Trials and tribulations

We have now picked up a 45 lb bag of Hydrocorn for the growing bed.  Had a little conversation with Bob at Harvest Moon, a hydroponics dealer just down the street.  When I told him I was venturing in Aquaponics he was just amazed. He stated I was the first person to ever come in that was actually doing anything with Aquaponics, so he started asking all these questions and I told him of Zombie Jac's story.  We are attempting to grow our own raw products so that we can produce our product line and keep cost to a minimum and possibly supplementing the income with the sale of Talapia and Trout at the local farmers market.  He was so intrigued it was fun to have a discussion with someone about it who had a little knowledge on the topic.  So I in return picked his brain about grow media, lights and some other topics.  Come to find out that Hydroton, the typical media used, is in short supply due to the main plant in Germany running out of the clay from their mine.  He pointed out the Hydrocorn which is made the same way but utilizes a sterilized standard clay, hence it was cheaper than Hydroton by about $20 for the same size bag.

I am planning on testing the media and see how well it works but the prep is a little more intensive with washing it and letting it sit in the running system for about 2 weeks before adding nutrients to it via the fish, which I don't have yet so it does fit in the time schedule.  We need to work out the bell siphon issue first and there are several fixes I need to do first.

First we need to make the top bulkhead adapter gasket smaller so the siphon sits flat against the bed.  For some reason the bed only drains halfway before the seal is broken.  But I am not sure that is the real error.  When I pull the cap off the siphon and place my hand over it, it will drain all the way.  So maybe it is the cap that is leaking, we could only get a test cap for the 2" bell, I need to locate a 2" cap schedule 40, there could also be the issue of the gap above the drain.  Currently it is at about 1".  I tested a taller bell and the drain rate was terrible.  I have been told it should not be less than 1/2"

The other possibility is the diameter of the drain.  Currently it is 3/4" with 1" flair at the top, theory being that the reduction helps maintain a stable flow, with increased velocity to drain bed faster.  I may have to make the drain 1".  Not sure but it may be something to test. Then final thing is the drain, currently it only has one 90 degree but again I have been reading that I need another.  I did add aeration holes to the first straight pipe off the drain 90 but now put another 90 as a sort of down spout to increase back pressure.

The feed is great.  I fill the bed in about 5 minutes on the highest setting and drain in about 1 min.  The pump is a Tetra 450 gph statuary pump and does great on a 36" vertical.  I did add a shut off valve to the feed line so I can fine tune the feed and I have run it at a trickle to full bore.

I do need to get a hold of a test kit for the water to test pH and nutrients so if anyone knows where I can find a tester (test tube type) let us know.

On the pepper side we are ready to start production on some habanero (Zombie Jac's Original) sauce, Piri Piri Sauce and possibly some Hellapano Juice.  Keep and eye on Facebook for delivery dates for testers and remember if you want to be a tester let us know via Facebook or e-mail.  All you need to do is ues it and tell us what you think.

I will post some more pictures later.

Remeber you can always reach us at Zombiejac@nycap.rr.com
and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ZombieJacsHotStuff/