Aquaponics

[marlin]

Aloha,
Anybody suggest someone who knows there stuff about aquaponics.
Have a pond, fish, ducks...now I want to hook it all into the garden too.

Marlin


marlin

[mmbvd7]

When you find out Marlin, I'd like to know as well! This is an interest, but have never tried anything like this. Enjoy ornamental ponds and have had them for years, but I really like the idea of aquaponics. Once you get one up and going, please post information about it!

Best wishes

[csgray]

Make sure you have backup power for an extended power outage if you are on the grid. We lost 150# of tilapia during our extended power outage post Iselle, it was heartbreaking. Making sure you get the plumbing right for your bell siphons is critical, and nematodes from starts we brought in became a huge problem, so I would grow from seed, not buy starts.

We bought a homemade system from someone who was moving to the mainland, thinking it would be easier to start with a set up system, but if I did it all over I would have built new from the ground up.

You need to be both a good gardener and pond keeper for it to work.

Carol

Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb

[Lee M-S]

"Friendly Aquaponics" up the Hamakua coast offers trainings. http://www.friendlyaquaponics.com/trainings/
I went to a free tour there a few years ago, the folks were, actually, friendly and informative. Looks like they now offer aquaponics supplies, too.

I do a kind of partial aquaponics; I siphon water from the bottom of my tilapia tank to water the greenhouse.

><(((*< ... ><(("< ... ><('< ... >(>

[Wayman]

Somone some time back suggested GFA, Growfishanywhere.com. Their website is very promosing as to growing fish. It is a closed system and is not hydroponics, but that said, there could still be a tie-in there. It never hurts to learn all you can about any subject close to where you want to go. The appeal to me is that this seems to be the least demanding of the sytems I have investigated. I don't want to be a slave to a system that demands all my time. Again, though, it is what you enjoy that is worthwhile. And good vegatables are enjoyable.

[mmbvd7]

Carol, I could only imagine how heart breaking that would be. May I ask how many gallons your tank/pond is? What size pump do you have to use? That sounds like an awesome set up. Also, thanks about the heads up on starts vs. use of seeds.

Lee, thanks for the site. I am very interested in aquaponics.

Do you all have your "ponds" (containers for fish) under cover or allow the rain to go into the tanks?

If/when I do this, I plan to start small to see how it goes before going large scale. I mainly want to grow my lettuces and leafy greens in an aquaponics system.

Best wishes

[Peter Epperson]

I tried aquaponics for a couple of years using these cattle troughs that we make http://pacificgunite.com/trough.htm It worked fine but was a fair amount of maintenance. It seemed to me that the idea is especially good for dry climates with lousy soil. Well we have a wet climate with excellent soil. These tanks became above ground garden beds and my green thumbed wife couldn't be happier. She didn't care much for tilapia anyhow.