Hello fellow St. Louis member! I like your set up you have so far! It's good to see other people doing aquaponics so close to us. We are almost done with our prototype. Check out our website http://aquabotanical.org/
I would be afraid of screwing up the holes in the tank and ripping it. I guess that's a perfect job for a duct tape repair job though :) Logs under the barrels is smart. No need to cut anything extra. If you had to do it again with barrels, check the "The Barrel-Ponics® Manual" Doing something similar for framing the barrels but extending it beyond the 2 barrels should work well and will be very cheap if you can use mostly scrap material.
Thanks for the reply. I don't see anything wrong with the tank you built if its functional and especially affordable. I am not a fan of over spending for aesthetic reasons. I noticed you have plumbing through the side wall. How did you seal that? I am curious because this might be a viable option if I cannot find IBC totes after the move. Also why do you say the barrels are such a pain? Looking back now, would it have been easier to have put them directly side-by-side? Why did you space them? Thanks again for sharing!
LOL Yes I would think the other fish would be mad. Your suppose to have a separate tank for them once they are at an eatable stage. to be able to not feed them. As for the duck weed yes you have to stay up with it regularly, but it seems worth it. I'm happy to hear your so close to planting though. That is wonderful. We have some peas I am trying to save from my outside in ground garden. The heat is killing everything. I will let you know if they make it. Once we get those growing we will be putting in fresh starters of tomatoes, lettuce, some more peas and different herbs. We are rather excited to do so and having it in our basement will make it easy for the fall coming up so fast.
We are starting with guppies and gold fish too. We plan on using tilapia and catfish for ours and possibly koi. The tilapia and catfish are to eat and sell to eat, but the koi we figure we can sell for peoples ponds and fish tanks. A suggestion for the tilapia when you do get to them is duck weed and any other natural food you can. We read that it produces taster fish. Also that before you do eat them that they should not be fed for a few days prior and it takes the gamey taste out of them. Just some tips we picked up today. My boyfriend and I are doing as much studying as we can on it, well obviously since we are trying to build a company based on it lol.
We have one small starter system we just started actually. We are new to this also, but we love it so far. We are wanting to go much bigger though. It is very interesting. So what type of fish are you using?
Its called a floating raft. Its basically a lined 1 ft deep box filled with system water with the styrofoam floating on top. I have 2" net pots placed in holes 8" apart growing lettuce. Lettuce is really by far the easiest thing to grow in AP. If you'd like to know more go here..................... http://aquaponicscommunity.com/group/raftdeepwaterculturegrowers
Ok now this is weird- Well not really- Just today I saw a bee on one of my spinach plants & I said the same thing to him as you did to your bee friend- I also checked on him and said a silent prayer for him not to die and hoping/wishing him great health-
Last year I was finding so many bees dead or dying- personally (I think it was from Chemtrails).
Sweet! I'm def- gonna try that for sure. I started my garden from seed the day I put the fish in - Day one... I did have uh uh a few losses a couple ok several ah, well a whole lot of them died (gold fish) feeders & then I ended up with ICH in the tank & had to treat with Sea Salt to kill off the paratsite ich- (don't use feeder-fish) to cycle the system(or use Sea salt from the beginning. Your right the garden won't be getting any nutrients till the fish are in there. Oh, I also added benificial bacteria (bottle from pet shop) to speed up the nitrification process - to the system along with Seaweed extract Organic kelp to supplement the Potassium and Phospherous. & micro nutirents for early vigorous plant root growth along with Great-White Mycorrhizae bacteria & Trichoderma for root explosion- It might have been a mistake (roots are going crazy!)
I aded Koi after it balanced out. I am planning on raising Tilapia for the plate- i will be getting them very-soon.
Conspiracy radio - NICE!!! You can say i'm into alil of all that meself...lol!
I don't have any idea how to set up the bell siphons or the anything other than my design- which doesn't operate the same as any (other) APsystems- In my opinion , my design is easier than most to set up. I wish I can offer you advice on which way to go but.... I can't sorry. I noticed what looks like eggshells on your counter - Are they used to sprout seedlings?
Hey Aquapona Adrena- You should rinse your rocks before you ad them to the grow beds-
rinse them several times to get all the dust and whatnot off. I am using hydroton & i had to rinse for 2 1/2 days. I drilled a whole bunch of small holes in the bottom a big container tote and rinsed them over a drain outside- I hated wasting the water!! Your rocks won't require that much cleaning - but make sure you do at least give them the once/twice over.
Thanks for joining the Aquaponic Gardening community! I hope you find it a fun place to explore aquaponics. There is a real blend of experienced and new aquapons in this community, so please don’t hesitate to get in there and start asking questions. Everyone is quite happy to help out new members – no question is too basic.
A great place to start is to read the “How to Use This Site” link on the upper right corner, “Start Here” section of the Home page. You might also find the “Aquaponic Gardening Rules of Thumb” guidelines helpful.
Please participate and check in with us every day! We are constantly posting news about aquaponics and the good food movement.
Thanks again for joining us, and I look forward to getting to know you.
Adrena lee's Comments
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Hello fellow St. Louis member! I like your set up you have so far! It's good to see other people doing aquaponics so close to us. We are almost done with our prototype. Check out our website http://aquabotanical.org/
I would be afraid of screwing up the holes in the tank and ripping it. I guess that's a perfect job for a duct tape repair job though :) Logs under the barrels is smart. No need to cut anything extra. If you had to do it again with barrels, check the "The Barrel-Ponics® Manual" Doing something similar for framing the barrels but extending it beyond the 2 barrels should work well and will be very cheap if you can use mostly scrap material.
Thanks for the reply. I don't see anything wrong with the tank you built if its functional and especially affordable. I am not a fan of over spending for aesthetic reasons. I noticed you have plumbing through the side wall. How did you seal that? I am curious because this might be a viable option if I cannot find IBC totes after the move. Also why do you say the barrels are such a pain? Looking back now, would it have been easier to have put them directly side-by-side? Why did you space them? Thanks again for sharing!
Hi Adrena,
Its called a floating raft. Its basically a lined 1 ft deep box filled with system water with the styrofoam floating on top. I have 2" net pots placed in holes 8" apart growing lettuce. Lettuce is really by far the easiest thing to grow in AP. If you'd like to know more go here..................... http://aquaponicscommunity.com/group/raftdeepwaterculturegrowers
Ok now this is weird- Well not really- Just today I saw a bee on one of my spinach plants & I said the same thing to him as you did to your bee friend- I also checked on him and said a silent prayer for him not to die and hoping/wishing him great health-
Last year I was finding so many bees dead or dying- personally (I think it was from Chemtrails).
Sweet! I'm def- gonna try that for sure. I started my garden from seed the day I put the fish in - Day one... I did have uh uh a few losses a couple ok several ah, well a whole lot of them died (gold fish) feeders & then I ended up with ICH in the tank & had to treat with Sea Salt to kill off the paratsite ich- (don't use feeder-fish) to cycle the system(or use Sea salt from the beginning. Your right the garden won't be getting any nutrients till the fish are in there. Oh, I also added benificial bacteria (bottle from pet shop) to speed up the nitrification process - to the system along with Seaweed extract Organic kelp to supplement the Potassium and Phospherous. & micro nutirents for early vigorous plant root growth along with Great-White Mycorrhizae bacteria & Trichoderma for root explosion- It might have been a mistake (roots are going crazy!)
I aded Koi after it balanced out. I am planning on raising Tilapia for the plate- i will be getting them very-soon.
Conspiracy radio - NICE!!! You can say i'm into alil of all that meself...lol!
I don't have any idea how to set up the bell siphons or the anything other than my design- which doesn't operate the same as any (other) APsystems- In my opinion , my design is easier than most to set up. I wish I can offer you advice on which way to go but.... I can't sorry. I noticed what looks like eggshells on your counter - Are they used to sprout seedlings?
Hey Aquapona Adrena- You should rinse your rocks before you ad them to the grow beds-
rinse them several times to get all the dust and whatnot off. I am using hydroton & i had to rinse for 2 1/2 days. I drilled a whole bunch of small holes in the bottom a big container tote and rinsed them over a drain outside- I hated wasting the water!! Your rocks won't require that much cleaning - but make sure you do at least give them the once/twice over.
I knew you were in Lemay- WOW I have family there!
I remember Lemay- It's been many years- & the bridge going over the Meremac. My grandmas house was right there- a block away... Small world-
I like your project, looks like theres no turning back from here! You will find that with everyday ...it gets more & more addicting- fun-stuff!! Caio
Welcome Adrena,
Thanks for joining the Aquaponic Gardening community! I hope you find it a fun place to explore aquaponics. There is a real blend of experienced and new aquapons in this community, so please don’t hesitate to get in there and start asking questions. Everyone is quite happy to help out new members – no question is too basic.
A great place to start is to read the “How to Use This Site” link on the upper right corner, “Start Here” section of the Home page. You might also find the “Aquaponic Gardening Rules of Thumb” guidelines helpful.
Please participate and check in with us every day! We are constantly posting news about aquaponics and the good food movement.
Thanks again for joining us, and I look forward to getting to know you.
Sylvia
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