Aquaponics, but ...

Granny Smith · **Posted:** Fri Mar 05, 2010 8:27 pm

I can have as much land as I want for growing our food and more water than I can use (we have water from five sources on our farm) so, although I am fascinated by aquaponics, I'm finding it hard to justify the cost of an AP system at our place.

I'd like to hear some good arguments for, please.

Lord Viykor · **Posted:** Fri Mar 05, 2010 8:32 pm

I've only just got into aquaponics myself, I'm keen to expand already. Thinking of removing the some garden beds to be able to expand.

The advantage I see is you don't need to 'rest' any garden beds and you get to eat the fish.

The Hopefulls · **Posted:** Fri Mar 05, 2010 9:26 pm

if you have a recycling system (closed system), other than the initial 3000lts of water we put into our system, the only water it uses is the occasional top up due to plant expiration and evaporation.

Unfortunately too many people do not understand their bores, bore water still has to come from somewhere, and as people in Adelaide are finding out bores dont always last forever. They are using all the bore water and with no rain to replenish or if they are lucky enough for their bore to be filling from sea water the natural filtration is not working now. The over use is creating salting issues or the bores are running dry, this can also cause sink hole colapses. (would help if i knew how to spell).

You maybe one of the lucky ones who receives enough annual rain to keep your dams filled and your ground moist.

The use of chemicals on the vegetables can be less, you know exactly what is going into your vegetables. A lot of town folk grow vegetables in contaminated soil and dont even know it.

It is an amazing feeling to go out each morning and night to feed the fish and watch them grow. They have a calming effect, and if you have trout you even get to see a free show. While you are out feeding the fish, you have a quick check of the vegies, find all the caterpillars and discover bugs you never knew existed.

Sorry for the rave. But we love our system

dufflight · **Posted:** Fri Mar 05, 2010 9:30 pm

Its great for adding to the soil. I've dumped 200ltrs of fish poo from a swirl filter onto the garden. I use the AP water as a base for sprays. Giving the garden a little AP water gives the soil a bacteria boost. And the same for compost. I am even going to use some of the fish poo to kick start the worm farms again. There are worms in the gb's but to make a bulk amount of casting for the other garden. And having eating fish right at your door is cool. Giving your guests a choice of Jades, silvers, barra or trout freshly caught.

Simo · **Posted:** Fri Mar 05, 2010 9:37 pm

Fish...

any veg is just a bonus by-product of the waste removal system :mrgreen:

pistolknight · **Posted:** Sat Mar 06, 2010 9:23 am

GS AP the veggies are grown off the ground so less bugs especially slugs, snails etc, the bonus of fish, the pleasure of watching rainbow trout feed, veggies grow faster, can grow some out of season depending where you have your system, for starters it doesn't have to be expensive, my first system cost me a carton of beer for a corry tank, about $60 for a pump, and cut up drums for Grow beds and ex retic for plumbing, all up less than $200, I do however recommend BYAP growbeds, nothing beats them in my opinion, convenient, plumbing supplied, and Joel is a real nice guy (Brownie points, going to shop this weekend

)
Will be at BYAP Sunday just after 10 if anyone wants to catch up

Tristrin · **Posted:** Sat Mar 06, 2010 11:12 am

I agree with all the comments above GS. I just love our aquaponics. We have plenty of land here to grow veggies, but do have to cut back on our water use. Veggies in the soil are a lot more work, especially weeding. We have no weeds growing in our AP and if some weed seed did get in it would be very easy to pull them out. Also growbeds are at a good height making looking after them easier. DH made 2 of our systems at very little cost and we purchased 1 kit. These are in our igloo/hothouse and we plan on purchasing one of Joel's kits which will be in a more open area, so we will have a bigger choice of veggies to grow all year round. AP systems do require regular checking and maintenance, but i actually enjoy that, so don't see it as 'work'. And a bonus to the dirt garden is the fish. WARNING: if you do start a small system, it is very addictive!

earthbound · **Posted:** Sun Mar 07, 2010 4:23 pm

Yeah aquaponics is great when you don't have a lot of space, but really, if you have a lot of space and you have damns or large ponds, then the benefits of aquaponics aren't quite as important.

I would love a big dam that I can stock with fish, but I can't have a dam where I am, so aquaponics is the only way to go for me to have edible fish.

Granny Smith · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2010 1:06 am

Thank you for all your responses. Yes, we have a fish-stocked dam and I have access to free manure and mulch and plenty of cheap water, so many of the advantages of an AP system are already met. But I still might try to make a cheap version just to satisfy my fascination with the process.

pistolknight · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:36 am

I think you will enjoy it GS, but as Tristin mentioned start small be prepared for expansion because it is addictive, my missus wanted a small set up for gold fish so built that from an old bath tub (free) and got a large stainless laundry sink from salvage for $5, pump is a smallish 1200 litre per hour job, about $30 and used old retic poly for plumbing, so a lot less than $100, she grew brussels and also herbs and now we have a blackberry going mad in it, is about 8 foot tall and we have it trained everywhere, here is a pic of some mint that grew in about 8 weeks from a small cutting, you can easily see the shape and size of grow bed in roots

Tristrin · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:30 pm

earthbound wrote:

Yeah aquaponics is great when you don't have a lot of space, but really, if you have a lot of space and you have damns or large ponds, then the benefits of aquaponics aren't quite as important.

But when you put fish into a dam you don't see them again until harvest time. We have fish in dams and it's not the same as in AP. In AP you have the pleasure of watching them grow. We had seen AP on TV (think it was Joel's set-up) and thought maybe one-day we would do something like that. Then in July 2008 hubby was diagnosed with cancer and our life changed dramatically. I thought I was going to be a widow in my mid 40's and was an emotional mess. Thankfully after 2 major operations and 6 months of chemo he is doing great. But it changed our outlook on life and we decided to do the things we had always dreamed about doing rather than putting them off till later. So our AP means a lot more to us than just fish and plants. It's very relaxing to watch the fish, listen to the water cycling, attend to the plants and know you are growing food that is clean and good for your health.

earthbound · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2010 3:40 pm

I guess it means different things to different people. Personally I love to go home head out the back with a beer and throw feed to the fish. Watching the HUGE silvers splashing around is very therapeutic.

pistolknight · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2010 3:59 pm

Don't mention Silvers :run:

earthbound · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2010 4:26 pm

Silvers, silvers, silvers, silvers, silvers, Soon you won't be able to resist........

chillidude · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:15 pm

earthbound wrote:

Silvers, silvers, silvers, silvers, silvers, Soon you won't be able to resist........

You know the mantra EB - piccies piccies piccies piccies piccies......

You can't mention HUGE SP and not show some :anger:

Backyard Farming Forum
Bringing food production home

Aquaponics, but ...

Who is online

Backyard Farming Forum Bringing food production home

Aquaponics, but ...

Who is online

Backyard Farming Forum
Bringing food production home