Dogdoors AP

[dogdoor]

Hello, this is my very first post on this forum.. I have been lurking for almost 12 months though, very much enjoy the stories and banter here.

My story,

I had an inground butyl liner pond for many years until it ruptured.. Decided to make something a little more robust and easy to maintain, what evolved is in the following pics. The original system is just a fibreglass tank with a pump into an elevated 45 gallon plastic tub filled with various medium (exploded plastic and bits of cut up pipe.)

As you can see I expanded this to include a low hydroponic type tray with a simple trickle pipe fed from the bio filter. Have been running for about 6 months and it support 3 Jade perch, 2 Australian Bass and a bunch of 20 or so fatty gold fish.

Very happy with it. I lost most of my tomatoes to the Melbourne heat wave - just two remaining are clinging to life in these recent shots.

Planning to expand, when my wallet next expands (might be a while)

Cheers.
Dogdoor.

early days:


Today (4 months on)








System (indicative) Diagram

[Dufflight]

Nice little system there. And welcome.

[dogdoor]

Thanks Dufflight!

V impressed with your setup, next project for me will be a yabby tank. Thinking of copying your setup, I have a spare blue barrel lying around.

Just need to work out the design and components required.

[dogdoor]

Here is some underwater footage.

http://vimeo.com/3653924

[aussieap]

hi doggy, nice stuff. Watched the vid-cool. Looks like you have a bit of room to expand there when funds allow! Did u get ur share of the 100k?

[Castaway]

Here is some underwater footage.

I Like the underwater footage. Fish look very happy in their tank. Good shots of the Jade Perch too.

[dogdoor]

Thanks Aussieap and Castaway.

The 100k covered a wedding, car, 6 weeks in Japan and a good chunk of the mortgage, so yes I did! Mana from heaven - what a sweet sweet day that was for us.

I have the front yard earmarked for a bigger system.
Ideally, 10,000ltr water tank, 6mtr long poly tunnel and lotsa fishes and beds..

Might be a way off though, I have told the missus to get busy with applications for more gameshows!

Cheers,
Stuart

[dogdoor]

This was the original concept..

I like the evolved AP version much more!

[dogdoor]

The plantings:

From left to right (rear) Asian eggplant (not sure the exact name), 2x tomato plants, 1 x cucumber - the cucumber is suffering however it is still cropping a couple of fruit every 2 weeks so I have left it be.

Front Bertolli beans x 2, basil x 3
They are all on their last legs, need to look at an Autumn crop - Any suggestions for planting in Melbourne right about now would be greatly appreciated.

The bio filter has 2 very robust local (endemic) reeds placed on top – it works as a great pre-filter. This Bio filter is zero maintenance.

I have a prefilter in the pond that I clear every 2 months or so.

The submerged plant on the right side is the Scarlet Hibiscus - seems to thrive here.

"Hibiscus coccineus is also known as scarlet hibiscus, Texas star, scarlet rose mallow or summer poinsettia. It is native to Florida, USA, can reach up to 7 ft (more than 2 m) tall, and bears very ornamental scarlet flowers in summer. Leaves - This herbaceous plant has decidious leaves. Leaves are deeply lobed (in fact, they are palmately compound) and have 3-7 lobes. Lobes are narrow, serrated and pointed. Flowers - The scarlet hibiscus flowers in summer and early autumn. Each flower has five scarlet petals, and is up to 7 in (20 cm) wide and more. Flowers are short-lived but are regularly replaced. Fruits - The fruit is an elongated capsule that is 1-2 in (1-2.5 cm) wide."

Cheers,
Stuart