HI all, thought I might come over here to do some posting, and help people as well
I first started doing AP in October 07, and have built 3 systems since. The first was a bathtub with 150mm PVC pipe cut in half filled with a mixture of Hydroton and Perlite. Goldfish and other ornamentals were the only fish in this system:
This evolved into some more PVC:
And grew and grew, shade had to be added due to the fierce kalgoorlie sun making the water hit 40 deg c a few times
hmm 6 picture limit
It all kept growing...
Even Corn grew well in such a small amount of media.
Remember, all this growth was happening in less than 75mm of media
Water was pumped from the bathtub, through 13mm poly tubing with small holes drilled in it, into the 'beds'. Those of you who have tried 13mm tubing before will know what happened next. It all got blocked up, and I had heaps of trouble getting enough water to the plants in the kalgoorlie heat.
In the meantime, I was given permission from the minister of finance to construct a second, much larger system
A whole heap of gravel was washed...
Blue barrels procured:
And siphons built and tested:
Barrels were cut open, and about now the wife said 'just how big is this system gonna be' ....
A whole heap of hydroton was purchased, then transported to kalgoorlie from perth.
A rather big hole was dug...
and dug...
and dug some more, all by hand in clay ...
IBC's were purchased and fitted to hole with 25mm poly piping to connect together - too small in the end...
Meanwhile, corn and cucumbers were being eaten from the bathtub system:
The big system was filled with water, and 200 Silver Perch were transported from Jurien bay to Kalgoorlie.
Grow beds were fitted, and planted with plants transplanted from the bathtub system.
Absolutely excellent OutbackOzz !
The bathtub system had become very blocked up during the build of the big system, and was loosing a whole tub full of water every day due to leaks.
So it was also given the blue barrel makeover:
The big system was still being added to bit by bit.
Trout were purchased and transported from bunbury to kalgoorlie (8 hours!)
Vegie growth in the big system was great.
Got heaps of beans:
Lettuce and spring onions.
Trout decided that Silver Perch looked tasty
Capsicums do well.
Looking good OBO - looking forward to the pics of how you have used the drill rods.
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