Pete's 3rd System

Petesake

I adopted Dicko's twin bath tub in a steel frame full of Hydroton this arvo - thanks Dicko.

I did have plans to install a smaller Ap system into Wifeys veggy patch and think this will fit nicely. I'm also thinking of using it as the low Ph fingerling adjustment system which will enable me to bring the Ph up slowly from 6.0 to 8.0 or what ever the receiving FT is.

I'll clean it up put a cover on and get it cycling asap.

Pete.

dlf_perth

great idea to set it up as a fingerling setup Pete.
I saw your name written all over those bathtubs.......

guess you are planning on some more trout as soon as the temps drop (4 weeks or so ?)

Petesake

Yeah thanks Darren.

This is a great short cut for me because I had been designing the adjustment system. The morning temps are getting lower now so I need to get my skates on.
The next receiving tank FT2 has finished cycling and is running on Power Feed as shown in it's thread so once I get Sy3 going on rain and/or river water I'll stop the PF to give it time to clean it's act.
Trout are on the menu so yeah I need more of them.

Pete.

Petesake

Within 24 hours I had brought the system home, cut the legs, fitted base plates, cleaned the Hydroton and reassembled in the veggy patch.
I'm thinking I'll make a stainless steel trough tank to fit under the highest GB with a sliding baffle plate to bring the fish towards the end for easier catchment.

Pete.

rininger85

Looks nice Pete. I didn't realize you had a little greenhouse in the backyard too. Looks like you have quite the production patch once you add it all together. I had started a thread to try and get people to post pictures of what else they had going on the backyard because everyone seems to just post their AP systems but after 115 people have looked at it no one thought it would be as cool to see as I did apparently...

Food&Fish

Great backyard A few photos of the glass house would be great

Petesake

Thanks Guys.

I guess most people don't like the idea of the invasion of privacy allowed by Google Earth Rob. Taking photos and video of selected areas maintains the privacy while sharing ideas with other like minded people.

The glass house is empty at the moment as it gets too hot in there and we've set up a shade house that provides a better climate for those types of plants. The hanging & pot plants migrate over there around early December and come back in late march.
The veggie patch is a fenced area of about 10 x 15 m in our back yard. I installed two car park lights 6 m up on poles each end facing eachother for when it gets dark from 5.15 pm in winter. It looks like a UFO has landed in the bushes from 40 m away.

Pete.

rininger85

You don't have to post google earth images... I just did that to help orient to what the property shape was, where stuff was located etc... but I'm not too concerned with anyone knowing where I live either (I did make sure I cropped out the image so the street names didn't show up, but anyone who can "hack" google earth to find my address based on the image or spend the time to find my property based on the name of my town (which I use the name of my hometown where I grew up, not actually the town that my house address is listed as...) could find my address in many other places online... I am a homeowner, my address is public record if you know where to look. I have the website bookmarked to be able to look up names of all of the landowners around me and can tell what their houses are worth, how much they pay in land taxes (if they pay their taxes) etc... all public information if you know where to look... so not too worried about invasion of privacy over here I guess.

Petesake

I built a tapered stainless tank this week and installed it today.
It hangs on 4 - 8 mm bolts taped into the legs and holds 300 lt 50 mm down from the top edge.
Because of the ground slope I tapered it 100 mm over 1568 mm so its 450 high at the low end. Its also tapered the other way 20 degrees. It'll be interesting to see if that's enough slope for the waste to get to the middle.
I will need to put some insulated white Colourbond sheet around to minimize the heat in summer.

Under the end is a 90 degree 1" elbow fitted to a 1"plastic tube which I intend to push onto the pump barb. Even though this is a conversion tank meaning new fingerlings will reside here until the water chemistry matches that of the FT I have fitted a mains float so the system can be automatically topped up when running at higher Ph's.

I also turned the bath over the tank around so I''d have easier access from the end.

Pete.

rininger85

Beautiful work Pete. Wish I had access to some cheap SS and the skills to build with it! Turned out really nice! Hope the slopes help... I know conical settling tanks have had mixed reviews because poo sticks to the plastic and doesn't settle in the bottom of the cone, but maybe SS will be slicker for it to work its way to the low spot.

Petesake

Hi All,

today I finished the plumbing and plugged the pump into a timer 15 on 60 off. I've still got to make a stand for the pump, aerator and timer when I bring it over.

I drove a few kms out to a creek that had very little if any human interference with the PH part of the test kit. Some people were questioning what I was testing for I replied "to see if it's safe for my fish to swim in". At a ph of 6.2 -4 I "borrowed" 500 lt by bucketing into the old fingerling tank.

At home I siphoned into the system 3 tank 350 lt and the rest went into the red tub I got from Dicko as top up water. Once every thing was running I planted some cabbage seedlings and sprinkled 9 lt of 6.2 water mixed with 50 ml PF over the balls.

So now it's cycling.

Pete.

"the things I do???"

Petesake

I planted out the other bed with Broccoli seedlings, threw a net over to keep the cabbage moths out and did the first chem water test. The level of the tank drops about 100 mm by the time the water is going down the gurgler.

Pete.

Petesake

I've let sy3 run on it's own since installation with cabbage and broccoli seedlings. Once a day I take note of the finished water level which has dropped by 8 mm in total. As the nights are cooler now I changed the night cycles to 15 on 120 off between 10.00 pm and 6.00 am.
Seedling appear to be growing.

Pete.

dlf_perth

its been 6 months now since the great Trout baptism of fire Pete.... you can probably write your own reply to your own posts now.... amazing how time flies and how many systems one person can accumulate in a short period of time.....

now BYAP says you are bordering on legend.....

Petesake

"Time flies alright" Darren although the learning and work on AP systems does feel like six months whereas most other things seem like half that time. I guess as the management side kicks in time will be whisked away.

Below are some pics of the tank that shows how the 20 degree angle rids itself of dust and muck when agitated by the falling water I'm hoping the fish action will do the same. I really don't like the way the IBC FT's collect so much crap in the corners and want to make a tapered bottom FT.

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Pete's 3rd System

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Backyard Aquaponics A place to discuss aquaponics

Pete's 3rd System

Who is online

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics