Crackenfish system

scotty435

If you have access to plastic bottle caps, they would be a good inexpensive option for a Static Upflow Filter to come before the bio-barrel filter. It's usually better to have a Radial Flow Filter before this but a SUF can take out both Settleable and Suspended solids. Dasboot used bottle caps for his SUF's, they were floating in a pair of blue barrels. They take a bit more aeration than some media during the cleaning cycle because they aren't designed to tumble like K1 but they do work. You will still get bioslime on the barrels because bacterial growth will occur and they aren't self cleaning like the K1 in your main bio-filter. Some of the solids you see after your main bio-filter are bacterial particles that were sloughed off or knocked off of the K1 in the main bio-filter. You can see a picture of Dasboot's Static Upflow Filters here part way down the page here - http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=26487

crackenfish

If I do a SUF I would probably use K1. I am looking at getting a few more cubic meter of the stuff. Personally I would prefer to remove everything and not need anything like that. I also may not have the space to do it. I am thinking that the watercress would probably do better in DWC.

crackenfish

Well no pictures this time but the watercress growth has exploded. It has become a wall of green. The sad thing is that the fish have been going out the door and another year is in the books, so everything will be shut down. Now I have to decide whether I should get growlights and what type I should get and if and how I should change things. The main thing of note is while the growth is exploding I really haven't been able to do a harvest. Does anyone know how to properly pick/harvest watercress? If I get grow lights I may have to try some lettuces and try spinach again. What are some great cool weather lettuces you folks have tried? I will probably use what we grow during our summers but always good to learn about new varieties.

rininger85

I have black seeded simpson that has just gone crazy in my greenhouse so far this spring.

You can probably keep stuff growing for some time after the fish are gone by not doing further water changes... let the plants eat up what nutrients are left in the water will probably keep them going for a while after the fish are gone.

crackenfish

I could do that but unfortunately I am leaving for work and my work isn't in the local area.

crackenfish

A bit of an update. I am back working on my fish farm. Lots of work is needed in setting up new tanks, new filtration, cleaning and fixing biofilters. Lots of fun stuff. I also got some grow lights for the aquaponic side of things so should have great plant growth during our cold winter months!
I am thinking on using using charcoal/biochar in pots in deep water culture. Has anyone tried this? I googled to see what others had to say and what I found was some said they mixed it in their media beds with no issues and others claimed they had a loss of nutrients. My thinking is it has a good surface area, and when I am done with it it goes into the dirt garden. If it absorbs nutrients that is a great benefit as I will be producing more nitrates and ammonia and other nutrients than the plants will be able to look after.

Dubot

"So a bit of an update. I got some watercress stems growing. Excited to see how it performs. The fish are also growing fast. My smaller ones do not seem to be growing as fast as I want them too. I haven't done a nitrate/nitrite/ammonia test in a few weeks. I should do more often but can be difficult to track as I do daily water changes anywhere from 20% to 98%."

So may I ask if your not testing your water what are you basing the varying water changes on?

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crackenfish

The water changes are based on experience. I would do a lot more testing earlier on. When I wrote that I could be very close in telling where the ammonia levels were without checking. The other thing was I knew my biofilters were to small for the amount of fish I had and at first I lost a lot of fish. With that specific system if I did not do a water change in a 24 hour period I would have a major fish loss. At the time I would also be testing the water to see what my levels were. As time went on, just seeing how the fish reacted and their behaviour would give me clues as to something wasn't right and it was usually resolved with a water change., and if I did a water test it would be high ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Hope that answers your question.

Dubot

Certainly does. Experience is everything. Didn't realise you were testing at the start but yes I can relate to what you're saying. Certainly looking forward to what this season brings you.

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crackenfish

No problem. I might not have been clear enough earlier.

crackenfish

Well eggs have arrived so my season has started. The aquaponics side can only start in about a month though. I will get some pictures up when I can.

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crackenfish

The eggs hatched and basically done the ale in stage. They are at the swim up stage. Getting close to growing them out and retry aquaponics again. I still need to get some pictures up.

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