Aquaponics - A Filter Is Needed!

The water in the fish tank was getting polluted with more and more suspended solids and the fish were getting depressed. The suspended solids were mostly from the fish pooh and loose earth that came with the pebbles. I did not wash the pebbles because they seemed to be OK when I started moreover I guess it is impossible to wash them. From what I observed, the outer layer of the pebbles seemed to have melted with the constant contact with water and is causing the water to be murky. The discharged nozzles got clogged after a week with these suspended solids in a slimy clump and cleaning is done on a weekly basis. The sliminess is an indication that there are organism breaking down the waste into nutrients and I am pleased but not with the clogging.
The murky water, sad fish and clogged discharge nozzles is not a good sign. I decided to do something because I want to have tasty fish and "Happy fish are tasty fish", also not having to clean the nozzles that often. At first I thought of just a simple suspended solid trap like a sieve of some sorts and after some considerations I guess it would be a waste of good resources.


Bio Filter Schematic 

Maybe I can just build a bio-filter base on the same principle as what I did for my little water fountain. It had been running for almost 3 years with no maintenance at all and it is still functioning perfectly. OK I'll do that.

Checked the water pressure at the regulating valve purging side and the discharge water looks strong enough so no need for additional pump. Take stock of what is available to be recycled and reused. I had to spend $4.80 only for a short length of piping and some fittings.

I have quite a few of these pigment drums which I got them free quite a few years ago and I just had no use for them for the time being. It is just the right size and is perfect for the bio-filter vessel body. Made a hole to fit a return tube for filtered water into the fish tank.


Filter material 

The filter material is some sorts of synthetic wool which I extracted from an old couch waiting to be dismantled. The actual material used were scrubbies but I guess the synthetic wool will work just as well.


Foam 

In case of scrubbies you can weight them down with some pebbles but with this synthetic wool I'll have to make use of a foam to keep them down so that any loose fiber would not flow into the tank.


Shape for tight fit

I have some old foam seat cushion and it was just perfect for this purpose. I have to cut it slight larger than the circumference of the tub for a tight fit so that it can hold the wool down.


Installed

The bio-filter took me slightly more than an hour to make and it was being installed in the evening.


Happiness 

When I take a look early the next morning, the water was already crystal clear and guess who were smiling and going to be tasty again?

The Veggies? They are delicious ... Yum!!!

Project Aquaponics - A summary.

Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. I was introduced to this process of farming by a member of Garden Stew, the gardening forum that I participated in. My intention was to plant cool weather veggies like lettuce, romaines, spinach, leeks and so on. Incidentally I found out that leeks cannot be planted this way and growing leeks is really different. Anyway I wanted to start a hydroponic system organically and I never knew aquaponics existed.

My princess did planted some veggies using the traditional hydroponics method when she was still in school. The system came in a set complete with all the chemical for the nutrients and veggies seeds. I was impressed with the way the veggies grew and from this memory I decided maybe I can grow cool weather veggies this way. So after lots of googling and asking around in Garden Stew, I was introduced to aquaponics. More googling and concluded the only way I can do this organically is by aquaponics. There are web sites that claim that their chemical nutrients for the hydroponics is organic but I wanted something that I can have easy access to locally at minimum cost.

There are many methods to set up an aquaponics system and after considering the basics of space and hardware, I decided on the ebb and flow method. For a detail account of my set up please check out my blog on my aquaponics in Garden Stew.

Anyway I had my first harvest just a couple of days ago which is "nai bai" and had it for lunch today. It tasted just as good as those planted on the ground and it is finer. As for the planting of cool weather, I guess it is out of the question now. I planted a whole bed with lettuce and it is not doing well. Most of the leaves were scorched by the super hot sun and they are bolting. So instead of getting nice bunch of leafy lettuce, I am getting long skinny ones. Looks like planting cool climate veggies here would remain a fantasy for me.

Hey!! I hope I have encountered the BLANK!!

BLANK!

It is really difficult for me to post anything lately. I have had wanted to post many things but when I log on all I can do is ................................ yes, just BLANK!! Nothing seems to enter my mind, sometimes after just keying in a few words and it is just BLANK again! Hmmm .................. don't ask me why because I have no idea myself why this BLANK is happening.

Right now I am fighting with this BLANK thingie so that I continue with my blog. I am going to post this even though it is a BLANK and if I can do it, I guess I might just overcome this BLANK period. A post is a post right?

Aquaponics - Planting ... I'm Happy :)

Today I added more seedlings to the aquaponics system. These new seedlings are specifically grown to be planted in the system.


Mini-Bok 

These are min-bok-choi or "nai-pai" in Chinese which is Milky White directly translated. One of our fellow member had planted this before but I cannot recall who.


Cleaning the roots. 

After carefully removing the seedling from the growth media, the seedling is gently put in water to remove as much as possible whatever is stuck to the roots.


Planting the seedling.

A couple of the pebbles is removed to make a cavity so that the seedling can be inserted.


Planted 

After inserting the seedling, the pebbles were carefully replaced and it is planted.


It's done! 

I decided to go on a 3X3in grid and I managed to get a total of 15 plants in a bed. Isn't that a pleasant sight?


Brassica and a single lettuce. 

A check on the first bed and I am please to say that they are doing well including the lone lettuce on the far right. I bought a packet of fresh lettuce seeds today and had sowed some seeds to be planted in the system next. Keeping my fingers crossed that they will germinate. 

Happiness!!!

Aquaponics - Let The Planting Begin!!!

Got the tilapias in on March 23rd and they were only about an inch. They got down to work immediately, easy job eat and poo.


Tilapias 

These fellas are growing real fast, more than four times the size when I got them. I feed them with commercial fish pellets and lettuce leaf once in a while. Still looking for duck weeds inactively anyway they are keeping the tank real clean from algae.


First Batch 

These are the first batch of seedlings which is what some people would refer to as "Orphans Plants" except for the one on the far right corner which is a lettuce. I wanted to start with lettuce but I only got a single seedling from the 20 seeds that I germinated.

I hate waiting, don't you? As a matter of fact from what I had read, I am suppose to wait like 2 or 3 months to let the bacteria grow to produce the necessary nutrients but I couldn't wait. Now is to watch how this first batch of veggies is going to grow. I have four more beds ...... maybe I'll start more seeds tomorrow!!!

Aquaponics - All System Go!!!

After ironing out all the problems (I hope!) I had the fish tank filled out to the brim.


Filled to the brim 

I made sure that all the water in the grow tanks were siphoned out before filling in the fish tank. In this way I am able to determine how much water is left in the fish when all the grow tanks were filled.


Water level after filled grow tank 

The water level is about 6 inches or 16cm below the brim, That is a comfortable level to work with and I think if I were to add one more grow tank, it would be no problem.


All system go!! 

After feeling everything is running smoothly, I started with the cycle time adjustment. The best time I could get is about 11 to 13 minutes, any slower the siphon will not start. I guess I just had to work with that even thought I mentioned theoretically is 15~20 minutes. Would a couple of minutes make a difference?? Hmmm ... Well the only way to find out is when the planting start and I am OK with that. I had also inoculated the water with some water from my fountain so that the maturity of the water can be shorten.

And I the final cost:

Total Hardware purchase: $175.00
Old parts cost estimate: $25.00
Total Cost : $200.00

I guess at Malaysian Ringgit $200.00 is reasonable and I am sure once it is productive, it should pay back in less than 6 months.

Next, should I get edible fish of just fish, buy or go fishing?

Aquaponics - Unforeseen Problems & Headaches

After sleeping on the flow problem I came up with a simple solution which I thought should work, restrict the flow at the throat before the outlet. Instead of adding regulating valves on each and every outlet which will attract and increase cost, I guess the simplest way to achieve this is to reduce the diameter at the throat by inserting a sleeves. Got hold of tubing of different diameters and cut short section of it to make sleeves. Inserted it into the throat of the outlet with the fastest flow rate and the result was encouraging. I had turned the flow regulator valve to feed the grow tank at the most minimal rate as possible in order to see the effect of the flow.


Sleeves 

After lots of trial and error in establishing the diameter of each throat with all sorts of tubing and even plastic drinking straws, I managed to get the almost best even flow rate for all the 5 outlets. Once this is established, I can then adjust the cycle time . While adjusting the cycle time, I noticed that the drain did not stop and continue trickling at a steady pace. Oh no not another problem! Could it be the draining rate equals the feed rate? Checked the siphon hose one by one and confirmed that the two grow tanks that is the furthest away from the fish tank is the culprit. If the feed rate is equal to the drain rate then increasing the feed rate would solve the problem so I thought. Tried increasing the feed rate but problem is still there!


Version 1.0

Version 1.1

Insurance 

It was getting late and decided to pack it in for the day and surfed the net till late at night looking for a solution but there was none. The next day I thought could be the air access hole being too small to break the siphon must be the problem and decided to make them bigger. It was a tedious task having to remove the pebbles from the two tanks but it was done after nearly 4 hours. Since I had all the pebbles removed from the tank, I decided to add a cage to the opening of the siphon tube to reduce the possibility of getting blocked in future. All the siphon system have the same size air access hole when I made them so I decided to redo the other three tanks as well. Even though it is tedious, if it must be done, it must be done - better safe than sorry or is it better now than later? Anyway cages were also installed as well to be on the safe side


Pho bo - yummy 

The next day got all the components and pebbles back in the grow tank and got the pump running again and ...... no, no...oh NO!!! it was still not working. Ah well, decided to help Becky with the very delicious "pho bo" or Vietnamese beef noodle soup preparation for lunch. This was the very first time we were making it and it was really yummy. After satisfying my tummy and rested, I headed to the aquaponic area to look at it again. Hmm ...... this maybe if I can just see what was happening under the pebbles maybe I would be able to find a solution.


Siphon 5 

OK I decided just to make an opening in the pebbles until I can see the cage and observe the whole process from fill to siphon to break siphon to fill again. It was a long wait before the siphon started and again a very very long wait for the siphon to break because it did not. The siphon just slowed down when it reached a certain level and equal out to the feed, when I push the siphon loop lower the siphon speed increases. This must be the culprit, remove the hoses of the two problem tanks and compared them with the others and confirmed that they were shorter. Guess what, this problem was self inflicted, remember when some of the water was purging out during the very first run I cut the hose shorter to ease the flow, guess I cut a bit too much.

Now to set the cycle time.