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By andy
In this post I will try to answer questions if I can? Help with the best of my knowledge if possible. Firstly I am not a full time 'Farmer'. In the 60s and 70s I worked as a kid on local farms to earn a little money. I came from a poor background. I have always worked hard and craved knowledge and learning.
Like Kenny in the late 70s I was interested, and studied Hydroponics. But in later (self taught years). I saw the advantages, and challenging disadvantages of Aquaponics.
Firstly. We must understand the basic needs of what a plant needs to live and grow. Water, Nutrients, Air, light, Temperature, space, and time.
Water - To feed (just the same way, we need to drink) and used to carry the nutrients. Too little or too much water or nutrients can also be harmful.
Nutrients - The most important nutrients for plants growing needs are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Nitrogen is necessary for making green leaves, phosphorus is needed for making big flowers and strong roots, and potassium helps the plants fight off disease.
Temperature - Most plants prefer cooler nighttime temps and warmer daytime temperatures.
Air and Light - Fresh, clean air and light are essential for healthy growth. Plants are the greatest consumer of solar energy, using power from the sun to mix up an energy rich meal. The process where plants make their own food is known as photosynthesis.
Space and Time - Plants need room to grow. Without enough room, plants can become stunted or too small. Overcrowded plants are also more likely to suffer from diseases since airflow may be limited. Finally, plants require time and care.
To go back and answer a question? Most seeds will be required to germinate in darkness.
Paul mentioned lighting? Back in the early days, and still mostly now! The lights used for hydroponic growing would be very expensive 600w.
With the new technology of LCD lights on the market, and now very good growing media available via the internet. I had returned some years ago to experiment with Hydroponic indoor growing again. The following photo's are of working prototypes. Drip feed and Flood and drain systems.
This is a drip feed system to accommodate four young plants. When the plants grow too large they are moved into their own single unit.
The pipes can be placed freely and water flow can be regulated via the taps. The pump works with a timer. The built in temperature gauge is nice useful feature.
This is a Flood and drain system (without a Bell Syphon). Again the pump is on the timer! When the pump stops, the water flows back via the pump.
Same concept, just slower return flow (use for large plant).
Just some of the components needed to build. I use the air-stone in the grow bed to give more oxygen to the plants roots. This all works on the watering cycles, when the timer ends the pump and air stop too.
Flower used to illustrate.
LCD Light can be adjusted accordingly.
All the parts I used to make the above prototypes are storage components, from a well known European furniture outlet! Now very well established in Thailand.
Split from Aquaponics thread.
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By Parrothead
PDFs / eBook Resources - You will see some great finds listed here.
Aquaponic Gardening, Sylvia Bernstein: A Step-By-Step Guide to Raising Vegetables and Fish Together
Aquaponic Gardening.pdf
Backyard Liberty: The Smart, Easy Way To Food Independence
BackyardLiberty.pdf
Barrel-Ponics (aka Aquaponics in a barrel) - Travis W. Hughey
Barrel-Ponics.pdf
Practical Aquaponics (TotePonics v.4) - Murray Hallam's Practical Aquaponics (A MUST READ! VERY DETAILED!)
TotePonicsVer4.pdf
Aquaponics Common Sense Guide - Detailed time saving eBook for the newbie to aquaponics systems.
Aquaponics_Common_Sense_Guide.pdf
The IBC of Aquaponics - Exclusively about using IBC totes for aquaponics systems.
IBCofAquaponics.pdf
CTSA (Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture)
How to Build and Operate a Simple Small-to-Large Scale Aquaponics System
CTSA_aquaponicsHowTo.pdf
Aquaponics Info - A great informational source for the newbie to Aquaponics. Marvin A. Hodges researched for over four months, initially, to gather all information contained in this file. (The attached updated PDF is from 2013.)
Aquaponics Info.pdf
Aquaponics Fact Sheet
aquaponics_factsheet.pdf
Small-Scale Aquaponic Food Production - I have the full 288 page version of this file. If you wish to download the full 42 Megabyte file, as well as all other PDFs in this post, you may do so from my DropBox Aquaponics files link, LOCATED HERE. Alternatively, the FAO site is linked below.
i4021e00.pdf
Home _Gardening_Cambodia.pdf - Home Gardening Cambodia - An EXCELLENT resource, which also gives you the months of the year, and which plants are suitable for sewing and reaping during each month. The calendar starts on pg 76 (pg 64 on the file itself).
Websites
FAO Website - Small-Scale Aquaponic Food Production (PDF) Information & Download Page
Practical Aquaponics
Backyard Aquaponics
Top 7 Aquaponics Fish Species
Recommended Plants and Fish in Aquaponics
Sexing Tilapia: An Easy Way to Determine Gender
The long and short of sexing Tilapia, is:
YouTube Channels - All links are to each user's "videos" page. Rob Bob's Backyard Farming - Hobbyist / Self-sustaining Australian very knowledgeable about aquaponics. NorthernMonkey Mayhem - Great aquaponics resource. Good video on fill / drain through one pipe system and a single "U" siphon. Bright Agrotech - Commercial operation. But, good resource. Donald Porta - Has some very good videos on Aquaponics. Check his play lists to save time searching for them all. Murray Hallam Aquaponics - Naturally, we have to add this fellow's channel. He has some great information out there. (Commercial operation.) -
By Parrothead
This is a siphon that has been used for some time in the aquarium / fish keeping industry. I learned about this type of siphon some time back, while viewing YouTube videos.
I will be using this particular siphon (overflow) as a skimmer, to remove particulates floating near the top of the water level. This overflow was built from 1/2" (13mm) PVC and fittings. I used a piece of 1" (21mm) PVC and a cap for the weir.
You can see the holes in the weir, allowing enough water to enter, regardless of the level, to allow the overflow to skim the top of the water without causing any danger to the fish.
As you can see, I (currently, and temporarily) have a 5 gallons (19 liters) capacity bucket for the filter / sump. I will be replacing this with the 15 gallons (57 liters) aquarium, as soon as I can get some glass cut to partition the tank into sections for different filter media, and a partition for the pump.
The pump can move considerably more water in the fish tank (barrel), than the 1" (21mm) SLO and the 1/2" (13mm) overflow can remove from the tank, combined. So, it isn't an issue using this tank to test experiments such as this. In fact, immediately below, you can see the 1/2" (13mm) return line (with the ball valve going back into the bucket), used to reduce the flow into the fish barrel and to help keep more water in the bucket (filter / sump).
I'm impressed with the performance of this overflow, even at 1/2" (13mm). What's really nice about the overflow is, if / when the power goes off, it automatically stops, just like the SLO does. When the power returns, the pump begins pumping again, and the overflow and SLO begin their respective siphoning actions. So, neither pipe will siphon all the water from the tank, leaving the fish high and dry - my first priority.
I get a lot of my filter and water flow ideas and information from the fellow in the video below, Joey Mullen. He has a lot of years in fish keeping. Here is one he made on his updated overflow.
Flow rates for various sizes of PVC, according to Joey, are below:
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By Parrothead
The little guys (Tilapia fry) are about to out grow their current housing. That is the aquarium they have been in since Chan rescued them from the system filter. But, they are still too small to defend themselves against the larger fish in the fish tank. So, they can't go into the 1,000 liter IBC tote just yet.
We cut a barrel, added an SLO (Solids Lifting Overflow) and a temporary filter made from a 20 liters (~5 gallon) bucket. This will work until I can get some glass panels to partition the aquarium into a sump / filter for the new barrel they will call home.
A few fotos of the test run after completing the build yesterday.
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By Parrothead
We just built two Black Solder Fly Larvae (BSFL) compost bins. One was made in accordance to specifications given to us by Olivier Crusoe, who runs an off-grid organic farm, about 1.5 hours from Battambang. I constructed the other, from a combination of images I found on the internet.
Both types of construction will work, I imagine. I just want to try to guarantee a strong growth of BSF in this area. They are a very beneficial insect. They are also free protein for both fish and chickens.
In my case, I can raise them, along with Duckweed, using both to feed my fish. It will, literally, cost me nothing to feed my fish.
Here are those images now:
Compost Bin 1: Concrete, Brick & Mortar Construction
Information: The concrete, brick & mortar compost bin, you will see, has a moat around the perimeter of the group. This is to hold water, preventing ants from getting to the larvae and eating them. I still have to add a few small parts to complete this build. But, it is basically complete.
Compost Bin 2: Plastic & PVC Construction
This second compost bin didn't work out so well. And, the loop fasteners didn't work as intended, either. My suggestion, after having been successful at one complete life cycle of these flies (eggs are inside the compost bin now), is to go with option 1, above.
Information: The hook fastener material is siliconed around the inside perimeter, to prevent the larvae from climbing out of the bin prior to maturity. The two ramps lead to two attached milk cartons, where the larvae will crawl up, once they have matured.
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