Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Been lurking about for a while now while I have been working on a tilapia based system. I would appreciate input on if it is ready for fish.

First a huge thanks to the folks who run this site and the people who post here. I feel you are doing some of the best stuff on this here internet thing and it is of great help.

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum ... ser_id=835

The address is my gallery of pictures- i don't know how to post them here so you will need to go there is see what I am talking about.


I live 50 miles south of Buffalo New York so my big challenge is to have my fish and plants survive our winters so that has influenced some of my decisions. I already had the greenhouse and have been growing in the dirt inside for years and decided to convert it to ap after finding this site.

Fish tank is about 750 gallons, another 4 or 500 cycling so total of 1200 or so. 4 growbeds 4x8 so about 125 sq feet. another sump/grow bed 4x 12 for 48 sq feet and then a dirt bed 4x12 for 48 sq feet I will water with fish water and then add new water to system. Total of about 225 sq feet .

I used water from my pond which has bass in it to fill the system- is this a potential problem? Added fish emulsion and some seaweed and some pond care bacteria to get the bacteria going. Have also been adding a local organic source of ammonia- I find a good beer really helps in the production process. Also add some alfalfa meal every few days. Been cycling now for 3 weeks and the water cleared up, algae and plants are growing. Water cycles once an hour with a continues pump and the amazing auto-siphon- I still get a kick out of them and my wife thinks i am a bit crazy.

Tested water and ph is 8 to 8.5, ammonia is nil and nitrites are nil. Salt level is minimal. I have a source for big goldfish- would adding some of them to test the system be good? Hope to have 150 to 200 fish.

Anything else I need to do?

Thanks much , Timberdoodle

I would go ahead and add some comets or something...about 15-20. Get feeder fish from the pet store. I would then watch them for a few days and see what the readings do. Then gradually add fish to the level you want. Though you PH will naturally lower with time, you will be limited somewhat as to the type of fish you put in the system by the high ph. Goldfish should be fine though.

Make sure the fish you add are healthy, it would be a shame to be adding disease to the system. That is one reason for doing a fishless cycle - you aren't exposed to the bad health of pet store fish.

Looks like you're already done TD!

Welcome!

The building part of this has been a fun challenge, but the fish part has me a bit skittish since the only critters I have raised are cats and dogs. Introducing disease is a real possibility? or just a remote possibility?

just go to a reputable pet shop. you will be fine

get yourself a master test kit (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) they will tell you how far along the nitrogen cycle you are.

Welcome TD, very quiet achiever

1)could you give a little detail on the workings of the "hot tub"

2)is the dirt GB being fed from the fish tank too

3)like the setup

Ace setup TD, welcome. Looks like u have it in hand buddy.

Good morning- well here anyway-

Thanks all for the welcome and advice. I feel a lot more confident about the fish part knowing there is people here willing to advise. Been reading some of the other experiences adding fish and it seems it can be a bit of a rough go and the fish will be a bit of an investment.

EllKayBee you got me pegged- am a quiet type. The hot tub hopefully serves as the heat system. I built my tanks with treated wood and plywood lined with fish rubber. The water gets heated with the chofu wood stove which I have used for 20 years in my house heating a hot tub. I may also try to heat the water with solar also if I can get the pool heating mat cheap enough, but I have 59 acres of hardwoods so lots of "free" wood to burn.

Did not want to run fish water through the stove which is a double jacket ss steel so am using the PEX tubing for heat exchanger. Using the PEX for water supply in houses I am building these days, good to 200 degrees F , cost 75 US for a 300 feet roll. Have a 60 watt pump which gets switched on when the fish water temp. hits 75 , pumps water through the tube about 2 to 3 gallons a minute. Water in tub will be 140 to 160. Have only heated the tub up once so far, but the water was seemed to be getting heated nicely.

I am pulling the water from the "sump" just before it returns to the ft and the heated water is going into the ft. I hope to use the tank as a hot tub also- the coil of tube lifts out easily. Winters get long around here and I think tub/plants/fish/greenhouse may be a good antidote.

oh, also the fish tank and hot tub are insulated and I will have a cover for the hottub. Keeping the water warm enough for tilapia is going to be tough. Nights here now are in the high 40s and the water is 75 to 80 and drops a few degrees at night. The growing beds also get heated on sunny days by hot air getting blown into the insulated space under the grow beds.


The dirt grow bed is hand watered on a as needed basis. I have a diversion valve on the pump and can hook a hose up to it to water or I just dip a watering can into the tank. Using a 100w pump 2000 gph and have it throttled back about half way to run the system.. Have also set up a 12v backup pump.

Well, off to work- timberdoodle

Also, about the stove- it circulates on the thermosiphon basis and is Japanese made. Still around, costs about 800US now 475 when I bought it. Chofu is the brand. The water at the top in the hottub gets very hot when the stove is going and that is where the coil of tubing sits. Water at bottom of tub is cold, to use as a hottub you mix the water i just use an old canoe paddle. Tricky part is getting the right temp for tubbing.

Timberdoodle

very interesting stuff!

Wow! I just love it when our lurkers suddenly post with full-blow systems!

If you're going to have tilapia shipped, get going. The cooler weather will start making that a problem soon unless you are getting them from a commercial supplier. Tilapia are very tough fish and will handle a wide range of both pH and salt levels. It's probably a good idea to go ahead and put in a few goldfish to test the system for contaminants, etc. Where are you going to get the tilapia? We've managed to locate several sources, including a school in Illinois, a hobbyist in Virgina (eBay), and a couple commercial hatcheries that will deal in small enough numbers for our purposes. I had a box of tilapia shipped in January, and they had to use heat packs. The school in Illinois wasn't familiar with heat packs, so wouldn't ship at that time of year.

Hi Janet-

A special thanks to you - your posts and research have been especially helpful in thinking about this whole thing, in particular when it comes to fish/cycling.

Going to put in some goldfish today. As far as tilapia, have read all your posts about tracking them down and already have an email to the FFA in Illinois and am checking with bardpaper- he no longer is listing on Ebay. Not sure what type, thinking of the RMW but will take what I can get. I see you are breeding them these days- ready to go into business selling?

Timberdoodle

Hi Timberdoodle: What a great looking set up. I love the stove. My husband was born and raised in upstate NY and I am from Ohio. I do miss the smell of the wood burning stoves in the winter, not much need for them here.
The only problem you may run into with Tilapia is not having enough tank space as they love to produce lots of fry. It looks like you may have enough space to expand some. I like the idea for the pots in the water with duck weed around it. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Hi Joyce-
Thanks for the comment- I have 6 different wood burners of various sorts around here so i get to smell smoke quite often, although I try to burn as clean as possible.. just now on the home for lunch it smells like grape koolaid because of the warm sunny day and ripe concord grapes. My favorite time of year here. Lived and traveled around the US some and do like it here best, but then this is where I grew up.

timberdoodle