Our Aquaponics System...

[pinegrovedave]

OK,

Now that @Seamaiden and I have got our first veggies planted, I thought I might share with y'all a little of what we've been up to. We thought we might try our hand out at aquaponics given the drought out here an all, right? Apparently, even though we're using water to move nutrients through the media beds, this type of system will actually require less water to deliver said nutrients vs. conventional soil farming.

The main pond (~1500 gallons)...

The media bed platform...

Construction of Swirl Filter...

Swirl Filter in action...

Filling the media beds w/ rock....

First planting...

 

[motherlode]

kickass - Im subbed!

telapia?

 

[rubthe nub]

NICE
I'll be watching this one

Couple of questions about the "pond" construction
Did you "cove" the corners?
Bottom drain is where you're collecting water?

 

[Seamaiden]

Yes, we coved the corners.

The pond does not have a drain, it's all done through the pump, so what I did was once he had the walls constructed (the bottom is open to the ground) I graded it out to a slope leading to one end (the end by the swirl filter). I dug out a small depression at the end of the slope and the pump goes in there, which will allow most of the detritus to be pulled through the length of the pond, into the pump and up into the swirl filter.

I noticed yesterday that the fish barrel does not have any sort of drain and it disturbs my plumbing fu because I can't stop thinking, "How are we gonna clean/drain it?" But, the man tells me that all the systems he's been looking at do their fish barrels like this, so.. I'll go with the flow!

kickass - Im subbed!

telapia?

Not legal north of the Tehachapi range, and frankly, Dave doesn't care for tilapia. So, it's gonna be bluegill/crappie! Proaqua out of Chico is the outfit we're gonna use to supply fish. People tell us to just fish 'em out of the lakes/rezzies, but my first thoughts are that we have no way to quarantine, and disease would be exceedingly difficult to control in this scenario without QTing the animals.

http://www.proaqua.com/?cf=pricelist

 

[billy liar]

Absolutely awesome.

Very well done indeed..

Peace
BL

 

[rubthe nub]

Yes, we coved the corners.

The pond does not have a drain, it's all done through the pump, so what I did was once he had the walls constructed (the bottom is open to the ground) I graded it out to a slope leading to one end (the end by the swirl filter). I dug out a small depression at the end of the slope and the pump goes in there, which will allow most of the detritus to be pulled through the length of the pond, into the pump and up into the swirl filter.

I noticed yesterday that the fish barrel does not have any sort of drain and it disturbs my plumbing fu because I can't stop thinking, "How are we gonna clean/drain it?" But, the man tells me that all the systems he's been looking at do their fish barrels like this, so.. I'll go with the flow!

Not legal north of the Tehachapi range, and frankly, Dave doesn't care for tilapia. So, it's gonna be bluegill/crappie! Proaqua out of Chico is the outfit we're gonna use to supply fish. People tell us to just fish 'em out of the lakes/rezzies, but my first thoughts are that we have no way to quarantine, and disease would be exceedingly difficult to control in this scenario without QTing the animals.

http://www.proaqua.com/?cf=pricelist

All the detritus should get macerated pretty good from that pump.
I'm with you on that swirl filter though. The whole idea of that type of filter is for the solids to "spin out" of the water column. Seems you'd want a ball valve in the bottom to dump them solids from time to time, but maybe that's just because I'm looking at it as a fish keeper and not as aquaculture

What about catfish? They're pretty tough and hardy. I know they "farm" them also.

I definitely wouldn't use wild caught either. Wouldn't be long until you're dealing with problems.

Think about a screen or shade over the top as well. It will help keep birds out/away. You don't want birds in there.
I had a koi pond, ordered in some pricey Japanese Koi to stock it. Less than a week later I discover that I had created a very pricey sushi bar for a blue heron. Put up a screen after that and no more herons.

Good luck, eagerly anticipating the show

 

[Bulldog11]

Fantastic system. I would love to see your water usage calculations along with your grow if possible. I am not sure this will save water or not truthfully. Your already 1500 gallons down and your just planting starts. I am always ready to be proven wrong. Been thinking of doing something similar in my greenhouse, so this will be a great learning experience for me. Tagged.

 

[urbanfog]

NICE GUYS! My daughter took aquaponics this last semester and we have been talking about a back yard system, I think noww I have the motivation :D

Subbed

UF

 

[CelticEBE]

So wanna do this. Just not sure what fish would thrive well in this climate. May have to set something up in a greenhouse.

 

[Joe Fresh]

nice job...have you guys accounted for evaporation in the fish res? or will you guys be measuring it? have you guys taken any preventative measures or plan to for this? just asking because i know you guys live in hot sunny conditions

 

[Seamaiden]

I'm with you on that swirl filter though. The whole idea of that type of filter is for the solids to "spin out" of the water column. Seems you'd want a ball valve in the bottom to dump them solids from time to time, but maybe that's just because I'm looking at it as a fish keeper and not as aquaculture

Same here, brother. I've got fishkeeper eyes. And there is indeed a ball valve at the bottom so we can dump that detritus. I still would prefer to have every section valved so it can be isolated if need be, but the man here keeps telling me this is how all the systems he's been studying are set up, so, I'll work harder to go with the flow.

What about catfish? They're pretty tough and hardy. I know they "farm" them also.

Thought about 'em, but I don't care for farmed catfish, they're too fatty for my taste.

Fantastic system. I would love to see your water usage calculations along with your grow if possible. I am not sure this will save water or not truthfully. Your already 1500 gallons down and your just planting starts. I am always ready to be proven wrong. Been thinking of doing something similar in my greenhouse, so this will be a great learning experience for me. Tagged.

1,500gallons of sequestered rainwater "down," ok, but it's water that would have flowed right off the land. The studies I refer to are comparing this to soil cultivation vs hydro/aquaponics. One thing for sure this will allow me to do is grow things like cukes and melons that have high water requirements, without having to really worry about whether or not they're getting enough.

Think about a screen or shade over the top as well. It will help keep birds out/away. You don't want birds in there.
I had a koi pond, ordered in some pricey Japanese Koi to stock it. Less than a week later I discover that I had created a very pricey sushi bar for a blue heron. Put up a screen after that and no more herons.

Holy fuckballs! Koi are something I used to be rather into, I know how expensive those fish can get. This is one reason why the pond is so deep, but yes, we'll be building a structure over it for both shading, and hopefully we'll be able to enclose it in a manner that will allow me something closer to year-round growing. After coming back from Puerto Rico, I have a strong urge. Unfortunately, unless the climate REALLY shifts, I won't be able to grow the tropical foods I know and love. Like mango, or aguacate. Or cilantrillo, or culantro, or the witch's oregano, or the other oregano... like those.

nice job...have you guys accounted for evaporation in the fish res? or will you guys be measuring it? have you guys taken any preventative measures or plan to for this? just asking because i know you guys live in hot sunny conditions

This is a subject that's kind of up for debate and experimentation. I can float styro 'beds' for lettuces on the water's surface, which would indeed both shade and probably help reduce evaporation. However, it would also impede on the surface where the gas exchange occurs, so I personally am a little bit hesitant to fully cover the surface in such a manner. So, what I'm thinking is that we will probably have to top it up on a weekly basis.

That said, so far we've had rain almost every week for the past couple of months--very uncharacteristic of our area and California at this time of year in general--and this has allowed me to capture more rainwater, which goes directly into the pond.

This blog by Bright Agrotech gives a little something to chew on.

 

[Joe Fresh]

Same here, brother. I've got fishkeeper eyes. And there is indeed a ball valve at the bottom so we can dump that detritus. I still would prefer to have every section valved so it can be isolated if need be, but the man here keeps telling me this is how all the systems he's been studying are set up, so, I'll work harder to go with the flow.

Thought about 'em, but I don't care for farmed catfish, they're too fatty for my taste.

1,500gallons of sequestered rainwater "down," ok, but it's water that would have flowed right off the land. The studies I refer to are comparing this to soil cultivation vs hydro/aquaponics. One thing for sure this will allow me to do is grow things like cukes and melons that have high water requirements, without having to really worry about whether or not they're getting enough.

Holy fuckballs! Koi are something I used to be rather into, I know how expensive those fish can get. This is one reason why the pond is so deep, but yes, we'll be building a structure over it for both shading, and hopefully we'll be able to enclose it in a manner that will allow me something closer to year-round growing. After coming back from Puerto Rico, I have a strong urge. Unfortunately, unless the climate REALLY shifts, I won't be able to grow the tropical foods I know and love. Like mango, or aguacate. Or cilantrillo, or culantro, or the witch's oregano, or the other oregano... like those.

This is a subject that's kind of up for debate and experimentation. I can float styro 'beds' for lettuces on the water's surface, which would indeed both shade and probably help reduce evaporation. However, it would also impede on the surface where the gas exchange occurs, so I personally am a little bit hesitant to fully cover the surface in such a manner. So, what I'm thinking is that we will probably have to top it up on a weekly basis.

That said, so far we've had rain almost every week for the past couple of months--very uncharacteristic of our area and California at this time of year in general--and this has allowed me to capture more rainwater, which goes directly into the pond.

This blog by Bright Agrotech gives a little something to chew on.

yeah im subbed to bright agrotechs youtube channel...im subbed to all the good gardening channels lol...its what i do with my spare time :D

i really like the styro beds and the lettuce, it kills 2 birds with one stone....have you thought about maybe covering half, or 3/4 of the pond with styro beds? this way you would still allow some light in for the fish, and air exchange, and you could add an air pump to your pond as well to help with gas exchange in the water...this way you would also have a larger gardening surface that was not used before, i see it as a plus in all ways, win/win....anytime i can use up real estate that was just sitting there before, is always a plus lol

 

[Seamaiden]

Let me get pix of what I'm playing with currently, because I don't like the idea of preventing the CO2/O2 exchange. I think this material is for air handlers, it's this plastic tangled mesh stuff, blue, comes in a large rectangle piece and it usually floats (but not always). I've tied some pieces of foam to the undersides and tossed some seeds onto it. Because it's a mesh, it does not actually 'cover' the water's surface, but instead allows flow through the water. The only other real problem I see with this method, besides only doing low-growing plants like lettuces else it would fall over, is if the bluegill eat the roots.

 

[Joe Fresh]

on another note....i have a pool that about 10 years ago, me and my EX were fishing (i wa sfishing, she was walking in the river with a butterfly net catching minnows and crayfish, lol) so we bought back about 50 minnows and 20 crayfish, even got a preggo crayfish lol...put them all in the pool and made a pond...i then bought some koi, and gold fish and put them in too...at peak i had over 200 fish...the wild fish(which happened to be "chevalier cuivre" species related to carp, got some of my koi and gold fish preggo...creating a new species lol....when i had my outdoor i would dump the pond water on my plants and they would love it.....this year we are cleaning it out, as there was only one fish and one crayfish left, had 2 reall bad winters of the last 2 years..

 

[Seamaiden]

Mmm... crawdaddies. I will suck them heads! Too bad they're so ornery.

 

[blazer]

Badass set up @Seamaiden def watching in on this good vibes your way!!!

 

[G gnome]

Sweet dude. Nice work

 

[Joe Fresh]

Mmm... crawdaddies. I will suck them heads! Too bad they're so ornery.

lol yeah, these are not crawdaddys, but crayfish, a bit smaller, but still look like mini lobsters lol..biggest ones were 4-5", this one is about 4"

another option to reduce water evap, would be to place 4-6 "rain gutters" over the pond evenly spaced out, then you can fill those with the rocks medium i see in your other buckets and grow in them...they would provide some shade for the fish and allow for full oxygen exchange in the water...also once the floiage of those plants would grow a bit, would provide extra shade coverage for the fish...fish LOVE shade...all species, they love shade and rocks and logs, any kind of structure in the water they will love...too bad you couldnt get a huge block of azomite and put it in there for the fish, they would love the rock and the residual erosion of it would be beneficial to the plants lol

 

[Seamaiden]

What's the difference between crawdaddies and crayfish? I thought they were pretty much the same thing--a freshwater mud bug.

You talkin' to me about how to house fish...? :D LMAO! :p

I like the gutter idea, except for one thing--it would impede access to the pond itself. Perhaps we'll just be able to fish out the animals when we want to eat, but I was already planning on being able to dip a net and yank what we want a little more easily.

I should point out that the grow beds, which are raised on a platform, are on the south side of the pond. In those beds I'll also be growing pole beans (also good for shell or dried beans, cuz I loves mah beans), and we'll be erecting more structure or at least string to grow them on. That will further shade the pond. Let's see if I can upload the pix I took last night, this kernel is really shitting the bed and my proggies aren't working anymore (hello, Mistah @pinegrovedave !! wifey needs a new kernel cuz not even the GIMP is working, dahlink!). Ewps...oh yeah, GIMP just shit the bed, too.

 

[geologic]

What's the difference between crawdaddies and crayfish? I thought they were pretty much the same thing--a freshwater mud bug.

I think they're the same--
they just grow bigger in the warmer weather/water down south...