Home Aquaponics

Taiwan Parenting
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In my never ending quest to uncomplicate my life by complicating it, I give you aquaponics.

[quote]
Aquaponics (pronounced: /ˈækwəˈpɒnɨks/) is a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In the aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.

Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants.[citation needed] Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage.[/quote]

We’ve always done some kind of balcony gardening at home (I grew corn last summer which got 4-5 feet tall before it all inexplicably died). We always use fresh basil and mint in soup, etc.

So, the other day, someone sent me this link to a guy in Wisconsin who does large scale gardening on a relatively small plot of land.
growingpower.org/ and I noticed he was growing fish indoors

Then I found this guy who had made a much smaller system

So, my son and I went out Saturday and bought the basics, tank, pump, timer and fish.

So, yesterday, instead of bashing jimbo presley, we set up the system out on the balcony.

We finally got the timing and water flow from the pump worked out after a few trial runs, fortunately for the fish, we removed them before we tested with the red pellets in there, as it got murky.

And this morning I went out and bought my pre-started garden. Tomatoes, eggplant, basil, lettuce, green peppers and green onions. :thumbsup:

Wholesome family fun for all! :thumbsup:

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Bloody awesome, Mr Smith! :bravo:

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Sweet!

Good luck, fish.

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Your feeder type goldfish are pretty hardy. I think if you’re oxygenating the water somehow they won’t care how murky it is.

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Yeah, that’s why I got them. hard to kill unless you really want to have fun with the cat. The water drips down back into the tank, so that should take care of the oxygenation. :pray:

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I want to try that. But what are the fish for? Are they necessary? I remember buying tiny baby crawdads from the petshop to feed my turtles a few years ago. A couple would always escape the gaping maws of turtle death and grow to be big enough to eat – like little mini-lobsters. That would be cool. BBQ crawdaddies with home-grown salad…

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Did you clean the expanded clay before you ran the water through it? That’s the color of the water if you didn’t. You’ll need more fish.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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The fish supply the poop which the plants turn into food. It you have a bigger tank you can grow tilapia or rainbow trout and eat them when they’re of eating size. Your patio would be a sweet spot for a system like this…bigger even. :thumbsup:

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[quote=“Okami”]Did you clean the expanded clay before you ran the water through it? That’s the color of the water if you didn’t.
[/quote]
Yeah, the 3rd picture was just water running through the pellets. Clear as day. But when I moved the pellets to set the pots in, they rubbed together and chipped etc, which explains the murkiness. I plan on scooping out some of the water every few days and watering my regular plants with it, then adding clean water to the tank, so that will help.

I have about 15-20 fish. You think I’ll need more?

Also, I’m running the pump 15 minutes every hour and 45 off. Should I be flooding the roots more often? It takes about 15 minutes to drain.

All the plants look fine now. No wilting at all, so I know they’re taking in water. :thumbsup:

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Basically you’re running a ghetto ebb and flow system with the fish supplying free fertilizer for room and board. :ponder:

Ebb and flow systems are normally turned on every 2-4 hours depending on the heat and humidity of the day and never on during the dark period, but if it’s working don’t mess with it. The plants are helping with the filtering of the water so add fish slowly till you find a sweet spot between plant growth and number of fish. Use dead fish as fertilizer for outside plants. You can also use aquarium water to water other plants and switch in fresh water then.

It’s technically impossible to use too much seaweed and dead fish as fertilizer. :whistle:

If it’s working just go with it. Just make sure your water is acidic(5.5-6) for proper nutrient uptake.

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Might I ask why?

If I leave it off, the roots will be exposed to the air all night long. It’s raining now so there’s not much worry of them drying out, but is that normal in an E&F system? To shut it down at night? I hadn’t heard that. :ohreally:

Seems though if I did leave it off, the murk in the tank would settle down some. :ponder:

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Don’t know just the way they do it. I preferred to leave my set ups on because setting the timer sucks. Ebb and flow is so simple and idiot-proof that you can get away with almost anything. :thumbsup:

You got me thinking of putting up some semi-hydroponics and some SWC systems. I just need time which wifey and 2 kids need plenty of as well…

Basil and romaine probably

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So call me a ghetto idiot then. :laughing: If it works the way I have running now, it will have to be the easiest gardening I’ve ever done. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

[quote]You got me thinking of putting up some semi-hydroponics and some SWC systems. I just need time which wifey and 2 kids need plenty of as well…[/quote]Well, that’s why I put this thread in Parenting. My son joined in early and went to the pet shop to get the fish and tank and stuff, and my wife and hunted around for the red clay pellets, which wasn’t easy to find. We all rearranged the balcony, washed the pellets, again and again. Putting the fish in, taking them out, testing the pump, etc.

It was a lot of fun. :thumbsup:

Yeah, that stuff should grow fast and easy. I’ve seen some videos on youtube with folks harvesting lettuce and such veggies in half the time it takes to grow them in soil.

I looked at the semi-hydroponics site you sent me, but it was all orchids. Did I miss something? What IS a semi-system?

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Interesting project and fun for the whole family. I know I wouldn’t eat any living thing I raised myself though.

Call me when I can pick up my weekly box of organic vegetables :wink: And I hear tilapia ceviche can be tasty. I’ll be waiting. :lick:

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Ghetto is a term of endearment and respect in the hydroponic/mushroom communities because almost everything has to be made from scratch or you have to shell out a lot of money for proper gear.

Any decent hardware store or grocery store has the red expanded clay pellets.

Anything you can do as a family is great. :thumbsup:

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[quote=“914”]Interesting project and fun for the whole family. I know I wouldn’t eat any living thing I raised myself though.

Call me when I can pick up my weekly box of organic vegetables :wink: And I hear tilapia ceviche can be tasty. I’ll be waiting. :lick:[/quote]

I don’t know about the tilapia, but the goldfish gumbo will take about 6 months to prepare! :laughing:

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Despite the crappy rainy weather the system is working quite well. The few problems I’ve had have been finding the right timing configuration and making sure the gravity drip holes don’t get clogged.

I have it on a 15 on and 45 off throughout the night and morning, then in the PM I have it 15 on and 30 off. It’s draining well now and the pepper plant which should not have its roots saturated is looking groovy. I “planted” some seeds which haven’t come up yet, and I don’t know if it’s because there has been about 5 minutes of sunshine this week or they just don’t like germinating in the system. Time will tell. Adding new pots to the system caused the drip holes to clog, so I put sponges over the holes and weighed them down with dive weights. Seems fine now.

I bought more fish and learned guppies are sold by weight and not by count. :laughing: I took the bottom leaves off the lettuce plants which got bent in the transfer, blanched them in hot water and added them to the tank. The guppies ate them up, so that was true. Only one fish death to report and a burial in my soil pot containing coriander. I water the other plants we have with the fish poop water as well. So far, it’s a win-win situation. :thumbsup: I have learned the Chinese name for tilapia and will call the agriculture agency to see where I can get some babies. mmmmmmm tilapia. :homer:

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Tilapia are the pigs of the freshwater fish world, right up there with carp. The old way to raise them was to throw them in a duck pond, because then you didn’t need to feed them.

I’m interested to see how you’ll deal with the plants as they get larger. Lettuce is easy, but pepper plants get large and you may have to go ghetto DWC and just stick a bubbler under the roots as it grows into the tank if you are so inclined.

The only thing I would be worried about is algae. Mold won’t be a problem as long as you remove all dead fish and plant matter. You can always add supplemental lighting, just remember fluorescent lights need to be with 4" of the plants. Depending on the age of your son, it might be another great dad/son project.

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I thought you said “blubber” and was like…gtfooh :laughing:

Space may not be a problem as I may be expanding the operation soon. :smiley:

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Taiwan Aquaponics Association
twaquaponics.blogspot.com
You can freely find the trainning guide, news and contact info there.