jvision Posted September 2, 2012 Report Share Posted September 2, 2012 I found out about Aquaponics (combining aquaculture with hydroponics) a few months ago, and have spent some time setting up a small system that runs off my fish system. Here are some pics! First plants started were the bottoms of some green onions. After only 2 days, there's already some decent growth! Over 10" in less than a week!! I have just added some more herbs and a kale bush. We'll be adding some tomatoes, cucumber and strawberries soon; as well as some goji berries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanmer Posted September 2, 2012 Report Share Posted September 2, 2012 I have been thinking about doing this for a while too. A friend of my son has a full system, she is a chef and really makes use out of all products. Pooping is what fish do best, may as well take advantage of it! I am really interested in how the goji berries do, the health benefits are amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprucegruve Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Looking good. What type of substrate is that?lava rock? The goji Berrys will do well indoors,if you were to try them outdoors in Alberta you would have to cover them first 3 years over winter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted September 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Yes, it's 3/4" lava rock, commonly used as an Aquaponics medium. I also have several inches of Ultima II media under that to keep my biofilter going - it came from the system's sump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprucegruve Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 It might look tacky,but I recommend putting up reflective marerial to catch any stray light and send it towards the plants it makes quite a difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Your thread inspired me so I've been doing some research and i think I'll set up a small system with my Sterlets and I may raise a few Yellow Perch with them. It's kind of funny that I can find Nile Perch easier than Yellow Perch for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted September 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Ron, there should be fish hatcheries all over the province that have Yellow Perch - it's a commonly stocked fish, isn't it? Maybe try calling the local Fish and Game office to see if they can help you. There was a thread maybe 2-3 yrs back by a guy who stocked his tank with some Rainbow Trout fingerlings that he picked up from a hatchery. I don't remember who's thread it was, tho... maybe do a quick search on AA and see if that helps. I'm going to be setting up a subpanel today to redo all my electrical. My place is only on 60A and the 2 main fuses have had to be replaced this year... I'll show a pick of how I rework it all next weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 The only hatcheries that I can find locally, stock trout. There is a private lake here in Calgary that Yellow Perch were released into and they have fishouts several times a year. I contacted the organizer and checked to see if I could get some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 I guess it's a no go because I would need a permit for a native species and they don't give them out for my intended use. I should have known cause I knew we couldn't keep native reptiles.....oh well, anyone have a suggestion for a cold water fish to use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nauticus Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Very cool Jay, we should chat. I think this would be a super thing to set up in my class for our science curriculum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted October 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 Well, the plants have not been doing well this past month, so I decided I'd break down and buy my first test kit in about 15yrs (thanks digital-monk!). Turns out, there is 0 nitrate in the system!! Guess I gotta feed my fish more! Also found out that out of the 200ppm of TDS (I have owned a TDS meter for a while to try to induce difficult plecos to spawn) ALL of it is GH (KH reading was 0!). I'm thinking of getting a pH meter to keep an eye on things as I bring the TDS down a bit; without the alkalinity the pH could crash, which wouldn't be too bad on the fish I have (they love the acidity!), but would cause a reduction in the iron uptake of my plants. This aquaponics thing is turning out to be quite a bit more difficult than the planted tank... well, maybe not. I just need to realize that I actually have to feed the plants AS WELL AS the fish... that was my #1 rule when keeping planted tanks, guess I should just keep following that rule, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 You just need messier fish. I'm planning on using Marbled Crayfish, they "clone" themselves, are fairly tolerant of each other and are quite the pigs which creates a lot of waste. How much are you planning on bringing down your TDS? I treat 200 ppm as lower medium hardness and was planning on running mine closer to 300 ppm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted October 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 I have a bunch of plecos on my system. I aim for around 100ppm to induce spawning. If I haven't been successful after a month or so, I let TDS raise back up to 300 or so (whatever the tap is at the time) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted December 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 Well, it's a new house and a new Aquaponics project!! Some of you have been over to see my turtle tank and the cichlid tanks with all the basil and oregano growing that I can handle! Well, now it's time for the big switch! I'm down to 4 fishtanks set up in the entire house! Here's what the fishroom looks like now Combined the fish from the 45 and 50 gal tanks into a 75gal with dual HMFs feeding into 2x 25gal Deep Water Current tanks with a bubble wand in each. If you've seen my Equipment Ads, maybe you guessed that my turtle has a new home! A 300ish gal tub will supply water to the grow beds, which total around 180gal of space. I have a couple odd parts to pick up before I can finish plumbing the whole thing and getting it running. Until then I have the FX5 from the turtle tank running on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2015 Getting the media I need at this time of year is quite the chore! It's frozen, so I have to get the landscape store to get the loader to load up my 2 pails! I finally got enough rinsed for another GB. Since my last lighting FIASCO (anybody want 24 72" purple T5HOs?), I remembered I had a bunch of 12W LED Spotlights, so I went out and bought 2 48" Sunblasters to supliment. My 7yr old son helped me put this fixture together today. Here it is turned off Here are the spotlights... I thought I put in all "mixed spectrum", but looks like the far end is all red... I'll dig around to see if I have another mixed. I know I have all red, all blue and mixed kicking around. I might switch things up if I want to get things blooming. I set up the smaller GB as an herb garden. I planted most of these seeds a week ago And looks like the Thyme is already sprouting! I got the fixture built just in time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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