Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello everyone my I am James in the Philippines and very intrested in aquaponics some points of clarifications though.

1. I have not yet found a company or organization who does this commercially but there are a few for hydroponics so I went there for some questions is it true that the waste of the fishes don't supply all the nutrient plants need or the company is just discouraging me to push through with aquaponics?

2. I started seeds using non soil compost but after a week still no germination that I see what am I doing wrong? I have basil, parsley, lettuce, tomatoes and brocolli.

3. In our garage We have a polycarbonate roof that is colored green (a bit transparent) can I grow in this place or the plants would die?

4. Lastly has someone used LED for grow lights? cause HID are quite scarce here and no one can tell me how to improvise a housing for this you can only buy the bulb with a housing.

all my picsto follow as I have just finished my barrel today. My age is only 24 and I already have high blood pressure, a fatty liver and kidney stones and am really glad I found this site it's time to change my lifestyle. peace and more power to you guys!!!

G'day Jamesto.... I'd say they want you to do hydro so they can make money from you... There are some commercial aquaponic operations in the U.S. and there are a couple here in Australia as well..

You can find some minor nutrient deficiencies, in aquaponics, but they are only minor, and generally trace elements that are easy to add with cheylated iron and either seaweed extract (with care) or rock mineral dust.. My systems have been running for many years and I only add cheylated iron and sealsol obout once every 2-3 months in very small anmounts..

Try putting a plant in a pot, under your poly roof to see how well it grows.. If it doesn;t grow well in a pot, then aquaponics won;t work either..

Don't know about the LED's....

Good to see you here...

Welcome James!

1. Some of us have found that we need to add chelated iron to supplement the fish poo. I was exploring the theory that some scrap iron in the bottom of the growbed could also be used, but got impatient and went to chelated iron. The principle with the scrap iron is to create anaerobic micro-environments around the iron using a blend of iron and activated charcoal. Then maintain a low nitrate level to encourage iron-decomposing microbes to work away at the iron.

2. Hard to tell. Too wet or too dry or old seeds or too cold or too hot. I'm not sure what "non-soil compost" is. To test viability of the seeds themselves, or just to give seeds a nice start where you can see them, you might try germinating them on a plate. Put a couple of layers of paper towel on a plate, then pour a little watter on it. Sprinkle seeds on the paper towel, then put another paper towel over the top of the seeds. Pour a little more water over the paper towels so that everything is evenly wet, but the water is not pooling. Check the seeds daily by lifting the top paper towel. Add water every day to keep the seeds moist. Keep the seeds in a warm area, but out of the sun so it doesn't dry out too fast. After seeds have sprouted, you can gently transfer them to soil or AP system.

3. I think that would be fine.

4. No idea.

LED grow-lights are the future for growing under lights. They are a bit expensive at the moment though and you need to use the right strength nad colour combination.

Welcome James
also some seeds (IMHO all) have best germination times in sequence to the moon, do a search for 'moon phases' topic.
C1

James, DO NOT try and plug a HID into the mains power.

They MUST have a ballast transformer or they will explosivly rupture, the combination of hard UV rays and glowing quartz is bad for your health!

I don't personally think that you'll get the best effect through the green polycarbonate, green spectrum is pretty useless to plants as far as i know.

Thats not to say that the plants won't grow, just not sure how well. You'd be better off replacing it with some clear or grey tint.

Welcome

guys thank you all for your replies I really appreciate it! I would keep you guys posted.