Rookie mistakes you should avoid.

[David Waite]

This discussion is about the absolute dummest thing you tried or did when you started aquaponics. This will teach all the newcomers who think they thought of it first the truth. Been there done that. Please be honest and swallow your pride and make it funny. Heres mine. Keep in mind I am building a greenhouse and my wife is going through brain surgery, I am running a contracting business, rentals, twin six year olds on my own and oh yea, I am a man which is two strikes already.  First stupid thing. Building my system and set my tank in the ground. pant pant. Pump the tank to clean it and leave it overnight. It rains and caves in my tank Oh $hit 1. Build the rest of the greenhouse and put up 6 mil on end walls. wind rips it apart Oh f$#@# 2. Re do tank and end wall and build rest of system all goes ok. Fill with gravel and start cycle. Buy test kit and test for ph. Twins take instructions and turn into a mud ball. Test for ammonia wrong and screw up cycle. Drop 70 catfish in and notice a nitrate spike. Finnally new test kit arrives and grab instructions and read. AMMONIA must be tested in the same tube not separate tubes DUMBA$$. Burn 70 catfish and loose all but 10 Crapola 3. Had a very rough start but my system is running with new fingerlings and all is well. Hope this shows you even a nuckle head can do this.

[TCLynx]

Cheers to that one

Christian James said:

- not starting a system soon enough!!!  I think you need to make a lot of errors to really learn about how aquaponics works.  Reading and watching others will get you so far, but you learn so much more by doing it.  Start small and leave room to grow because aquaponics quite addictive!

[chris taylor Swamp Creek Farms]

i think this is the best thread by far  -  sure you get a laugh while your reading,  but you also learn from others mistakes

[David Waite]

Mistake # 427. Put a local river rock a basalt origin in growbeds. Been fighting ph only to learn from TC how to test gravel. I test gravel and it tests at 8.0. I have added a boat load of acid thinking it was my water only to learn it is my media. Lesson learned test your rock first. Nevada used to be covered by a sea and the rock has fossilized shells stuck to it. So Ill yank it out this winter crappola!

[TCLynx]

David, you are not alone.  Many people have filled grow beds with even worse gravel.  I've heard of people using marble chips as media and those poor plants never did like it.

 

Yes test media first.  However, if you can't afford or get around to changing out the media, there are some plants that seem to like a high pH.  Watercress is one but it likes cool weather.  And if you need a hot weather beast to suck down nutrients, I'll suggest bananas but beware they may fill the grow bed beyond imagination with roots and be a pain to remove later, but it might be an effective way to remove the offending gravel as well and my ducks love eating up banana plants when I let them.

[Harold Sukhbir]

1. Cutting poly for the Raft on the floor and walking around on it. My raft resembled a strainer when i filled it from all the         tiny holes that were punctured into it.

2. Having to re-plant tomato and pepper seedlings 3 times in a row before i discovered that they can't survive around             cigarette smoke.

3. Using rainwater as source water for AP, after 5 months i had to adjust the falling PH everyday until i replaced it with           city water.   

4. Getting complacent with water testing after consistent stable readings. Then changed the fish feed(had antibiotics i           suspect),after 1 week the test showed 5ppm nitrite!. It's a miracle they survived!

 

[Ellen Roelofs]

Lol, yeah, Chris, that's an awesome pic.  I'll remember that one...

TCLynx said:

that looks pretty yucky!

[Robin]

thanks! these help! more!more!

[Kobus Jooste]

Embarrasingly, here is one I repeated yeaterday.  Don't mess with settings, get distracted and walk away.  If you are going to adjust something, fill something up, drain something - set the time aside to finish it and make sure all is sorted.  I have the habit of rushing around to do as much as possible, and walked away from the new sand bed where I was testing flooding time, and before the overflow pipe was in place.  Came back to the bed with water pouring out of it.  Luckily we have received about half our annual rainfall yesterday and I could replace the loss easily.