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Cyara
06-10-2010, 09:00 AM
I live in the North West Province alongside the Crocodile River.

I have O. Mossambicus . I am nuts about tilapia. And I am nuts about growing things! :D

I am at present working more on my Food Forest but have such a problem with monkeys thinking this is Monkey Hotel that I will have to make an undercover plan for some of the delicious produce I do not want to share with these greedy raiders. That is where AP will come in for me. I have already started laying the slab for the growbeds and developed a design I think could work for me.

I have been interested in AP for some time now and am looking to integrate it with wicking beds instead of a re-cycling system. I want to avoid using pumps within my system because I love feeding my tilapia on algae and it will just clog up the pumps. Is there anyone here using wicking beds as growbeds?

Glad to be on board. Thank you.

Chelle

JCO
06-10-2010, 09:18 AM
Welcome to the show....pull up an easy chair, relax and stay awhile. New voices are always a welcome addition to our family..! Whatever questions you have on you mind, this is the place to get the answers :mrgreen:

Cyara
06-10-2010, 09:43 AM
Thanks JCO. Always good to meet new people. :D

davidstcldfl
06-10-2010, 09:45 AM
Hi Chelle...welcome... :D

Interesting concept...using the wicking beds. I know people that use them, but not the way you intend to.

What's the plan to remove the 'solids' aka ....'fish pooh'...?

I collect it in a 'swirll filter' because I use rafts. I then use what I collect on my other plants and trees growing in dirt. But,I depend on the water movement for the collection process.

francois
06-10-2010, 09:47 AM
hi there

I am at present working more on my Food Forest but have such a problem with monkeys thinking this is Monkey Hotel

TRY THIS
USE/ OLD CD'S AND HANG IN THEM AROUND TREE'S/FENCE......
WITH WIND/SUN REFLECTION
KEEPS THEM AWAY
READ THIS SOMEWHERE AND TRIED IT
WORKS FOR ME SOLVED PROBLEM
IF YOU GO TO BACK YARD SYSTEMS MY PILOT PROJECT AND YOU GO ONTO THOSE LINKS
YOU CAN SEE THEM HANGING AROUND IN MY TUNNEL

I AM IN PORT ELIZABETH/EAST COAST
ALSO AM GROWWING O. Mossambicus
BEEN BUZY WITH MY PASSION FOR +- 4 YEARS
LOOK AT MY PHOTO'S

Cyara
06-10-2010, 10:48 AM
Hi Chelle...welcome... :D

Interesting concept...using the wicking beds. I know people that use them, but not the way you intend to.

What's the plan to remove the 'solids' aka ....'fish pooh'...?

I collect it in a 'swirll filter' because I use rafts. I then use what I collect on my other plants and trees growing in dirt. But,I depend on the water movement for the collection process.
Hi there! The plan is to use a Solids Lifting Overflow.... slope tthe pond toward the bottom of the SLO... then when I top up the pond it overflows at the top and sucks from the bottom... up... then sideways into the gravel part of the wicking beds.

I wouldn't try this with a fish like trout.... too fussy about water quality... but easy with tilapia... I am basically doing something like this at the moment where the fish are because teh dam is old and leaks so water quality is maintained with top up.

I started a thread in Bioponics about it.... hope is the right place. I'll give a design pic if anyone interested.

What is a swirl filter? Does it need a pump?

Chelle

Cyara
06-10-2010, 10:57 AM
TRY THIS
USE/ OLD CD'S AND HANG IN THEM AROUND TREE'S/FENCE......
WITH WIND/SUN REFLECTION
KEEPS THEM AWAY
READ THIS SOMEWHERE AND TRIED IT
WORKS FOR ME SOLVED PROBLEM
IF YOU GO TO BACK YARD SYSTEMS MY PILOT PROJECT AND YOU GO ONTO THOSE LINKS
YOU CAN SEE THEM HANGING AROUND IN MY TUNNEL

I AM IN PORT ELIZABETH/EAST COAST
ALSO AM GROWWING O. Mossambicus
BEEN BUZY WITH MY PASSION FOR +- 4 YEARS
LOOK AT MY PHOTO'S
Hey Francois .... wow... I will try it! :D Was it Vervet Monkeys you chased away? I would be so thrilled to see them go. I could have harvested over 100 pumpkins from my food forest this year and never even got one. They ate the flowers........ and then the fruit at all the stages as they got bigger until they had finished the lot. Very disapponting. They also pulled up 2 of my precious Moringa trees and ate the roots!

How fast do your Mossambicus grow? How big?

Chelle

davidstcldfl
06-10-2010, 03:23 PM
What is a swirl filter? Does it need a pump?

Here's mine....
http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/swirllfilter.jpg
Pipe on the left is coming from my SLO drain. Pipe on right is going to the grow beds.

Inside shot.....
http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/insideswirll.jpg
notice that the fittings are pointing in different directions. The one on the right is water 'in'...this causes the water to 'swirll' in the direction it is pointing. It's also tilted down slightly, to help guide 'solids' to the bottom.
The other one is pointed away from the flow, this helps reduce the chances of picking up 'solids'.
When the water is 'swirilling' ( moving in a circular motion)....the solids , naturally collect in the center, at the bottom. I also raise duck weed in there.....I removed it, so you could see the fittings.

Here's the bottom drain .....
http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/drainonswirll.jpg

I 'try' to open it once a day....I collect the solids and use them in my dirt garden, also my fruit and citrus trees too.
Every so often, I shut off the in-coming water from the SLO...and give it a good cleaning. Last time, I found some tilapia fry..... :lol:

Mine is flowing all the way by gravity....from the fish tank , through the 'swirll' and to the grow beds.....
http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/gravityfeed.jpg

You can see, no pumps. The short 'stub up' is for a future row of grow beds.
Actually, when you use a pump to move the solids, they break up. They may stay suspended in the water even longer....harder to collect.

Cyara
06-11-2010, 05:00 AM
Thank you so much! Wow! What a very clear explanation. :) Love it that it is all done by gravity.

2 questions.... if you don't mind:

If you are putting this between the fish pond and the growbeds what are the plants growing on? Are there enough nitrates in the water still to feed them?

Would feeding algae to tilapia... ie creating algae bloom deliberately to feed them.... cause clogging of a swirl filter? If so... would their be a way to stop the algae getting into it... or is it too fine?

Thanks again for the time and trouble to explain so well. Much appreciated. Looks very efficient.

Chelle

JCO
06-11-2010, 10:47 AM
Be sure to go to your profile and put in where you live. There might be some members close by. :mrgreen:

davidstcldfl
06-11-2010, 11:06 AM
Hi Chelle, I do lose 'some' nutrients. I just read somewhere, they gave a percentage off loss. I don't actually remeber what they said.....'maybe' 40 % loss. I don't really see it as a 'loss'....I use what I collect on my citrus , blueberries and what veggies I'm growing in dirt.

The density of fish, is a key factor too....if your 'pushing the limit'....it may be good to lose some anyway. The filter doesn't do 100 % of the solids....most of the big stuff anyway.

I also have a bio-filter(s) to help change the nitrates to nitrites...( or is it the other way around ?)


As long as your algae isn't the 'string' type....I don't think it would be an issue. Of course the size of pipe will be a big factor.

francois
06-12-2010, 07:54 AM
this gives better idea

Cyara
06-12-2010, 09:20 AM
davidstcldfl, thanks for the info. I am going to look more into this. Very interesting. I don't have string algae.

francois, I can see the possibilities with the CDs now. I will try it around my compost pit first. That will show if it works here for me with these monkeys... they make such a mess when scrounging for kitchen scraps.... if it stays clean I will know it works!!! They are very familiar now... having been around for about 4 years..... hope this does the trick. Thank you.

Chelle

JCO
06-12-2010, 12:09 PM
How 'bout monkey soup? Of course they might taste like your veggies (tomatoes) or table scraps :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: People in America have trouble with deer, rabbits and squirrels getting into our gardens so we retaliate by eating them in return! HMMMmmm BBQed monkey....could possibly taste just like chicken...you never know til you try it! :lol: :lol: :lol: :mrgreen:

Cyara
06-12-2010, 12:41 PM
We also have antelope, rabbits and squirrels :D

BTW the best way I ever heard of protecting a tree from deer is to put fencing flat on the ground around teh tree to be protected.... they hate to walk on it and shy away... leaving the tree intact.

Chelle