Comment

Comment by Kobus Jooste on February 12, 2012 at 2:58am

John, you will have to be more specific about where on the continent you may be looking to do something. Where I used to live and am now, you can get everything you need to build a system in a 50 km radius from your house, but in other parts, you will not get anything. I see from your profile that you are in the US, thus are you interested in doing anything here on our side?

Comment by John Link on February 10, 2012 at 8:17am

Hey guys thanks for the add!  I'm developing a proposal for a 1000L fish tank, 1 media grow bed, and 1 sump tank system to start our pilot program.  The plan is, after initially cycling and stabilizing the system, to add redundancies and efficiencies.  So our pilot will only have about 15 tiliapia to start for the one grow bed and our goal is to increase that number to 40 by adding adequate aeration, filtration, and solar power.  Not sure if anyone knows any viable water sources?  Can you treat water from the grid?  Hopefully there is a large fish feed supplier and you guys know where I can get some?  Last but not least, IBC Tote Containers do they exist in Africa?  Thanks in advance guys/gals

Comment by Eco Owl on November 21, 2011 at 1:05am

Hi All,

 

I have had joy sourcing fish in Gauteng so let me share:

 

Hartebeespoort Fisheries (012-259-3904)

 

Hartebeesporrt Fisheries (012-259-3904)

 

The have lot's of different types of Talapia available including Mozambique Talapia at the following prices:

 

4-6cm R 1,20ea

6-8cm R 1,50ea

8-10cm R 2,20ea

 

Kind regards,

 

Eco

 

 

Comment by Eco Owl on November 20, 2011 at 4:18pm

Hi Kobus,

Thanks for all the advice, it is quite difficult to find both info and products here in Gauteng.

I have 2 questions about fish:

My grow beds total a surface area of 4m2 and are 30cm deep. My tank is 3900 liters. According to the Rules of thumb I calculate that I should ultimately have 20kgs of fish. Given that I will most likely start with fingerlings I would like to know how many fish I should stock. I thought about 100?

Secondly, I have read that Talapia are known as Kurper in SA. Is this correct?

Thanks,

Eco

P.S. Any idea of fish suppliers in Gauteng, are Hartebeesport Fisheries still in business?

Comment by Eco Owl on November 19, 2011 at 4:26am

I found feed troughs from www.ecofs.co.za that I am going to use. They are 2m x 0.5 x 0.3 deep.

Comment by Derick Sinden on November 1, 2011 at 11:55pm

Kobus - Thanx, appreciate your input. I  am a wiser aquaponic.

Comment by Kobus Jooste on November 1, 2011 at 8:12am

Derick - the state of the roots is not a concern for photosynthesis at all.  The leaves are the primary site for the gas exchange you refer to and if anything, a moist surface will allow more CO2 diffusion out of a root than a dry surface.  But as stated, it is the leaves that are responsible for gas exchange.

Comment by Derick Sinden on November 1, 2011 at 7:47am

Kobus. My concern is not of temperature but of what I was taught about the process of  photosynthesis in school. The plants are taking in carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen during the day and the reverse at night. At night the leaves give off carbon dioxide and I am assuming the roots as well. My concern being the fact that if the roots are too wet this will interfere with the plant metabolism. Are we saying that the 45 minute dry period is sufficient to avoid this situation?

Comment by Kobus Jooste on November 1, 2011 at 6:54am

Derick - all my systems run periodically or permanently through the night.  What is your concerns? Temperature drop during winter?  Most larger (commercial) systems are on all the time.  In terms of the functioning of the bacteria, they need to be kept aerobic, which means that if you starve them of circulation for more than a day, you could be in trouble.  You could circulate less at night, as the fish are not eating and ammonia build up would be lower than during the day, when they are feeding often, but for me there is no issue with pumping every 45 minutes through the night.

Comment by Derick Sinden on November 1, 2011 at 5:12am

Is pumping the pond water into the grow beds at night a good or bad thing?

 

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