Brand spankin new guy

[Tony D]

Hello all, 

I am new to the idea, I hope to have a system going sometime next year (early). I am located in Oklahoma so the weather can be extreme both ways, cold winters and hot summers. I live on two acres and have a 20x30 concrete slab from an older building that I took down form the previous owner. My plan is to make a green house out of this slab, seems it would be better since I have a 30x50 post barn less than 12 feet from it that is in really good shape. 

I would like to use part of the 30x50 since it has concrete as well to set up the fish side of the system, also I have some used guttering that I will making a cistern or rain water collector for use with the green house. Also setting aside some space for whine making!. I have some plans for a thermal heater to keep the fishes warm, and will be installing some ventilation for the summer. Plan to use solar to run all the power etc. 

anyway like I said I am new dont know much, so I will be browsing around the forum driving you guys nuts with dumb questions. 

Hope to learn a lot and have a lot of fun doing it. 

My first question is, what can I grow to feed the fish with? if that is possible....:) looking at catfish and another weather friendly fish, would love to have some crippy! hmmmm. 

thanks all, 

Tony D

[George]

worms, possibly other fish.  It's possible to culture black soldier flies indoors.

[Tony D]

thanks george, I will look into that. I still have a lot of reading to do :).

[Alex Veidel]

Duckweed, mealworms, redworms, and black soldier fly larvae are all good homegrown fish feeds.

[Willie Clark]

Hi Tony,

I'm brand new to the forum and also in the exploratory stage of aquaponics, so I’ll definitely be following your posts, as well as others, here on website. Looking forward to learning from all. I’m in eastern Oklahoma, what part of the state are you in?

Willie

[Pam DeLong]

Willie,

You'll find that most of the members here indicate the town/state they live on their Profile page. Just click on the individual's name and it will go to their profile. For example, I see you are in Quinton...Tony is in Tuttle. A google map indicates you two are just over 171 miles apart. Not sure if the link I copied will all be included in this reply, but:
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Tuttle,+OK/Quinton,+OK/data=!4m8!4m7!1m2!1m1!1s0x87b20ab6b9043e15:0xae3026e2a0611b0e!1m2!1m1!1s0x87b59fa21eed964f:0xe6c09f2486d80244!3e0
It's always nice to have someone within driving distance to compare notes and brainstorm with!
Best of luck!

[Willie Clark]

Thanks for that info Pam! 

[Rhonda Hoover]

Welcome, Tony D!

I am also in Oklahoma (SE) and just working on the old barn to set up my first system. Edited after reading Pam's great post above. It seems we Okies are catching the aquaponics bug. I hope to feed my family (and extendeds) of about 9+ and have some (various things)to sell at the local flea market.