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Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on February 2, 2012 at 9:19am

David

I am impressed. Kudos on a job well done.

As you stated, the cloudiness might not be a problem. Since you are using aquariums, you might want to use a filter after your drain from the grow-bed. just a thought.

KUDOS big time Dude.

Comment by David Schwinghamer on February 2, 2012 at 8:48am

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on February 1, 2012 at 10:31pm

Bob, I think worms can handle rough rocks, and they're better for the bacteria.

Holly, transfer some of your rock rather than dirty water. The bacteria live in the rocks. I've moved half of one tank's rocks and then added new to both tanks.

Vacuums:The vacuums are made of a hose and a tube. That allows the lighter material to be sucked up and the heavier to fall back down, so rocks don't get sucked into the tube.

Worms: Our worm bin is made of two pails. the bottom is just a regular plastic pail. The top one is shorter and fits in, but not all the way down the first pail. The second one has holes in the bottom for the tea, a nice term for worm pee. Inside the top pail we have a fabric plant bag that can be purchased at hydroponics stores. The compost is inside the bag along with the worms. The whole thing has a pail lid on it, but just below the lid, around the top of the upper pail we have holes for air. We have a regular air filter pumping air into one of the holes. I'm not sure if it's necessary, but we do it anyway. The idea is to give them air and to help cool the air, since worms do create heat.

Bubbler filters: Back in the dark ages when I was a kid it was the only kind of filter. Here's one: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?rlz=1C1SKPC_enUS345US346&...  Scroll down and under Related Items you'll see one very similar to the filters we used long ago. They're fine for small tanks, but aren't practical for large tanks. I have one in a 30 gallon tank and my home-made one is in a 15 gal.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on February 1, 2012 at 10:12pm

Yay, confirmation! Thanks, Local Roots!

Maynhia, That's quite an experience! Great information for all of us, so I appreciate your telling us about it. I have tilapia and plecos together and have seen the plecos try to attach to the tilapia, but I didn't know they'd be such predictors! Our plecos are large, but not as large as the tilapia. What are the size differences between your plecos & tilapia?

Comment by Local Roots Aquaponics on February 1, 2012 at 10:01pm

I am happy to report that upon further questioning of my AZDA contact, about the requirement for backyard aquapons to have Facility Licenses (as I had been told by them in the past, but which was at odds with the 'for profit' text in the application), I now have in writing:  "If the person you sell the fish to is using them only for their own personal use or consumption, they do not need an aquaculture license. If they were to continue to raise them and sell them, then they would need a facility license."

I am very happy to say that we will now sell fingerlings to anyone.  We currently have 3"-6" channel catfish fingerlings for $2.50 a fish (small orders only); if you are interested please email us for more details: localrootsaquaponics@gmail.com

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on February 1, 2012 at 7:53pm

Maynhia,

thank you for sharing.

Comment by Maynhia Stott on February 1, 2012 at 7:45pm

Lessons learned

I've been busy getting my system up and running... and maybe being too zealous... I bought 3 plecos fish for my two tanks to control algae, for 3 days straight I kept getting a dead tilapia. My daughter noticed one looked like it has been bitten into so I got on the web and check out plecos fish habit. It seems that if there isn't enough algae for them they will actually suck the algae out of the other fish skin.  

I also had some tilapia jumping out of the water.

1. found a tilapia on the floor it looked dried and dead, i threw it away. Then doing some reading on the web other people said that they put their "dead" tilapia back and it was still alive. I tried it when  i found 2 other ones on the floor and sure enough they swam away. 

2. I resolved the jumping tilapia problem, I guess fish can have separation anxiety.  I took out the jumping ones and put them in the other tank and have not seen any jumping since... they just wanted to be reunited with their colony.

Hope these lessons might help someone.

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on February 1, 2012 at 12:12pm

Holly

you are correct. everyone is GREAT!

Comment by Bob Campbell on February 1, 2012 at 11:39am

I've been debating weather to use crushed rock in order to get a good rough surface for the bacteria to grow on or to use a smooth rock in order to be kind to the worms. Any opinions?

Comment by Holly Curtis on February 1, 2012 at 11:21am

Sheri - Thank you.  I will look at vacuums today. I think I have one but that it doesn't do the job well.  It is a hose that suctions water.  I will re-check my values tonight and see where I am at.  I do have gravel and a filter.   By "aerated" worms...do you mean there are holes for them to breathe?  You don't push air into the dirt...

I am interested in bubbler filters...not sure what that is that you made with tupperware.  When you have time.  Thanks a bunch for the info today.  I have been worried about my fishies since I did the tests.  

I have a new tank (55gal) to transfer them too.  I guess I need to put some dirty water in it so the bacteria can get going.

Thanks to the rest of you too for your helps and comments.  It has been nice to exchange with everyone!

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