Robin's system

[robinmill]

here are some new photos
every thing is growing nicely, going to put some brocolli in see how it goes
it's definately leaving the soil vege garden behind
and i dont think i am feeding the fish as much as they want yet.....slowly giving them more
got a insect zapper for xmas so they are now getting fried bugs, maggots and flies from my fly traps and pelletts

the water temp is staying under 20c , but no real hot days for a while
I ordered an air pump from guppys today with two 50mm air stones
I also have a 2000 litre tank which i will plumb into the system
hopefully the greater mass will take longer to heat up

[robinmill]

well still no dead fish

I am truly amazed , I thought i would have lost at least a few

any way got some trout pellets 4mm from a trout hatchery today and they cost $60 for 25 kilos
does that sound ok?

tested the water again today and the nitrites and ammonia are reading zero nitrates 30-40

so does this mean i should be able to keep increasing the feed for a while

A friend of mine lost 50 trout in the last week, I think he was feeding way to much in an un cycled system
but what would i know this is his third year and my first

anyway feeling for him

[GaryD]

Hi Robinmill,

well still no dead fish. I am truly amazed , I thought i would have lost at least a few. A friend of mine lost 50 trout in the last week, I think he was feeding way to much in an un cycled system
but what would i know this is his third year and my first

While I'm suggesting that this is the case in your friend's situation, some people become complacent around the essentials over time and that's often where the dramas begin. It's a bit like kids and driving. The learner drivers are often a lot less problematic than their older friends who have become cocky and complacent.

any way got some trout pellets 4mm from a trout hatchery today and they cost $60 for 25 kilos
does that sound ok?

That seems to be consistent with the price of most high protein diets.

tested the water again today and the nitrites and ammonia are reading zero nitrates 30-40.....so does this mean i should be able to keep increasing the feed for a while

Feed the fish several times a day.....but only as much as they will consume completely in two to three minutes. More light feeds are better than few big ones. If you see feed building up on the bottom of the tank, remove it and cut back the amount you are feeding.

Take it quietly on the feeding while there's any likelihood of very hot weather.....you can ramp it up when the cool weather gets here again.

Give the system time to develop properly. It will take 6 - 12 months to mature.

Gary

[robinmill]

gary, thanks
now I only have two baths and some 90mm pipe / 3metres long with scoria in it . so i need more GB's but it sounds really risky introducing them

I have another 2000 ltr FT and about 400 ltr GB (but they are only about 400mm deep which is a worry in this heat), I also have umpteen metres of pvc which I would like to make into strawberry towers.

I read on another post that towers can be very useful for cooling

So do you think that I would be better adding the FT and new GB's/strawberry towers today or bit by bit or setting it up side by side and then joining the two systems in a couple of weeks ???

I think that short of producing about 100kg's of ice a day I am going to run into problems soon, so the extra FT would hopefully keep the temps a bit more stable

thanks robin

[GaryD]

Hi Robin,

I read on another post that towers can be very useful for cooling

Cooling towers are widely used in commercial NFT hydroponics.

Their operating principal is premised on the idea that heat transfer occurs during the evaporation of water. The simplest example (that I can provide) of this idea at work is the canvas water bag. The bag is usually hung somewhere that air can circulate around it. As the water seeps through the canvas, it evaporates and cools the water inside of the bag.

Cooling towers often consist of nothing more complicated than a long pipe (tower) filled with media. Water runs in the top of the tower and air is introduced at the bottom of the tower. The upward rush of air through the falling water (which is percolating over the media) causes evaporation which decreases the temperature of the water.

Gary

[robinmill]

well well what a nervous time for me

got a fish jumped out, nicely dried now

fed them to much and the water went cloudy, lots of muck in the water
I think I need to either rethink how the water is taken from the fishtank and perhaps how quickly it is taken out of the tank
I am thinking that if I can get the water taken out of the FT quicker than more of the stuff will go into the GB's which raises the next question of putting my water into a sump before the GB's
so i have cleaned the bottom of the tank and backed right of the feed for the moment
ammonia 0-0.25
nitrate 0
nitrites 50-60, need more growbeds
or have i said that before
need more growbeds

anyway the trout have put on a lot of weight and looking quite fat
and the veges are really healthy I am sure that I am lacking in something, others say potassium and iron , so I need to work out how much somehow,,, any ideas would be great

as far as cooling towers go i got a piece of 100 pvc and cut/melted a heap of holes i it
I then hung it vertically and filled it with scoria so that i can plant strawberrys in it
only one cucumber so far, waiting for the bacteria to build up a bit first
so my origonal theory was that the vertically hung pipe would act as a cooling tower
perhaps?

very exiting all the same

robin

[robinmill]

well the water has cleared up.....thankfully and the fish are hungry again
only gave them a little

havn't checked the ammonia levels today but they should be better

here are some more photos
johnny in another thread was having siphon issues so i took a couple of pics of mine

[robinmill]

more photos

one of a fish.... rainbow trout
sorry about the flash
he is about 15cm long i guess

[robinmill]

well brave about having trout at this time of year is being kind
it hit 38 today and the water reached 20
aagh

so i hooked another 3000 litre tank into the system today and hopefully the greater volume will keep things a bit more stable

also setup 2 air stones onto the new electromagnetic air pump
suprisingly I cant have the stones right at the bottom of the tank

anyway the fish are still eating

i hooked up another small GB . about 100 litres today and planted brocolli

also transplanted some alpine strawberrys into my tower

I bought some potash and iron yesterday but I really dont know how much to put in
I dont have any test gear to work it out yet

I have nearly 7500 litres water and about 1000 litres GB's

would anyone please be able to help me with how much I might need to be adding?

here are some shots which show some of the leaves if someone would be so kind to help me

[fishfood]

also setup 2 air stones onto the new electromagnetic air pump
suprisingly I cant have the stones right at the bottom of the tank

If your air pump has 6 outlets you need 6 air stones its not good to put pressure on the pump as far as airstones at the bottom you have a 2 metre tank and you would need a real expencive pump to do 2 metres
just get a piece of 50 mm pipe put it right to the bottom [with a few 1/2 in holes drilled near the bottom ] and the top just under water and put the air stones 1/2 way down it will draw water from the bottom