Sunshine Coast Aquaponics demo kit

[suncoastaqua]

Just thought that I'd show everyone the kit that we've put in. It's a Patio Duo Kit, with room to expand.

As I mentioned in my introduction, I'm distributing Murray's kits on the Sunshine Coast, and we'll be having open days if anyone wants to see a working kit.

I'm just starting to cycle the kit at the moment, and will probably have to continue over winter. Am trying to get a smaller system set up inside my garage to house some Jade Perch fingerlings during winter.

Phil

[GaryD]

Hi Phil,

Nice looking set up.

Have you contemplated moving the two growbeds back off of the sump tank......with the besser blocks outside of the tank? It would give you a water garden without compromising your existing set up.

You could place pots filled with expanded clay into the water garden and grow water plants like water chestnuts or kankong. To ensure that the pots are at the right height, you could use fired clay pavers.

Either way, it's looking good and you're on your way. Good luck!

Gary

[suncoastaqua]

Hi Gary,

I thought that I'd just stick with the "stock standard" set-up, as this is our first demo kit. But that's a good idea about moving the sump. I might do that next time around, as well as spinning the tanks 90 degrees to give me a bit more room.

I will be adding some dwarf fruit trees to the equation shotly, in pots filled with coco coir, etc - not recirculating.

Phil

[wild]

Hi Phil,

Once my setup is going I too will be planting dwarf fruit trees. I will be putting them in Autopots. Where will you source your fruit trees from? I was told by my neighbour today that Flemming's Nurseries (http://www.flemings.com.au/trixzie.asp) is quite good and they ship to QLD.

Why did you choose coco coir as the media? I haven't decided on what media to use yet and would be interested to hear why you chose that.

Gary - excellent suggestion on the sump. I will shortly be getting a Quad system so will have two. Thanks to your comment, I am now thinking of using one of the sump tanks for duckweed - do you think there would be too much water movement in the sump tank to grow duckweed in it?

Andrew.

[Murray]

This nursery is good value and great to deal with. They have fruit trees that can be identified to do well in your area.
Growing apples, peaches and the like around Brisbane has limited success, it is just not cold enough in winter.
There are varieties that people claim are ok for growing in warmer climates, but they are poor performers when compared to how they grow in their right climate.

Anyway, take a look through this site Daleys Fruit Tree Nursery (http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/)

[GaryD]

Hi Wild,



Gary - excellent suggestion on the sump. I will shortly be getting a Quad system so will have two. Thanks to your comment, I am now thinking of using one of the sump tanks for duckweed - do you think there would be too much water movement in the sump tank to grow duckweed in it?



As the system is currently configured, the sump is a grow bed......so you might as well use it as such. It will provide you with an additional 30% of available growing space without you having to spend anything other than the cost of a metre or two of PVC pipe.

If you ensure that the outlets from your grow beds discharge under water, water movement shouldn't be too much of an issue for duckweed. If it proves to be a bit turbulent, you could place a plastic planting pot (with the square holes around the base) in the tank......weight it down with a stone.....and have your growbed discharge into the pot. The water will exit through the drain holes in the bottom of the pot.....and its velocity will be reduced in the process.

Gary

[Murray]

Hi Phil,
You have done the right thing assembling the kit in the manner it was designed to work. Having a ground level exposed sump is an immediate child safety issue.
We provide very substantial but attractive sump covers with child safety in mind.
If it is a desire to grow duckweed, please do it in a raised grow bed of some sort with appropriate measures for child safety.

[GaryD]

Hi,


You have done the right thing assembling the kit in the manner it was designed to work. Having a ground level exposed sump is an immediate child safety issue.
We provide very substantial but attractive sump covers with child safety in mind.
If it is a desire to grow duckweed, please do it in a raised grow bed of some sort with appropriate measures for child safety.

Since this forum is about ideas (as much as anything else), you might also like to consider that you can attach a weldmesh panel or cage which will allow you to achieve both things........greater productivity and child safety.

Gary

[Murray]

It is possibly a good idea but not one we recommend.

[Dufflight]

Daleys Fruit is a great site. I get most of my fruit trees there.

[julie]

Hi Murray!


I've just been reading the post about the set up for the sunshine coast aquaponics kit. I reckon the idea of utilising the available sump as a duckweed tank is a briilliant idea. Why don't you rcommend it yourself?



Julie

[Castaway]

Am trying to get a smaller system set up inside my garage to house some Jade Perch fingerlings during winter.

You won't regret getting some Jade Perch. They are a terrific fish for Aquaponics. Mine are at least 4 months old and I noticed something I haven't seen them do before. I caught a medium sized grasshopper today perched on some silver beet and threw him into the fish tank. Like all good grasshoppers he started kicking his feet. I thought to myself "I shouldnt have done that, they wont eat him because it's too cold..." The Jades just sat in a huddle watching him kick along the surface of the water. This was too much for one Jade as instinct took over. He zipped up to the surface and took the hopper straight to the bottom of the tank and - released it. The hopper floated straight up to the surface. Then a bigger Jade tore up to the surface, grabbed the grasshopper and it was on for young and old as other fish joined in the hunt played tag with the hopper tearing it out of each other's mouth.

Excellent Fish Jade Perch. Just think of all the fun you'll have in the coming Grasshopper season!
:)

[Dufflight]

Hi Murray!


I've just been reading the post about the set up for the sunshine coast aquaponics kit. I reckon the idea of utilising the available sump as a duckweed tank is a briilliant idea. Why don't you rcommend it yourself?



Julie

Duckweed does not like the water to move around as much as it does in a sump. Plus if you have yabbies in there they will eat the duckweed pretty quickly. Mussels are okay in there with the yabbies. And they don't seem to mind a cover to stop child access. I have half drums for duckweed and others will even use gb's filled with water to grow it there. You can also sink a bucket into a gb with holes in the side near the top and the flood cycle will replace a small amount of water but leave the bulk of the water.

[suncoastaqua]

Where will you source your fruit trees from?

Hi wild, we are getting our dwarf fruit trees from the Obi Valley Nursery (they come to the Yandina Markets on Saturday mornings), who stock the Kendall Farm trees: www.kendallfarms.com.au (http://www.kendallfarms.com.au/)

The nursery puts in an order each week so it's fairly easy to get what you want. Also offer good advice on what's good to grow in your area.


Why did you choose coco coir as the media? I haven't decided on what media to use yet and would be interested to hear why you chose that.


Coco coir was reccomended to me by Gary D, who talks about using it in non-recurculating (open loop) systems. I believe that one of it's main benefits is it's water holding capacity. I'll probably be mixing it with vermiculite (and maybe something else) but haven't looked into ratios yet.

Here's an old post from Gary D:


Coco-peat comes in a variety of grades from that which is very fine to quite coarse chips. Every grade is useful for something or the other in AP.

The very fine stuff is good for seedling propagation. It will definitely discolour water.

The mid range material is excellent for growing a variety of plants particularly in open loop systems where discolouration of water is less of an issue. We use this material in our satellite pots and growing trays.

Both the fine and medium grades have excellent water retention and so this further disqualifies them for use in recirculating systems.

The coarse material or chips may be useful for recirculating systems - but I have yet to confirm this.

As good as coco-peat is, there are a couple of other issues to be aware of:
Some brands may contain high levels of salt.
All coco-peat has the capacity to strip calcium and magnesium from any nutrient solution that has contact with it.....unless it has been buffered to prevent this.
These shortcomings are easily addressed and are far outweighed by benefits of coco-peat.

One of the major benefits is its total recyclability. In our Integrated Backyard Food Production concept, spent coco peat is used as deep litter for our quail and chickens. When it is thoroughly mixed with poultry manure, it then becomes worm bedding.....and eventually worm castings and worm tea.



Just think of all the fun you'll have in the coming Grasshopper season!


Yeah Castaway, bring on the Jade Perch!! I had to pull off a whole heap of caterpillers that were eating my brocolli the other day, and wished that I could have fed them to my fish rather than just squashing them (I'm a bit of a softie, even with the 'pests').


You can also sink a bucket into a gb with holes in the side near the top and the flood cycle will replace a small amount of water but leave the bulk of the water.

Good idea Dufflight. I'm currently trying to decide where/how to most efficiently grow some duckweed. Don't know if I wan't to take up any GB space at the moment, but may try utilise that idea in a slightly different way.

[suncoastaqua]

Here are some pics of the bathtub system we have set up in the gargae to help get our fingerlings through winter. There's been a 2-4*C difference in the water temp between the Patio Duo Kit (outside) and the bathtub system (inside insulated garage).

The system is cycling at the moment (since 05/06/09), but hopefully we'll get some good readings sooner rather than later, as we used a few litres of water and clay pebbles from our established desktop system, and then we can get our Jade Perch fingerlings in (assuming they are still available then).

I decided to put the fish tank closest to the wall so that the GB could get sunlight for a couple of hours a day (from the conveniently placed window in pic3). I'm hoping that I will still get some good vegie growth without any supplemental lighting.