share your ideas and pics of your systems and knowledge and i will share what i know
this is my breeding tank with 6 females and one male.
tilapia "aquaponics"
all the little white flashes are the week old babies.
here are some of the babies at 4 weeks old and about 1 inch log.
i am working on my aquaponics system now and will show pics of it as i get things done. i have a 250 gallon tank that will feed three 50 gallon barrels "cut in half" grow beds where i will be growing lettuce at first.
Cool! Keep up the posts!
I'll be watching, too!
Ah, heck. I was hoping you'd show up on P & L (except they don't ever seem to eat anything, just name it and dress it up) or Homesteading...
Ooops, gotta go. SO is home!
=0) Jay
hay jay almost posted there but thought tilapia would fit in the hydro better but might get moved will see.
This is great, White Bear. Is it too late for me to start some tilapia fingerlings now? (If I can get them shipped, anyway.) How long does it take to grow them to eating size? Are yours in your greenhouse? What do you feed them and how often?
I bought some tilapia at Safeway last week and it was pretty good, although they dressed it up with so much seasoning it was hard to tell what the basic fish tasted like. I'd like to grow them during the summer only at least for now, since my big greenhouse isn't ready.
hay "AZgrammie" no its not to late. i keep mine in the greenhouse for the grow out but the breeders are in the house and the babies also until they reach an inch or more then to the greenhouse they go i raise "duckweed" to feed them plus a 32 % protean feed to balance out their diet.it takes from 6 to 10 months to grow them to 2 pounds, it all depends on the water temp and the amount of air you can get in to the water. the water temp should not drop below 60 or they will start to die. and the more air you can get into the water the faster they can process food. i try to keep my fish at about 76 not that hard during the summer. "whitebear"
Whitebear, the more I read your posts, the more interested I am in following a lot of your examples.
I still haven't found the right link for the Solviva method, but it was a project in the NE US that was a big GH attached to a building that had some animals providing some of the heat, growing produce all winter, etc. This fish raising would also be a valuable asset to the whole concept...as would worm bins... heck, your own little biosphere!
I feel a field trip coming on... everyone to white bear's house for a tour, better than the zoo.
Although all of our work related travel takes us to to some cool places across the country and I get to meet some wonderful people, most of the places I would love to spend a few hours studying still involve traveling a few hours. One vehicle...4+ hour trip one way...makes for a short visit while DH is working. But it is definitately on my list of most wanted places to go! Amazing what talented and knowledgable people have found their way to DG! And how grateful the rest of us for them so kindly sharing!
Here is a picture of one of those designs, that I mentioned earlier.
Looked on the map, 6 hours one way and I have to stop a lot. Too far to drive by myself anymore, bummer.
Story of my life...a day late and a dollar short. We were pretty close to St Louis last year for a few months. I'll keep in mind to contact you, if we head that way again...we could make the road trip together.
I had a friend that lived in Alaska for many years, and she raised rabbits and chickens in the GH and their heat and CO really helped her plants. I thought it was a pretty slick system. It took a lot of animals, but they were raising for meat and selling it.
well guys i'm hoping by next year to have a little guest house up so that visitors have a place to stay the night then can travel back the next day, because i have a lot of people wanting to come by and learn from or see the place. and i have a few people wanting to apprentice with me, i didn't think i had that much to offer.
well another momma has eggs should be up to 800 if they survive.
whitebear
I will try to order some tilapia fingerlings in a couple of weeks, in between trips away from home. But 6 months from then will be November, and it starts getting real cold real quick about Nov. 1. May have to wait until next year. 8^(
Meanwhile, went to town with my neighbor today and found plain, unseasoned, farmed tilapia filets at the grocery, so that's what I am having tonight. Thanks so much for all the info.
ok here is a small aquaponic system i am working on for a guy that wants to set it on his porch and raise lettuce ans things for salads.
here is the base for the grow bed.
one half of a plastic 50 gallon drum for the grow bed.
the stand for the fish tank
the small blue tub is for the catch tank where the return pump will go, thinking might go bigger to have more room and put bio media in it to filter the water a little more.
this 50 gallon tank will be cut down to about 30 gallons the plumbed to the grow tank, trying to decide whether to go with a constant flow or a flush system.
i'll post more when i get more done.
I love the picture lesson here. Just wishin I could get my hands on some of those barrows.
Janet
I just looked on Craigs list. They had some listed for about $20. I was very surprised that they were so close to home.
wish you guys were closer i can get them for 4 dollars a barrel.
well cleaning out the big pond "pool" wife wants it back" so the fish are going to the 250 gallon tanks. just when i got a good growth of algae a going.
man messy job. the boys are getting a kick out of climbing in and netting the fish. i'm having a blast watching the jump and fall in the water when a fish rubs up agenst thier feet and scares them. laughing my butt off. laughed so hard my side still hurts.
You need a movie...
i should of taped it, could of won on funniest home videos.
i'm putting as much water as i can into 250 gallon tanks to save for the garden
I have a visual of them now.....rofl along with ya....
boy what I almost would do to get some killer tanks like those....
Janet
not to make you feel bad or anything but i get them for ten dollars each, the local cookie factory sells them after the use all the honey.well almost all the honey i can get about a gallon out of two of them.
Gt, what a deal!
yeah the honey is worth that much
they would make great rain barrows.....
don't recon you would be going into the business of selling them and shipping them out would Ya??????
Hey white bear,
Thank you so much for creating this thread. i am new to DG and Aquaponics has been my biggest research project over the last two years since i discovered it. i have never built one because i don't own any property in which to do so but have been reading every ounce of research done on it since the seventies. How big is your system? i see that your using an aboveground pool as your fish tank but how does it feed your grow beds? are you using a flood and drain system or floating rafts? do you use any additional oxygen injection or are you relying on gravity and return water? i may build a micro system this summer since i'm in a town house this year with a small back yard. probably a modified flood and drain system. lol, can i trade plants for fish? i may get to build a real system this year if i'm lucky. i applied for a summer internship with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on their renewable farm. they said that i landed the interview because i had mentioned aquaponics in my questionnaire and that they were considering building one. Any ways i could ask you questions for years to come and probably will.
Thank you
~Michael
hay michael sorry took me so long to answer. i just renewed my member ship a few min. ago i've been very bizzy lol and at this min on the way out again. i will try and get back on tonight and tell you about my system that is going up right now. and i should have a few pics. good luck on the internship it sounds great. well i'll be back tonight "i hope"
"Whitebear"
glad you are back Bear, I've missed reading your posts.