A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

FLORIDA POND TRAINWRECK!

My aquaponic pond is being stocked directly from the pond out back. I currently have catfish, bream, little feeder fish I cant tell the varieties, 2 box turtles and one softshell turtle. I feed the pond water lilys for the box turtles, dead fish and bait for the softshell and catfish and 2 types of fish food for the feeders and bream. All in all the pond is healthy and plants are loving life now. I am wondering if incorporating a variety of local edible fishes and turtles and whatnot into the aquaponics would be a more sustainable and ecologically more aware way of having aquaponics at home? I eat bream and catfish and am currently considereing eating the turtles too. I don't think bass would work in the system as they need a large feeder base to sustain any bass population. The rest appear to have a natural harmony. They don't mind the Florida temperatures and can be gotten easily. The softshell turtle has figured how to get in and out of the pond now. So hilarious to see him make a break for the pond and dive in lol. I may not eat him after all... :P

Has anyone else tried the "catch and add to pond" methiod? Any lessons learned i should be aware of? I don't plan on adding snakes and alligators ;) I do have a bigass apple snail in there. What else can I add?

0 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on September 18, 2010 at 5:37pm

Why do you call it a Trainwreck? Doesn't sound to bad from your description.

You might want to research the risks of salmonella in relation to the turtles. I wonder if there is some form of salmonella test that people could get to test the system for salmonella if incorporating anything like turtles or ducks into a larger aquaponics system.

I have my duck system separate from the Fish and food systems.

Permalink Reply by Ron Thompson on September 18, 2010 at 5:51pm

There is another word for Apple Snails...

Escargot. They grow them at Morningstar Farms.

very edible.

My fear would be introducing a disease into your closed system that could wipe out everything very quickly.

Permalink Reply by Daniel E Murphy on September 18, 2010 at 6:07pm

How does the natural pond deal with disease? I would think through diversity.

Ron Thompson said:

There is another word for Apple Snails...

Escargot. They grow them at Morningstar Farms.

very edible.

My fear would be introducing a disease into your closed system that could wipe out everything very quickly.

Permalink Reply by Daniel E Murphy on September 18, 2010 at 6:12pm

"Trainwreck" meaning a bunch of different types in one pond. And no doesn't seem bad at all so far. Thanks for the advice on salmonella. Would salmonella survive among the other microbial life already firmly entrenched within my growbeds? Good idea, I will look into it more.

TCLynx said:

Why do you call it a Trainwreck? Doesn't sound to bad from your description.

You might want to research the risks of salmonella in relation to the turtles. I wonder if there is some form of salmonella test that people could get to test the system for salmonella if incorporating anything like turtles or ducks into a larger aquaponics system.

I have my duck system separate from the Fish and food systems.

Permalink Reply by Daniel E Murphy on September 18, 2010 at 6:16pm

I had 2 extra large apple snails but one decided it didn't want to be in my yard anymore and booked it back to the natural pond out back. The other likes it and stayed. :P It's funny watching the snail eat the fish food along the waterline.

Daniel E Murphy said:

How does the natural pond deal with disease? I would think through diversity.

Ron Thompson said:
There is another word for Apple Snails...

Escargot. They grow them at Morningstar Farms.

very edible.

My fear would be introducing a disease into your closed system that could wipe out everything very quickly.