Aquaponic Gardening

A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Aquaponics For Beginners

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Aquaponics For Beginners

This is a place where Beginners can post questions and find answers.

Advanced Users are welcome to help the Beginners out.

Please KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) .

Members: 672
Latest Activity: Feb 2, 2019

Discussion Forum

A few fish for sale or good home

Started by Linda Logan. Last reply by Linda Logan Feb 2, 2019. 1 Reply

I need to shut down my indoor system for a few months. I have 2 mature Shubunkin, 1 albino Hypostomus to clean the aquarium. There is another small fish living in the sump.I live in SE Portland and…Continue

Aquaponics system as filter for swimming pool

Started by John Wilson. Last reply by Wade J Rochelle Jan 25, 2019. 3 Replies

Hi all, we've just purchased a property with a large indoor swimming pool. Around 80,000L with a greenhouse roof and plenty of room around it for grow beds. However, this is far too big for us to…Continue

Not for human consumption!?

Started by Nichelle Hubley. Last reply by Nichelle Hubley Jun 30, 2015. 7 Replies

Well, I think I messed up big time. I've been feeding my precious tilapia koi food (I like in a small place and it was all I could get... :( ) for about 2 months and last night I read on the back of…Continue

Help!! Help !!! with new filtration and set-up.

Started by Henrique Miguel. Last reply by Wayne Mcbryde May 14, 2015. 2 Replies

Hi,I have a set up of 2 55 gal  blue barrel with Tilapia and  guppies separate.   I have young ones and they are growing well. Issue of overcrowding and feeding. 1. I would like to use a water…Continue

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Comment by Sally Bast on January 8, 2013 at 8:03am

I did a really basic check with my pool supplies.  Ph in pond was 6.8 compared to house 7.5.  Alk. was 40 pond and 240 house.  Will be checking water in pond!!!  Unfortunately Lowes is 50 mi away...Road Trip!!  Off to Extension Office.

Thx

Comment by TCLynx on January 7, 2013 at 4:51pm

I would get a freshwater master test kit and test the water yourself.  If you are worried about other things (than pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) there are additional test kits you could get for some other nutrients (iron, hardness, calcium, phosphorus etc)  if you are worried about bacteria, pathoens, pesticides, or heavy metals, then you might want to contact the extension service to find out what labs can test drinking water for those things.  Lowes often have basic home test kings for some of those things but I don't know how accurate those are.

Comment by Phil Slaton on January 7, 2013 at 12:50pm

Correct.  As far as veggies go, we have an excellent market that has wonderful produce.  We are doing this for fish as a cash crop.  I just got very  tired of chasing the chemistry in my tanks.

And aquaponics certainly uses water tainted with fish waste.

Comment by Sally Bast on January 7, 2013 at 8:44am

While waiting for the ice to melt, I am setting up an indoor unit.  Have seeds ready to start under grow lights.  By the time they are ready, I should have my small system going.  Like the Chop 2 system but might not have enough room inside. Already have 2 IBC to set up outside. I'm reading everything on here and have the book and dvd.  Where is the best place to have my pond water tested?

Comment by Sally Bast on January 7, 2013 at 8:33am

Great info.  Thank you.  I plan to check the water as soon as the ice melts...hahaha!  Hopefully that will be today.  I don't have any birds or animals around the pond right now.  The problem fish that I have are my Grass Carp.  They keep my pond so nice and clean and would love a treat of fresh roots!  I am in the country with well water that is rather hard.  Hoping pond water would be more balanced.  I live in Tornado Alley so I plan to set up in my barn and outside stalls. My mind is crazy with ideas...so fun. 

Comment by TCLynx on January 7, 2013 at 7:41am

Sally,

   Phil has good points here, just keep in mind that what Phil is doing is actually aquaculture, he is not really doing any aquaponics.

If you intend to eat raw lettuce and other raw foods grown in water from a natural  pond that also hosts ducks and other wildlife in addition to fish, there is a minimal risk of some food born diseases getting into the mix.  (I say minimal since there are plenty of field farms that irrigate with river and other surface waters but still the claim that aquaponics doesn't have warm blooded manure involved and is safe from things like e. coli are based on keeping our aquaponics system free of those warm blooded manures like duck and chicken poop and other farm manures.)

Anyway, if you are wanting to raise veggies using your pond directly, you may want to get a water test kit and see if there is enough extra nutrient to make it worth while.  And if the fish in the pond are just bass, catfish and bluegill, you may not even really need to worry about caging the roots since those fish are not really herbivores.

You would need to add aeration under where ever you secure the raft.

Comment by Phil Slaton on January 7, 2013 at 1:49am

Hi Sally,

I am in the process of changing over my 5-1100 gallon grow tanks to pump water from my catfish breeding pond to them.  I had no success with pump and filter in these tanks and at the urging of the Zen Master of Aquaponics/culture Bob Terrell [who posted below]. I am in the process of the change over.

What drove me  to it was that my pond water is of excellent quality - the ducks and Catfish are doing their thing and Mother Nature is masterfully taking care of the quality of the pond.

This is a photo of my pond full to the spillways:

Good pond water beats electrical/mechanical pumping and filtering hands down.

If you have questions of me just email me at phil(at)jobexpousa.com.

Good Luck!

Comment by TCLynx on January 6, 2013 at 9:03pm

Hi Sally,

Get a Freshwater master test kit and start learning about your pond water while you ponder how to design your system

Comment by Sally Bast on January 6, 2013 at 5:09pm

Another newbie here.  So excited to get started.  My research has not answered my questions about ponds.  Is the water a good start for the system?  Does anyone do a system connected ,in any way, to a pond?  I have a 2+ acre pond where I plan to get my fish.  Do I have other choices...raft in pond..with roots protected, of course.  Everyone on this site is so helpful.  Thank you in advance.  Located in SW MO.


Moderator
Comment by Bob Terrell on January 5, 2013 at 11:29pm

Robb, your in the right place!!  Good luck

 

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