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francois
03-23-2010, 10:40 AM
these photo's will help with what i have done over the last +-3 years

http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac14 ... %20garage/ (http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/francoislemmer/2006%20in%20my%20garage/)

http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac14 ... l%20setup/ (http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/francoislemmer/2007%20startup%20of%2096sqm%20tunnel%20setup/)

http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac14 ... mmer/2008/ (http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/francoislemmer/2008/)

http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac14 ... mmer/2009/ (http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/francoislemmer/2009/)

http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac14 ... mmer/2010/ (http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/francoislemmer/2010/)

hope it works

davidstcldfl
03-23-2010, 02:34 PM
Nice..... :mrgreen:

urbanrunoff
03-23-2010, 07:30 PM
can that still be considered a back yard system ? i'm just jealous....


are the grow beds made out of reg. pond liner?

francois
03-24-2010, 01:30 AM
the basics of my system
when i do my final project there will be some mods

http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac14 ... %20system/ (http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/francoislemmer/basic%20system/)

francois
03-25-2010, 05:23 AM
my worm farm and wormbins

http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac14 ... RM%20FARM/ (http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac144/francoislemmer/2010%20WORM%20FARM/)

Cyara
06-10-2010, 11:07 AM
For some reason the pics are not showing up for me, Francois. But I will try your CD idea. Really hope it works for me too.

Chelle

davidstcldfl
06-10-2010, 01:37 PM
Hi francois, the way your posting your pics, when I click on one of your picture links....it takes me to your Photobucket page, and I can see 'all' your pictures.

If you want........use the IMG code, instead of the http code. Then anyone signed in to DIY should/will see your pictures, in your post


Chelle.....maybe you haven't signed up for Photobucket and that's why you cant see francois' pictures (?)

Cyara
06-11-2010, 05:08 AM
Actually I did sign up for photobucket... yonks ago. I use it for my blog. I should have thought of it for here. Makes sense.

Maybe it needs to be opened to see Francois' pics. Not sure why the pics aren't showing for me.

Chelle

Cyara
06-11-2010, 08:20 AM
I got to see your pics, Francois. Really impressive. Neat system. It looks like CHIFT PIST. How much of your family's food needs are you growing?

Also saw the CDs hanging there... amazing that they chased monkeys away. I am doing it too. Definitely worth a try. :)

Chelle

francois
06-12-2010, 08:21 AM
some photos
winter is here
water cold for tilapia/eat very little
stil manage to grow vegy's
using only vermicastings/vermitea i brew

francois
06-12-2010, 08:27 AM
using only vermi/tea(brewed) and vermicasting from my worm farm in the system

Cyara
06-12-2010, 09:23 AM
Nice balance to the system with the vermicomposting and tea........ My tilapia also slow down in winter

Chelle

francois
06-17-2010, 09:14 AM
took today...my fish

francois
06-17-2010, 09:22 AM
and more

francois
06-17-2010, 09:23 AM
later

JCO
06-17-2010, 09:41 AM
How many fish do you think you have in that tank :?: :mrgreen:

jackalope
06-17-2010, 02:33 PM
I love those fish tanks .... what a great operation!!

stucco
06-17-2010, 02:45 PM
That is a hellofa system! Do your beds flood and drain?

francois
06-19-2010, 09:56 AM
That is a hellofa system! Do your beds flood and drain?
stucco

flow 24 hrs per day
in my duckweed sump i have a controller for water level

francois
06-19-2010, 09:58 AM
How many fish do you think you have in that tank :?: :mrgreen:
dont know
i think +- 600 fish
most of them +- 200 mm

francois
06-20-2010, 07:19 AM
CLEANED THE OUTFLOW END OF MY DUCWEED SUMP TODAY
LAST CLEANED +- 1YEAR AGO
FOOD FOR THE WORMS
TOOK 60 LITERS OF THE STUFF OUT AND FED TO WORMS

francois
06-20-2010, 07:26 AM
I HAVE NOW REPLANTED 7 OFF MY 8 TRAYS WITH HOME GROWN SEEDLINGS
TRYING TO GET A PLANTING CYCLE GOING
PLANTS LOOK.........///
I AM HAPPY FOR THE CONDITIONS.
VERY COLD 8 DEG/C
FISH NOT EATTING

francois
06-20-2010, 07:44 AM
CELERY SEEDLING I GREW

francois
06-20-2010, 07:52 AM
WHAT YOU SEE IN THESE PHOTOS IS

I THINK....BELIEVE.....THIS SYSTEM IS RUNNING 20 PERCENT

SYSTEM RUNS NO PLOBLEM/NUN STOP
COMPLETELY OUT OF SCALE
............................

davidstcldfl
06-20-2010, 08:50 AM
WOW.... :D

badflash
06-20-2010, 08:20 PM
The key to success is to take advantage of all waste streams.

francois
06-23-2010, 08:02 AM
from this to this

francois
06-23-2010, 08:05 AM
more ............

francois
06-23-2010, 08:09 AM
look now
used vermi tea and fish castings that i brew

francois
06-23-2010, 08:14 AM
my celery growth in my system winter

francois
06-23-2010, 08:19 AM
i will post weekly as they grow

francois
06-24-2010, 03:31 AM
MY WIFE BOUGHT ME 2 KIO AND 3 GOLDFISH
I KEPT THEM IN A SMALLER SYSTEM BUT..........
THEY ENDEN UP IN MY DUCKWEED DAM
1 KIO AND 1 GOLDFISH DIED
I LEFT 2 GOLDFISH IN DUCKWEED AND MOVED
THE KIO INTO MY BIG DAM BETWEEN THE TILAPIA
THAT IS LESS THAN A YEAR AGO
THE KIO ATE WHAT THE TILAPIA ATE
A GOOD TILAPIA DIET.
FED MAX............ WHEN WATER PARAMETERS ALLOWED ME TO.....
THE FISH IN MY DAM ATE AVERAGE 2 KG FOOD PER DAY IN SUMMER
THE KIO OUTGREW THE TILAPIA BY +-200%(IN 1 YEAR FROM 150MM TO NOW ..............300MM +
AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT KIO WANT BETTER WATER QUALITY THAN TILAPIA
HAVE NOT REALLY LOOKED AT GROWTHRATE OF KIO

NOW WITH ALL MY UPS AND DOWNS THE KIO IS HEALTHY AND HAPPY

LIKE THE MINERS USE TO TAKE A BUDGY IN A CAGE WHEN THEY WENT UNDERGROUND
THE KIO IN MY SYSTEM TELLS ME THAT
WITH ALL MY PROBLEMS MY FISH WERE HAPPY

HIGH STOCKING AND HEAVY FEEDDING AND ME STRESSING
VERY GOOD LEARNING CURVE

francois
06-24-2010, 08:37 AM
fed my worms today

from buying a 500 gram rama dish with +-50 worms and compost
to what you see
now when you have so many worms and the maintanance on them are so low
and they are always xxxxxxx
then the worms become a sustainable food source
saving money on fish food

francois
06-24-2010, 08:44 AM
4 patty pan seed today

francois
06-25-2010, 05:12 AM
THE LAYOUT OF MY SYTEM NOW

wolfracer
06-25-2010, 05:15 AM
A very interesting system.

francois
06-25-2010, 05:19 AM
THIS IS MY NEXT SYSTEM
DREAMSSSSSSSSSSSSSS...............
BUT WHO KNOWS
DO IT IN STAGES

francois
06-25-2010, 05:25 AM
PHASE 2
GROWWING OWN SEEDLINGS AND FINGERLINGS

francois
06-26-2010, 08:29 AM
MOVED THESE TODAY

francois
06-26-2010, 08:35 AM
THESE SPANACH, I MOVED TODAY HAS BEEN IN MY SYSTEM FOR 1 YEAR PLUS

THE OTHER PLANT NOT SURE WHAT IT IS.
GROWS WELL IN SYSTEM.
STARTED FROM SEEDS FROM MY PARROT FOOD

stucco
06-26-2010, 08:47 AM
How did you make your growbeds? I’m curious as to how the tops are fastened together. Thanks for sharing the photos and please keep them coming.

francois
06-26-2010, 08:48 AM
THIS/THESE PLANTS GREW WELL

stucco
06-26-2010, 08:52 AM
That kinda looks like wheat

francois
06-26-2010, 09:15 AM
stucco

How did you make your growbeds? I’m curious as to how the tops are fastened together. Thanks for sharing the photos and please keep them coming.

HOPE THIS HELPS
2 MM PLASTIC ROLL I BOUGHT (2MMX3000MMX30 000MM) IF I REMEMBER RIGHT.
I CUT THE PLASTIC IN LENGHT OF MY TRAY AND THEN
MY TRAYS WERE FOLDED TO HAVE A DEPTH OF 200MM
......BUT THEY STARTED BALLOONING WITH THE STONES AND WATER
SO +- EVERY 500 MM I TIED A LINE ACROSS TO KEEP THE SIDES UP
CAN WORK WELL FOR GROW TRAYS/YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT SIDES BETER
CHEAP EVERLASTING AND DURABLE
CHEAP AND EASY

francois
06-26-2010, 09:24 AM
FORGOT TO MENTION
THE TRAYS ARE ONLY ABOUT 150 MM HEIGH NOW
I LOST 1/4 OF MY DESIGN HEIGHT FROM 200 TO 150
THIS IS A PROBLEM BUT CAN BE FIXED WITH LITTLE COST
MY DROP FROM THE INLET END TO MY OUTLET IS NOT SHARP
I NEED MORE FLOW
SOMETHING ELSE I WIL MAKE SURE I GET RIGHT NEXT TIME

francois
06-27-2010, 02:08 AM
I MARKED THE FOLDING EDGE WITH RED
VERY SIMPLE

francois
06-27-2010, 07:40 AM
split my celery today
i had 40 plants in 2 trays
now 14+13+13
killing fires
plants to close together

francois
06-27-2010, 07:42 AM
now

francois
06-27-2010, 07:59 AM
this was my tamato growth in my system
very good but lots of work/only me doing all

francois
06-27-2010, 08:02 AM
7 8 2008.JPG to 26 9 2008 .JPG

francois
06-27-2010, 08:06 AM
20 10 2008.JPG to 11 11 2008.JPG

francois
06-27-2010, 08:12 AM
11 11 2008 .JPG to 11 1 2009.JPG
after this removed to much work
kept me buzy

davidstcldfl
06-27-2010, 08:20 AM
Very nice francois... :)

eddie
06-27-2010, 08:10 PM
Hi francois,
This is my first post. With this aquaponics I am just beginning. I have a question.
Do gold fish eat duckweed?
Thanks,

francois
06-28-2010, 12:39 AM
Hi francois,
This is my first post. With this aquaponics I am just beginning. I have a question.
Do gold fish eat duckweed?
Thanks,


morning eddie

not sure

davidstcldfl
06-28-2010, 02:49 AM
Hi Eddie, welcome to the forum.... :D

I have some goldfish.....I threw some duckweed in with them, just to 'shade' the water. They are eating it. I dont know if that is 'normal' or not ?

badflash
06-28-2010, 05:23 AM
Goldfish eat duckweed, but Koi REALLY like it.

francois
06-28-2010, 07:15 AM
I MARKED THE FOLDING EDGE WITH RED
VERY SIMPLE

took these today

francois
06-28-2010, 09:08 AM
this was a ornamental grass i grew in my system
grew well
started with handfull of cuttings
kept on spliting

francois
06-28-2010, 09:11 AM
grew very well no fuzz

francois
06-28-2010, 09:14 AM
wanted to show full tray

francois
06-28-2010, 10:06 AM
lettices i grew in my system

francois
06-28-2010, 10:10 AM
more

francois
06-28-2010, 10:12 AM
then wormfood

eddie
06-29-2010, 06:54 AM
Thanks,
I will my goldfish some duckweed.
I have a small setup on my South West facing apartment porch (lanai). My fish tank is a 70 liter (18.5 gal) pot. Then the filter which is 28 liters (7.5 gal) home made. Then the grow beds are six assorted containers each no greater than five gallons. The grow bed containers are shallow -about six inches deep and about eight inches wide. Just water in the grow beds and experimenting with different ways to support the plants. Water moves through the eight containers via siphons of about one and a half to two inch flexible hose.
My gold fish were in the fish tank but the system was not able to process the waste well enough and I lost one. The other one is happy now with my year and a half old turtle.
I have been playing with this setup for about a year now so I thought I had plenty of bacteria to process the ammonia from the fish. The only fish in there now is one red beta. He is thriving.
I want to drop the pH in the system so my plants will do better. Not sure what other fish to put with the beta. The two goldfish were about three inches each.
The pH was at least 7.6 this morning. I'm not testing for nitrogen at this time.
Will check the pH again in the morning. Any advice will help please.
Thanks, Eddie

francois
06-30-2010, 07:21 AM
had this over my dam
plastic pulled over damcover (pvc homemade)

first rain/big problem/removed/pvc /angle not steep and strong on cover
rigged this overhead yesterday and hung the dam cover today

now tomorow i pul plastic over cover
trying to maintain/gain/control heat
not very neat but...........
has to do for now

francois
06-30-2010, 08:48 AM
LETTICE SEED I SOWED DIRECTLY INTO STONES (before 10 1 2008.JPG)

francois
07-04-2010, 05:52 AM
update on my system

closed the dam up and i gained +-3 deg.
took the plastic of today to fold and fit over dam so that the next rain ......last time ...... not the same thing happen.
my celery doing well
the cabbage look ok but i stopped with the vermi tea for 2 days and i can notice see the difference in the plants
the old plants i moved with the celery last weekend looks good

francois
07-04-2010, 05:55 AM
update cont......

stucco
07-04-2010, 09:02 AM
VERY NICE!!! I do like your system. You guys in South Africa sure know how to go big. Are familiar with brain fanner or synaptoman?

francois
07-04-2010, 09:37 AM
THANKS STUCCO

davidstcldfl
07-04-2010, 12:49 PM
I wish my backyard was that big !
Of course, what I do have....I'm trying to fill with growbeds, so I don't have to cut the grass.... :lol:

francois
07-05-2010, 09:08 AM
[quote="davidstcldfl"]I wish my backyard was that big ! quote]

hi
not my backyard but wish it was
1.8 hec/indiginous bush
this is a small patch that was fairly clear and he allowed me to do my pilot project here
bush allround/only my portion cleared / i walk 100 meters down a bush path to get to my system.
i still want to / have to move my system when .......when when something comes up........?
one day

francois
07-05-2010, 09:14 AM
refitted my plastic weather proof today
i took plastic home to fold and get center to make hole(did not really want to do / big piece of plastic) for the way i wanted to hang the plastic
no space and the plastic is 10 meters x5 meters
big expensive piece of plastic now with unwanted hole................

francois
07-05-2010, 09:25 AM
this is a heater i build/ it stands 2 meters high when standing up
in the photos it is on it's side
more to show the inside pype arrangement / water pumped slowly through heater with each pumping cycle with the same pump / split in water /90-10%
10% through heater pypes in cycle
a compost heater
feed from top and remove bottom as required
i never really tested it properly/ it make compost but i only filled it 2/3 times
never had the time
does it work....... i cant say but
i believe it can work

francois
07-05-2010, 10:03 AM
found this photo of the heater
forgot it had a platic coat as well
water pumps in top and flows out top/gravity
when pump switches of after pumping cycle the heater stays full of water
until the pump cycle starts again
all standard plumming fittings

francois
07-07-2010, 04:29 AM
my latest way of covering my dam with plastic had the first test of wind yesterday and last night
got through it ok/very strong winds
now just the rain and i dont think that is a problem anymore
plastic is laying/hanging smooth and the water can't dam

francois
07-07-2010, 09:37 AM
worms is something i have tried things with
this is something i tried and gave me good results.
I have tried varios things with worms
does not take much to keep them the worms happy
the one test i did was over +-12 months if i remember.
i do mechanical designing and had a shi... load of old drawings to destroy
i took all the drawings and soaked them very good and then started a worm colany in the paper(basicly hand full of worms)
left alone not disturbing them but the now and then peep
kept miost and always a little sun
took time but they lived bred and multyplied
after long wait and emptying the bin out
paper worked through by worms 100%
looked different to vermicastings you can see the castings come from paper
but this was a very good way of increasing my stock
the worms in paper did all the worms did under normal conditions
when i emptyd out 100...worms and cacoons
the worms were smaller but i found as they get fed normaly again their sizes change and the worms grow normal
big fat red wrigglers
this in the photos is what i explained
this is another bin that has been going for +-4 months(newspaper/magazines)
full of worm,smaller but lots

francois
07-09-2010, 07:36 AM
This is a test i did back in 2008
i planted sweetcorn in my system into the stones
i planted sweetcorn outside in siol
not the very best but .....test
the outside plants i watered everyday
the difference in growth was so big and fast
i stopped watering the outside/lost interest/proved my piont
growth in a system is ........execelent

francois
07-09-2010, 07:44 AM
growth in a system is ........execelent

francois
07-09-2010, 08:50 AM
24 10 2009-....17 12 2009 these plants were left to look after themselves
after the wind blew my tunnel away( first photo plastic over tunnel/ rest after the wind
the sweetcorn grew well with no attention from my side

francois
07-09-2010, 08:54 AM
and more

francois
07-09-2010, 08:57 AM
more

francois
07-09-2010, 09:00 AM
last of this cycle

taste .....the best
i must say all comments that come back to me are good/smell/flavour/taste

francois
07-16-2010, 08:26 AM
update on my celery
very cold and water temp in day 8-13 deg
fish not eating well

davidstcldfl
07-17-2010, 01:56 PM
Hi francois.
Again, some nice pictures... :D
I noticed in your pictures....at the brginning of each row, there is a basket of some kind. Is this a filter....or, does it just help to keep the water from splashing, as much ?

francois
07-18-2010, 05:35 AM
Hi francois.
Again, some nice pictures... :D
I noticed in your pictures....at the brginning of each row, there is a basket of some kind. Is this a filter....or, does it just help to keep the water from splashing, as much ?

plastic basket
helps to keep/catch some of the solids
simple but works ok

wolfracer
07-18-2010, 08:26 AM
This is a really awesome system, and would be great for a inner city roof top system. Very nicely done.

francois
07-19-2010, 09:23 AM
MY CELERY 24 DAYS

francois
09-26-2010, 07:20 AM
Hi all
Been a while since I posted and so much has happened.
For one I have taken my system down.
I took the system down not knowing when and where I would be able to
Get back into Aquaponics.......
I have been putting word out for an opportunity
And now I have been approached and now I have a place to build a scaled system.
I have found an old friend also trying to get involved in this field and we are now
Planning and designing our system.


Keeping it very simple

francois
09-26-2010, 07:26 AM
Gary a friend and very keen on this subject.(passion....the correct formula for success)
planning and designing our next system and will start building the system next week.
wanting fish in dam by the end of next month................
this system will be scaled to Dr James Rakocy UVI Aquaponics System.

this will be the first sytem of our future plans(call it a pilot project).
in future we want to use this model for expanding to go bigger......
my garage...... then my pilot project......... and NOW for the real thing..........
cant wait

the system changes but the old trays will be re-used somewhere
even if for the worm farm
the system will have 1 dam +- 8000 litres -split into 4 cycles of fish
4 flouting cages for constant stocking and harvesting.
the cycle would be dam - solid removal - into growbed - into duckweed sump - back into dam
1 big growbed and that will be a flouting system.
load pallet one side and harvest other side.
me thinking.....

badflash
09-26-2010, 07:49 AM
Is this a once-through system, or using the dam for make-up and the sump/ducweed for cleanup?
With a once-through the nutrient levels may not be high enough for the plants.

Brier
09-26-2010, 08:09 AM
From what I have gathered, in some countries, dam= tank. Confusing to us Americans.

Biggles1212
09-26-2010, 11:50 AM
Francois,

Thanks very much for posting your system and the time and effort you've taken to chronicle everything. I must admit it is inspirational. I've been procrastinating for days about my own greenhouse and tank setup and spend my hard earned cash on structure. I've been working on a very tight budget for a while and watch the pennies.

I had a similar idea of troughs for the grow beds and wondered if it worked. Apparently it does. The duckweed ponds look to be an excellent system. Well done and hope your new system will be as much fun.

gosmith
09-27-2010, 08:43 AM
Francois,

Thanks so much for posting about your system. Very nicely done. Being new to AP, I am constantly amazed by what some people have managed to accomplish with a little ingenuity and some hard work.

I may have missed this in your posts, but how do you prepare the worm poo for feeding to the fish? Is it dried first?

G

francois
09-27-2010, 09:00 AM
hI gosmith

THE FISH POO GETS FED TO THE WORMS.
SO THE WORMS BREAK POO DOWN
THEN AFTER WORMS HAVE BROKEN THE POO DOWN I RE USE AS SPRAY OR FERTILIZING IN THE SYSTEM
THEN THE FISH EAT THE WORMS

francois
09-27-2010, 09:04 AM
Hi Biggles1212

these trays work 100% and are a very easy and cheap salution to trays
very simple


sorry for shouting in last post

gosmith
09-27-2010, 11:39 AM
Thanks Francois. I was confused about the worm poo, but it all makes sense now. Have you calculated how much volume or weight of worms per fish per day? I've been composting with worms for years and would like to incorporate worm beds into the AP system I am working on.

francois
09-28-2010, 07:25 AM
hi badflash


Is this a once-through system, or using the dam for make-up and the sump/ducweed for cleanup?
With a once-through the nutrient levels may not be high enough for the plants.

I am not 100% sure what you mean.
The system was a closed recirculating system.
from dam - into growbeds - from growbeds into - duckweed sump - back into dam
was very symple system but worked very well.

Biggles1212
09-29-2010, 11:22 AM
Hi Francois,

I understand you're in South Africa. I'm sitting in Phalaborwa, Limpopo. Have you been able to source clean Duck Weed?

I've been battling to find someone who has Duck Weed minus all the snails. :?

badflash
09-29-2010, 05:57 PM
Take a little duckweed, put it in a tank and add some copper sulfate until the water is light blue. Let the duckwed float in it a day or so. The snails will die, the duckweed should be fine, then you can grow it out and have all you want.

francois
12-25-2010, 01:16 AM
hi all


Gary and me will be back very soon.(partners)

well it never happend so i am still without a system but all good things come with time.

when the good comes around i will start posting again
well i want to just wish all at DIY a merry christmas

regards

francois

francois
04-08-2011, 09:42 AM
Hi all
I have wanted to build a new system but due to...........bottom line I don’t have money ........
WELL.......
This is a small system I have been designing to build in my back yard and actually having to take a lot into account due to space and sun light.....I have come up with a good size system to play with.
With the design wanted to keep as cheap as possible and my first idea was using 210 litres drums but after getting the price of one drum I had to re-think....I had my pilot project grow trays and if I use these in my new system.......I have eight of these trays and I need four...using as they are....no work....

francois
04-08-2011, 09:47 AM
The two ends of my system...pipes

francois
04-08-2011, 09:55 AM
this is late posting because i started the digging last weekend and this is how i did this week

I dug foundations on last friday and cast on saterday morning

francois
04-08-2011, 10:00 AM
When I started marking out I thought to double check my old grow tray width... and....I #@$$##%%-up with my foundation... to narrow.
I had to turn the brick in height and build 20 mm from edge on outside of foundation.

francois
04-08-2011, 10:03 AM
I did some more building today....
Looks like another 2-3 hrs then the brickwork complete.
I am thinking of plastering these two walls now because the bricks are build on the narrow side...the plastering will help with the strength of the wall.
I also meant to leave axis holes in the wall to get to the duckweed.....
I will cut them later
Hopefully by the Monday/Tuesday I can start with the assembly of my system…
Eager beaver…..

Biggles1212
04-08-2011, 02:38 PM
Looks great so far.

francois
04-09-2011, 07:46 AM
Done...
I finished building the last few rows today.
for my first building experience it does not look to bad.
the outside of these walls I want to plaster and the inside will bag...rough finish

francois
04-09-2011, 07:53 AM
Between these walls my 2 grow trays top and duckweed trays bottem.

francois
04-09-2011, 07:54 AM
Looks great so far.

thanks

rfeiller
04-09-2011, 09:42 AM
quite a project, very interesting thanks for sharing

will there be sunlight for the duckweed trays?

francois
04-09-2011, 10:07 AM
Hi rfeiller
this ducweed shown was grown no sun and minimum light
my duckweed dam was covered with black plastic under thick shade netting
grew ok under those condition....


will there be sunlight for the duckweed trays?

francois
04-09-2011, 10:17 AM
i will cut these maintenance openings later...peeping holes and some light

francois
04-11-2011, 09:37 AM
took out the grass and leveled.
plasterd four stips to help with my plastering.
these strips all inline and vertical ....
run my straight edge on hardened cement strips...hope to end with straight wall...?

francois
04-12-2011, 08:13 AM
Started plastering today...I went to thin on the plaster
Learnt a few things today
Tomorrow should be better
I think I will paint this with white cement....rough finish

francois
04-13-2011, 08:21 AM
Hi All
I finished off the one outside wall today.
Learned from yesterday and getting better at this.
Yesterday I had to make a business decision and I will have to leave for Pretoria on next Tuesday...
Will be working there for 20 days…
I want to do most of the building work before I go.
This puts me back as far as my system is concerned……

francois
04-14-2011, 09:11 AM
Today I spent the whole day plastering the outside of the other wall and
then bagging the inside of the two walls. Back breaking work but now it is done.

francois
04-15-2011, 07:26 AM
I started plastering and finishing of the tops of walls today.
Looks ok even a little overhang.
This building of my system from foundations to finish has taught me a few things…..and a sore back and hands
But almost there….tops and ends to finish.
The ends I will do after I have had my two bottom trays in place to see what will work the best.
I don’t want to build totally closed for access and maintenance.

francois
04-17-2011, 04:51 AM
This morning I tried my two bottom duckweed trays.

francois
04-17-2011, 04:55 AM
Had to rework the brickwork on one side and make longer by 100 mm for tray to fit with some clearance for pipe fittings.
I rebuild this broken end and tomorrow I can finish of both my ends….happy with the way things worked out. When the two trays are in place it looks good.

francois
04-17-2011, 05:55 AM
Eager beaver...I placed my trays in the reworked size...cement still very wet
i am happy....

francois
04-17-2011, 07:23 AM
the layout of pipes from these two trays.
from duckweed back into barrel sump

francois
05-10-2011, 06:50 AM
Hi All
Well the trip to Pretoria turned out well…..we finished the installation before the deadline and that meant coming home a few days earlier.
A team of eight of us stripped out an old conveyer and installed a new system.
Working twelve hour per day and a good team …..

keith_r
05-10-2011, 07:24 AM
nice conveyors.. i used to design them for a couple years way back when.. interesting stuff!

urbanfarmer
05-10-2011, 09:46 PM
WOW, looks like a big project!

francois
05-11-2011, 05:41 AM
Hi All
I fiddled around for the weekend and started finishing of the last of my brickwork on Monday.
I cut the light/maintenance/axis holes yesterday and of course I broke the one corner of my side wall and had to rebuild it…… again 3rd time.
The cut with the grinder was not deep enough and trying to break out the inside piece…&^%#$$%&*
I cut the other 13 holes with a BIG angle grinder and I am happy with the results.
I have to finish all the inside of openings with plaster to give strength and look better.

urbanfarmer
05-11-2011, 12:33 PM
I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's done!

rfeiller
05-11-2011, 09:29 PM
definitely unique! :)

francois
05-12-2011, 06:29 AM
Hi All
Today I finished of the last of the building and finishing of my two walls
I got lazy and left the rest of the plastering very rough finish...
I want to leave for 1 or 2 days and then paint the inside white

rfeiller
05-12-2011, 08:58 AM
You need to wait usually 30 days with a cement project because of alkalies before coating with most products.

urbanfarmer
05-12-2011, 11:29 AM
You need to wait usually 30 days with a cement project because of alkalies before coating with most products.

I think our resident expert Stucco should chime in on this one...

rfeiller
05-12-2011, 12:00 PM
Uf a reputable painting will always test fresh cement products before applying any finish unless he wants to remove the peeling finish and refinish the surface.

urbanfarmer
05-12-2011, 12:08 PM
O gotcha

francois
05-15-2011, 07:19 AM
Hi All
Did some paving with bricks and planted 6 poles for my raised fish tank and worm bed and dug my pump sump into place.

francois
05-15-2011, 07:24 AM
Did a few other things’ over the weekend, not all complete but I wanted to test and see if the rest of my system worked as planned.
So far so good……

francois
05-15-2011, 07:28 AM
my top grow trays in place

rfeiller
05-15-2011, 08:12 AM
Very impressive unique design

francois
05-16-2011, 06:20 AM
Hi All
Today I added all my wood supports down the sides and painted the inside.

timwru
05-17-2011, 11:13 PM
Hi there, where in SA are you based

francois
05-17-2011, 11:35 PM
Hi timwru

morning i am based in port elizabeth the friendly windy city

francois
05-18-2011, 05:01 AM
Hi All
Today I washed/sterilized my grow trays half filled them with water and tested them for leaks
I also did most of the piping.
These are photos with all four of my trays in place and the piping.

francois
05-24-2011, 06:27 AM
Hi All
Today I finished of my woodwork for my top 2 grow trays. Using scrap pieces from a building site and cutting them into the sizes I needed...Saved a few rands.
Most of my piping has been done and I tested the system without the fish dam and worm filter.
I used a small pump and pumped the water from my pump sump (green 210 l plastic drum) into my grow trays on top and the water flowing out on the other side into my duckweed trays and back into my pump sump
And all looks good.
Now it is for my fish tank and growing media in my trays….
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel

francois
05-24-2011, 06:29 AM
more

francois
05-29-2011, 07:26 AM
Hi All
Today I started the fitting of my fish tank and worm filter.
Not my first choice of a fish tank but suits the pocket
I would have liked to have a round tank with centre outlet
I cut the plastic tank so that my fish tank can hold +-750 litres water.
The other piece I will use as a worms filter/sump
The fish tank piece comes with a tap so I will use this as my outlet to my worm’s filter/sump
The top piece has a centre outlet and this I will use for the water to my grow trays

francois
05-30-2011, 07:55 AM
Hi All
Today I finished of the tank and worm filter/sump
Beefed up the wood framework and fitted the galvanized frame the tank came in.
I also washed the tank and worm filter and I will sterilize before I add my water
The next and last of the big things to do is my media….washing and rinsing
Hoping I can still do that in this week
Almost ready to start this baby up

francois
05-30-2011, 08:14 AM
This complete system is build out of what I had around and basically cost minimum.

rfeiller
05-30-2011, 11:33 AM
Now that's ingenuity! Gotta see the results.

davidstcldfl
05-30-2011, 02:27 PM
:D

urbanfarmer
05-30-2011, 03:37 PM
That just looks amazing. Very well done!

francois
06-01-2011, 05:39 AM
Hi All
Today I finished of the piping and I cycled the system with everything in place.
Checking for leaks and whatever else can be wrong or not working 100%
So far so good…I have a few leaks but I will sort them out.

The water flows from the dam gravity into my worm sump into my grow trays
into my duckweed sump into my pump sump and then pumped in cycles back into the fish tank

francois
06-01-2011, 05:43 AM
into my grow trays into my duckweed sump

francois
06-01-2011, 05:45 AM
into my pump sump and then pumped in cycles back into the fish tank

francois
06-09-2011, 07:03 AM
Hi All
We had some very urgently needed rain over the past few days.
The rain filled my system to the brim and everything is still standing and nothing broken with all the weight.

francois
06-09-2011, 07:04 AM
load tested

francois
06-19-2011, 06:36 AM
Hi All
Been down with the flu and I had it bad.
Over this weekend I finished of the last few things and am now running the system without fish and grow media in my trays or worm sump.
My business has also kept me away from starting up the system…been very busy.
I want to see if I get time tomorrow to add 5 or 6 fish to get the bio going.
I closed the system with shade cloth and I think with only a few fish the surface area of the grow trays should be ok to get the filter working….

davidstcldfl
06-19-2011, 09:42 AM
Glad your feeling better... :D

rfeiller
06-19-2011, 08:21 PM
as complex as this set-up is, is the fun of desgin and construction over or is the fun just starting. looks great. what fish did you decide on?

francois
06-28-2011, 08:39 AM
Hi All
This is my father in-laws pool he converted to a Kio pond.
He has a lot of Kio and a few tilapias in the pool.
More for the fish than the plants....he grows water lettuce in his bio filters
The pool really brings his backyard to life....beautiful

francois
06-28-2011, 08:40 AM
the fish

francois
06-28-2011, 08:42 AM
Hi All
I started my duckweed Colony today.
Not much duckweed to start with but also not the first time I start with a hand full
So my duckweed will be slow start.
I also added tilapia to the system today to help kick start the filter slowly.
In total I added 19 very small fish. 17 fry and 2 off 25-30 mm long fingerlings
Still no media in my trays or worm filter…..
Here in Port Elizabeth we have had very good rain.
The drought broken I think and hope and with that we have had very cold windy conditions.
My water temp late afternoon is only 11 deg.

francois
06-28-2011, 08:43 AM
i made these plastic covers for the tank and filter
light and easy to open and close and keeps the sun out

davidstcldfl
06-28-2011, 06:24 PM
Nice looking covers... :D
Did you wrap the IBC's, or did you paint them ?

urbanfarmer
06-28-2011, 08:52 PM
francois did you paint them black to absorb heat or to stop light from getting in the tank?

francois
06-29-2011, 01:53 AM
Nice looking covers... :D
Did you wrap the IBC's, or did you paint them ?

Hi David
the covers and ibc is made out of plastic i had.
Yes sir i wraped the 1mm thick plastic around the ibc

francois
06-29-2011, 02:29 AM
francois did you paint them black to absorb heat or to stop light from getting in the tank?
The plastic is wraped around the ibc and it is for the light and hopefully will help with heat

keith_r
06-29-2011, 05:54 AM
i read something about duckweed a while back (about it's reproduction) and can't find the article at the moment,, but from what i understand, it is somewhat limited in the number of generations that can grow.. a way to increase the amount of time was to add "fresh" duckweed to the existing colony

davidstcldfl
06-29-2011, 06:51 AM
Not sure if this is the article Keith was refering too...?
This one does...see chapter 2...about the 6 or 7 paragraph

http://www.fao.org/Ag/AGAInfo/resources ... DW/Dw2.htm (http://www.fao.org/Ag/AGAInfo/resources/documents/DW/Dw2.htm)

keith_r
06-29-2011, 07:07 AM
that looks like it.. thanks!

davidstcldfl
06-29-2011, 09:49 AM
Your welcome Keith.

It's an amazing little plant.... :)

francois
07-11-2011, 08:18 AM
Hi All
It has been cold wet windy over the last few days.
My 19 fish I started with has decreased to 6….
The duckweed I started with has almost doubled.
I added duckweed into my duckweed trays today and have taken some photos to post as I go along.
I have started closing up my system.
Using the used pipes and fittings from my pilot project (i have lots)

francois
07-11-2011, 08:24 AM
Today i moved some duckweed to their tray to see ?????

francois
07-11-2011, 08:27 AM
testing with old shade cloth
in winter i want to have covered in plastic and summer white...shade cloth

JCO
07-12-2011, 05:08 AM
Your races are very impressive. Can you give me run down of what they are built of and how you built them? :mrgreen:

davidstcldfl
07-12-2011, 05:31 AM
I like the design of the pipe for the shade cloth.... :D

francois
07-12-2011, 06:37 AM
I like the design of the pipe for the shade cloth.... :D
thank you sir

francois
07-12-2011, 06:45 AM
Your races are very impressive. Can you give me run down of what they are built of and how you built them? :mrgreen:
Hi JCO
When you talk about races are you referring to the grow trays.
Made of 2 mm liner and I folded the ends to make them water proof
if you you need more detail shout please

JCO
07-12-2011, 03:05 PM
What I am talking about is the white one with water in it that looks like it has windows in the side to see the fish and has PVC over it for shading frame. How did you construct them and out of what material? :mrgreen:

keith_r
07-12-2011, 03:26 PM
those plastic trays are resting on wood slats inside the brickwork, i've been following francois' work, those trays above are re-used from an earlier project he worked on, the new setup is all very nice brickwork that he documented here pretty well..
i like the "windows' and duckweed trial, there's some results waiting to happen that many folks will find helpful
great job francois!

francois
07-14-2011, 07:27 AM
Hi All
I finished of my plastic over my system.
Re-using some of the plastic I used with my pilot project
My plastic is a loose cover that I can roll up as I require
Makes the plastic cover flexible...I roll up by myself no problem
On the two ends hanging down I rolled the plastic around dia.40 PVC pipe
to add some weight …really works well
In summer I will have the same setup but using white shade cloth.

francois
07-14-2011, 07:30 AM
more

francois
07-16-2011, 02:39 AM
Hi All
Finished of my two ends
Ready for grow media and fish

francois
07-16-2011, 08:39 AM
my duckweed is coming on nicely

francois
07-23-2011, 06:31 AM
Hi All
Over the last few days I finished the cover over my fish tank and worm filter.
Winter is almost over but it is still cold enough to see if it helps with water temperature.
I have to also find a leak I have in my system…..today I stripped out the two bottom trays.
I did exact water replacements over 5 days counting the Litre water per day replaced.
The system was losing 170 Litres of water per 24 hours cycle.
No visible leaks or wet patches to see were the water was going.
I re-checked for small holes and I found very small holes (pinhead) and I sealed them up.
I did the bottom trays today…….I hope I pushed the right button
Tomorrow will only tell me if the problem is solved.
170 litres per 24 hrs…7 litres per hr...????? It seems a lot to me.
No plants growing, the system running 24/7.

rfeiller
07-23-2011, 02:24 PM
good luck with finding the leaks. what is your humidity level at?

francois
07-27-2011, 07:26 AM
Hi rfeiller
sorted the leak..found the problem and sorted it out.
the humidity i have not measured....but the plastic reflecting onto the black plastic i think will help...
the plastic really gets hot.
i will check and see what happens over the next few days...
all my problems....leaks are sorted out and now i want to keep running the system 24/7

francois
07-31-2011, 02:53 AM
Hi All
So the leak sorted.
Funny I could not see anywhere where the water leaked…the cut was on one of the bends on the corners of my grow tray. 20 mm long cut …I had previously soldered the cut (self made when I made the grow tray) but with all the bashing around the crack split open again.
I have also filled my worm/sump with media…..using all my off cuts of PVC pipes and fittings…I have lots from my pilot project….. I still have meters laying in my yard.
I took some of the Ø30/Ø40/Ø50 pipes and off cuts and cut them into shorter pieces of all sizes.
Took time and still not finished …..I need to cut more
Not what I was planning on using but it is what I had laying around and for now it should do the trick and I can see how it works with the worms…???.
The media I want to eventually use will be HDPE turned cutting's.

francois
08-02-2011, 08:34 AM
Hi All
On Sunday I went and bought myself 5 Kio for starters...between 60-80 mm long.
3 of them +-80 mm and 2 +-60mm
I released them into my top grow tray for now...I want to check and see how they do.
When I am happy then I will release them into the fish tank with the rest of the tilapia.
I have not checked ammonia yet but the nitrite on Sunday was less 0.1mg/l.
The Ph was 6.8
Temp 15 degrees Celsius late afternoon
Alkalinity 75
Hardness 50
For nitrate I have not tested yet.

francois
08-02-2011, 08:35 AM
The duckweed I have moved from the buckets into the grow tray’s where I want the duck weed growing......???

francois
08-07-2011, 09:04 AM
Hi All
The 5 Kio I have moved into the fish tank…..
They are happy and are eating well even with the water temp this afternoon 15 degrees.
I have been feeding the Kio worms and Kio pellets
The Kio love the worms so I will make that a portion of their diet…
I also added worms into the worm sump………
Took coco coir (photos) and added worms and vermicastings ……
Then this lot I slowly dropped into the water in the one corner of the worm sump…..
At first the worms were reluctant to stay below the water but…..
Checking today I see the worms between the coco coir under the water happy…
The worms in this sump I have started feeding fish food….for now

francois
08-14-2011, 09:25 AM
Hi All
As far as the water parameters I have been checking.
PH 6.8 stable
Temp’s 10-22 deg Celsius
Ammonia not checked
Nitrite 0 to now 2.0+mg/l
Nitrate not checked
Alkalinity 75
Hardness 50
I added shells to the system
This is a graph of my bio filter. On the graph I have only logged nitrite…the peak is starting to show

francois
08-14-2011, 09:29 AM
9/8-13/8

francois
08-14-2011, 09:32 AM
14/8 today
This is a graph of my bio filter. On the graph I have only logged nitrite…the peak is starting to show

francois
08-20-2011, 04:52 AM
Hi All
Still no media but today I filled plastic baskets with small stones….-+6-10mm.
These baskets I used with my pilot project I have 8 off them…had eight grow trays with my pilot project and I used these to catch solids where my water flowed from the dam into my trays.
In these I want to plant sweet corn and beans in vermin castings directly into the stones and see how they do.
The duckweed in my trays seem to be doing well and the fish are happy…eating.
I have been feeding the fish worms only…my nitrite last reading on Tuesday was 4.0mg/l
I have not checked since…run out of testing tablets…. Test kits are very expensive here
With my pilot project over the last two years I only checked ph alkalinity hardness
The rest I left to the fish to give me a answer…..eating fish are happy fish
Yust me thinking

francois
08-22-2011, 08:18 AM
over the weekend i made this contraption to spread the outflow of water into my
worm/filter

francois
08-31-2011, 08:06 AM
Hi All
This is a load of vermicastings.
Started this load 11/2010 with paper, a small tree I shredded, and vegetables scraps from a veggies shop every other week.
These castings I now want to remove most of the worms and then use the castings for another veggies project I am trying to get started.
Not much work and the results are good compost.

davidstcldfl
08-31-2011, 10:43 AM
:D

francois
09-03-2011, 03:39 AM
Hi All
Yesterday 80 male tilapia fingerlings I ordered……was delivered. (Hatchery)
I think my timing was bad because since yesterday we have had terrible windy and cold conditions.
I don’t heat water and with these fingerlings arriving now was not a very good idea but…...
Yesterday I introduced them into the system with water temp. +-12 degrees…no choice I had to get them out of the bag they were delivered in.
Very Bad idea, after releasing them in my system and leaving the fish for a short while when I looked again there was +- half of the fingerlings laying on their sides on the bottom of my tank.
I used a net and poked lightly at some of the fish on their sides and saw that when I touch them they would come up straight and swim away. With seeing that they swim again if I help them along I started moving the water in a circular movement in this sq. tank using a paddle. This basically got all the fish moving and surprisingly this revived all of the fish that was on their sides a few minutes ago.
I did this for maybe 5 minutes and it worked. After watching them closely and whenever it looked like one was going down I would help him along. By last night they were all still alive.
Then this morning when I got outside I found 4 fish again on their sides. I tried the same as what I did yesterday and saw that they are still alive. 10 Degrees Celsius
Not wanting to lose these fish I thought well it now or never and I took a bucket and filled it with water from my geyser….and slowly adding to my tank. I raised my water temp with 70 litres of hot water from my geyser.
The Kio in the system were fine and I wanted to feed them. I fed the Kio and I saw that the tilapia are also eating and 60 min ago they were almost dead from the cold water.
Proves once again to me just how hardy tilapia is.
With my pilot Project I used wild tilapia from a dam and never had these problems. They survived these gold conditions. My pilot project records lowest temp. 8 Degrees Celsius.
Hope I can get this lot to survive the cold.
We are starting spring now so our days should get warmer and that will be a great help.

francois
09-04-2011, 08:52 AM
Hi all
Last night after dark I added 26 litre from my geyser for the cold night.
This pushed my temp to 25 deg.
Today this morning I left early still dark so I never checked the fish.
This afternoon when I got home I checked the temp.20 deg.
And....all the fish wanting food....all alive and hungry.
So over night and today I only lost. 5 deg.
And all still happy

Ryan
09-07-2011, 02:07 AM
Hi Francois
Just read your post from the beginning and youve given me some great ideas. Thanks for taking so much time to post everything.

francois
09-09-2011, 08:02 AM
Hi All
Very sad to say I lost 66 of the male tilapia fingerlings…
To say I really $#@%%^& up and hopefully learned a lesson for the feature
With this now I am reverting to Kio for now, the Kio handle the cold much better.
Kio fingerlings are very expensive if you compare them to tilapia, so I will stock over time.
1 Kio fingerling R15.00 and tilapia male R1.95 …… extra cost to stock my tank.
Yesterday my wife bought me 11 Kio, 4 +-100mm long and 7 Kio +- 45mm long (R500.00)
Now I have 15 Kio and 14 Tilapia in my tank …..
I want to add more Kio as I go along.
I have been feeding the fish Kio pellets and worms.
I feed pellets in the morning and then worms 2/3 times a day.
The duckweed in the bottom grow trays are doing fine and the worms in my filter have settled in.
As for my system goes so far the system has been running no problems and I am very happy.
I still don’t have growing media in my grow trays…. I have not planted plants in the system as yet but I will have to do this in the next few days…. I am not really worried about the nitrates for now.
Water parameters I have not checked for at least +-2 weeks but I believe my filter bacteria is sorted and I have added a bag with shells in the system for the Ph.
Fish are eating so I am happy

urbanfarmer
09-09-2011, 09:47 AM
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

francois
09-11-2011, 08:41 AM
Hi all
To tell the truth I never thought me to be very patient.....but with the cycling of my system I find myself being very….. patient.
Surprising taking things slow, not rushing at all and letting the what-knots happen as they have to. (except for my casualties…bad decision dead tilapia)
I have planted a few seeds in 4 of my baskets +- 7 days ago if my memory serves me right.
I sprinkled the seeds between the stones and this is now….cabbage/spinach/lettuce
Using the media in these baskets is something I am thinking of.......the full length of the grow tray’s
Very nice for maintenance if required.
Filling up the rest of the grow tray I will use hdpe machine cuttings....I have been collecting over the last few weeks.
The cuttings are light and very manageable and do the trick.
yust me thinking

francois
09-11-2011, 08:44 AM
spinach

francois
09-11-2011, 08:47 AM
lettuce

Using the media in these baskets is something I am thinking of.......the full length of the grow tray’s
Very nice for maintenance if required.
Filling up the rest of the grow tray I will use hdpe machine cuttings....I have been collecting over the last few weeks.
The cuttings are light and very manageable and do the trick.
yust me thinking

francois
09-17-2011, 06:28 AM
Hi all
6 days later

davidstcldfl
09-17-2011, 06:51 AM
:D

francois
09-26-2011, 05:23 AM
hi all

update on my plants and fish

the plants are doing ok but i had to add iron and some epson salt for magnesium

i have also been spraying the plants with brewed worm tea...

i bought a better quality kio food and with this i feed the fish worms +-3-4 times a day

the fish are happy

i am happy

francois
09-26-2011, 05:25 AM
more

francois
09-26-2011, 05:27 AM
the duckweed seems to be doing very good so far...

davidstcldfl
09-26-2011, 07:28 AM
Do your fish like the duckweed ?
I chuckle when I see someone on the forums say 'my fish wouldn't eat it'.
Fish are like kids.... if they don't eat it, they aren't hungry enough. (of course,they have to get use to it)
My tilapia seem to really like duckweed. They like sweet potatoe leaves and lettuces too... :)

'Looking good francois'... :D

francois
09-26-2011, 08:23 AM
thanks David
have not started feeding the fish duckweed yet...building up stock
But I want to make duckweed part of the diet
with my pilot project the fish loved eating the duckweed
was like chocolates to a kid

francois
10-03-2011, 05:41 AM
Hi all
A few photos of my plants...
The plants are still in the baskets and are too big to replant
The seedling roots you can see outside the plastic basket
Spinach cabbage lettuce

francois
10-03-2011, 05:43 AM
1 cabbage seed i planted on its own in this basket

francois
10-03-2011, 06:33 AM
tomato

ButtonLife
10-10-2011, 11:57 PM
Francois, could you give a more detailed explanation of your grow boxes?

I'm new to AP, but your homemade GB seems quite cheaper than the standard GB used elsewhere.

francois
10-11-2011, 09:54 AM
Francois, could you give a more detailed explanation of your grow boxes?

I'm new to AP, but your homemade GB seems quite cheaper than the standard GB used elsewhere.
Hi
these are home made cheap and they work well
on my pages 16-18 you can find how i made my trays
hope this helps
regards and good luck

francois
10-11-2011, 09:59 AM
Hi All
The system running fine, the plants are happy, the duckweed has filled the bottom two trays to more than a 3rd…doing very well and summer is only beginning.
The plants I have been spraying with brewed worm tea once a week and the fish I have been feeding worms and (+-25 grams per day) Kio pellets.
In the worm filter/sump the worms are doing well and I am finding eggs in the media
So up to now I am very happy with the progress I have made…slow but ….getting there
Yust me thinking

francois
10-11-2011, 10:02 AM
more

francois
10-11-2011, 10:07 AM
more

francois
10-19-2011, 08:56 AM
Hi All
I went into reverse gear for a bit.
I found a water snail in my top grow tray’s in the water 3 days ago and after looking for more…man what a %$##@$%^^%$#$%%...lots of snails, eggs and baby’s…lots. I stripped out the 2 top trays and washed/scrubbed them and put them back. So the 2 top trays are clean for now….
I am busy taking the plants out of the stones and washing the roots, cleaning them checking for the snails and then replanting them into my new way of doing things…lot less and lighter work. I have never grown plants this way so I will see how it goes. Under the polystyrene I want to still ad HDPE cutting witch I have but have not had the guts to clean…
In the bottom 2 trays there are some snails but not as bad as the top trays were.
In the bottom trays with the duckweed I want to add snail eating fish to keep them under control and the top I will watch and try to control. Reading up on the snails is an eye opener and if I had to start again I would really do things different. Once in a system it is very difficult to get rid of.
To clean the system means starting from scratch and cleaning everything.

These snails come from the duckweed I never quarantined and that was very stupid even if I have to say so myself. I can kick myself. This is a 1st of this type of problem so very new to me.
I will see if I manage their numbers….but………

keith_r
10-19-2011, 10:06 AM
you probably got them with your duckweed.. i did too..
there is a predator snail called an assassin snail that may help, but i haven't tried it myself..
in the states there is a sunfish called the shell cracker that eats lots of snails

bsfman
10-19-2011, 01:42 PM
you probably got them with your duckweed.. i did too..
there is a predator snail called an assassin snail that may help, but i haven't tried it myself..
in the states there is a sunfish called the shell cracker that eats lots of snails

I feed snails to my tilapia daily. They love them, and after a month of doing this, the snails are getting really hard to find now.

davidstcldfl
10-19-2011, 04:14 PM
bsfman, are you crushing the shells..?
If I see any, I crush them and let them fall down to the bottom. I'm guessing they are getting eaten (?)

bsfman
10-20-2011, 09:53 AM
bsfman, are you crushing the shells..?
If I see any, I crush them and let them fall down to the bottom. I'm guessing they are getting eaten (?)

Nope, no crushing. Most of the snails I find are small (pea sized or smaller) with fairly soft shells. I do have some about 1" long with hard, spiralling conical shells, but the tilapia seem to snarf them down too with apparent relish! I'm sure crushing the shells can't hurt though. (Except maybe the snails).

francois
10-21-2011, 07:36 AM
Hi All
Today I finished of my rafts and planted some of the plants that come out of the baskets…quiet damaged but for now o.k. still have the spinach in the basket to plant out. I have sort of prepared for this so I have new seed that I have planted coming up and I will add them in stages but I think for now I must keep some of the bigger plants in the system to do what they have too.
I have planted beans and peppers in bags with stones and they are doing ok.
Even the peppers are growing well….I had them in media in seedling trays but they came up and then stopped growing…I was going to dump them because they were not getting bigger and then thought to put them in the system and see what happens…3 days later I could see the difference so now I have kept a few plant in the system.
The rafts were easy to make and I used a steel cup to burn my holes…worked like a dream.
I then used the inside that I burnt out…added a tapered hole and these went back into the holes
I made and I think they can work well for lettuce…..I will try them now with the new seedlings.
Getting there slowly…the fish happy….I’m happy

francois
10-21-2011, 07:42 AM
more

francois
11-01-2011, 09:24 AM
Hi All
Update on my system
Plants doing very well and look healthy…..peppers and beans ( white healthy root systems)
I have 2 different age beans in the system and today I planted a third batch of beans…
The 1st batch planted 10 10 2011
The 2nd batch planted 23 10 2011
The 3rd planted today 1 11 2011
The peppers have been in the system from 11 9 2011
The fish I have started feeding duckweed/worms and pellet +- 30 grams per day
31/7/2011 I added the first fish…so the system has been going for 3 months.
So far I have added iron 3.5 grams every +-21 days…… total so far 7 grams
Epson salt 50 grams +- 30 days……total so far 100 grams
Worm tea I brew once a week and add directly into my system before my outflow into the grow trays
Getting there slowly…the fish happy….I’m happy

francois
11-01-2011, 09:31 AM
peppers look ok

francois
11-01-2011, 09:36 AM
dropped into the hole and left

francois
11-01-2011, 09:44 AM
2nd lot of beans coming up 9 days

francois
11-01-2011, 09:55 AM
some of the plants that i took out of the big plastic baskets and replanted
i will take them out as and when i plant the next batch of beans
5 cycle's of beans all different ages
????????

francois
11-05-2011, 07:33 AM
Hi All

Rekords of my system from day 1

From this you can see what I have added how much and when....not 100% but very close to actual
I have been watching the plant growth and that seems fine for now…very new system
The ph....I check every now and then....has stayed constant
The fish are eating and happy, the worms in my worm sump are good.
The duckweed is doing well….
Yust me thinking

francois
11-08-2011, 08:30 AM
Hi All
Some photos of how the plants are doing…

foodchain
11-08-2011, 01:12 PM
Your rafts appear to be made out of styrofoam similar to the common packing foam or even the insulating foam sheets at the hardware stores. This doesn't look like the foam I have available at the hydro shop. I really like that your's is in long sheets. Where do I find that? And especially in that thickness? I am so jealous.

keith_r
11-08-2011, 01:48 PM
you can find it at hardware stores.. some folks paint the foam to avoid uv breakdown..

francois
11-18-2011, 08:26 AM
Hi foodchain
as you say i used polystyrene sheets and cut them smaller 1000mmx1200mmx25mm thick and i cut into 4 pieces of 1000 long x 300 wide
i am happy with them so far

Your rafts appear to be made out of styrofoam similar to the common packing foam or even the insulating foam sheets at the hardware stores. This doesn't look like the foam I have available at the hydro shop. I really like that your's is in long sheets. Where do I find that? And especially in that thickness? I am so jealous.

francois
11-18-2011, 08:48 AM
Hi all
Some photos I took today…
Plants are all growing like mad….not all happy….. The beans don’t seem to mind these/my system start up conditions because they look good ….
I have been adding calcium over the last few days…slowly…
I am still adding 2-4 litre’s vermin-tea over +- 7 days
I added a few new baby’s to the system…sent my wife for small gold fish to put into my two bottom duckweed trays to help with the mozzyyyyyyyyyyys………..lots
The wife came home with 15 small Kio so I put them in the two trays 7 in one and 8 in the other.
The snail are still around ……..
As far as the system running I am very happy with the min maintenance I need to do.
The one thing I am going to change is the fish tank ibc….????????
I want to use a round tank of the same volume
Round with centre outlet……never have to worry with cleaning
Yust me thinking

francois
11-18-2011, 08:54 AM
and....

francois
11-18-2011, 08:59 AM
and the 15 new kio

francois
11-25-2011, 04:30 AM
a few photos yesterday

francois
11-25-2011, 04:36 AM
few more

francois
11-25-2011, 04:41 AM
few more

francois
11-25-2011, 04:46 AM
few more

Ken
12-03-2011, 09:46 AM
Hi, I have enjoyed your posts and pictures of your journey thru growing your fish and vegatables. When I got to the last page of your posts I could no longer see your pictures :( . I was wondering if anyone else had that problem?

urbanfarmer
12-03-2011, 01:46 PM
Hi, I have enjoyed your posts and pictures of your journey thru growing your fish and vegatables. When I got to the last page of your posts I could no longer see your pictures :( . I was wondering if anyone else had that problem?
Yep, it's busted. I will check and see if we can fix this on our end... no promises.

francois
12-05-2011, 06:44 AM
cant post any photos
please help

francois
12-07-2011, 08:11 AM
thank you

francois
12-08-2011, 06:03 AM
Hi All
Update on the plants
I planted 25 pepper seeds in polystyrene seed tray and the trays are flouting in my sump
I want to start replacing the plants in the system with peppers
All these plants I have been using as a guide to their growth and
What I needed to add and when I saw the plants asking for it
I need to learn to recognise the needs signs of the plants
For now the plants are doing what they are there for...the fish
I am battling to get potassium here so I have been using bananas and now I am also adding
A wood ash water mixture to add potassium
I will add very slowly over time the same as with my alkalinity
I will check the fish and plants and PH/alkalinity……
But hoping to see the difference in the plants and then stopping
Yust me thinking

francois
12-09-2011, 12:53 AM
Hi all
These are a few photos I took today
Yust me thinking