Cheap easy way of Aquaponics!

RupertofOZ

Nanniode Aquaponics wrote:

Just in 2 days the pond water is more clear and I could see bacteria re-colonizing on the media in the biofilter.

You must have microscopic vision....

Nanniode Aquaponics

RupertofOZ wrote:

Nanniode Aquaponics wrote:

Just in 2 days the pond water is more clear and I could see bacteria re-colonizing on the media in the biofilter.

You must have microscopic vision....

you know what I was talking about.. see for yourself by keeping a cookie or bread in your pocket for 2 to 3 days. You can then see them too... try it.

Nanniode Aquaponics

Water hyacinth plants almost gets doubled in 2 weeks. One of the control measures we adopted is to feed the leaves as supplement to rabbits and fishes. They seem to be liking them over time.

Here is the 2-in-one coop-hutch home for our 5 rabbits and 4 chicken.

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2-in-1 hoop hutch.JPG [ 148.64 KiB | Viewed 4989 times ]

mantis

What you see building up on your biofilter will not be bacteria but gunk that needs to be removed. Your system is big and with a pond system a lot of muck builds up. Keeping the filter clean will help

Great system and garden by the way :headbang:

Nanniode Aquaponics

mantis wrote:

What you see building up on your biofilter will not be bacteria but gunk that needs to be removed. Your system is big and with a pond system a lot of muck builds up. Keeping the filter clean will help

Great system and garden by the way :headbang:

Noted Mantis. I appreciate your input.

There is a drain at the bottom of the bio-filter. As a routine practice, we started draining the bottom debris every alternative days, 2-3 buckets of light muck. This is a next step we have taken since last week. Previously, we cleaned only once a month. I hope this practice does not have an adverse effect on the bacteria colonies in the bio-balls and plastic/nylon springs lying one feet above the bottom.

At times, the water from the bottom drain of filter has a foul smell, degassing I guess. Is it normal?

RupertofOZ

It's a sign of anaerobic conditions... and suggests that you should be emptying the filter more often...

Nanniode Aquaponics

RupertofOZ wrote:

It's a sign of anaerobic conditions... and suggests that you should be emptying the filter more often...

Okay. Someone had advised me we need some anaerobic conditions inside the bio-filter for putrification and break down of solid wastes. I guessed the mild foul smell is of CO2 and H2S, the result of biological processes inside the filter.

However, we added an additional external 2-way air pump for the filter, 2 air stones going inside it. We also started draining the bottom debris every alternative days, 2-3 bucketfuls of water and light muck.

I do not know if these changes make any difference. Waiting and watching.. hope this improves the filtration further.

Katib

Nanniode Aquaponics wrote:

Friends,

Here is sharing with you a photo update taken in the morning.

We cleaned our bio-filter thoroughly today. Removed 2 big bucketful loads of black thick debris/bacteria. Can someone tell me how long it takes for the bacteria colonies to rebuild? I see them everywhere in the pond and grow beds.

Regards, vkn

Nice work .Well done vkn .

Nanniode Aquaponics

Katib wrote:

Nice work .Well done vkn .

Hi Katib, thanks. it is a demo pond and long way to go before we can present the scheme to the poor public.

Nanniode Aquaponics

Tricerix wrote:

Very nice garden Nanniode, I have been thinking about running plants in pvc pipe the way you have around your pond and have a few questions for you. It looks like you are using clear plastic cups to hold the media, and what type of glue do you seal the pipe to the potters? It looks like your pond is lined with some sort of waterproof membrane, and I was wondering what you did there as well:)

Hi Tricerix, sorry I missed your questions.

Clear plastic cups to hold the media - they are regular plastic water cups, $1.3 per 100 pieces, cut 3 oval-shaped long holes at the bottom. Google images.

Media - blue/white filter sponge cut into rectangular strips in circular folds holding the plants

Glue to seal the pipe to the potters - no glue, simply placed the cups into the NFT holes deep enough to touch the water film

Waterproof membrane - it is an HDPE pondliner, approx. $0.3 per sq ft. You can read details of our HDPE pondliner here - http://nanniodeaquaponics.blogspot.in/2013/10/hdpe-pond-liner-for-aquaponics-fish.html

I hope that answers your questions.

Nanniode Aquaponics

I posted this elsewhere and would like to re-post this here as a disclaimer.

We are into R&D and are learning continuously. We believe in execution at our working model farm, one process at a time. We call it as an AP working demo site. Long way to go for us and lots of things to do.

R&D differs other programs that are intended to yield nearly immediate profit or immediate improvements in operations and certainly involve little uncertainty as to the return on investment. It is up to the individual AP farmers to choose valuable new products, equipments, systems, processes, and services from anywhere. We are not systems distributors or trainers or consultants as of yet.

We advise people to copy any of our ideas and processes at their own peril. We advise you to go small and expand as they learn.

One recent good news is we are getting government support and we would start our second demo system in their agricultural R&D division where research students would participate in the AP process. That is really exciting and going to be too much paper work reporting things. We will have plenty to share and discuss continually. We will update our progress periodically.

Feel free to write me back any time should you have further questions.

Nanniode Aquaponics

Here is sharing with you our one pump Aquaponics system design.
We are still working on it. Thought I would share and seek your feedback and questions on this diagram.
I also hope it might help some noobs who may not have made it to this point yet.

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