My pilot project Francois

[Francois Lemmer]

I started messing around with tilapia 2006-2010

2010 - the end of july i had to take  my system down

i am currently trying to get a piece of property to set up a scaled system.

basickly i dont have a system that is running

but i want to share my last 4 years with aquaponics

with members.......

 

[Francois Lemmer]

today i added duckweed to my system???

made this to keep count and see how the ducweed does in the trays

 

this is what i put into the ducweed tray

 

 

the ducweed in the sytem

 

 

[Francois Lemmer]

Hi All
I finished of my plastic over my system.
Re-using some of the plastic I used with my pilot project
My plastic is a loose cover that I can roll up as I require
Makes the plastic cover flexible...I roll up by myself no problem
On the two ends hanging down I rolled the plastic around dia.40 PVC pipe
to add some weight …really works well
In summer I will have the same setup but using white shade cloth.

 

sides rolled down outside

 

sides rolled down inside

 

 

both sides rolled to first bend

 

side rolled up to first bend

 

on top

cover rolled up on top of the frame

 

 

pipe rolled in plastic

 

clips

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Francios,

You are a highly skillful, innovative and patient but very determined person!  Are those clips cut from PVC pipe?

[Francois Lemmer]

Hi Herald
Yes sir they are PVC pipe cut and then split.
I used this clip concept with my pilot project and with all the strong winds we get...never was a problem...they worked well
To hold the clip in place I use a cable tie ...good way of securing the plastic

[Francois Lemmer]

Hi All

Finished of my two ends.

 Ready for grow media and fish.

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Francois,

Great idea Francois! A mini-greenhouse well done. Looks like something from the movie Transformers! Your neighbors are probably wondering what this weird thing is.

[Francois Lemmer]

My duckweed colony coming on nicely
+- 16 days

 

28/6

30/6

11/7

16/7

[Francois Lemmer]

Hi All
Over the last few days I finished the cover over my fish tank and worm filter.
Winter is almost over but it is still cold enough to see if it helps with water temperature.
I have to also find a leak I have in my system…..today I stripped out the two bottom trays.
I did exact water replacements over 5 days counting the Litres water per day replaced.
The system was losing 170 Litres of water per 24 hours cycle.
No visible leaks or wet patches to see were the water was going.
I re-checked for small holes and I found very small holes (pinhead) and I sealed them up.
I did the bottom trays today…….I hope I pushed the right button
Tomorrow will only tell me if the problem is solved.
170 litres per 24 hrs…7 litres per hr...????? It seems a lot to me.
No plants growing, the system running 24/7.

 

the fish tank under plastic cover.

i still want to close the two ends.

i want to keep most of the heat inside during winter

[Francois Lemmer]

Hi All
sorted....found the leak today and hopefully the last now i want to keep the system running 24/7

[David Waite]

Francois on your 1st system that had gravel beds sitting on the ground. Question were those constant flood or something else. Great posts by the way.

[Francois Lemmer]

Hi David

yes sir they were constant flow...

i found they worked ok

i am using the same concept as what my pilot project was.

only much smaller scale system.

[David Waite]

Francois thanks for the reply. I am interested in constant flood due to my next system I want to carry a much larger fish load and constant flood provides more variables to do that. You were able to grow a wide variety of produce in those beds which gives me hope. I am on flood and drain on my first system.