First Trial NFT Setup. Date: Jun 14, 2010 4:45:34 AM PDT Author: eraser I got my first home NFT setup underway (After learning about it all from Andrew at a WEA course). I have a single 1.5M of 225(w) NFT to start off with. I'm also using an cut down water tank as my tank. It holds about 600Ltrs. So I'm at the fish and feed section of my plan. As at the moment it is a very large body of water vs a fairly small nft setup. So firstly would goldfish suffice for this trial? (I haven't got a heater for the tank and it will be outside) And if so how many would i be needing? (Planning for approximately 6-7 plants growing in the NFT such as capsicums, chillis, snow peas, fancy lettuce, tomato) Once the fish choice is out of the way what would be the best food to feed them? (Generic fish flakes?) And how much should i be budgeting for food?   Reply to this Post

First Trial NFT Setup. Date: Jun 17, 2010 4:12:24 PM PDT Author: Moderator 1 A good start...most people don't take the plunge on their own so well done. Now that you have some NFT you will still need to a) use a biofilter to convert the ammonia to nitrates or b) place a media grow bed in place as discussed in class. Also you didn't mention some sort of clarifier to capture solids before it goes through NFT. A media bed will capture these solids and minerilise in the bed however, beds will then block up with sloughed bacteria, faecal material and other flora over time needing cleaning. Andrew S.de Dezsery M.Sc International Specialised Skills Institute Fellow General Manager - #1 Aquaponics 0412477036 Last modified by Moderator 1 on Jun 17 2010 4:14PM Attachment: 8cb92e9a2c93b4f843976fed840c681f.jpg    View Description: laughing duck farm NFT demo pic with bead filter for both clarifier and biofiltration. Reply to this Post

First Trial NFT Setup. Date: Jun 24, 2010 7:19:26 PM PDT Author: archie Howdy Eraser, From my limited experience I would strongly recommend adding a grow bed. NFTs are great but long term we find our growbeds much more versatile in what you can grow in them, larger stuff like celery, corn, tomatoes, lemon grass, broccoli, cauliflower etc etc. I agree with Andrew, you'll need some sort of 'settlement tray' to catch the solids before they clog up the NFTs or bind up the growbeds. Noticed that some systems for sale over the net show rapid growth but what they dont tell you is that all the 'gunk' is getting stored in the growbeds over time and the maintenance would be huge. Much better to perhaps take longer for the plants to grow but not have to spend a whole weekend cleaning solids out of the beds!   Reply to this Post

First Trial NFT Setup. Date: Aug 14, 2010 3:45:28 AM PDT Author: Silvo Hi Eraser/Archie Good to see information is getting out there I had the same problem with my NFT and the loss of fish and produce.I decided to run two system (Hydro)to establish the Aquaponics.I have increase the size of tank and using larger biofilter which I copied on youtube working quite efficently.I started adding growbeds with bellsyhpons, completed other growbed today one more to go I think. It appears my backyard is getting converted to a hobby farm friends come over for free supply.Does anyone have there own seeding raising mix. Cheers   Reply to this Post

First Trial NFT Setup. Date: Sep 1, 2010 5:17:55 PM PDT Author: archie Hi Silvo & Eraser I really like auto-syphons. Tried a few different types. After a bit of mucking around found that the bell syphons take a reasonable amount of water pressure. Have you tried the loop syphons (out of garden hose)? They run on not much more than a trickle. I just buy the seed rasing mix but raise them in foam boxes with glad-wrap over the top then transplant to seed trays when they sprout and eventually to the growbeds.   Reply to this Post