The weekend has been spent trying to work out some issues with the aquaponics system. The timer we set up seemed to be running appropriately, but we could never see the grow bed flooding. When we examined it more closely, we found one end of the pump tubing was jammed with with rocks. We freed it up, but then discovered that the pump is just not working. Best we can figure is that it strained too much against the rocks and burned out the motor. Now we need to buy another pump.
We also are still having trouble with the grow bed flooding too much. We added one bag of pea gravel, which meant removing all the plants and replanting them. We lost a few plants that way who couldn’t quite handle the stress. Unfortunately, the one bag of pea gravel still didn’t get it to the right level. So we’ll need to dig up and replant a second time. I need to figure out how to do it better this time to stress the plants less.
At least, the fish are still very small so the amount of waste they are producing won’t over run the system while we try to figure out how to get it running appropriately. I probably ought to start some more seeds on the chance we lose too many more plants in the next round of adding gravel. This round with the aquaponics is most definitely about working out the kinks. Hopefully we get to harvest at least a few fish and vegetables out of it. Either way, it’s good learning and we’ll by pros by the end of it.
