Aquaponic Gardening

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This topic was started due to the prompting of Kobus and TC Lynx. Aquaponics as it is, relies on high quality fish feed as the main nutrient source for fish and plant production. As we all know fish feed was developed mostly for farmed fish(aquaculture), and while we use it out of necessity today, we are becoming increasingly aware of its limit for the long term. Fish feed production, utilizing aquatic animals is simply not sustainable, and i believe it is a science like AP which will create overwhelming demand for a land produced equivalent to this, in the likes of Duckweed, BSLF, Red worms, Amino Acid producing algae. In the near future AP operations will call on the operator, be it backyard or commercial, to learn to produce his own feed and develop his own self sustaining AP. This information gives the operator the freedom to feed his AP with the inputs of his choosing, toward growing healthy fish and vegetables.

Apart from AP, the growing of duckweed, algae, worms etc. are disciplines within themselves and warrant separate discussion on the formulas, techniques and skills needed to successfully produce them. So how does each of us do it?.............................

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Replies to This Discussion

Harold

 I have an endless supply because they are in all of my tanks, troughs, and azola buckets are filled.  I can't stop them from multiplying.  I even have one tank of guppies with a grow bed and a trough above it.  Some things are growing well.  I just take out a scoop of guppies and feed them to the fish.  Some of the fish love them.  The spotted tilapia eat anything.  The gold tilapia don'[t eat the guppies.

Hi Kobus,

I think we are limited by pellet designed exclusively for fish alone(aquaculture) and not for AP as we notice iron and potassium deficiencies in our plants. The feed we design will have to have higher quantities of these for sure. The MSDS of manufactured feed for the type of fish we have should give us a clear idea of the measurement of iron and potassium and with some experimentation by increasing these in our "sustainable made feed" we can arrive at a more suitable product. As you put it, "whole food diets".

Kobus Jooste said:

Harold, I think one of the underlying assumptions that need to be tested is that aquaponics work, in large part, because of the high quality feed that we feed the fish.  The food is properly formulated thus, we believe, the plants will be happy.  It will take some testing to see what shortcomings, if any, we have if me move to whole food diets for the fish. 

 

Tilapia is an excellent choice as it is a generalist omnivore with adaptations to eat anything from micro particles such as algae and detritus through to insects and small fish.

 

 

This is limited data I know, but it indicates how well wild tilapia (Mozambique) grew in ponds in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.  The diet would have been as described above, but I'm sure tilapia would grow well in warm water systems fed the diet we are talking about.  One thing that I think would be important though is to try this in media bed systems first to allow the excreted waste to be mineralized.

Hi Raychel,

Very innovative! Makes good sense to use guppies if you have them in large supply.

Raychel A Watkins said:

Harold

 I have an endless supply because they are in all of my tanks, troughs, and azola buckets are filled.  I can't stop them from multiplying.  I even have one tank of guppies with a grow bed and a trough above it.  Some things are growing well.  I just take out a scoop of guppies and feed them to the fish.  Some of the fish love them.  The spotted tilapia eat anything.  The gold tilapia don'[t eat the guppies.

what are the guppies eating?
No go...blocked but thanks anyway. I guess I need to look into getting a free VPN somewhere.

Harold Sukhbir said:

Hi Carey,

Try this please  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=812Y3E1S

To some extent the issues with both potassium and Iron are probably as much to do with pH and calcium as to do with the feed.  See we have to buffer the systems to deal with the bio-processes using up buffer capacity but people using really hard water my get enough of that at the expense of overloading the calcium in the system and thereby locking up potassium or those with really hard water may be dealing with iron deficiency also due to lock out. 

 

Some of these problems may be partially addressed with feed but the source water chemistry and buffering materials play such a big part in this that I don't think these problems would be totally addressable with feed.

100 mosquito tanks feed> 10 guppy tanks/ dried and powdered+ powdered veggies/ kelp/duckweed etc. feed> one tank of bigger fish?

What is the input (food) for the crustacean and what will use its waste? Do you plan to have a separate tank/ area or in general populace?

Hi All.

I was looking at what Sahib said; "To do this I believe that one would probably need around three to four acres at a minimum."

 

There is a reality check for me here. How are we going to move toward the future in a sustainable way? Models will have to be developed demanding full time occupation. Its like in my personal experience. I came to this site with an interest in AP started a small barrel system, learned more, upgraded, learned some more, applied for agricultural land, and now I find myself looking at sustainable components for a small farm.

Not everyone will go this route I know, but it can become an inevitable progression to some, and thank go... we have people like Carey, Kobus, TC, Sahib etc who are moving in this direction already, in which case it won't be reinventing the wheel all over again. I agree with Carey its a huge responsibility we share to bring this thing that will change the future and should be looked at with respect and at the same time great purpose.

I would really like to be able to one day bring something like I saw in that video i uploaded to the people here in my country. The world has been waiting patiently................ and we have work to do!

Nice topic Harold. 

 

I wish that I get to acquire such acreage. As you know, the economic conditions have made all such wishes and desires as mere dreams today...still nothing wrong with continuous learning and research. I know that I will walk that path one day and help many others join me worldwide :-)

 

One of my youtube contacts posted this video that I thought you would enjoy (hopefully Carey too if he has access to such),

 

http://youtu.be/MoqxjTbAzAk

 

God bless,

Hi Sahib,

If i may please suggest that we never relegate these intentions to simple dreams or casual wishes. We live in a time where our global eyes are opening to the impact of modern living and the effects these having on our planet. The ones who are aware and in the position to address this have to move forward. I know that if we "own" this vision and move forward with intention doors will open but it all depends on how much you believe this truth. At any rate, no matter the obstacle i face, i am to wait patiently, and go forward when necessary till it manifest!

I really enjoyed the video, thanks.

Harold, I couldn't agree more! It seems all my life I've been swimming up stream. It wasn't until recently that the general populace stopped calling people like me, dreamer, utopian, tree-hugger and worse. Today its changed to visionary etc.. I'm still the same person, thinking and doing the same thing. How and why has this change come about?

 

I am compelled to trudge on to do my best. In the mean time, I wait for the powers that be (govs) to really listen and accept that changes have to be made and the populace educated. But how do we do get them to listen in the first place? People like us have to pioneer and prove what we say. Now, how do we prevent big business from exterminating their competition?

Oh believe me, Sahib has not let the lack of acreage stop him.  His Urban Research Aquaponic system is squeezed into what people usually think of as wasted space and he is replacing the "ornamental" landscaping with food production.  But many of us still dream of having more space to do more however, that doesn't stop us from making the most of what space we have.

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