My systems.....

[Shane]

Hi,

OK, time to catch up with my systems (photo's & story so far).....

I'll go back & start with the dead triangular shaped area in my backyard that I had a little over a year ago now.
Much has changed with this, so bear with me & I'll try to bring it up to current date over the next week or two.



This area of the backyard used to have a large shady tree in the corner, but a house extension down towards that corner made its removal necessary. This corner then after just ended up becoming a dumping yard for all sorts of junk that would come & go over the next couple of years.

So this is what we started with (all photo's are clickable thumbs)


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1020581.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1020581.jpg)

http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1020578.jpg

After moving the remaining old bricks from a pathway I'd dug up out the front yard previously, we finally began putting things in place.


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1020768.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1020768.jpg)

[Shane]

With a RHS Growbed in place.....it was time to get the LHS up & going.


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1020769.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1020769.jpg)


Cycling took a long time (Melbourne's winter last year) & growth in the new GB's was slowish during our shortest daylight hours of the year & during a fishless cycle.


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1020886.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1020886.jpg)



But eventually we were able to add Trout:)


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1020891.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1020891.jpg)


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1020897.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1020897.jpg)


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1020908.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1020908.jpg)


.....more to follow

Cheers,
Shane.

[GaryD]

Hi Shane,

It's good to see your system up and going. I'm looking forward to your updates.

Gary

[kellenw]

Good stuff Shane! Keep us posted.

[Shane]

Once the Trout were in the system, the vegetable growth just took off...


LHS Growbed
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030149.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030149.jpg)


RHS Growbed
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030150.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030150.jpg)


First of many Cauliflowers
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030165.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030165.jpg)


Broc's starting to produce
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030162.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030162.jpg)


Beetroot powering along
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030160.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030160.jpg)

[Shane]

My youngest children all love feeding the fish (especially my little daughter),
& the Trout kept getting bigger & bigger,


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030168.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030168.jpg)


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030173.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030173.jpg)


Two of my Son's took charge of planting all the seeds in anticipation of replacing what would soon be harvested from the GB's in the next week or two.

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030275.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030275.jpg)

[Shane]

Both GB's kept producing plenty of vegies,

Broc's
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030161.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030161.jpg)


Beetroot sized against beer can (375ml)
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030283.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030283.jpg)

[Shane]

Before too long we began taking out the larger Trout when they got to around the 375 - 400 gram size. This also helped with keeping the water quality issues down, 51 Trout in an immature system this size was pushing things too much, I had to keep holding off feed every 2nd day.

After pulling quite a few out I was able to up the feed rate back to twice a day & the smaller Trout really began to smack the weight on a lot quicker.

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030266.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030266.jpg)


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1030270.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1030270.jpg)


Eventually we harvested 45 out the initial 51 Trout,
I managed to kill the other 6:(

IIRC I lost 2 or 3 possibly because I failed to realise that my pH had dropped dramatically & whilst my reading was 6 its likely it was well under that, as my kit can't give a reading for below 6.
IIRC the other 3 or 4 were lost due to fish tank temps during Melbourne's Summer. Days over 40+ Degrees C & Trout don't mix.

[MarkEinOz]

Fantastic Shane,

Looks like you really have a handle of the "mood" of your gear. Keep up the pics. Great stuff.

[Shane]

Fantastic Shane,

Looks like you really have a handle of the "mood" of your gear. Keep up the pics. Great stuff.

Hi Mark,
To be honest its been a very steep learning curve for me over the last year,
fortunately I've found that people are willing to help you resolve issues with your system if you ask & are able to specify exactly what the problem/concern is.....pic's with a question usually results in help in a very short time (thanks to the internet).

That said, negligence, insufficient maintainence & sometimes a lack of understanding has seen me unnecessarily lose various fish & plants over the last year & a bit. I'll document both all my stuff up's & successes on here.

It's been great to spend a lot of the time working on the systems with my kids too....they enjoy it almost as much as me sometimes!

Cheers,
Shane.

[Shane]

OK.....back to around the start of this year/end of last year,
I can't remember for exactly how long ? but I think it was for a week or two (might have been a little longer?) that we ran the system fishless, just giving it a dose of Seasol every now & then for the plants.

Constant 40+ Deg. C. days over the Christmas holidays really smacked some of the plants around (my system has no shading & cops the brunt of a long afternoon sun). Killed off all the snow peas (which were huge producers:() & fried most of my assorted lettuces.
Tommie plants stood up pretty well considering & the celery wasn't bothered by the heat at all?....actually seemed to thrive on it!

Eventually took a quick trip up to Glenburn to the native fish farm & I returned with some Eel Tailed Catfish,

For those who live overseas & aren't familiar with our Eel Tailed Catfish (Tandanus Tandanus), here's a link...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel-tailed_catfish

Cat's were very small & not wanting them to possibly get sucked up against the pump intake I decided instead to temporarily house them in the fingerling tank,
That decision ended up teaching me a good lesson regarding 'maintainence of your system'

...I'll go into that one next time.

Cheers,
Shane.

[MarkEinOz]

The best thing about getting the kids involved (happily!) is that even when you become a boring old fart (about when they are 10!) they will still have a great experience locked away for when they get older and start to think about growing a few veggies in their backyard. It really is a legacy connecting your children to the food/life cycle.

[Shane]

Yeah agreed Mark,

The younger kids are very curious & constantly asking questions as to the 'what & why your doing it' with everything involved in AP. They are always eager to eat the vegies & fish that they've helped to grow too.

& as a bonus my eldest Son (17) is always available if I ever need an extra pair of hands when positioning tanks & Gb's....which helps save my back.

[froggo]

Hi Shane,

your system looks like it's going well. The catfish are interesting fish, I'm going to get some from John for my system also.

Well done and God bless, froggo.

[Shane]

Hi Shane,

your system looks like it's going well. The catfish are interesting fish, I'm going to get some from John for my system also.

Well done and God bless, froggo.


Hi froggo,
Yeah the Cat's are interesting,
Mine really haven't grown much.....still very small.....pretty much all uniform in size too.
I've found them to be very skittish, whilst they'll cruise around at night they are rarely seen during daylight hours as they constantly remain hidden in pipe hides.

My surviving one's are still currently housed in my fingerling tank, they'll be transferred into a separate system sometime in the next month or two (currently fishless cycling the other system which has only been up & running for a couple of weeks now).


Heres a couple of pics of them from last night.


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040367.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040367.jpg)


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040368.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040368.jpg)


I've lost 9 of them so far,
2 in the first week or so after getting them, then no losses for quite awhile.
I lost the other 7 through neglect, when I had the Trout in everything was motoring along fine,
I basically got lazy regarding maintainence, this led to a gradual build up of biofilm in the drain pipe from the fingerling tank into the main tank. Eventually this build up blocked the pipe completely & caused my fingerling tank to overflow, fortunately I was home at the time & spotted it & was able to rectify the situation. But I wasn't in time to help the 7 Catfish that had already washed out the top of the tank, an unnecessary fish kill that was my fault entirely. Lesson learn't.

Cheers,
Shane.

[Shane]

We then added 52 Silver Perch to the main FT after another trip past Glenburn & was reminded to get the next system up & running to transfer the Cat's into.


Silver Perch in main FT
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040255.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040255.jpg)



I'd had an additional GB lying against the fence for about 8 months, I dragged it out, stacked & filled some Besser blocks & squeezed it into position. It was a tighter squeeze than I thought it'd be, I'd originally measured the gap OK, but hadn't taken into account the downpipe from the roof. Fortunately it fit without adjustment....just.


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040236.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040236.jpg)


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040237.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040237.jpg)


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040235.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040235.jpg)



http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040241.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040241.jpg)

[Shane]

The younger fella's were eager to prepare the site for our new FT, we decided to drop the height of the tank as we intend to put another smaller growbed over the top of it eventually.


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040266.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040266.jpg)


Getting there.....slowly.
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040276.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040276.jpg)


Digging down deeper became an even slower process, had to cut through all the old roots left from the tree that used to be in this area before the house extension.


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_Outlook.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=Outlook.jpg)


Eventually though the area was all ready....now all we needed was a fish tank!

[Shane]

My teenage son helped me lift our FT shoulder high through the gap & over the growbed (I don't think I'd have been able to do it all by myself).
We used a Megabin this time around for a FT, after positioning & filling around the sides of the hole we removed about 200 litres of water from the main tank & topped up with approx another 200 or so from the tap.

Constant rain had delayed us that day so it became a scramble to get the pipework all in place before darkness. Not having enough long lengths of PVC on the day was temporarily overcome with a couple of offcuts, joiners & a bit of duct tape;). Therefore no pipework was glued on the day. The dodgey electrical connection (pictured wrapped in plastic bags on top of bricks) will be replaced in a sealed plastic box.


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040300.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040300.jpg)


Finally we threw in the pump & the system fired up, auto siphon kicked in first time & hasn't missed a beat since. Water turned dark brown immediately from the unwashed hydroton.

The following weekend we got our first chance to plant out the growbed. IIRC we put in snow peas, brocolli, cauliflower & errr ummm something else?

Since then we've had very slow growth in the plants, I guess the higher pH in this system (currently 7.8) may be causing some nutrient lockout.

Water colour had cleared after one weeks operation.


http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040307.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040307.jpg)


On the main system both the Catfish & Silvers were only feeding every 3-5 days due to the very low water temps. It was the first time ever that I'd had to net up uneaten food off the bottom of the tanks.
I threw in two 300W heaters into the main tank to bring up the water temp in that & the fingerling tank above it. Silvers & Catfish much more lively now & back to feeding well every night.

Silvers in main tank
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040305.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040305.jpg)


Cheers,
Shane.

[GaryD]

Hi Shane,

The story of your system......and the photos that illustrate it.......will serve as an inspiration for many of our members. Thank you for making the effort.

Gary

[Shane]

Main system all running well,
Started harvesting some of the assorted lettuces yesterday.
All is good with the Silvers & Catfish.

Megabin system still fishless cycling,
Ammonia 1
Nitrite 1
Nitrate 0
pH 7.8

Noticed on Saturday arvo that we were starting to get a bit of algae building up on the sides & bottom of the tank.

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040374.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040374.jpg)

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040373.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040373.jpg)



Gave it a good scrub with a broom & threw a lid over the top of the tank to cut out the sunlight.
Lid currently doesn't seat correctly (due to the hose from the pump poking out one side), after we fit the additional GB over the top we'll cut holes in the required areas to fit all hoses & air lines through so that lid is a snug fit. May split the lid in 1/2 to make access easier (rather than lifting the entire thing off every time to feed).

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040375.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040375.jpg)


Growth in the Megabin GB is still slowish....but its starting to perk up a tad.

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/th_P1040376.jpg (http://s652.photobucket.com/albums/uu241/Shane3137/?action=view&current=P1040376.jpg)


Cheers,
Shane.

[Shane]

Maximus system powering along, good test result readings, producing plenty of lettuce, fish all OK & I'm noticing growth recently since heating tank.


No fish transferred into Megabin system yet, still patiently cycling this tank,

pH 7.8
Ammo 1
Nitrite 5
Nitrate 10
Tank temp (bloody cold, no heating in this tank)

Cheers,
Shane.

[Shane]

Main system still producing plenty of lettuce,
Broc's & Cauli's growing well but not heading just yet,
Snow peas getting bigger but not producing just yet,
Spring onions have gone nuts,
Two of the celery plants have perked up recently, other one looks sickly.
Aphids currently seem under control (sticky trap & garlic/chili spray used)
Cat's & Silvers eating well each night.


Megabin system still not yet cycled (& still currently fishless),
Plant growth in this system is still slowish.

Cheers,
Shane.

[GaryD]

Hi Shane,

If you pump a heap of water into your mega bin system (out of your other system), you'll accelerate the cycling......particularly if you can get the temperature of the water up a bit.

The mega bin cover will be good for minimising heat loss in your mega bin......so long as you don't have fish in it.

While it's not often discussed, ridding your system of carbon dioxide is no less important that getting enough oxygen into it.

I usually run covers on my tanks to stop the wind or draughts from blowing across it......but still allowing sufficient opening to allow nitrogen (in gaseous form) and carbon dioxide to escape.

Have you given any thought to solids removal in either of your units?

Gary

[Crusty]

Megabin system still not yet cycled (& still currently fishless)

I understand the temps down your way are cold. How cold? And how are you "fishless" cycling?

[Shane]

Hi Shane,

If you pump a heap of water into your mega bin system (out of your other system), you'll accelerate the cycling

G'day Gary,

I originally pumped approx. 200 litres or so from my main system into the Megabin just before firing the system up, + approx. another 200-300 from the tap. Only addition since has been from rainfall (of which we've had quite a bit in recent weeks)

Ammo now only barely registers (have been dosing with small amounts of granulated urea)
Nitrite has spiked & is now falling
Nitrate has risen....I really need to get that smaller GB online.

Its almost there....its not as if I'm in any great hurry anyhow.


......particularly if you can get the temperature of the water up a bit.

Yes, thats one of the problems with outside tanks during a Melbourne winter!
Sides of the megabin will be insulated (possibly this weekend if I get an hour or two)
I'll probably hold off transferring the Cat's into this tank until the weather warms up a bit in the next month or two. I'm already heating water in the main system, I'd rather not have to heat two tanks unless it becomes necessary.


The mega bin cover will be good for minimising heat loss in your mega bin......so long as you don't have fish in it.

While it's not often discussed, ridding your system of carbon dioxide is no less important that getting enough oxygen into it.

I usually run covers on my tanks to stop the wind or draughts from blowing across it......but still allowing sufficient opening to allow nitrogen (in gaseous form) and carbon dioxide to escape.

The megabin lids are good, although somewhat bulky when moving on/off.
I think I'll split my lid in half, the back half can remain on the bin (200 litre GB will be positioned over the top of this area). Holes can be drilled through the lid for plumbing etc.
The front half then can be removed for feeding etc.
I'll make sure I have sufficient openings for the above gases to escape (thanks for the tip)


Have you given any thought to solids removal in either of your units?

I've been looking at various barrels to build a swirl filter for the megabin system, hoping to get my hands on one shortly. I've got enough room to one side to position one.

The maximus unit is a different story, Since building a small fence on one side (to keep the smaller kids away from the tanks unless supervised), I now have very little room available here, just enough to squeeze around to harvest vegies etc.
I currently have small washable foam mats/pads under the two GB inlets, but I tend to find the bulk of the muck gets blown up into the fingerling tank above...I'm netting this up nightly with a fine mesh net.

I need to find something lightweight (& easily movable) that I can sit on the top of one side of the fingerling tank & pump through that.

Cheers,
Shane