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Aquaponics

Thanks Jeff,

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Habs are nearly at the end now


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Ghosts are still going strong

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My system has a 1000l tank and 500l grow bed and a 3500l/hr pump which is on timer 15m on 45 off
I also have an led grow light to extend the day light due to coming up to winter here I've just changed to a 90w UFO 2 hours before sunrise and 3 hours after sunset.
 
cool thanks for posting Dave yea its pretty insane how well ap grows chillis, I just can't wait till my super hots are producing :)

I notice your setup is looks like a byap one how do you find it? I followed murrays book and went a chop2 system and am now regretting it having constant issues with water flow so i'm soon to change it over to chop1 and after i put my jades away I'm going to redesign the whole thing.
 
Yeah, it looks the same. I bought mine second hand. It runs great very simple. The grow bed sits directly above the fish tank. I have also built my own system that is just run in. I've designed it specifically for a few mates that want them. It's a narrow profile to fit down the side of a house.

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Same style flood and drain.

Got my info from Andrew at 1aquaponics, I was lucky enough to do a day course through WEA. He was the lecture and was great, didn't do it specifically for chillis. Going to get some more rainbow trout this weekend.
I have heard allot about the grunter. I would like to use them but no one has them down here, maybe water temp, not sure.
 
Yea I got into aquaponics for the fish not becuase I eat lots of fish more because I like watching fish eat and school up. But yea as soon as I got into it there was a heap to learn about gardening and once I learn't a lot about what grows when I noticed that birdeye plant going leaps and bounds so I figured I would get a couple super hot chilli plants and now I have 4 of them in there and another probably 20 seedlings coming along.
 
Yeah it's funny, I took my son to tooperang trout farm in SA. I was blown away by how clean the trout were and reasearched about the farm but found links to people purchasing them. They were using them for aquaponics.... Thought the idea of catching some trout in the back yard with my boys was a good idea, plus teaching them about fish, feeding, plants etc. I didn't believe how quick plants grew in those conditions. I grew a heap of lettuce at the start just by throwing the seeds on top. My business is in electronics so I am adapting some things in it. I've got a web based temp module, because my system is in a greenhouse I have to be careful not to over heat the plants. So this module can have four temp probes, I'm using 3. One for temp inside the greenhouse, outside and water. This also has two relays that I can control manually via my iPhone or if the temp gets above or below a certain temp. It will even send emails on alarm events. I've also got a megapixel ip camera which I can view from my iPhone and it takes recordings on a removable micro Sd card. So next crop I can create a timelapse recording. My wife thinks I'm crazy, but hay atleast I've got stuff to do!
 
Fatty Dave, i hate to break it to ya... but i think you 're crazy too.

but in an incredibly awesome way :) you sound like someone i could learn a few things from. cheers
 
Anytime..... I know more about electronics than aquaponics and chillis. But they work together, both need to be kept simple.... I put in a wall mounted bar heater to come on for 5 minutes every hour during the night to keep the chill off the air.
 
I love those aquaponic systems! - Sadly, it's a solution mainly for Australia and equatorial countries, where you can grow all year. Here in europe, you'd have to reboot the system every spring...
 
hey mad, it can be done anywhere within reason, colder climates usually use a greenhouse with some kind of heating doesn't have to be electrical either I've heard of chickens used to help warm temps. I think it's just a matter of being a little more creative
 
Mad Scientist said:
I love those aquaponic systems! - Sadly, it's a solution mainly for Australia and equatorial countries, where you can grow all year. Here in europe, you'd have to reboot the system every spring...
Click to expand...

Agree 100%

"I think it's just a matter of being a little more creative "

NO it is a matter of economics.
 
Well, I'm Austrian, so in the winter, heating's not the only problem (it's one hell of a problem though, consider heating a greenhouse, when temperatures go down to minus 30°C ). The other problem: There's not enough light for plants like tomatoes or chilies to grow properly, we need artificial light even if we just want to start a month early with our seedlings. Of course, some plants like lettuce would grow just fine, but building a perfectly insulated greenhouse and heat it all through the winter just to get some lettuce? - Well, as Capsicum said: It's a matter of economics.

The other alternative would be to reboot every spring, but there's problems with this as well: The bacteria that "digest" ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate have to be reestablished. From what i've read, aquaponic systems work best after running for a year or so. It's quite a complex ecosystem, which is what makes it so bloody brilliant, but also what makes it unfeasible for certain climates. Some people have tried their luck with aquaponics over here, but i haven't heard any success stories.

So yeah - I'd really envy you for being in Australia if it weren't for the giant fucking spiders...
 
Capsicum said:
Agree 100%

"I think it's just a matter of being a little more creative "

NO it is a matter of economics.
Click to expand...

yea your right it is a matter of economics and how far your willing to go.

Mad Scientist said:
Well, I'm Austrian, so in the winter, heating's not the only problem (it's one hell of a problem though, consider heating a greenhouse, when temperatures go down to minus 30°C ). The other problem: There's not enough light for plants like tomatoes or chilies to grow properly, we need artificial light even if we just want to start a month early with our seedlings. Of course, some plants like lettuce would grow just fine, but building a perfectly insulated greenhouse and heat it all through the winter just to get some lettuce? - Well, as Capsicum said: It's a matter of economics.

The other alternative would be to reboot every spring, but there's problems with this as well: The bacteria that "digest" ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate have to be reestablished. From what i've read, aquaponic systems work best after running for a year or so. It's quite a complex ecosystem, which is what makes it so bloody brilliant, but also what makes it unfeasible for certain climates. Some people have tried their luck with aquaponics over here, but i haven't heard any success stories.

So yeah - I'd really envy you for being in Australia if it weren't for the giant fucking spiders...
Click to expand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd61yxcXMns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCO56iyBXtU
 
Yes Aquaponics is amazing!!!! I forgot to say nice set up :P

Is that 3/4" gravel your using Wildfire?I hear thats one of the best choices.
 
Heya capsicum yea its 3/4 gravel I use called blue metal which is used mainly for drainage in the construction industry so its cheap and ph nuetral so its perfect for the job :)
 
Yea that is a good setup

Check out" Aquaponics Secrets DVD Trailer " on youtube it shows how he uses the 3/4 inch gravel.
 
Mad Scientist said:
I love those aquaponic systems! - Sadly, it's a solution mainly for Australia and equatorial countries, where you can grow all year. Here in europe, you'd have to reboot the system every spring...
Click to expand...

What an awesome setup! Very similar to one that our local middle school runs - they have koi that they sell, are getting a permit to raise tilapia to sell for eating and use the veggies they grow in the school cafeteria. It is all set up in a greenhouse but we live just north of 45 degrees so winters can be pretty harsh. I wonder if you could plant a cold tolerant cover crop in northern latitudes to keep everything running?
 
Very nice setup indeed!! I have kept rare shrimp and fish all my life and really want to do Aquaponics setup one day. Unfortunetly I don't have a yard and cost of electricity in my area is really high so running HID just cost too much. It's too bad because I have an empty 300 gallon fish tank just sitting around too that I would use.
 
Mad Scientist said:
That's a great project for a school! Do they run it all through winter?
Click to expand...

Not yet; as you mentioned, at higher latitudes daylight/temp issues are costly to overcome. I think that they shut down for the winter and 'reboot' in the spring - keeping the fish alive of course. I do wonder if, with a little extra warmth, a cover crop could be grown through the winter to keep the system in good working order... It is really heartening seeing schools find solutions to budget issues in creative ways - the revenue isn't much but it does help fund the program (I think they are calling it sustainability sciences) which is not part of the core curriculum, but really exposes the students to some neat concepts and science.
 
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