Working out the kinks

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.

A New Arrival

Around noon on Thursday, the mailman handed this box to me as I was headed out the door.  Although I had been expecting them, I immediately freaked out.  Now what do I do with them!

I opened the box to find 25 swimming fish, all alive.  They came with an instruction sheet and some suggestions on how to help the fish adjust to the new tank.  But it felt very scary to think about releasing all these tiny and expensive fish into our huge tank.  Especially with the current, giant resident.

This goldfish has survived quite a journey.  We inherited the aquaponics system from a neighbor who had moved away.  When we picked up the system, after months of it lying unused, we found this fish in there.  He moved into a goldfish bowl in our house for close to a year.  Once we finally got the system up and running, we put him in there as a test fish.  At that time he was 1.5–2 inches long.  He is now probably close to 4 inches in just 2 months!  I decided to take him out of the tank and send him back to the goldfish bowl until our new fish reach a bigger, less appetizing size.  I don’t like him enough to give him a $100 buffet.

The first step was to float the bag in the tank and allow the fish to acclimate to the temperature.  I had to go away for a few hours, so they got a long adjustment time.  After about 4 hours, they were released into the tank.  It is quite hard to spot 25 less than an inch long silver fish in a 150 gallon tank.  Each day since, I have been scanning the water trying to catch a glimpse of them to reassure myself that they are alive.  Every now and then I see a shimmer of silver and figure it must be one of them.  I can’t wait till they get a little bigger and I can monitor their growth a little more easily.

On the grow bed side, at least one creature is enjoying the system! 

Aquaponics set-up

When a neighbor moved last year, we inherited his aquaponics set-up.  It’s been sitting on our front porch unused since then.  We finally got a new liner for the fish tank, painted both sections, and got the flood and drain system (mostly) working.  We need to wait until the temperatures are consistently warmer before adding the fish, but, for now, our goldfish has moved into the tank.  He’s loving all the space!  Yesterday I put some seedlings in the grow bed – tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and basil.  They probably won’t really thrive until we get some fish in the tank, but at least they are getting a start.

For those who don’t know about aquaponics, it is a hybrid system blending hydroponics and aquaculture (or fish farming).  Fish are raised in a relatively high population in a tank.  Water from that tank is pumped into a grow bed – basically a raised bed filled with an alternative growing medium like perlite, rock wool, or gravel.  Although the plants do not have soil to support them the water pumped in from the fish tank contains valuable nutrients.  The plants roots, in turn, filter and clean the water.  Once the grow bed floods the water begins to drain back into the tank – freshly cleaned.