One Week Results

After one week running the system, things are still progressing.

Only one fish died.  :(  He got stuck in the pump.  I need to get a guard on that pump.

The plants had a hard weekend with a microburst came through - it seems to stunt the growth for a couple of days - I'm thinking that the plants worked on their roots during that time.

They seem healthy - the pepper is sprouting new leaves and limbs.  The tomato is growing and the flower is expanding.

Results after one week:

Tomato Plant

Flower

Pepper Plant

Everything.

Day 5

The fish need to be more more active e space t s sun was out for while. The plants to be going pretty good.

cold and rainy today

 last night and this morning have been very cold and rainy. I don't see much growth on the plants and the fish are not as active. I did notice when I fed the fish this morning that two of them were fairly active but the other ones or very docile the. The Fisher eating more and they're hiding out in our case that I put in the water for them and they like that. Attached to these pictures.

Fish hiding in bowls

Day 3 - Looking up

Things are still alive!  I planted the flower and tomato plant yesterday afternoon.  I had a hard time getting all the soil off of the roots.  The water was couldy for a couple of hours.

Yesterday afternoon the fish started to eat at the feedings for the first time.  I tried for the previous two days, but they did not eat.  I'm thinking they were just shocked to be in a new tank.  None have died yet - each day that is a good sign.

I took another pH test today.  pH is looking good.  

Day 3 picture

Close up of Pepper Plant

Close up of Flower

Close up of Tomato Plant

pH for today.  Water is still Hard.  This picture cut off the pH - it was about 7.2

Day 2

My fish and plants have been going to over a day now!  

And they are not dead!

Here is a picture from Day 2

Notice how much the Pepper plant (the one plant that is planted) has grown.

I'm going to plant the Flower and Tomato plant this evening.

Today during afternoon feeding (I'm feeding my 6 goldfish 3x a day) they started to eat the food that I gave them.

This morning it was cold - it got down to about 50 degrees, the water temp was down to about 65.  This afternoon the temp is back up to 72.

First plants and fish

I put in my first plants and fish today. I purchased 6 large goldfish but they are not very large. I purchased three plants. The first one is a bell pepper plant. The second one is a tomato plant. The third one is a flower. I have only planted the first bell pepper plant in my aquaponics system.

 I will plant the other two plants in the next few days. Hopefully I don't kill anything! I'm very hopeful that no fish diet that I am NOT very comfortable with that statement.

Planting day..  Day number 1.

First test

Starting in Aquaponics

I've been reading up on Aquaponics across the Internet.  There is a ton of information out there, but not all of it is easy to find.  My best resources are not the first ones that I found.

On Amazon, there are plenty of books that can be purchased.  I have elected not to purchase any of these.  There are a lot in the $5 range, but most are only 20 - 40 pages, which does not give a lot of information.

I did find one book that is local to Austin Texas with Aquaponics, but again, as I read through the introduction I did not feel that it would help me, and it was more pricey than most.  I'm trying to get started in the Aquaponics for as little as possible!

My plans are to build a small system with plastic tubs for both the fish tank and growing beds.  I will have a syphon valve and pump.  I've gathered most of the supplies and started to put it together.  My system has cost me:

• Pump - New from Amazon $21
• Grow Bed (plastic bin) - New from Home Depot $10 (it did not have a lit so I got a discount)
• Fish Tank (plastic bin) - New from Home Depot $15
• Syphon Drain and Overflow Drain - New from Lowes $11
• Grow Media - Crushed Granite - New from Home Depot - $20

I still need to purchase the tubing to go from the pump to the Grow Bed, with a 'T' as I purchased a pump that is too large for my grow bed.  I will have the extra water splash back into the fish tank to oxygenate the water.