Just Joined NW Aquaponics ..and have a few questions

[Converse]

  Greetings All,

   I am very pleased to have found this group, and hope to learn a lot from all of you.  Not sure what I have to offer anyone else though in the way of knowledge or experience.

  We live just on the "wet side" of the Cascades in the PNW.  Aquaponics seems practical for us.  Growing veggies conventionally has not been a huge success for us due to the short growing season and we have a marauding herd of elk that make short work of the "deli" we provide.  We had gone to growing what we could by hanging buckets in trees higher than the elk can reach (not too convenient for plant care) and in bins on the chicken coup roof top.  Then we discovered aquaponics!  So we are going toward growing what we can in a greenhouse with aquaponics. We hope to add a good harvest to help out the family budget not only with a veggie harvest, but also with fish...

     We run a commercial worm farm, so we have ready source of fish food (we feed our chickens the worms too!)...and no, you don't get rich selling redworms.  It does help put food on the table though.

     The part we are not sure about in doing aquaponics in our region is a good way to heat the water for tilapia inexpensively.   Anyone from this region have a solution?  I just saw a Coleman solar panel yesterday in a store on one of our trips to "civilization".  I was a bit encouraged by this thought...  So at this point I will ask what is the method most in the "wet side" of the Cascades of PNW region are using to keep fish alive in the winter? 

 

Sincerely,

Converse

[Ricky Flickenger]

Welcome! I don't have any suggestions for heating, as I run a partially filled 55 gallon in my apartment to grow things, so small heater does just fine for me, but wanted to say hello and good luck!

If its in a greenhouse does the inside temp not stay warm enough?

Anyway, welcome to NW aquaponics.

[Rick Stillwagon]

Funny you should ask... I am working on just that currently.  My solution is a biomass fired boiler.  Pellets made of wood, grass, weeds, leaves, anything that can be ground up pelletized and burned.  This fuel will heat water that will create steam the steam is circulated through pipes, heating the greenhouse.  I am also using the steam to generate the electricity to run the system.  Since the fuel is essentially free, after the initial investment of the equipment cost to heat the water and greenhouse and to run the system is minimal.

[Eric Warwick]

If you're on the wet side then light is an issue to in a greenhouse. After all the clouds don't let a lot of light in. 

[Rick Stillwagon]

I have been looking at supplemental light using led's. There has been a great deal of research and development in the use of led lighting for plant growth. There are kits available to build your own to avoid the current high cost of prefab units.

Eric Warwick said:

If you're on the wet side then light is an issue to in a greenhouse. After all the clouds don't let a lot of light in. 

[Christina Hersey]

I haven't done this yet, and have no idea as to the expense.  But my idea is to raise fish in a hot tub.  If additional heat is needed, then just turn on the hot tub to a very low setting.  The heater is built in so you don't have to invest in a heating element.  What you use for a power source is up to you then.

[Rick Stillwagon]

Hi Christina,

I am going to be using a bio-mass boiler to heat my greenhouse and fish tanks. These also run on wood pellets which are about the least expensive form of fuel we have here. Once I have my hammer mill and pellet mill then fuel is free. This, solar, and a few other things will keep my heating and power costs to a minimum.

[Christina Hersey]

I'm personally hoping to avoid heating at all, by keeping my tub in the greenhouse and selecting fish species that are native.

[Rick Stillwagon]

It will be difficult to avoid heating at all. You will want some way to heat in place when it gets really cold unless you are going to shut it down for the winter months.

[Christina Hersey]

This is one of the main reasons I've joined this forum.  To research this topic.  It seems to me that if there are fish that thrive perfectly well in the outdoor conditions here in Oregon, then wouldn't they thrive at least equally well in my slightly warmer greenhouse hot tub?  Yellow perch, for example; if they live even up in Canada, why would they require external heating in Oregon?  I'm not doubting you, just trying to figure out what's what.

[Rick Stillwagon]

The fish will do fine.  The fish's metabolism slows down the cooler it is. They eat less therefore excrete less. If you want to keep production of fish and plants up then apply heat and light. Warmer fish eat, grow, and excrete more. Plants grow faster and consume more nutrients with warmer temperatures and light. Your native fish will winter fine in the cold, it is growth and production that suffers.  I was looking at your question through the my vision of year round food production. My goal is fresh produce all year long.

[Christina Hersey]

Oh I see where you're coming from.  Well, one part of my plan is to incorporate my chickens' poop into the design.  An aquarium friend told me that if I do this, I'll have way more waste in the water than my plants can take up and it will be unhealthy for the fish.  But I got the idea from another aquaponics setup, so I know it's somehow possible.  Maybe winter would be the perfect time for me to incorporate the chicken poop if I let my fish go dormant during the winters?

[Rick Stillwagon]

I would save the chicken poop for the spring to make a "manure tea" to grow your duck weed in a seperate pool from your fish. When it is cold your fish's immune system is depressed and the fish are vulnerable to disease, infections, etc. You want them in clean water and prevent the top of the water from completely freezing. There needs to be a way for gases to escape during the cold month.