Unanswered questions!

[BenHehle Beamz]

Folks,

My Master thesis has to be set up, so for that i wanted to ask you, if you have any questions regarding AP which need to be answered. The possibility to use the lab and high tech instruments might make it possible to find an accurate answer for some particular questions.Please feel free to leave your thoughts. I hope to be able to contribute something to the AP world, even if its just one answer to an unanswered question ;)

[Dan]

I would like to see some research into salmon aquaponics. The two obvious issues are fresh/salt water and temperature.

There is a company in Washington (SweetSpring Salmon - http://sweetspringsalmon.com) that has a fresh water coho which would help with the salt water issue. But the temperature one is tough. What plants could be grown with the colder temperatures.

I am really new to Aquaponics - as in I'm currently building my first CHOP2 system as we speak - but I will be moving back to Washington state in 1-2 years and plan on giving it a go.

Would be great to see you do some work with this. Salmon farming is VERY destructive on the environment and with the Genetic Modifications - who knows just how bad it really is.

[David - WI]

There are all kinds of Salmon in the Great Lakes (freshwater): http://www.lakemichiganangler.com/tips/salmon_fishing.htm

Dan said:

I would like to see some research into salmon aquaponics. The two obvious issues are fresh/salt water and temperature.

There is a company in Washington (SweetSpring Salmon - http://sweetspringsalmon.com) that has a fresh water coho which would help with the salt water issue. But the temperature one is tough. What plants could be grown with the colder temperatures.

I am really new to Aquaponics - as in I'm currently building my first CHOP2 system as we speak - but I will be moving back to Washington state in 1-2 years and plan on giving it a go.

Would be great to see you do some work with this. Salmon farming is VERY destructive on the environment and with the Genetic Modifications - who knows just how bad it really is.

[Jeffrey Ihara]

I, too, would love to see Atlantic salmon farming in natural rivers go away. It's just too destructive. I haven't tried responsibly cultured FW coho yet.  I'm guessing I'd need more than an IBC tote to pull it off, though.

Dan said:

I would like to see some research into salmon aquaponics. The two obvious issues are fresh/salt water and temperature.

There is a company in Washington (SweetSpring Salmon - http://sweetspringsalmon.com) that has a fresh water coho which would help with the salt water issue. But the temperature one is tough. What plants could be grown with the colder temperatures.

I am really new to Aquaponics - as in I'm currently building my first CHOP2 system as we speak - but I will be moving back to Washington state in 1-2 years and plan on giving it a go.

Would be great to see you do some work with this. Salmon farming is VERY destructive on the environment and with the Genetic Modifications - who knows just how bad it really is.

[Dan]

I found a very long discussion on this topic in the forum today, started out a bit rough, but there is a lot of good info in there from 18 month ago or so - but nobody says anything about actually doing it...

I'm looking forward to giving it a shot - but I need to get my feet wet with a basic set up first (plus there is no way to do in a rental - need a more permanent setting).

Has anybody actually done this?

[George]

Salmon:  Good info in the book Four Fish

[BenHehle Beamz]

Well, temperature wouldnt be an issue, as for e.g lettuce would grow fine at temperatures around 18C. The problem i see with salmon is the constant streaming water which salmons require. Also, high water quality and the needed dissolved oxygen will be a problem to maintain. On the other hand, i see people raising trouts in IBCs which actually shouldnt work out well too (because of the need of DO 14mg and constant fresh water flow) but as we can see there are people in this forum who are reporting that it works out for them. An interesting topic, indeed, thank you for your input!

[Jon Parr]

Did you really mean 14 ppm of DO, Ben? Saturation for 18 C water is 9.5

Trout are very common in AP, and I see little difference in raising salmon. The larger challenge is feeding them without ocean-based food.

If you want a good master's project, come up with a feed that is practical to make at home, or from a community.

J


BenHehle Beamz said:

Well, temperature wouldnt be an issue, as for e.g lettuce would grow fine at temperatures around 18C. The problem i see with salmon is the constant streaming water which salmons require. Also, high water quality and the needed dissolved oxygen will be a problem to maintain. On the other hand, i see people raising trouts in IBCs which actually shouldnt work out well too (because of the need of DO 14mg and constant fresh water flow) but as we can see there are people in this forum who are reporting that it works out for them. An interesting topic, indeed, thank you for your input!

[BenHehle Beamz]

yep, sorry, thanks for pointing it out John. 14mg at 0C, for trouts a minimum of 5mg/l. :)

[David Kirkland]

Will plants take up disease-causing bacteria, viruses, protozoa, or parasites (aka: "bad stuff") through their root system?

Micro:  Can I put a turtle in my AP system and still safely eat the plants?

Macro:  Much of the world that suffers from not having a fresh water source is forced to drink from sources of water that harbors bad stuff.  This water is mostly harmful because its saturated with nutrients (E.g. poop, dead animals, etc) from upstream, which creates an environment where the bad stuff can thrive.  Theoretically, if the nutrients were reduced to normal level there would be a lot more competition on the microscopic level reining in the bad stuff.  If that's true then plants can sabotage the bad stuff's food chain by consuming the excess nutrients, but will they absorb the bad stuff in the process?  Should those plants be non-edible or can they be eaten?

Since the water is nutrient rich without aquaculture I am officially dropping "aqua" and coining the term "ponics system".

Followup questions / ideas...

Does it matter if the bacteria are in excessive quantities (aka: really bad water)?  If yes, then what's the actual formula?  Alter the experiment by changing the plant, the bad guy in question, and/or the quantities.  With soil, without soil.  Different pH, DO, temps, etc.