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DONE DONE DONE!

I finished replacing the liner last weekend, put all 500 pounds of clay back in, then started it up... and the stand pipe was leaking like a sieve.  Grrr.  I just couldn't face moving any more clay, so I procrastinated.  Today I finally pulled the clay back and siliconed thoroughly.  After drying for 3 hours I tested with a pitcher of water (I learned my lesson about putting the clay back without testing).  It was perfect!  I planted the few hardy seedlings that survived the long wait for a… Continue

Added by Andrea on January 16, 2011 at 9:00am — 1 Comment

Finally done



I finished the last few steps in about 2 hours this morning... and then had problems.



The pipe up from the sump tank leaked a little, as did the drain pipe.  And the pump wasn't pushing enough volume to overcome the drain holes in the stand pipe, so the growbed wasn't filling.  I looked at the pump and decided it just wasn't big enough for the job.  It's supposed to push enough water to cycle the entire… Continue

Added by Andrea on December 26, 2010 at 9:00pm — No Comments

SO close to done!

So far this weekend, I've gotten the rain-barrel connector pipe glued in, the standpipe glued in, the growbed full of 400 pounds of clay pellets, the overflow pipe drilled and installed, the fish tank drained about 3/4 of the way and jacked up so I could put 2x4s under the back corners to level it, refilled it, tested the overflow, and done most of the pipe work for the sump pump back to the fishtank (it might work the way it is, but it's not as neat a job as I'd like - I'll fix that today).  I… Continue

Added by Andrea on December 26, 2010 at 9:00am — No Comments

Broke down and hired a handyman

I just couldn't seem to find time to finish the construction, nor did I have the right tools for the job, and I can't keep asking friends to bring their tools and work on it with me.  So I hired a handyman to come do the construction.  I've still got more work to do, but at least it's down to just plumbing work, and I can handle that.  Heck, I'm getting pretty comfortable with it after all this.

 

So I had the Handyman come and build the center support, and replace the plywood…

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Added by Andrea on December 20, 2010 at 9:00am — No Comments

Got a lot done!

Everything is definitely taking longer than I expected, but then I guess that's one of the things I should expect. I have an overly full calendar already and neither the tools nor the physical strength to do some of the things myself. Nor the know-how to completely plan things out. Some a lot of stuff is being done, and adjusted, on the fly instead of being completely planned in advance the way I'd prefer.



Last weekend the water tested too high in nitrites, and my growbed was clearly… Continue

Added by Andrea on November 8, 2010 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Well THAT isn't going to work...

Progress report:



I'm still fighting with the rainbarrels. This time I invited a friend over to help me, and we removed the fittings, put rubber gaskets in on *both* sides of the rainbarrel wall so it was sandwiched in, reinstalled the fittings, and one of them *still* leaks. The other one sealed fine on the fitting, but it leaks around the actual PVC pipe. Sigh. So I'm going to pull them apart and put silicone into the sandwich on both sides, and some PVC glue, and if that doesn't… Continue

Added by Andrea on November 1, 2010 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Greenhouse complete!

I got the sides on myself, with a crochet hook and a lot of swearing.



Then Pam, my friend from work, came over to pick up the old greenhouse, and while she was here she helped me put the ends on.…

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Added by Andrea on October 17, 2010 at 5:30pm — 2 Comments

Progress once again

So the new rainbarrels are drilled and plumbed, though I'm still trying to get a water tight seal on the plumbing. I'll work on that some more today…



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Added by Andrea on October 17, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

The "official" trip report

Saturday morning I got up at 2:30 to go to the bathroom, and The Princess decided that since I needed to get up in an hour anyway, I might as well stay up and pet her. I tried for a perfunctory scritching but she wasn't having any. She climbed up between my shoulder blades and purred directly into my ear, and if the petting stopped (and you can imagine how difficult she was to reach anyway) she stuck her cold, wet nose into my ear. When I finally put my hand over my ear, she nipped it to recall… Continue

Added by Andrea on October 4, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

In which nothing goes quite as planned...

On the plus side, I had paid the damage waiver on the rental truck, so when the guy in Santa Barbara said he was really good at backing trailers managed to jackknife the thing and bash up the side of the truck, at least I don't have to pay for it. Not that I didn't feel *really* bad about messing up their brand new truck. And on the way to find some muscle to help us unload stuff, we found some military-looking guys moving in 2 blocks away, and they kindly agreed to unload for us. And once I… Continue

Added by Andrea on October 3, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

Yeah, sure, no problem

So I've ordered this "7' x 15' Greenhouse" in which to put my new system. And when I go onto the website just before it arrives, to check the height (since 2 dimensions are simply not sufficient now that I've decided to put this thing under the arbor) I read the specs VERY carefully and see that it is, in fact, NOT seven (7) feet wide. It's 6.5 feet wide. Um... that matters, folks. Truly.



But I'll cope. Not that I have a choice now, since it's supposed to be here the next day. And… Continue

Added by Andrea on October 1, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

In which we may start a business... or two

One of the challenges of building your own system (or components) out of food-grade containers is finding said containers at a reasonable price somewhat locally. I've been searching / researching for several months now with limited success, but then again I haven't been trying all that hard because it was still just preliminary research. But now that I have a system coming, and it'll need a sump tank immediately and some additional grow beds soon, I got a little more… Continue

Added by Andrea on September 28, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

Maybe it won't be that difficult after all

My boss has our old trailer and he's offered to loan it to me. My exhusband has a Honda Element that is already set up to tow that trailer, and he said I could borrow it if he has time to fix the broken motor mount. My local fish guru said it was really important to keep the water level in the transport barrel less than halfway, and that means it will weigh less than 200 lbs instead of the expected 400. If I'm using the trailer and the Element, I *will* be able to use the cigarette lighter, so… Continue

Added by Andrea on September 24, 2010 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

OMGOMGOMG! A real system - for FREE!

So today a member of one of the AP message boards posted that he was going to be getting rid of his system. It's complete - heck, it's up and running with fish and plants - but would anyone like to come pick it up?



I checked to make sure his phone number was in an area code I recognized before I called.



It's a 340 gallon fishtank, an 8'l x 2'w x 12"d raft trough, some 1" - 4" tilapia, and all the plumbing and pumps and everything. I hadn't been planning a raft system to… Continue

Added by Andrea on September 23, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

AP Workshop

General

Saturday I attended the Aquaponics workshop in Oceanside. It was Murray Hallam's first US workshop. It was a very informal event, and the 25 or so of us interrupted constantly with questions, comments, and shared experiences. Though as Murray said, AP is simple enough that there just isn't 8 hours of information for him to share anyway. So our questions helped fill in the time profitably. It was great to be able to ask… Continue

Added by Andrea on September 20, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

Progress Report - Week 8

Fish seem healthy, though I did lose another this week. But she had been swimming straight at the airstone for a while, so I suspected she wasn't going to make it.



I've removed all of the aquarium gravel, and put in the last of my clay, in the hopes of having a surface to help filter the detritus without raising pH:…

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Added by Andrea on August 8, 2010 at 1:17pm — 3 Comments

Progress Report - Week 7

I think things are starting to get dialed in.



pH has remained high, but stable. Nitrates are up, Nitrites got measurable but I reduced feeding and it went back to negligible. Two dead fish. Plants remain the same.



I had read in several places that gravel can raise pH. So today I pulled out the majority of the aquarium gravel:…

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Added by Andrea on August 1, 2010 at 9:00am — No Comments

Progress Report - Week 6

It's been an adventure!



Water

The pH has been refusing to stabilize as low as I want it. I get it down to the low 6's and it's back up to 8 the next day. I suspect it's because of the stuff the aquarium guy gave me. We won't be doing that again. So I was using vinegar to lower it, then it would pop right back up, then I'd be worried about adding more vinegar to the system (and wanting to purge whatever was buffering it so high) so… Continue

Added by Andrea on July 25, 2010 at 9:00am — 1 Comment

Progress Report - Week 3

Nitrites and Nitrates are still undetectable. I think there's little doubt at this point that the PH neutralizer the aquarium guy sold me included some resident chemical that kills ammonia. Even though I *specifically* asked him not to give me anything that would affect the ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates. Clearly he didn't understand what I'm trying to do here and I won't trust him again for anything except fish.



So meanwhile I did a 1/3 water change and dosed with some seaweed… Continue

Added by Andrea on July 4, 2010 at 2:30pm — 5 Comments

Progress Report - Week 2





Okay, the cilantro and parsley and lettuce all died and I pulled them out.



But the tomatoes seem to have recovered.…



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Added by Andrea on June 29, 2010 at 2:30pm — 3 Comments

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