Aquaculture Thread

[selfsufficient]

I just have a small set up in my basement. Sort of a test for a bigger system in the future.

CHOP2, but I added a vertical gardening section to the reservoir return, inspired by legendary UK hydroponic cannabis grower Heath Robinson.

I have 6 bluegill in a 50 gallon acrylic tank, feeding a 2x4' grow bed .

Tanks, beds, and plumbing probably ran to about 500$ us. Another 100 or so on fish and pump. Everything has been running for about nine months now, it's a pretty amazing machine!

It even survived five days without power at near freezing temps somehow.

[shonman]

Aquaponics has great promise....

 

[Justin Credible]

Am currently playing with some outdoor Flood and Drain setups. Any one recommend some run times for my pump. Was thinking of starting with 30 minutes on 30 minutes off and was going to fine tune from here. Growing media is Clay Balls. Any and all input is appreciated.

Edit. OOps will be growing lettuce....might help

Edited May 25, 2014 by The Ban Man

[Bigred]

Got some plastic ponds if you want one ban man i run my systems 24hrs as it keeps the o2 up for the fish

Google how to make a bell siphon

[Darklight]

Am really interested in the aquaculture thing, but in a desultory, I-lack-any-kind-of-funds way. Vague accumulation of knowledge is the goal, so I can keep an eye on progress for when I can afford the upgrade

Here's the sitch, if you can advise:

• I have a 3m levelled pad which used to house an inflatable pool.
• I have drainage greywater curently heading down the slope of the lawn.
• My veggie gardens are below it, and established, but I would not be averse to more veggie or biomass production if it was any use to the nutrient cycle

My priorities would be:

• Cheap
• Self contained with minimal moving parts
• Production of fish or other aquatic yummies like yabby
• Water filtration/ recycling nutrient greywater ( reed bed? )
• Somewhere watery and cool to sit when it's hot
• Heat sink for potted tropicals
• Plants for eating or other use

Priorities sound like hell I spose, but given all the advances in the area so much has been achieved since I last checked that I thought I'd list them all just in case

I'm thinking of a 3m agricultural grade UV drinking trough for the main tank, will prolly need a pump. Not sure what else tho

Teamwhy, I think we know each other and are local? Do you have heaps of experience in the field?

Edited May 29, 2014 by Darklight

[brooa]

 

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/ is a really good source of info, but your system can be as big or small as you want it to be. http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1617 has LOADS of small systems to look at. pretty well can make it out of anything you want haha your imagination is the limit really.

[teamwhy]

hey darklight yes i am local, i was at the workshop at that market last month.

i am just new to the aquaponics thing. i am still waiting for my first feed of fish. i am hoping next xmas.

i just have 1 IBC with the top cut off as the grow bed.

i have had a few problems with mine, the first lot of fish i got had a fungal disease and started dying from as soon as i got them. they where cheap and not from a reputable source. my next batch are all good and i haven't lost any. they are about 100mm now and 4 months old.

i am up to my third pump, again i got 2 cheap pumps and they just crapped out.

but i love hanging out with the fish, my girlfriend teases me cos' she always catches me just staring into the tank.

[qwertyuiop]

hey teamwhy, What pump are you using? Were the fail ones bilge pumps?

Here's one I've been looking into

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-10000LPH-Aquarium-Fountain-Pond-Submersible-Water-Pump-Marine-Fish-Tank-Air-/181415426940?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item2a3d33bb7c&_uhb=1

What I really like about this is the spiral propeller, making it really efficient for its size aswell as harder to clog cuz it can allow for upto 7mm sized chunks through... Perfect for Aquaponics I'd say.

[Darklight]

Hey Teamwhy we should catch up, sry, I lost control of time, thought I'd replied

Bigred I have an old gal water tank on a solid pad in a semi-sheltered area. Doesn't hold water. Would you recommend I get an LDPE tank liner if I want to grow fish? Or patch it some other way?

Thinking standalone solar pump for O2, so daytime O2 only. It gets cold here tho, we get 4-5 frosts in an average year, and I bet the gal tank won't be a great insulator. With an LDPE liner any type of crayfish would be out I guess. What fish would you all recommend? Silver perch? Barcoo grunter? Am out the back of Nimbin, in the cold parts

I'm on rain water- would I need to pre-condition it or otherwise balance the water during the fish growth cycle?

My soil garden is pretty good already and I don't want to augment it right now by adding more veg space to the garden. So the tank would only be for fish and aquatic plants- waterchestnut, kang kong etc. Personally I'd grow the water chestnut into a food compliant stacker crate with holes so it can be harvested more simply. Stacker crates rock for growing water chestnut in

Shelter for the fish would come from Nymphaea caerula or a lotus. Waterloss would be extreme without surface coverage anyhow. Can feed worms from worm farm and flies eating from veggie scraps

Would like to make use of the old tank if possible, it's a hassle to move, I suspect concreted in, and is there, so may as well be used https://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/applications/core/interface/imageproxy/imageproxy.php?img=&key=ed93ee4b8a158835e0af19ead9c794b11af03de360911f7858b9da338588c45d It's 1700mm wide by 600mm deep. And I have another old tank which could be readily cut in two to make two more of that diameter and cut to any depth I need- would also need liner. Have a pad almost ready to take at least one of them

Edited June 20, 2014 by Darklight

[shortly]

I'm just thinking if I had very little money sort of thing, or if tech wasn't an option. Could aquatic plants help? I hear they provide aeration/oxygen to water. Maybe a tank with lots of plants, outside where it got wind across the surface of the water, with some carp or catfish or something?

Yes and no, the plants will help elevate the O2 while its light, but as soon as it gets dark the plants will start metabolizing the O2 and giving off CO2 so your PH will take a sudden nose dive with carbonic acid. Of course as soon as the sun comes up the situation will remedy itself but there is a good chance all the fish will already be cactus due to the lack of O2 over night.

EDIT: just had a thought...maybe you could rig up some kind of windmill/turbine sort of setup to churn the water at one end?..that would aerate it plenty without the need for electricity

A windmill is worth a try, a lot guys set up small battery powered air pumps with an airstone & riser tube to circulate water from the bottom of the tank should the main pump fail.

[Darklight]

How's everyone's setups going? I still haven't started mine.

Vacillating between buying a couple of IBC and starting small, or spending that money on tank liners, splitting a water tank and using all the available flat space for a larger volume of productive area. Which would youse recommend?

[Bigred]

I have been having huge agal blooms so im working on some home made barley straw extract from my mycology waste

[teamwhy]

mine has been a bit slow over winter but the fish are getting move active now. in a few more week it should be warm enough to start feeding them heaps and it will all be cranking again

[briliant_botanist]

I hope the wife will let me do this one day ?

[Idon'tstudydinosaurs]

Just thought I would share my ethnobotanical aquaponic setup. It has been cycling for around 8 weeks. Nitrite has spiked for the last couple of days at around 2.0 ppm (have added 1.5 part per thousand of sea salt to mitigate) and nitrates are steadily climbing (at around 20 ppm tested today).

I decided to paint it black due to it's full position in the sun in a bid to prevent excessive algal growth during the initial cycling period.

I currently have basil and lettuce on the left side, chilli in the centre and on the right are a couple Rivea corymbosa seedlings, Khat seedlings, and some Datura. I recently planted some Acacia, Mexicana agremone, Sida cordifolia and a few others that I didn't label so will have to wait when they sprout.

Any others have any experience with aquaponic ethnobotanicals? What grows well? I have been surprised with the Khat plant that I put in (the largish plant at the right front). It was getting a bit weedy in soil with most of the growth only happening at the tips. It has been about 4 weeks and there is growth all up the stems and at the base (which is where I have cloned the seedlings from).

During the cycling I have around 8 yabbies and a few Silver Perch. Once the cold weather arrives I will change to Trout.