Doomsday Preppers - Aquaponics

[Brian]

I watched a little NATGEOTV this afternoon.  I really enjoyed seeing the aquaponics system in this video episode:  http://ning.it/xbwoJT

Too bad I don't have a swimming pool. Catching supper in the pool every night would be pretty cool, but I don't think I could eat the duckweed shakes like they are doing.

I have to question the chicken manure falling into the fish tank. I'd be a little queasy about the raw manure personally. The only reason I can see for it (and I don't think I agree with it) is as a means to dispose of the chicken manure in a highly populated urban area.

[Carey Ma]

BTW: I use to be a prepper although back then we didn't have such a nice title, more like doomsdayer or survivalist or simply nut-job. Although I have a nice emergency supply, I do feel kinda naked without my guns and fishing stuff. It's all buried up in the mountains in western Washington below the snowline. I think I have another ten to twenty years before loggers return so should be pretty safe.

As to poop factor, I'm think I'm done with that topic for now but something has been nagging at me that duck poop might be safer/ better than chicken poop (in green water culture, never in tub/ tank style AP). Fish seem to follow the ducks around waiting for fresh food- yum yum. Maybe fish digestion gets rid of most pathogens? Best be safe than sorry so don't listen to my babble.

[TCLynx]

Carey, in pond culture where you are not growing your raw salad ingredients directly in the water, I'm not too worried about the fish exposure to salmonella or e. coli since we cook freshwater fish before eating it.

Now there are studies that fish grown in waters contaminated with those will have it living on their skins and perhaps even in their guts but again, we don't eat the guts and cooking kills both salmonella and e. coli.

The real dangers of duck or chicken poop would be if you grow anything in the system that would be eaten raw.

[jerry allison]

am not a doomsday prepper, but i was a boy scout , i live in new orleans  and during hurricane katrina , i thought i was peppered.. a 15kw natural gas generator , the no gas? a backup generator  50 gallons of gasoline  not big enough to run the house just the freezer ,air conditioner  and my koi pond , no sueage, gun fire everywhere, enough food for two months , the national guard and police forced me to leave my fish died , ( i was not prepared enough ) no blood pressure pills .. as far as feeding fish with chicken poop  no way , a dozen chickens in a pen would be great , i love eggs and fried chicken