its almost done!

Looks like the new system is almost done. All told it will be about 285 gallons. By next weekend I hope to be testing it out for water retention. Will post pics and info when its done.

In other news, I planted Hawaiian sweet corn, swiss red chard, purple bell pepper, Waimanalo long eggplant, and hybrid eggplant. Guess we'll see how it goes.

Discovered that theres a leak in the system. Turns out that the water pressure/weight pushed out the pvc fittings, making me lose 4 buckets of water a day. As I had tweaked the water height (higher) on the raft bed, I thought I had changed the fill rates, didnt occur to me that water was leaking out somewhere.

Going to do a full water change today, as the new water should be dechlorinated (to get rid of the bad salt water)

found the culprit

well i am a big dummy. apparently i have been using the wrong kind of salt. even though i had problems with tilapia deaths before i started salting my tank, i was told to use sea salt to calm the fish. a small measure of plain sea salt calms the fish and it will not harm the plants.
i had a bottle of mortons sea salt, right on the front it said 'no iodine, from the plains in spain' or something. stupid me, i didnt check the back where it says 'contains: salt, yellow prussian sdfljkiug anticaking agent"

i will now be changing out all of the water. looks like its going to be a few weeks til i can put in any tilapia, and by then i will have my prototype tank up and running.

it is recommended to use 2ppt of sea salt. (1kg per 1000ltrs = 1ppt) or 3.5 oz of plain sea salt (no iodine or anticaking agents) per 100 gallons.

new project started

i put in 20 feeder comets last week, of which 2 have died. i also purchased 4 crayfish and put it in the tank with the water hyacinth and first 2 died. figuring not enough oxygen, i put in a battery operated air pump, the last 2 died the next day.
starting doing daily water tests to see if the system is stabilizing. hope to add tilapia's soon.

working on a larger tank now, supposedly larger systems are easier to maintain.

this tank will also be a prototype for a turn key system i hope to sell. its working out to be about 285 gallons and am hope to keep costs down to $1k, with a 75 gallon growbed, black cinder media, airpump, 700 gph pond pump, dc pond pump (backup), pvc piping, water test kit, and fish food.
any takers?

update 6/12

trellis is built and painted, but needs to be angled so rain wont pool on top anymore.


modified the setup a little. instead of using an airstone to pull water from tank2, im just having one of the grow beds dump straight into tank1, this should push water to tank2.


planted some chinese taro. they should do well as they are a water plant. according to the interwebs, chinese taro is good for the leaves, stems, and the corm (root) can be used to make taro chips, but not poi.



also, did i mention that i found 'seasol' here at koolau nursery over by the old gems? for you youngsters, thats the little mall over by hcc, where the new chucky cheese is going to be at.

next: build 300 gallon tank, move tank1 and 2 to side, nice-ify drain pipes

evolved the set up a little. added secondary tank to try to maintain water level for fishies. not sure if itll work tho. added trellis with clear plastic on top. hopefully the system will stabilize and i can add tilapia's again. in the mean time 20 feeder comets now cruise in the tank, testing things out.






will start building fiberglass set up soon.
plants doing pretty good so far.

... and then there was none

the last fish died today. i still think it was new system instability - i added the fish too early. its odd that they lasted for 10 days tho, so there may be other factors.
ah well, im going to take the time to change my setup and do a water change and give it a week or 2 before adding in more fish.

...and then there was one.

well all the fish save one is dead. i tested the PH and ammonia again, no change. did a partial water change. removed anything metallic that was nearby. added some organic sea kelp fertilizer and a small quantity of sea salt.

i guess i'll just have to do a total water change and hold off buying any fish for a little while.

at least the plants are doing good.

7 fishes gone to heaven.

failure. 7 of the 12 tilapias have died. not sure why yet. majorly bummed.
there was definately enough aeration in the water. i suspect impurities in the water. possibly a brass hinge i used that i meant to swap out.
will do an 'autopsy' tommorrow and find out what i can. =(

update

figured out a way to make a nice system for resale. gonna keep it under my hat until i figure all the small details out.


for now, heres what the plants look like, they arent growing as fast as i like, but they arent dead yet. i got some bok choy, spinach, kale, and coriander sprouting from seed in some cheapo tiny plastic thing from kmart. its the one that you have discs of dried peat and you rehydrate and it grows into this fat planter thing.
of course, before i plant it, i'll shake the dirt or whatevers in there out.





found a small battery powered up with built in relay. see the plug? if it detects the power goes off, the pump automatically kicks in. its $16 on amazon.




glenn's autosyphon.

no luck so far

one fiberglass place called me back. they are not going to be able to make fiberglass nesting tanks at an affordable price.
*note: nice aquaponics kits are made in australlia by murray hallam but costs alot to ship to hawaii*
i might have to go with building my 300 gallon system out of a wood frame and pond lining or a huge horse watering trough.

havent found a local source for clear tarp yet either.

found some hydroton at the only hydroponics shop in hawaii, but its kind f expensive. 10 liters for $25? i guess in hydroponics they only use it for inside the little grow pot.