Harvesting Fish emulsion?

[Dino Zucchi]

I read on WIKI that fish emulsion has a NPK of 5-2-2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_emulsion now my question is if I take a watering can and stick it in the pond will that water in the watering can have a NPK of 5-2-2?  I notice that the heavy solid fish emulsion sinks to the bottom. It there a way to harvest this fish emulsion on the bottom, vacuum, is it worth it? Or does the fish emulsion break up and all the water in the pond becomes a  fertilizer of 5-2-2.  I would like some education on this topic, links sites, anything. I am just afraid the fish water is not a strong enough fertilizer. thanks 

[matthew ferrell]

I am no expert, but I get our emulsion(crap) test regularly.  It is usually 1-6-1 by dry weight.  Most nitrogen is excreted via gills and pure urea.  The P is something that comes out the number 2 hole.  We vacuum via a sweet siphon setup.  A permanent internal stand pipe that we can pull and stick a vacuum to.  Now that I think about it, I should make another video.

FYI this is trout and flowing water.

[Japan Aquaponics - アクアポニックス 日本]

I thought that the emulsion was made from the decomposing bodies of fish or fish parts, rather than just their normal bodily waste?  In this case, the fish bodies would provide higher nutrients than just the waste I would imagine?    Just the waste could be fish 'expulsion' rather than 'emulsion' perhaps? 

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Dino, I think you are confusing the fish emulsion with fish effluent. Fish effluent (shit and piss) probably has a different N-P-K value than fish emulsion (the ground up and liquified remains of the actual fish itself). Which might be why your NPK numbers are so different than Mathews.

[matthew ferrell]

I thought that looked wrong.  Thanks, too tired to fix the word usage.  Both of you above are correct.

However we put one more notch on the don't trust Wikipedia belt.  I should sleep.

[TCLynx]

As Vlad said......

Fish emulsion is actually made out of fish, not fish poop.  Fish emulsion is different from fish effluent.

And I wouldn't assume that anything automatically has particular numbers just because WIKI said it.  Wiki might be a good place to start picking up basic info on a topic but it is only a starting place.

Don't get me wrong, fish poo or the solid waste from a fish system (uneaten rotting feed and fish poo) is great for the garden or the worm bins but the exact makup of it is going to vary greatly depending on the fish food, the type of fish, the temperatures, the plants in the system, the system itself, the biological action that took place where the effluent was taken from, was it aerobic or anaerobic?  Many things will affect it.

[matthew ferrell]

Let's not forget it's facial scrub potential and perfume possibilities.  If you have ever needed to get a wet dog covered in dead things to roll on you, smear a little of the stuff on your neck and watch out.

TCLynx said:

As Vlad said......

Fish emulsion is actually made out of fish, not fish poop.  Fish emulsion is different from fish effluent.

And I wouldn't assume that anything automatically has particular numbers just because WIKI said it.  Wiki might be a good place to start picking up basic info on a topic but it is only a starting place.

Don't get me wrong, fish poo or the solid waste from a fish system (uneaten rotting feed and fish poo) is great for the garden or the worm bins but the exact makup of it is going to vary greatly depending on the fish food, the type of fish, the temperatures, the plants in the system, the system itself, the biological action that took place where the effluent was taken from, was it aerobic or anaerobic?  Many things will affect it.

[TCLynx]

Ok, so you are saying when I go to the pound to find my AP guard beast, I should put the unsented fish emulsion on my neck and any dog that goes for my neck would be too likely to be trying to eat my fish instead of guarding them.  Hum, think I'll keep searching for another method.  Actually I need a method to find a chicken guard dog and I'm definitely not gonna hang a dead chicken around my neck.

That aside the Gro-Tone fish fertilizer I've tested out for keeping an AP system up without fish actually smelled like mint.  It is made from catfish parts from the catfish industry right here in the USA.

[Carey Ma]

Kinda off topic here but is anyone interested in making their own fish emulsion? Thanks to Raychel (this site) turning me onto brewing better compost teas, this year I have expanded my collection rout and one new addition is fish scrap to make my own FE ferts. The villagers seem not to get tired of teasing me about collecting "scraps/ waste" giving me a new nick name.."Professor Garbage". I guess its better than what the kids call me, " Poopoo man".

 

@ TC: I think most dogs can be trained to guard chicken but should be raised with chicken as a puppy, otherwise they will rely on instinct. I had to get rid of my two mole hunters coz they tunneled into my chick run and killed thirty odd chicks. Now I use geese and one dog to guard my flocks. The roosters have been trained to attack snakes, mice and moles.The geese squawk and attack anyone or thing that doesn't belong and the dog mainly keeps the cats and ghosts away (cowers at sight of snakes). I produce about a hundred to one fifty chicks every two weeks with no casualties from vermin for past two years. My previous dog, back in Seattle was wonderful at guarding "his" rabbits. I believe dogs with their own jobs are less likely to have psychological problems. Our farm dogs knew the difference between what is ours and what invaders were.

[Dino Zucchi]

thanks for all the great info I am clear on the fish emulsion definition now.

 I just want to get a clear answer on If I just stick my watering can into a pond and use that water it will be a good enough source of nitrogen to grow vegetables? or will I need to use a supplement fertilizer also. or vacuum up the fish waste and use that?

[TCLynx]

Depends on how rich the pond water is in nutrients.  If there are lots of plants growing in an AP system there might not be much excess nutrients in the water to be using the system water in the garden and the solid waste would be of more benefit to the garden, but if the system is not in perfect balance and there are excess nutrients, then using the water on the garden will be effective but if you have solid waste collecting anywhere in your fish tank then you want to get that out and you might as well use it on the garden.

[matthew ferrell]

O I was talking fish crap.  Emulsion smell is kept down with acid.  Which is what would make that particular product good for facials.

TCLynx said:

Ok, so you are saying when I go to the pound to find my AP guard beast, I should put the unsented fish emulsion on my neck and any dog that goes for my neck would be too likely to be trying to eat my fish instead of guarding them.  Hum, think I'll keep searching for another method.  Actually I need a method to find a chicken guard dog and I'm definitely not gonna hang a dead chicken around my neck.

That aside the Gro-Tone fish fertilizer I've tested out for keeping an AP system up without fish actually smelled like mint.  It is made from catfish parts from the catfish industry right here in the USA.

[matthew ferrell]

Why not have a pump in the bottom of the pond with a big screen size, and put on a settling tank somewhere else with a easy to drain valve on the bottom.  Personally I do not believe it will be enough nitrogen, but it would make some nice bloom fert.

Dino Zucchi said:

thanks for all the great info I am clear on the fish emulsion definition now.

 I just want to get a clear answer on If I just stick my watering can into a pond and use that water it will be a good enough source of nitrogen to grow vegetables? or will I need to use a supplement fertilizer also. or vacuum up the fish waste and use that?