Aquaponics System Near Catastrophe
So....I almost totally lost my aquaponics system.
Alabama has been getting slammed with torrential rainfall this week. The rainfall caused the legs on the left side of the main fish tank to sink into the soil.
Using a 3 ton car jack I was able to jack up the frame and get some scrap wood under there until I can pour some concrete to make the foundation more solid.
Nothing was really damaged and I still have some kale alive and kicking. I do have a problem with horn worm eating up the kale right now. I got a good tip from @robbieolson to plant some flowers to attract more dragonflies, and bees which will eat the horn worm.
I've also got some issues with the cones sinking in the stand I need to address with some extra supports around the plywood.
In other news, all the plants I dug up from the city house are alive and starting to thrive. I have been watering them occasionally with the aquaponics water.
Really happy these lived as I plan on taking cuttings, and propagating these all over my property.
Thornless blackberries and goji berries! Yum :)
The goji berries especially have taken off incredibly.
I've had some setbacks getting the folks to install that security system on my property. Turns out I would have broken the terms and conditions of the system by driving my trailer off the property. I will be driving the trailer to different conferences so I could not have them do the install in that trailer.
My folks have an old camper they can let me use for a while down on the property till I can get a cabin/tiny house built. Anyway, I'm working with the security company to see if they can install in the camper. If not I'll have to pay a lump sum for breaking my contract early :(
The camper roof is not reliably water proof anymore so I need to build a quick carport to tarp over to keep any water from penetrating the trailer. This along with installing a gate are my new focuses on the property development.
Stay tuned and thanks for checking out this post! If you're around tomorrow come hang out for my podcast on Msp Waves Meadows and Makers from 5-7pm UTC and 1-3pm Est
Tomorrow I will have on returning guest @kodaxx he is a guy that does a bit of everything. Recently he got a forge and built a chicken coop on his property. We'll catch up on his projects, and have a good chat!
You can listen here: http://mspwaves.com/home/listen/
Or chat live in the following spots:
https://www.vimm.tv/@msp-waves
Click MSP Waves Broadcast and connect to voice to join the live audience.
https://discord.gg/YqrAWsd
Yours in liberty toward a brighter future,
Greg Doud @makinstuff
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@makinstuff it looks like you are making excellent progress with your property!
Is security that important in Alabama where you are?
If you are looking at gates, mighty mule has very economical wireless electric gate openers, and you can use a solar panel to power it.
I have one and it uses very little electric.
Looking forward to your progress!👍
I was also wondering are you using Partiko? I want to sign in and use Partiko, but I am reluctant to use my active key on my phone?
What are your thoughts??
Thanks, and have a wonderful day Greg....
@silvertop.....Mike😊
I don't think the security is gonna be that big a deal, but I just have too much invested in that trailer to be careless about it. Electric gate is something that might be cool in the future like having expected campers use a code or something to get access to the land at night. I have been using partiko for quite a while now and really like it for my uses on Android. I do know the experience is not as good on iOS from another user in the PAL discord. There is also some concern that no one has heard from the developer in a while. It's the best one out there however that I've seen that allows you to post through your phone without taking a percentage of your payouts.
Thanks for the info Greg, I went on Discord and it’s dead....that’s odd.🤔
I know SteemConnect is trustworthy to sign in on my laptop, but still I have that issue of putting my Active key out there with My IPhone.
I really want to start using Partiko .... with your android we’re you required to sign into SteemConnect with your Active key?
I am glad to see you are doing well with your property, and very glad you and many people I follow are still here on Steem.
I believe in what we have here and I’m in this for the long haul!
I will watch for more of your updates on the property!
All the best, @silvertop....Mike😊
You bet Brotato Chip! Yep you have to login through steemconnect using your active key on the android. Yeah....I have found such a great community on here of people who are open minded and building new systems that make me incredibly optimistic for the future of Steemit. The big benefit we have is the ability to stay somewhat psuedo anonymous through the ability to create non kyc accounts. Front ends that use end to end encryption and focus on privacy are more possible with these communities as well I believe. We'll see where this goes, but the ability to send fee less fast transactions is a powerful technology in the space. On today's podcast we discussed an idea to tie the steem payments to a vending type device.
I totally agree with you, and now with Steem-Engine I think many new projects will continue to grow!👍🤗
I'm glad to see that your plants from the house made it!
If you're worried about roof leaks in the camper, you can get some elasomeric waterproofing paint and paint the roof, and multiple coats on the seams. It works really well for that, as long as there's no obvious holes. You would have to patch those first.
Ahh cool, thanks for that tip Amber! I'll look into that for sure. I'm super happy the plants are still alive from the city. I know the new owners would let me come back and take cuttings if I wanted in the future as well.
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Whoa Nelly! Glad you were able to hoist her up there and get some temporary support in place...
Disaster aversion is the name of the game my crimson tided friend..
Good advice there from your buddy on planting deterrent plants. I suppose I could spray with neem and chili sauce, garlic homemade stuff but I'd rather avoid that if I can. I've lost the battle to the ants/aphids tag team a few times already. Issue with aquaponics is you can't just pull everything up and start over or you might have a fish kill shituation.
Good to see your city transplants are at home out in the country.. Man, I'd love to be transported to your neck of the woods to shoot the shit. I'm rarely able to be completely wide open with my southern hospitality over here in Asia. Every once in a while when drinking I go unfiltered and my friends and family can't understand a damn word im saying if I go full on.
Spliff bouncing east Tennessee hillbilly doesn't translate over here.
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Haha, man.... you should listen to the episode of the Pod with @robbieolson and myself. I was raised by northern parents so my accent isn't as pronounced. Yeah.... I may try some of the neem oil as well. There is also some type of bacteria that messes with them, but not any of the fish Robbie mentioned to me. I'm bout to spit out some video content and really get into the accent lol. I'd welcome you round anytime you find yourself back in the states.
Cool I'll look into it, and hope to see your Yankee twang videos coming soon to a phone in my hand..
Posted using Partiko Android
I note the pallet supporting the aquaponics tank has already rotted such that boards are starting to break. If you're going to spend the blood and treasure to put a foundation under it, do put some solid wood between the tank and foundation, and, if you don't want to frequently replace the pallet, you're going to want to keep the pallet dry. Maybe all you need is a tarp between the pallet and the tank to route the water falling out of the sky around the wood.
I haven't read about what you're raising in the 'aqua' part of the system, that you managed to keep alive here. A description of the ecosystem you're using, or planning, would be educational.
Regarding the camper roof, I have specific expertise. I suspect it has a sheet metal roof, like my trailer. Eventually the metal corrodes, and it leaks. What I did, and am still doing as leaks arise, is to 1) find the leaky spot. 2) smear black jack (roofing tar) generously over the leak. 3) take another piece of sheet metal cut to appropriate size and smear black jack on the side going on the roof. 4) place the patch on the leaky spot and press and wiggle it until I am confident the black jack on both parts is completely joined and homogenous without gaps. Then I drill and rivet the patch to the original roof, and smear another coat of black jack over that, preferably ensuring that the black jack that squished out from under the patch is completely sealed to the black jack smeared over the top. Gaps in the black jack are requests for leaks later. I make sure the edges of the black jack are tapered and smoothly transition to the roof, so that pools of water don't form, and ridges don't prevent it flowing away. 5) wait until the volatile components have evaporated. This can take some time. I wait about 6 weeks, and for some good sunny days to cook out the volatile fraction from the black jack. If you paint over the black jack without waiting for the volatiles to evaporate, they will evaporate after you paint, and this will make the paint bubble, separating the paint from the black jack, and probably making leaks. 6) Paint over the black jack (and entire roof) with elastomeric roof paint on a good sunny day when it's been completely dried by sun. If it's not completely dry, the moisture will evaporate and make bubbles under the paint, just like volatiles evaporating out of the black jack. 4 coats is usually a good seal, as long as you 7) inspect and repaint yearly, you should be good.
If you'd like I can take some pics of patches in progress, currently evaporating off the volatiles and awaiting paint. I didn't take pics of the whole process, but you can see what it looks like before the paint is applied.
Thanks!
Hey Brother....wow thank you for the excellent feedback. I will for sure put some solid wood under the tank to ensure it's long term stability. Good point on putting the tarp around the base as well to keep the wood dry. Eventually this will all be under a greenhouse, but I do need to protect it from the elements in any case. I forgot to mention, the fish in the system are blue tilapia.
I would for sure appreciate some photos of the patches you did with that black jack stuff. I would like to give the camper back better than I got it for my parents.
You da man!
Here's a patch boiling off the morning dew still, and also awaiting the evaporation of the lighter fractions from the petroleum based black jack. I'll give it a couple more weeks before it is also painted over with the elastomer you can see the surrounding roof is covered by.
The bumpy appearance is droplets of dew (for the most part).
Looking good! Sprinkle white flour or diatomaceous earth on your cake to kill the horn worms.
Posted using Partiko iOS
White flour huh? I'll have to try that too. I did put some diatamaceous earth over the Kale, but it didn't phase those jokers.
Oh snap, that was close!
Look at your goji standing up! How'd you make it do that? Mine get a few feet tall and flop over, then root and send up shoots from that original branch. Also, what are they supposed to taste like? My berries I ate yesterday tasted like bell peppers... Underripe?
Yeah mayne it was a nail biter but it's gonna be fine. Its growing tall on it's own and that aquaponics water really supercharges plant growth. Yeah they do have a pepper like taste to them fresh. Not sure what they taste like if you let them dry out or dehydrate. I only got a few last season but remembered they had a sweetness with a hint of pepper taste to them.
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