Funny update,
but first my Awesomeness!
Fish are happy and more pepper pods are showing up and they are all steadily growing!
But it had suddenly gotten cold. Jalapenos temp range is 80 (26.6c) to 90F (32.2c) Water temp dropped from about 86F (30c) down 71.6 (22c) so I best hurry to get the system inside the house..
I didn't wanna use the tall trash can sump inside the house cos I'd shit if it fell over and flooded the livingroom with 45 liters of fish waste water. So I searched for something mobile, and sealable to avoid spills and reduce evaporation, and also with a wide enough opening to fit a small brushless fountain water pump that I'll upgrade to soon.. and I found just the thing, a 20 liter camping water carrier with all that plus a folding handle and wheels! 12 bucks.
I bought two and will use the other as dechlorinating tank/reserve tank that will automatically add water to the tank as water levels lowers from evaporation.
The wheels is the best part. We don't have a water faucet in the balcony so I had to carry gallons in a bucket from the bathroom, now I can just wheel it around, NICE!
Also, I solved a couple of issues:
1) the little issue with ammonia sump water siphoning/balancing back to the fish tank. I found those nifty dollar-shop hand-pump-siphon with a built in check valve perfect for the job. And since I will soon expand with another 15 gal tank for tilapia fingerlings, I'll connect both tanks with this hand siphon. The aquarium tank water isn't very tasty so a hand pump is very convenient, lol
2) the siphon net issue. The web net I was using had solid waste getting caught on it so I bunched up rubber air tubes and stuffed them in the siphon tube and viola.. I am the man.
3)The weak 19mm wire rack..it's really not strong enough for two growbeds so I reinforced the rack that is holding the growbed by running stainless steel cables up to the top rack so that the top rack will share the load. But if that doesn't work, plan B is to fab a support leg and caster in the middle so there 'll be 5 legs and casters for support..
pat meself on the back!
Here's the funny part..
4) I was tying up the kitchen garbage bag when I noticed something that looked like sesame seeds on the trash can lid. I thought: Who the hell spilled sesame seeds? Nobody eats sesame seeds here. I turned on the lights and started sweeping and they turned out to be fruit fly larvae and cocoons ready to transmute. This is a first.. Apparently, fruit flies decided to open up a larva factory to offer as snack gifts to the fish, you know, as a show of appreciation for a job well done…lol! So I gathered them for the fish and they ate em like popcorn. Everybody WINS! Well, the fish. More larvae and cocoons appeared the next day. Maybe I should get a new trash bin. Or not.
Anyways, hope soem of you find my improvements useful.
L8