Comment

Comment by Allen Jiang on September 26, 2012 at 7:58pm

Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me out with choosing fish fro my aquaponics system. I live in Australia where it's getting warmer now so I don't know which fish to choose.

Thanks,Allen

Comment by TCLynx on September 23, 2012 at 9:52pm

Thanks for the detailed description Jim.

If it works, it works

Comment by Jim Fisk on September 23, 2012 at 4:46pm

Hey TC, I see what you are saying but it all depends on your method.

Merely hosing down the gravel would never have cut it with the river sand or rather gravel that I had to wash. I start by filling the ibc gb with water and lots of flow. I dump the gravel into the water at one side and then move the clean gravel on top over to the other side. Meanwhile the bell siphon is doing it's thing and all the silt and sand is being carried off out the back door of the gh and down hill so the flow is at a max. and I get to see the bottom every cycle of the siphon. (My siphons rock) I keep piling the clean gravel high until the whole gb full is taking up about 2/3 of the gb. and keep running the water and siphon hard until no silt and sand are left all the time stiring things up and then I move all the gravel the other way to make sure nothing has settled under the pile. Great part is I DON'T HAVE TO MOVE IT AGAIN I just level it out and plant.

It is always work but the end result is very gratifying. I hate to think anyone has ever had gravel worse than I had. Also keep in mind the gravel weighs a lot less and is easier to move around under water. I suggest gloves but I have yet to use them. I started out washing it in barrels but this method beats all that heavy lifting by a long shot.

Comment by TCLynx on September 20, 2012 at 1:09pm

Jim, just so everyone knows, not all media is appropriate to wash right in the grow bed.  I've dealt with some media that is so full of sand, silt, clay, fines etc that to simply fill a grow bed with it and then try to hose it down there, will just wash all that stuff into a concrete like mass in the lower regions of the grow bed.

The washing method you describe works wonders with stuff like clay balls or some media that simply has a little bit of dust on it but is otherwise rather clean and free of fines.

For most grave or media that has a fair bit of fines in it, I recommend getting some plant baskets and set up a couple of bins full of water.  But gravel or other media in basket, swish in a bin of water then swish in the next bin.  Us a shaking sifting motion.  This will sift out much of your fines so you don't get the concrete like substance in the bottom 4 inches of your grow bed.

Be sure you set up your swishing bins at a comfortable working height so as you swish, you are standing with your back straight and your elbows at your sides and your forearms parallel to the ground.  To high and your shoulders will hurt, too low and your back will kill you.  Set it up right and you can wash tons of gravel without major injury.

Comment by Jim Fisk on September 19, 2012 at 7:06am

I have incorporated a very simple fix assuming that the day will come when I want to wash or change the type (love to go all clay balls eventually) of media. Don't glue the piping between the siphon and drain line so you can disconnect it from the system and do whatever you need to while the drain goes elsewhere like out the back door of the gh. When you're done and the wash water runs clear simply hook it back up. (I wash all the new gravel right in the gb and it is by far the easiest way I have found.)  I only wish someone had told ME this before I glued everything up on the first 3 beds out of the 10 planned:-) That goes for the siphon as well. I diligently glued the siphons together thinking I was doing the right thing only to realize later that there was no need and now I could not adjust the height without major effort so I must adjust the gravel level instead. Lesson: keep that glue bottle shut until all is tuned up and don't glue unless you have to Of course a valve bypass system is ideal if you can afford all those extra valves. So far on my 5 FT and 10 GB system the only valves I have used came on the totes and I hooked them all (FT only) to a drain line. Valves are pretty and pretty expensive.

Comment by Leo White Bear on September 19, 2012 at 3:32am

Stephane-

  You are correct in your math, I did assemble my first system in May of 2011.  Please forgive the typo of "three years" should read second year.  That's what I get for typing fast and not re-reading before I post.  My error, just the same two years of (speaking of spring of 2011 to the fall of 2012 being two years) no cleaning of the grow beds

Leo

Comment by Stephanie Grim on September 18, 2012 at 8:21pm

Leo - Maybe I am mistaken, but according to numerous past posts of yours, you stated you assembled your first system in May of 2011 and in your words claimed to be a "newbie" at that time yet just a little over one year later you are now speaking from three years of hands on experience?  Might you be mistaken on that math?

Comment by TCLynx on September 18, 2012 at 7:52pm

Provided you have plenty of media filled grow beds for your fish tanks size/fish load, then re-washing or replacing gravel is rarely needed.

That is if you have lots of gravel grow beds and not too many fish.

If you are planning on pushing the levels of stocking and not having very much gravel grow bed, then you should install additional alternate means of filtration.

I know people who have been running grow beds with no other form of filtration for over 7 years and never replaced or re-washed their media but those are only lightly stocked with fish.

Comment by Leo White Bear on September 18, 2012 at 6:23pm

Kellen-

  I am at the moment running a media bed system for the third year without the seperate bio-filtration unit.  My ammoinia is 0.25, Nitrites are 0.0, Nitrates are 0.5 and the pH is 7.2.  After pulling my plants and before replanting a quick swirl of the grow bed water / medium and a quick siphoning of the water, I let it settle and turn the flow back on.  The FT water gets a little murky but settles down within a day.  A quick siphoning of the water and my job is done.  I then recheck the vitles and if they need to be changed, this is when I do it but with a mature system this is never necessary..  Not just talking here as all this is hands on experience.

White Bear

Comment by Kellen Weissenbach on September 18, 2012 at 3:35pm

Hi Leo,

While that will work for a while, ultimately you will accumulate huge amounts of solids in your grow beds without proper mechanical filtration (solids removal) in front of them, which will lead to a less stable system, a potential/likely fish kill or at least a bunch of extra work or cost when you inevitably have to either wash all your media in your growbeds or replace it outright to avoid the back breaking labor.  Now, biofiltration (not the same as mechanical) is intended to provide stability as a first priority but also the ability to modularize your system, meaning the ability to operate the system as distinct parts (a pure recirculating aquaculture system and hydroponics system) in the event maintenance is needed on one or the other, a treatment is needed for the fish that must be kept from the plants, particular nutrient additives are desired for the plants but are best kept away from the fish, etc.

Most simple kits and plans do not account for these very important requirements, and that is a major flaw unfortunately.

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