Wednesday, May 27, 2009

If You Didn't Believe


Probably you have read something about aquaponics or hydroponics and thought that it was too good to be true. Well, getting as much as ten times the produce that you can get from soil with traditional agriculture sounds a little hard to believe. This is true, but depends on what you have.

In “watery” plants, like tomatoes, melons and things like that, you can get impressive results. With some others like lettuce and spinach, you can get a double yield. In any case, you will have a greater produce with aquaponics than the one you can get with soil culture. Hydroponics can give you something like that but fish are more fun.

Anyway, today I want to show you two pictures. Both are melons and both were sowed the same day. As you can plainly see, there is a great difference between the two. Of course I’m not neglecting the soil one; I water them daily and get weeds away (another advantage of aquaponics; no weeds to deal with). The garden is fertilized with vermicompost (humus made by worms) and I think I take good care of it. The idea is to get organic produce in the comfort of my own home.


No matter how good is your soil, aquaponic plants will normally do better. I can’t guarantee you anything, but you can expect to, at least, double your results. The best part is that they will be organic results. Unless you are feeding something rare to your fish, all the process is a natural one.

If you take the proper measures in your aquaponic installation, you can even have it certified as an organic facility. I haven’t gone that far… after all, it is a DIY system; however, I do get more than I need, although is not enough to sell… I don’t have too much space here.

Anyway, as you can see, aquaponics can give you fish, double (at least) the produce and everything will be organic. You can take care of your health and get very good prices in the market.

Give it a try. Aquaponics is not rocket science and if you were willing to take care of a garden, an aquaponic system will take all the hard work out. I'm a DIY kind of guy, but you can just buy a commercial system; there are a lot of them out there. Make up your mind, start eating healthy and give a little help to your planet!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

It Grows Fast! But...

In the “another simple system” post, I described one of my tanks with NFT in the hydroponic part. One of the great things about using this kind of systems is that everything grows really fast, even for me.

This aquaponic system has a lot of plants, more than I could think it can maintain safely, but I used every hole in the pipes to start all the plants at once; problem is, they grew faster than I expected. The idea was to use the complete system as a started while I was setting up the other one and then redistribute the plants, but it seems they got me beat.

Sorry, a lot of things to do. Anyway, I can use this as an example for two things. The first one is that everything grows fast; this plants are only a little more than a week from the previous post. The other one is that you can see the great difference between the plants in the upper pipe and the lower one.


These plants look green and healthy, with a steady growth. The root system (not visible) is white (which is good) and they seem to be doing fine.


As you can see in these ones, the yellow in the leaves is bad news. Normally the lack of magnesium and iron, this color says that the water has not enough nutrients to maintain all this plants. I was supposed to change that last weekend, but there is always something, right?

DIY Aquaponics requires testing. Some commercial acuaponic systems already have a history and can be a little predictable, but you just will have to test. Use “fast” plants like lettuce for your testing. Since they grow in less than two months, you can have a very good idea of what is going to happen.

Once you have a couple of plants, you can find out what you can do and when. This information will be great for your future planning.


Monday, May 18, 2009

How Organic Is It?

Unlike hydroponics, where everything is done using artificial fertilizers, aquaponics is the other side of the coin. When done “the natural way”, aquaponics does not use any artificial means to get to its goal.

The organic trend has been climbing continuously for years and does not seem to be winding down. The thing is that, in today’s polluted environment, you don’t really know what you are eating. There are so many things that are use in agriculture to get greater yields that you can ask yourself how much of that tomato is really a tomato.

Aquaponics can also have artifical things when made commercially

Anyway, aquaponics can get very artificial too. Starting with the fish food, which is the fastest way to get your fish big, hormones to change gender, and a lot of other thing, “aquaponic” does not exactly mean “organic”

If you don’t make it yourself, that is. I know for sure what is in my tanks and how it is fed and taken care of. I can say that all my produce is organic because I know it for a fact. You can do the same.

Having an aquaponic system is easy and does not take too much time of your day. You have a lot of inexpensive equipment you can use to automate everything and keep your fish and your plants safe.

Aquaponics is a little more complicated than hydroponics, but it is not that different. You just have to learn a few other things to deal with the additional work, but its not big deal. If you already know hydroponics, you can catch up in a couple of days.

Who better than yourself to assure organic produce?

Aquaponics will take some time to get started, specially if you are starting from scratch, but once it is running, you will have plenty of organic produce (real organic produce) and an interesting hobby that you can scale up to cover not only your needs and those from your family, but even to start a home business. After all, who better that you to assure your neighbors that they are getting real organic stuff?

Cool, isn’t it?

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Algae For The Fish

One thing that every aquaculture or aquaponic guy can tell you is that algae will grow, no matter what you do. And this is to be expected; since the combination of fish waste and biological filtration gives you fertilized water, algae can bloom. Now, what if you use that algae to feed the fish? Wouldn’t that be cool? Well, it is. With the proper fish, you can have a complete sustainable aquaponic system.

This, however, is not exactly easy, at least not in the city. To grow enough algae, you will need more space, and space costs time and money. Of course it will depend on the amount of fish, but it is certainly possible if you use some tricks to help algae.

In this first image you can see that this half box is covered with algae. This kind of boxes (this one with milk cartons) can grow a good amount of algae, permit the flow of water and your fish have some places to hide.


In the detail below you can see the marks of the fish eating the algae. Of course, this will have to be a vegetarian fish like a carp of tilapia.


The problem with an aquaponic system is that you need a lot of algae to make fish grow (remember you needed space?). Feeding them commercial food will have them grow faster and bigger. Also, you have to consider that most of the fertilizer in the water will be used by your edible vegetables, so there will be not much left for algae.

However, if you apply your imagination, you can pull this out. As many other technique, aquaponics lets you bend the rules a bit to achieve different results. Testing is a crucial part of good aquaponics. Just make your homework; you don’t want to deal with dead fish.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Another Simple System


In the “A Small Aquaponic System” post you saw how you can make aquaponics with a common fish tank and some other easy to find materials. However, there are not many fish that you can grow to edible size in a small fish tank, so maybe you will want some other options.

Fortunately, the fish tank aquaponic system can scale up with the same principle, just with a bigger pump and more plants. In this case, I used a 50 gallon tank that you can get cheaply in many places and some PVC pipes. The white tank has the disadvantage that it encourages algae growth, but I have Tilapia and those guys eat the algae, so no harm done. You can get the blue also. There are black ones, but most of those are used with some chemicals, so you better stay away from them.

The PVC pipes are easy to get and install in your wall. There a lot of other aquaponic ideas that work on this principle, but I will stick to the wall, since is the one I have installed. This system is just the small fish tank scaled up.

In one of these you can have 6 to 10 medium size fish without problem, if you take care of things properly. This is a pure hydroponic system that uses no substrate, so your biological filter must be at peak condition. For that amount of fish you can start with a bucket with a good substrate.

These plants are melons and some cabbage. This aquaponic system is easy to set up and costs like $100 US, probably less if you know where to buy. As you can see, it occupies very little space and is very easy to do.

PVC pipes and the tank can be cut with any cutting tool you have available, even with a hot knife. I prefer power tools, but it is your choice. Some of the places where you buy the tanks and piping will make the cuts for you. As with the other system, I used newspaper to isolate and cover the pipes, since heat is a problem around here.

Other than that, a power drill and your imagination are the basic tools. Remember to plan ahead a little, so you have everything within reach when you start. Aquaponics is easy, so give it a shot.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Take Care Of Your Pump

Today, after pruning some plants, I noticed that one of pumps was not working. In aquaponics, this is a big deal. Although there are a lot of things required for an aquaponic system to work properly, the pump is one of the most important. The pump is the heart of every aquaponic installation, not only to clean the water for the fish, but also to water the plants (this depends on what system you have).

There are many ways to make an aquaponic system, but the easiest ones can be made with submergible pump. This things seem to go on forever, use little electricity and are small and cute. However, their main drawback is that they need some maintenance. Maintenance, you say? Aren’t these things maintenance free? Well, in their intended use, maybe. However, since those pumps will be submerged in fertilized water, things change. No matter what you do, there will be some algae that will develop in your pump. You see, these pumps where made to make a continuous flow on fountains and pools, where water is supposed to be “cured” with bleach or any other disinfectant.

In an aquaponic system, bacteria covers everything with slime (which is a good thing) but also encourages growth of algae. This is why you will have to clean your pump a little more often, but, unless you use some strange and sophisticated thing, it will only take you a couple of minutes.

Your aquaponic system can have a lot of different types and brands of pumps, but most of them are very similar. To clean your pump, just remember some things:

  • Plan correctly. Try to do it early in the morning or when the sun is not shining so hard. You plants will not get their scheduled watering, so be careful.
  • Use soft tools. Although you can scrape everything with some metallic cool tool, most of the pumps are made of plastic and you can break the seals

I clean mine once every month, although my aquaponic tank can keep going for more. It’s just my schedule. Since you will have different circumstances than me, you just will have to see. Wait for a month and take a look at your pump. Just be sure to monitor that before it clogs.

Your fish (and plants) will appreciate it. You have to keep checking, but that’s aquaponics for you.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Crustacean Mating


While doing some work on the aquaponic tanks, I stumbled upon some “activity” by the crayfish. This is good news, not only because I will have some crayfish in a couple of months, but also because it says that the environment is not only good enough to survive, but also to thrive.

This is not so hard; you just need a good biological filter and you are good to go. The filter is external because this aquaponic system does not use substrate. The crayfish tank has been operating for a year by now. The image is a little blurry, but they are underwater and I couldn’t make too much moves without disturbing them.

Mating is a long process for crayfish, so I didn’t want to risk interrupting their business. Male crayfish have two special pair of articulations that are used to place a sperm package in the female, which will keep it viable for several weeks.

When the time comes, the female will fertilize the eggs with the sperm capsule. The eggs will be carried by the female until they hatch. The young crayfish will be born as a miniature adult and eventually will flee their home, since mommy can have a good lunch with them.

Rearing crayfish with aquaponics seems to be a simple thing, but I had never had baby crayfish, so I can’t say for sure. However, I’m confident that they will grow to feed my table. Anyway, it is worth mentioning that crowds don’t seem to embarrass these guys.

Some fish, like Tilapia, need to have a territory, fight for it and choose a female. They can get quite aggressive in that stage. Crayfish don’t seem to care about peeping toms, so they make things a los easier. Right now I have 12 crayfish in a 50 gallon tank, and the idea is to have more, but the little creek does not have many of them.

Fortunately, breeding in captivity raises the odds to have a lot of them available. Procambarus Clarkii crayfish have a short life span, but have a lot of younglings in the meantime, making them an excellent aquaponic guest. Just provide them with enough places to hide and they will be happy. Although you can make them with rocks and the like, I use PVC pipes. They are easy to cut, cheap and light, but that is up to you.

So, find some crayfish and see what you can do with them. They eat the same things like fish and are fun to watch at night.

Monday, May 4, 2009

A Small Aquaponic System

Although aquaponics can be a big deal, with costly and efficient facilities, it can also be as simple as a tank and some PVC piping. You can have most of this in every hardware store, you don’t need any special tools and some can even deliver everything to you doorstep. You can’t say you don’t have time.


In this system, I am using a NFT hydroponic installation. In case you don’t know, NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) is a pure hydroponic system (no substrate) that submerges the plant roots on a continuous flow of nutrient solution. You can do this with the PCV 4’’ pipe. In this case, there is no need to use nutrient solutions, since the water is already fertilized.

Since there is no substrate, this aquaponic system must rely on an external biological filter that will clear the ammonia in the water and turn it into nitrates. There are other aquaponic systems that use substrate as a biological filter, but this is not the case.

The piping is wrapped with newspaper to prevent sunlight on the roots. Although you can use paint, newspaper is a fair insulator, You can use other materials, but newspaper is a cheap one to get things going. The sun can really get things hot inside the pipe. Although plants can thrive on warm water, fish may suffer from that.

There are certain fish like tilapia that can live comfortably in warm water, but that depends on what you have. Aquaponics has more variables than pure hydroponics, but that’s the fun part.

As you can see, it is an easy way to get started. The plants are just starting and those are melons, so they grow quite large. If you are using small plants like lettuce and spinach, you can stuff more plants in there. I cut this pipe so it will fit on the wall without messing with other aquaponic installations.

That’s the magic of DIY aquaponics, you can make your system fit your needs. If you live in the city, there are few aquaponic systems that allow you to make modifications so it will fit somewhere.

Also, this aquaponic system is dirt cheap, so make your fish pay for the food. Another advantage is that you will no longer use activated carbon or any other filter, since the plants and the biological filter will take care of business.

If you are not familiar with hydroponic system, try How To Hydroponics. Unlike other books that have a lot of theory, this one is a DIY little book that goes to the point and is almost half the price of a more elaborate work. Download it here.

Photobucket