I had been admiring my tomato plant for a few weeks now.  Lots of foliage and lots or tomatoes.  Well, when I came home from work last week I found that the sump was nearly dry.  My water was overflowing from the tomato barrel. I pulled about two or three cups worth of roots from my gravel guard area.  Problem solved and lesson learned.  If it looks good on top, check down below!

This year promises to be a great year for my system.  My system has been up and running for 11 months now.  I am not checking my system like I have in the past.  Last week my system had trace amounts of ammonia and Nitrites.  My Nitrates were sitting between 20-40.  PH was good.  I recently added another outlet to my fish tank.  The second outlet allows my to run a higher volume of water through the tank.  It was necessary because saw a fungus growing on some of my goldfish. 

My system started with couple IBCs and a small fishpond liner last year.  I have added some barrels, zip (vertical) towers, and a deep water raft bed over the last few months.  I've moved things around once already and now I see to expand my garden in the future  I will need to move it again.  Goldfish are cheap and easy to find.  I have them in the sump and tank.

Last week I bought some other fish from Freshwater Fish Co; a fish farm in Elk Grove, CA.  They have a public fish sale…