Thursday, March 10, 2016

Aquaponics Update!

We made some headway getting things set up. That progress in photo essay below!
First off was drilling a hole into the stock tank for water to drain out of. 

More supplies that have arrived, included our LED grow light and bulkhead fittings for the hole we're drilling.


Hole is in place! We had to shave away some excess on the edges since the drill bit didn't create a large enough hole for the bulkhead to fit. But any larger drill bit would have created too large a hole. 

Fitting the bulkhead. There are teflon and rubber washers that help create the seal as the nut is tightened on.

Fitting the spout onto the bulkhead so we can turn the flow on and off. 


Adding Hydroton! This is an expanded clay media that doesn't absorb water. It's very lightweight (and expensive) but also pH neutral, which is important for the system.

It's also very dusty and needs to be rinsed before you fully start running the system!

That is a job for a 3 year old!

The first moment of truth... were our fittings tight enough so it wouldn't leak?  The answer was no, there was a tiny amount of dripping from the bulkhead, so we tightened that down and voila, all better!


Water drains well into what will be the fish tank.

All filled with hydroton. 


Out in the barn, Gwyn has started shedding. It's SPRING!

Velociraptor took an open door opportunity to hang out on the porch on an unseasonably warm day. 

Kaylee decided to play in the remaining snow piles. In a shirt and underwear only. 


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