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  1. #11
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    Need to add in the media to the BOM. I presume you have the clay in the 2 pots also.
    My next test will be with sand and fill and drain. The ivas system way. And in the AP101 section the class about water quality, I would like to try the water tower to clean out the solids In my fish tank. The pesky fish fill up my filter every 3 days now. It is getting difficult to keep up with them.

    I also want to learn more about NPK. Fish waste is supposed to be 5-3-2 Which is a bit low in P&K for a lot of plants. So I need a Biologist to chime in.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Deuem View Post
    Need to add in the media to the BOM. I presume you have the clay in the 2 pots also.
    My next test will be with sand and fill and drain. The ivas system way. And in the AP101 section the class about water quality, I would like to try the water tower to clean out the solids In my fish tank. The pesky fish fill up my filter every 3 days now. It is getting difficult to keep up with them.

    I also want to learn more about NPK. Fish waste is supposed to be 5-3-2 Which is a bit low in P&K for a lot of plants. So I need a Biologist to chime in.
    Yes, we have clay in all the grow beds including the pots. It seemed like that was the most expensive single item. Right now mine seems to be doing ok without any additional filters, I'm sure that will change as time goes by. My peppers are flowering, and tomatoes are budding up. The lettuce seems to be doing well too, but my spinach doesn't seem to be doing anything.

  3. #13
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    The Clay balls are cheap here. A big potato sack full for about 4 USD. Something like 10+ pounds. They are very light and I have some hard times with them floating too much until they get water logged. My next adventure is a sand bed test. The iVAs method.

    So far with just the fish poo, I have not been happy and the fact that they say it takes from 6 months to a year before the beds become fertile. Not an easy sell. When dirt plants right away. I might be too well noted for writing that I think there is a lot of stuff that is never shared. NPK and bed stability are a mystery to most and the people that sell this stuff either know the answer and sell it to us or it is just a money maker for them.

    Look at any decent veggie fert and it is way over 5-3-2 of fish poo and the micronutrients are in the fish Food? Since people can grow plants very well even with out a GB, ie Airoponics there is something big missing. Look at the npk stats on tomato miracle grow. We are all very far from those numbers. I can not compete at all with the dirt farmers here. They are all pulling in a harvest and I am still waiting for a bud.

    There are 2 ways of doing AP, Buy or DIY. the ones that sell are hyping it so a lot of people buy and then get stuck with something that is useless. The idea is good but the fish Poo is just not enough to compete against dirt or other systems. Then we are left with a lot of money spent and a system that does not out produce even good dirt.

    I am Mr Bad boy on this but I have read too many failures where people just give up. The ones who are doing very well are holding info back. And sobeit. Worse for me I cant even get a test kit here, So I am working in the blind. Do a little research on things with NPK and you will see a better picture against fish poo as the only additive. Then look up what you are growing and find the NPK requirements. Tomatoes change needs and so do other plants. Why do some commercial systems have a dozen tanks and raise 1 or 2 types of fish. They are all hooked up to different beds with different requirements.

    Now the sand bed I am working on will not change the NPK ratios it is just a different method. I have read a lot on seaweed and maybe that is a good addition for me. But even then I would need to grind it and steep it. And then mix it into the water. Add this to the BBs.

    I think there are only 3 or 4 of us here so it will be difficult to find any answers here.

    Some people let their GBs run 24/7 so that is a choice you will need to figure out if it is working for you. Keep an eye on your water quality since you have no other filters. More watering should mean more filtering but rather the plants will feed at night is the question. I should say the bacteria surrounding them.

    An ironic thing I noticed is that I have used more water rinsing thing so far then I would have used all year to water them in dirt. If this is a one time thing then it will balance out. Until the day they need to be cleaned and it takes even more water then. I never had to rinse out dirt. lol

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Deuem View Post
    The Clay balls are cheap here. A big potato sack full for about 4 USD. Something like 10+ pounds. They are very light and I have some hard times with them floating too much until they get water logged. My next adventure is a sand bed test. The iVAs method.

    So far with just the fish poo, I have not been happy and the fact that they say it takes from 6 months to a year before the beds become fertile. Not an easy sell. When dirt plants right away. I might be too well noted for writing that I think there is a lot of stuff that is never shared. NPK and bed stability are a mystery to most and the people that sell this stuff either know the answer and sell it to us or it is just a money maker for them.

    Look at any decent veggie fert and it is way over 5-3-2 of fish poo and the micronutrients are in the fish Food? Since people can grow plants very well even with out a GB, ie Airoponics there is something big missing. Look at the npk stats on tomato miracle grow. We are all very far from those numbers. I can not compete at all with the dirt farmers here. They are all pulling in a harvest and I am still waiting for a bud.

    There are 2 ways of doing AP, Buy or DIY. the ones that sell are hyping it so a lot of people buy and then get stuck with something that is useless. The idea is good but the fish Poo is just not enough to compete against dirt or other systems. Then we are left with a lot of money spent and a system that does not out produce even good dirt.

    I am Mr Bad boy on this but I have read too many failures where people just give up. The ones who are doing very well are holding info back. And sobeit. Worse for me I cant even get a test kit here, So I am working in the blind. Do a little research on things with NPK and you will see a better picture against fish poo as the only additive. Then look up what you are growing and find the NPK requirements. Tomatoes change needs and so do other plants. Why do some commercial systems have a dozen tanks and raise 1 or 2 types of fish. They are all hooked up to different beds with different requirements.

    Now the sand bed I am working on will not change the NPK ratios it is just a different method. I have read a lot on seaweed and maybe that is a good addition for me. But even then I would need to grind it and steep it. And then mix it into the water. Add this to the BBs.

    I think there are only 3 or 4 of us here so it will be difficult to find any answers here.

    Some people let their GBs run 24/7 so that is a choice you will need to figure out if it is working for you. Keep an eye on your water quality since you have no other filters. More watering should mean more filtering but rather the plants will feed at night is the question. I should say the bacteria surrounding them.

    An ironic thing I noticed is that I have used more water rinsing thing so far then I would have used all year to water them in dirt. If this is a one time thing then it will balance out. Until the day they need to be cleaned and it takes even more water then. I never had to rinse out dirt. lol
    Yes growing in dirt is easier, maybe, but I also cannot control what is in the soil that I buy and that is the whole point for me. My plants have been grown from non-modified seeds and I have not have any chemicals added to the soil or pesticides that I can eat added to the plants. Plus its fun.

  5. #15
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    Ok, I agree on the reasons, I am still waiting for the fun to start. I presume all of our seeds are natural. No Monsanto stamps on them. lol Maybe my fish food is garbage but I am still not happy with the amount of growth I get. The neighbor planted corn after I planted my tomato seeds and they have corn already. They started from seed also. They had to use store ferts. I only use pesky fish poo and it all by itself is not enough. Do I need to wait a year for the bed to mature? That's a good sell. Do you have any idea on how yours are doing against others not in AP? Another question is, if you bought starters what did they add to them prior to you growing them. Some starters can go awhile without adding anything but water. I can grow my own starters pretty well now, but once they are transplanted the growth slows down a lot. The starters have a T5 light and the plants sun. Maybe the T5 is better for them. It sure is brighter.

  6. #16
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    It is so hard to find anything here. Hope you have some more growth to show all.

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