Bizarre Beans

The bush beans seem to be growing freakishly tall.  It might be because theyre trying to find full sunlight, so theyre growing toward the window and wont branch out much until they find the amount of sunlight they want.  That could make for a really strange sight from the outside of our window in a few weeks.
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Beans want sunlight

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Growing toward the sun

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In contrast, below is a picture of several bush bean plants.  You can see they are a lot shorter than the indoor ones and they branched out a lot.

Bush beans growing outside in full sunlight

Since were going to get even less daylight until next spring, I might need to consider supplemental light.  Maybe I will use some high-watt fluorescent lights in the overhead light fixtures and keep them turned on for several hours per day.

Below is a picture of what I think are tomato plants.  I planted them several weeks ago, and theyre just now sprouting.  Maybe it was too hot for them before, I dont know.

Tomato plants (maybe)

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Fishcam1

Since I cant really see very far into the tank, I decided to try taking a video of the fish.  I dont have an underwater camera, so I took an old video camera that has a "night vision" setting, sealed it in a Ziplock bag (the kind with a double seal), and sealed the top of the bag with duct tape (good old duct tape).  I tried to hold the camera in the water near the light so the camera could "see" better. 
As you can see in this video, I didnt get a great picture, but considering my resources, its not too bad.  You can see a couple of fish swim by a few times in this video.  Sorry for the camera movement, but I was doing this blind, with both arms submerged past my elbows in 56 degree water.
Maybe with a little practice, patience and a brigher light or two, Ill get better at this, but for now, heres Fishcam1.

Ive seen a picture of someone elses tank with a section of the tank cut out and a piece of plexiglass somehow secured over it.  I dont really want to introduce more possible leak sites, but if I can find out how to seal it well, I might do that next year between sets of fish.

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One Dead Fish and Blossoming Beans

Went to Vegas last weekend and put an automatic feeder on the tank.  Came back and had one floater.  I wasnt really surprised. I was actually expecting closer to a 50% mortality rate when I thought I was going to get fingerlings, so this isnt so bad.  The only problem was that Im not sure how long it was dead (it was pretty stiff), so I dont know how long it was decomposing and contaminating the water.  I took ammonia and nitrite readings and they were a little high, but not too bad.  I held off feeding until the next day, then my readings were normal, but the water is still a little cloudy.  The rest of the fish seem to be doing OK, though.  They love feeding time.  I turn on the light underneath them and I can see a bunch of them start swimming all crazy when I drop the food in. 

BTW, Fishcam is dead.  Uh, I guess my Ziplock idea wasnt so airtight after all.  At least not the last time (and I do mean "last time") I used it.  At least I got one sort of good little video.

The bush beans that think theyre pole beans are finally starting to blossom, which means I should hopefully have some green beans soon.  Peas are doing OK, but no flower buds yet.

The beans are still growing crazily toward the window, as expected, to the point that theyre pretty much lying flat on the ground.  Not sure what that means for bean production, but I guess well see.  I put a full spectrum light in the room and leave it on for a couple of hours a day (when I remember).  Hopefully that will help even them out a little.  Here are a few pictures.

30 Sept 2011

Green Bean Blossoms

Green Beans in Growbed 1

Green Beans in Growbed 2

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 Thats all for now.  Thanks for reading!? ??

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Preparing for Plants and Fish

After building the system and adding gravel, I purchased a tank cycling kit and a start-up test kit. 

Its important to cycle the tank before adding fish, otherwise your fish may be in a lot of distress, and might even die, due to high levels of ammonia.  I wont go into a lot of detail about that, since you can find plenty of information elsewhere, but its an important consideration before you get your fish - especially if you have to travel several hours to get your fishies.

The Aquaponic Source has a good overview of the cycling process.  This is also where I purchased my kit for $15.  I suppose I could have tried using regular liquid ammonia, but I figured this would be safer and faster.  I also purchased a test kit from Aquaponic Source.

Ill post some of my readings and dates in a later post - maybe when I get my fishes. 

Lessons learned - I should have tested the pH of my water BEFORE I added the gravel.  I think there is a lot of limestone or something in our rock, because adding the rock raised the pH level in our tap water from about 6.4 to about 7.6.  Luckily, although the 7.6 is a little more alkaline than recommended, I dont think its dangerously high.  However, since I had to carry in several hundred pounds of gravel one bucket at a time, I would have been pretty upset if I had to find another media source, empty the grow beds and haul in more of whatever I ended up using. 

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