Aquaponic Gardening

A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Chris Smith
  • Male
  • Kailua Kona, HI
  • United States
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Chris Smith's Discussions

Aquaponics vacation rental??

Started this discussion. Last reply by Meg Stout Aug 11, 2013. 12 Replies

On our farm, Coastview Aquaponics, we have a rental unit. We are located on the Kona coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Our renters informed us recently that they are going to vacate the unit by the…Continue

Grow Out Times

Started this discussion. Last reply by RupertofOZ Nov 17, 2011. 17 Replies

A recently post has questioned grow out times being claimed by some. There seems to be a lot of misinformation out there on this subject this so I would like to get a record of what our community is…Continue

Need help sourcing wholesale parts.

Started this discussion. Last reply by Chris Smith Nov 15, 2011. 15 Replies

I have been building and selling turnkey systems for most of the year now. I have been buying all the local supplies that I can, but have cleaned out all my local sources.Most of the pumps that I use…Continue

Is diatomaceous earth safe for fish and bacteria?

Started this discussion. Last reply by TCLynx Oct 11, 2013. 37 Replies

I have been using diatomaceous earth for slug/snail prevention around my troughs with good success. I then noticed it is also effective at keeping out cut worms and ants. I have been experimenting…Continue

 

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Latest Activity

Kevin Golz joined Chris Smith's group
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Raft/Deep Water Culture Growers

A group dedicated to raft growers. A place to share tips, tricks, and general info.See More
Dec 8, 2022
Sonny Carl joined Chris Smith's group
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Raft/Deep Water Culture Growers

A group dedicated to raft growers. A place to share tips, tricks, and general info.See More
Dec 18, 2020
Sonny Carl joined Chris Smith's group
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Wicking bed growers

This group is dedicated to those who are interested and growing in wicking beds. Wicking beds in conjunction with aquaponics can enable us to grow just about every crop that cannot be grown in standard aquaponics. Lets discuss deign, operation and whatever aspect of wicking bed growing you can think of.See More
Dec 18, 2020
Mikio McCulloch joined Chris Smith's group
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Raft/Deep Water Culture Growers

A group dedicated to raft growers. A place to share tips, tricks, and general info.See More
Sep 18, 2019

Profile Information

How did you find us?
internet search
Are you an aquaponic gardener already?
yes
If so, what type of system? (pick all that apply)
flood and drain media, Friendly-style raft, combination, I have two systems located in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Both systems are modeled after Friendly Aquaponics designs. I am using deep water troughs. The two systems have a total of 800 square feet of raft space and approx 2000 gallons of fish rearing tanks. I have about 200+ lbs of tilapia in the various tanks.
How old is your system?
1 - 2 yrs
What type of fish do you grow with? (select all that apply)
Tilapia
How big is your fish tank?
2000 gallons between 5 tanks
Please tell us something else about yourself.
We have been selling our produce to our neighborhood on Tuesday, Thursday afternoons, and Saturday mornings. We give our neighbors an alternative to the over priced, poor quality produce that is sold in the local grocery stores. We now have a lot customers now and get new customers every week by "coconut wireless".

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Comment Wall (30 comments)

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At 2:59pm on July 9, 2018, abiola bawuah said…

Good Day,

How is everything with you, I picked interest on you after going through your short profile and deemed it necessary to write you immediately.I have something very vital to disclose to you, but I found it difficult to express myself here, since it's a public site.Could you please get back to me on this email( mabawuah9@aol.com ) for the full details,
Have a nice day

Thanks God bless.
Mrs Abiola.

At 8:03am on April 9, 2013, Bob Campbell said…

The water in my wicking beds smells bad.  I placed sand in the bottom to the height of the overflow.  Therefore the top soil is in contact with the water reservoir.  Should I have placed more sand in the bottom?

At 10:17pm on November 7, 2012, David Schwinghamer said…

What small water creature would be good to eat all the poopie slime from the bottom of my water raft bed?

At 12:54am on October 9, 2012, Chris Smith said…

My tilapia eat ALL algae that grows in my systems. If algae grows in the FT they eat it down to a green sheen on the surface. They will graze on it as it grows. If I am busy/lazy for a while and algae grows in the troughs then I scoop it out and put into the FT and the tilapia eat it. I have never considered introducing another species other than tilapia and koi to the system because they do all I need.

At 4:17pm on October 8, 2012, David Schwinghamer said…

What kind of fish eat algae and are good with large tilapia?

At 7:37pm on November 17, 2011, Damon Polta said…

glad to see you doing so well! it's been a while since i was in your back yard, seems you've grow quite a bit! congrats on your success.

At 1:40am on October 22, 2011, Jed Davis said…
Hi Chris, what exactly is the tower made out of. It looks like a downspout, but much larger.
At 7:16am on August 26, 2011, Carey Ma said…

Dude, you had to mention fishing didn't you. Oh how I envy your situation. I haven't dipped my pole in over six years... so catch one for me buddy! Grill it up and take some pics,; then at least I can dream and drool.

Cheers

At 2:32am on August 7, 2011, Carey Ma said…

Hi again. Thank you so much for your cooperation. I too would like nothing more than to develop this market. 

 

I would be glad to help in any way I can.  I'm not being negative or standoffish but my plate is a bit overflowing as is. In fact, this site has become a form of relaxation/ respite from reality. But if you have the OEM (original equipment manufacture), we might very well be able to do smaller shipments and make/save some coin on the side.

At 12:00am on August 7, 2011, Carey Ma said…

Thanks for adding me as your friend. Is it ok for me to use some of your pics as a good example of small home system? I love the pics with your daughter eating that big red strawberry. Too cute.

 

Cheers

 
 
 

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