| Spring is in the air, it’s a beautiful day, let’s take some of our experiments outdoors. | |
| Just outside of La Mancha is a little pond… | |
I know that there are plenty of nutrients in the water. I can tell this by the following observations:
|
 |
 |
If faced with the glory of algae in springtime full bloom; when the water first turns warm, you have two paths to decide between:
Fight it. or Don’t fight it. Gentle Reader, I suggest you just learn to accept that the pond is going to look a bit green for a while once a year. |
| After checking the piggy bank, and getting threatened with being turned over to the ASPCA if I don’t start feeding it a little something once in a while, I made the executive decision that this was going to be a budget minded enterprise. So perhaps a future version will include my aspirations to extend the deck, but for now, a couple of 4″x 4″s and a re-tasked wooden frame will form the base. |  |
 |
Wicked pots sit on the platform. They will be top watered until the roots are established, then they should be able to pull pond water up the wick, and finally, send roots down into the pond itself. |
This is where I got even with the piggy bank. The piggy bank now exists only as an abstract concept of anti-existence. I bought two inexpensive “mini-greenhouses” for $30 US each. There are several things I like about these racks:
|
 |
 |
And here we go. I’m thinking, that one way or another, I have at least a start to build on. How much this resembles what I wind up with at the end of summer, only time (and blog posts) will tell.
This, Gentle Reader, is my process. I make a model, and learn from it. Then another, and another, sometimes I start making them a little bigger… So when I take the plunge on expensive things like the solar panels and water pump (I want to use to pump the water up to a reservoir, so the only “house electricity” it uses is a valve on a timer), I can feel confident that the rest of the design will work. Peace, love, and puka shells, |
 |
|
There is a product called EcoBio Block that you can put in the pond to remove the algae. It is an all natural product developed in Japan. It is safe for fish. Not sure about the use of the product with plants that you are going to consume.
The EcoBio Block works on the same principles as the volcanic rock in the filter, I hadn’t heard of it before, and it does sound interesting.
To be clear, I don’t want to get rid of the algae, I just prefer the water itself to be more transparent, which it is for most of the year. The algae is part of the system, and a fair obvious indicator of water conditions. This bloom is already starting to fade.
hey whats up just wanted to tell you that u should knock that thing down and take a piece of wood and cut 2′ holes and through net pots there and start aqua ponics its easy and less hassle with the way your doing it but if u do aqua ponics it would be safe for the fish and u dnt really need to worrie about PH levels
^^this guy, obviously, is a genius. didnt know anyone made 2 foot net pots. its also beneficial to know that you dont need to “worrie” about ph levels in aquaponics…. lol. cool article, i want to see how its coming along, as ive been thinking about doing roughly the same thing.. update please?