It has been about 20 days since the last post about my aquaponics mini project and a lot has happen since then. If you guys want to check out the previous post, you could do so here.
Lets go straight to the point. I want to update you on how I managed to solve the 3 challenges I had previously. As a recap, here are the 3 challenges:
- Clogged water pump
- Mosquito breeding ground
- Low germination rate
So if you've read my previous post, my two concerns with a clogged water pump is that it causes a slow water turnover rate in the growbed and low oxygen content for the fish and plants. I solved this by buying an air pump to increase the oxygen content in the fish tank. Also, by having an air pump, it kinda creates an artificial water convection whereby the water in the fish tank continuously cycles around the tank and creates a current that disperse the food leftovers all over the tank. Though this may sound bad, but it actually helps reduce the clog that is happening in the water pump. Before the air pump was in the system, all the water and food leftovers in the tank are sucked towards the water pump and that has been the cause for the clog. But since the air pump has created this artificial current, that problem no longer arises. However, I still need to clean the water pump probably once a month now because it still gets clogged overtime. But at least it is better than having to clean it three times a month.
The mosquito breeding ground is easily overcome by sprinkling some anti-mosquito larvae dust. It's suppose to be a compound that hinders larvae growth. I think it's working because I'm not seeing any small wiggling thing in the growbed anymore. Best to continue sprinkling them at least once a week.
Unfortunately, the low germination rate is still an issue that I've yet to overcome. Things are looking to get worse mainly because the water spinach has taken over the whole growbed entirely. As they grow bigger, their soft stems could not support its own weight, causing them to creep on the growbed like vines before the lighter shoots could grow upwards. As a result, germinating seeds are suffocated by the water spinach, causing lower germination rate. In this case, even germinating the seeds on a wet kitchen towel won't help because the sprout won't survive in the dense growbed after the media transfer. The way to go about this is, is to harvest the water spinach from the roots on the next cycle to clear up some spaces in the growbed. However, by doing so it will cause me to no longer have a perpetual cycle of water spinach harvesting. I need to plant a new seed if I wish to grow them again. This is yet to be determined but this is the solution I see so far.
On that note, here is some photos of my plants.
Water spinach is taking most of the spaces in the growbed.
Harvested water spinach.
Some chilies
Stay tuned for more updates! Thanks for reading friends.
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