Paw Paws

Things have been plodding along. The paw paw tree has been growing really well. So much so that I was worried that it's roots would take over all of one of the drums.... What to do.

Take it out and plant it in the garden. Just look at the roots on it.... We replanted on Friday afternoon in the garden and it seems two days later to have been taken very well.

Ph was also checked still running at 7.5Ph. So all OK.

Progress

After my 'self pity' with loosing so many fish I've now got back into the grove. The seeds I planted a few weeks back are now in the system. Put them in yesterday. This morning they looked OK.

I did remove one of the large chili plants and was amazed to see how well developed the roots had become.

All in all things are following along with no real hassles. See no more moaning about the dead fish.....

The one plant that has amazed me in the Paw Paw Tree. It is going up and up getting into quite a real tree and many, just maybe will produce.

Light Reading.......

While waiting somewhat impatiently for my system to get back up to speed I've been following more closely some of the Blogs and info out there on the Web.

Sylvia Bernstein's Page as I am sure any read knows runs a super discussion board site located at aquaponicgardening.ning.com. And one of the more important posting in Sylvia's site is http://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profiles/blogs/basic-aquaponics-system-design?xg_source=activity

She has recently followed this up with a Business site
The Aquaponic Source which I am sure will do well. Wishing her good luck.
In all this reading it is obvious that one of the great things about Aquaponics is its versatility. You can make what you want in your dreams as a system come true. Well almost. It is up to you to make a system that works and for you to enjoy. This is a big difference to building something commercial. Economies of scale always come into play as do far more sophisticated systems and better control. Most backyard type systems seem to have a fair amount of 'tolerance' built in but when going commercial these 'tolerances' are cut right down for efficiency, with the over riding need to make a profit. Not complaining or criticizing. Just an observation which wanted to get down on paper. For now I'm keeping to my simple backyard system. Posting again in next few days on my revived system.

Disaster

Disaster. That's right a disaster. I went to Laos for four days only to get back and be told by the guy looking after the system that over night (last night !!!) it, the system had somehow run nearly dry. I suspect it is the local cats playing around on the top, maybe the pipe from the pump to the reservoir had become dislodged. Can't think of anything else or any other way it could have happened. I had noticed the cats around before but though little of it. So the result of all this is that bigger Tilapia died. That's 7 of them leaving me with 4 small ones. I'm am really disappointed but am taking it as part of the learning curve. How quickly things can go wrong. One day all is good and the next?..... Well I am really down about it.
I had been so excited to get back and plant the new seedlings. Probably still can plant them and maybe just maybe it will be OK but, ...not sure on the balance of fish and veggies any more.
Must get some more fish ASAP.
Imagine if it had been a fully commercial set up. A whole crop lost.... Well I am planning this weekend to add a few more small spry and see how it all goes. Major disappointment all the same.

Replanting and general progress

Been busy just doing nothing... Watching fish grow is not so exciting. However this weekend I decided it was time to clean up the reservoir tank. I try and make a habit of doing this every weekend. This time there was no internal filter tank have removed a few weeks back. The reservoir was full of green algae and suspended fish waste. So rather than remove it I stirred it all up.

Then I opened the flush unit and let it flow into the gravel beds. Works really well. We had also the same day removed several Thai herbs and chili plants from the garden and placed them in the system. They seemed to thrive almost immediately. I had expected some wilting but actually very little. Checking this morning (Monday) all looks good and the fish water is clear.

I also planted a a small tray several chili, tomato and Chinese cabbage seeds. We'll see how they do later in the week.

As a small note my air blower/stone finally gave up on Friday last week. I opened it to see the rubber plunger had perished. Its lasted 5 months at a cost of Baht 300 so approx 150 day. That's 2 Baht per day. At 34 Bath to the dollar I am not complaining!!!

Earlier we had eaten the Cat Fish but I did not post any photos. Dead fish do not make for good Photos but here goes... From-tank-to-grill

April 24th 2010. progress

Well... Progress. nothing much to report. All going well and no major problems.

I did have a minor difficulty with the flushing system. Seems for no apparent reason to stop 'flushing' and just act as an over flow. Made me loose a few plants which dried up and died as a result. These were leaf plants but the tomatoes and chili plants survived. However it was an easy fix done by reducing the size of the outlet pipe at the bottom of the bottle outlet. Worked well since then.

We ate 5 cat fish a few weeks back and left the Tilapia to carry on in the tank. All fine and seem happy enough. Interestingly the amount of solid waste has reduced considerably. Not surprising as I had reduced the Bio mass by approximately 50%. (I.e removing the cat fish). So much was the difference in water clarity that I decided last week to dispense with the filter system and see if it made any difference. It consists of simple netting and some old geotextile I found laying about on my construction site.

So after 1 week I checked the pH. It was 7-7.5 today so that's OK. I do suspect that the plants are a bit short of nutrients as they appear a bit pale. But that could be me and my imagination just looking for something..... Produce has continued with chili, tomatoes and greens. My single paw paw is still hanging on in there. I really need to make a separate container for it to enable the roots to grow better. New project.

Recently I planted some coriander and last week some new narga super hot chilies. Will wait and see progress.

From Tank To Grill

We removed the Cat Fish and gave them a quick blow to the head. That prepared them for the Bar B Q. It is never nice to kill something whatever the circumstances. However these fish were bred for eating so here goes.