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Comment by John Malone on February 7, 2015 at 8:39am

Is there anyone in Phoenix that has tilapia fingerlings for sale?
I am looking for 30 to stock my AP system.

Comment by Arlene Baker on February 5, 2015 at 7:46pm

Thanks, Kim. I might actually be getting rid of the entire thing myself. However, there are a number of Koi and a  few large fancy goldfish that I dearly love, so am thinking I need to buy a 55-75 gallon tank for inside the house, and then just get a grow light, We have a pool, and so the room for the thing isn't there, either, and I just hate worrying about the cold water, and then too much sun/heat, and then having to put ice in the water when it gets really hot. I think if I had a larger yard area, where I could build a greenhouse area, it might work, but I have just strips of ground around a huge pool that takes up darned near the whole yard, and the tank right now is taking up too much space under our back awning. I just hate to give up - I spend so much $$ on everything....

Comment by Kim Romen on February 5, 2015 at 7:41pm

Arlene, I bought my IBC set-up off of craigslist, live with fish and plants.  getting it home and hooked up was no joke.  took all night.  without Jim Troyer's help we would've killed the fish and would've taken longer cuz we didn't know what we were doing.  we jumped into AP pretty fast.  if u're going to be frustrated each winter it's probably worth moving it.  we were moving it from another town, so it was more involved.  u'll need some clean empty trash cans or something to hold water in to save bacteria.  wintertime would be a good time to do it i'd think since u don't have a lot plants to kill now anyway and fish could probably handle the transition better, i'd think.  this may be a good opportunity for u to bury the AP.  we are debating selling our system or moving it as we're putting in a pool and it's in the way of that.  if we move it we'll bury the tank and possibly have the gardenbeds ground level.  i'll be talking with Jim about that!

all the best.  it's no fun but how disappointing each winter to not be able to grow anything!

as for the pesticide, i've heard to be careful with oils.  i ended u deciding to risk it and got some neem oil, too, but haven't applied it, yet.  i'd really be careful with essential oils, i'd think, though. especially peppermint.  have u ever gotten that in your eyes?  oww!  :)

Comment by Arlene Baker on February 5, 2015 at 10:14am

This is posted on instructible as an organic pesticide. Would these ingredients be safe to use on plants in the growbed?

Ingredients:

• 1/4 gallon (4 cups) warm water
• 1/4 tablespoon neem oil
• 1/2 teaspoon 7.8% potassium silicate solution
• 1/4 oz (1.5 teaspoons or 150 drops total) assorted essential oils - we're using an even blend of ginger, rosemary, clove, peppermint and eucalyptus
• 1 tablespoon aloe vera juice (we have a powder we add to water to make this)

Comment by Jeb Calen on February 2, 2015 at 2:46pm

@Arlene - I can relate - my garden is at the north side of my home right now as well.  Most things did grow, but not a lot grew well (Thai Basil, Green Onions, and Jim's Water Iris seem to be the winners, everything else is stunted with the winter shade and summer sun exposure).  Didn't get to moving it yet, but that's because I'm putting it off knowing I need to redo my piping.

When I do get to it, I'll transfer the fish to the new tank and empty out the sump (current FT) to get it out of the ground.  I've had the FT in the ground with my current set up, and more than once the water volume got lower than I or probably the fish were comfortable with.

@John - Have you tried gammarus in your DWC?  I've read that they're almost like worms in a media bed when it comes to DWC, and they do wonders keeping it clean and taking care of sludge and root rot.

Comment by John Malone on February 2, 2015 at 12:07pm

I think, and I say this carefully, that I'm past the point of killing all fish that I put in my system.  Last year was pretty much a wipeout for me since I couldn't keep fish alive. 

It's a truism, and I've proved it, that aquaponics performs very poorly without fish!

My current batch of goldfish have survived over two weeks now with only one casualty.  I'm calling that a success.

What did I do differently.

1) Cleaned out the DWC trough completely.   There was a lot of dead root matter from the massive basil crop last summer.  I'm surmising that the dead/rotting roots caused problems with the water quality.

2) Put the new fish in a mesh basket inside the main tank.  This lets me monitor them better, keeps them away from the pump inlet, and separate from the sole larger surviving goldfish. 

3) Feeding the small goldfish finer crushed up food, more frequently.  Previously I was just tossing in large pellets every few days.

When the water temperature gets above 65F or so, I'll add some tilapia fingerlings again and see if the success continues.

Comment by Jeff S on February 2, 2015 at 11:32am

Lower the water in the tank by at least half, the lower the better. Should be doable if you're on a concrete pad. Mine wasn't so I used a fork lift.

Comment by Arlene Baker on February 1, 2015 at 8:18pm

I think I made a total mistake. When I set up my IBC last year, I located it under the awning in the back, thinking that would shade it from the terrible sun of summer. This is on the North side of the house in the back. There are plants, but they have not really done well, and of course, over winter, nothing that would grow but I do now have a pepper plant that finally has a tiny pepper on it, and a tomato plant that is extremely lush, but no flowers.

Has anyone ever MOVED their IBC once set up? I am thinking I would have two guys lift the grow bed and place it on something, while we then use a pallet jack (rented) to move the tank, and then replace. I was originally worried about heat but the plants, I fear, don't get enough sun. I have about 20 guppies, 20 mollies, and 5 Koi and a few fancy 3" gold fish. They all seem to be doing well even though I have no filter other than the growbed I'm thinking, though, that I should? Any suggestions?

Comment by Aaron Brooks on January 6, 2015 at 10:50am

My 5 Tilapia ended up freezing last week. I went out in the 30 degree weather and saw them laying on their sides. I pulled out one of the fish and it was still breathing, but the fish was almost frozen. I ended up filleting the 5 9" fish and had a nice lunch. I guess I will be adding more babies this spring.

On a happier note, my Anaheim Pepper plant has given me a ton of crop. The bush is still flowering, despite the cold. 

Comment by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on January 1, 2015 at 11:26am

Just an FYI. AGS 166 aquaponics at Mesa Community College for Spring 2015 is filling up quickly ;-)

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