Aquaponic Gardening

A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

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Arizona Aquaponics

Helping each other to learn and grow big nutritious plants and fish to help feed the world.

Location: Phoenix
Members: 230
Latest Activity: Oct 7, 2019

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Thank you all for joining my group, I hope to do a lot with all anyone interested. Please
tell me any event suggestions you would like us to do.

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Comment by Vlad Jovanovic on December 11, 2012 at 4:48pm

Scott, you can 'kick start' the thermophillic process back up again by adding a nitrogen source to the cooled compost (assuming O2 and everything else is adequate). I use humonia (3-4 week old bottled urine) as the N 'kick starter'. Though you cant just keep re-adding N and have things heat back up indefinitely, it'll work a couple times to squeeze some more heat out of it. 

Comment by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on December 11, 2012 at 4:20pm

One more reason to grow your own seafood. From NPR, pervasive fish fraud in New York City. Fish in stores and restaurants mislabeled. Now just think, if this is the case in a city that knows fish, imagine here in the middle of the desert..

http://n.pr/X7RR8n

Comment by Chris George on December 11, 2012 at 10:32am

@Bob, great Jean Pain videos....thanks for sharing!

Comment by Bob Campbell on December 11, 2012 at 10:16am

@Scott - Add lots of manure.

Comment by Scott Bloom on December 11, 2012 at 9:53am

@Bob- those were the videos that gave the idea to attempt this.

@ Juanita- I did not compact either pile and they both went cold.  The food is correct because they were hot before I turned them, I know the pile is getting oxygenated, because I just flipped the pile.  What is baffling, I know I am causing the problem, is why the pile goes cold after the flip and spraying the water while rebuilding the pile.

Comment by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on December 11, 2012 at 9:41am

Good stuff @Bob

Comment by Bob Campbell on December 10, 2012 at 9:56pm

@Scott Bloom

Jean Pains videos - The power of compost

http://youtu.be/JHRvwNJRNag

http://youtu.be/zGCj7NA0OIs

Comment by Juanita Colucci on December 10, 2012 at 8:49pm

Being a long time land gardener and composter, I think it is more likely O2.  Compost really needs to be turned or aerated daily for hot compost.  I have used water straight from the hose for years in my compost.  If I turn it and water it daily, I get nice hot compost and composting may take about a month.  If I turn and water it weekly, temp will be lower and composting process may take 3-4 months.

Comment by Chris George on December 10, 2012 at 8:18pm

@Scott, try filling a watering can, and some 5 gallon buckets with water and letting them off-gas overnight.  You can moisten the compost with the chlorine free water in the watering can and refill the can with the reserve 5 gallon bucket water.  It might be the chlorine content in the water, and this 'experiment' will let you know for sure if that is the culprit.

Comment by Scott Bloom on December 10, 2012 at 7:13pm

My compost heater failed again last night, this shouldn't be that hard.  My understanding is that bacteria is used to break down a pile of vegetation into compost.  The three things required by the bacteria are food, water and oxygen.  The food is the vegetation being broke down, the oxygen needed is in the air and as long as the pile is not compacted I should be OK. The water, I think this is where my problem is.  I save up the composting material for a couple of days before I put into the cage with the coiled water pipe, during that time the center gets nice and warm, sometimes hot.  When I have enough material I transfer it into the cage and spray it with a little water.  The next day the pile is stone cold, now I am sure turning the pile would not kill the bacteria and they still have food and oxygen, so I am thinking what in the world is going on.  The water, to much, to little?  How about another thought, the chlorine in the water?  We remove the chlorine from the water that we put in our systems, because it will kill the nitrification bacteria, I wonder if the chlorine is killing the composting bacteria and that is why the piles go cold.  Anyone here have experience composting that can help?  I think the heat generated (up to 160 degrees) from the bacteria, 24 hrs a day, will raise the water temperature significantly in our AP systems with very little energy use.

 

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