Scott's ibc system in Washington DC

scott_dc

Darn. Was hoping the larger heavier (slightly) lava rock would tend to stay down.

scotty435

It's not all bad. If you leave some of the beds all LECA then things like carrots might do better. It's easier for the root crops to push the round LECA out of the way than to do the same with scoria aka lava rock.

scott_dc

Photo update. Greenhouse plants a couple inches high.

New tank and GB coming along. Need to finish plumbing. Slow going because limited free time.

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OBRIZZIE

That's cool man, so what have you managed to grow over the winter and what kinda fish?

scott_dc

Thanks.

I have about a dozen bullhead left from last year. They don't do or eat much as water temp is around 50f (10c). I have added a little calcium nitrate a few times (a couple tablespoons, or 30 ml, a few times) but I'm afraid to add a lot because I'll get too much calcium.

scott_dc

Sorry. Didn't answer the other question. The plants you can see are kale, kohlrabi, spinach, and lettuce. There are also some onions starting to sprout.

OBRIZZIE

Well thanks for the reply, that's cool. Yeah I'm in Pasadena so trying to figure out what will work outside in the colder months

scott_dc

Main parts of plumbing dry fit. Just need to do detila like glue things, support pipes and SLO. Then need to fill gbs and hook up pump.

Anyone have experience adding a major portion to an existing system? I'd rather not have the new water passing through the new gbs kill my existing fish. Note, there is as much water in the new portion as in the old.

My plan is to adjust the ph of the new water and perhaps add salt to make the tds match (I got a tds probe) then turn pump on when temperatures are similar. Anyone have any advice or cautions?

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scotty435

Did a bit of image rotation for you Scott. See if you can get them in rotated as you're posting them. Thanks.

scott_dc

Thanks. They look good on my phone when I preview them. I'm not sure how they got flipped.

scott_dc

Trying a new way to start seed for gb. Pic is probably best explanation. Made by nesting part of an egg carton inside another with hydroton between and covering the seed. I cut an x in the part holding the seed to allow roots to grow.

In the photo, one cup is complete. One has just the seed and the rest have only the first layer done.

Plan to water from fish tank.

I have no idea if this will work. Hope the explanation is clear enough.

Any comment?

nosliwmas

So is the plan to have a little cup of clay balls with a rooted seedling you can simply drop into a growbed depression with minimal root stress?

Are you gearing this idea to a particular type of seed? Like do this with cucumber seeds but not cilantro?

It's nice to see innovative ideas! :thumbright:

I hope it works out great and if it doesn't that we all learn something from your efforts. Either way the collective Aquaponics Body of Knowledge will be the beneficiary.

Thanks!

--
Sam

scott_dc

That's the plan.

I've put in two of each of the following.
Tomato, pumpkin, squash, pepper, dill, basil, lulo, zucchini, honeydew.

scott_dc

Finished plumbing and turned on pump to new portion of system.

I just adjusted ph to be about the same, flushed the gb, then went for it.

Water is cold (50F, 10C) but it's supposed to be very warm here the next week. I'm hoping circulating the water will help warm things up. The new portion is on a timer and should come on only during the day. The covered portion of the system is a pretty good solar collector.

scott_dc

Update.

Beds filled with 11 bags (50L each) of hydroton on top of the 12 bags (0.5 cubic foot or 14 L each) of lava rock.

Added bluegill about 100 small (1-3 inch or 2-8 cm) and 26 big (5-7 inch or 12-18cm). Thanks to a new place I found nearby in La Plata MD (http://www.maryland-select.com/pond-stocking). I'm hoping that the cool water combined with the one cycled growbed will be enough to process the added fish waste until the new beds are cycled. I'll keep an eye on the chemistry, feed sparingly, and have salt on hand for any nitrite increases.

I adjusted the timer on the pump between the sump and old gb--on continuously except off for 15-30 mins every few hours to let the bed drain.

Water is good. No ammonia or nitrite pH 6.8. Temperature 16C 60F after a warm week here.

Transplanted some overcrowded plants from greenhouse to new growbeds.

Wish me luck. Comments?

PS trying new image resizer. Hopefully the image won't be upside down.

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