after a couple if days with the coral carcas and handle full of shell grit in system, my ph has climbed back to between 6.8 and 7. Added a tiny bit more shell grit an will retest later this weekend.