Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Mark,
welcome to BYAP. We love pictures here Why don't you start a thread in the Member's Systems area and we'll all come and stickybeak

Wow Tea, that looks like fun, and yes we are interested. We love to see the progress.
Faye

I have set up 3 bath tubs with a 1000l fish tank. I have a extra bath tub for keeping a balanced system. 60 Silver perch are going hard as well as the plants. On going mission to keep the caterpillars at bay. I leave in the northwest Carnarvon 6701.

Mix, don't you find 60 perch are a lot for 1000 litres? I started my 1000 litre system mid Dec with 11 silver perch and finally added a further 16 2 weeks ago. I wanted the full 25 right at the start but I bought them from Brett O'Brien (aquaculture guru) (at a cost) and he recommended introducing them in batches. Took him a long time to get the latter ones to me after many phone calls. By the way, he has quite a few perch available for sale, some about 3 months old - but they're not cheap. However, he had a sale of 150 cancelled so he might be open to negotiation. I paid $5 each for mine (only because there were no others on the market in mid-Dec when I had the system installed.) I noticed the comments about Brett earlier in this thread. He's certainly passionate about fish and seemingly very knowledgable. I was surprised to hear he was running a course in aquaponics tho, as he was quite disparaging about the practice, saying the concept is basically flawed because we are growing vegetables using expensive fish food as a fertiliser. And he said he has had to sort out many systems for people who are following Joel's book. Go figure.

whoa... that sounds like a AP consultant job opening ... that'd be a cool job to have! apart from people complaining all the time and having to advertise as lots of people still don't know what AP really is.

Say what?????
Who has problems???

Can't be harder than planting, fish feeding and harvest...
I know because that is all I do.

Huhh... if he's so disparaging about aquaponics... and doesn't do it himself ... then..

How does he qualify to run a course...

How could anyone trust the content of the course....

And how the heck can he "fix" peoples systems??????

And frankly...IMO....anyone that "follows" Joels book... wont have any problems...

If they depart from the book... maybe... but that's their own fault....

Perhaps, what he's actually doing is reconfiguring the AP systems to be fish raising RAS tank systems ... without the AP component.... which he does like ... and apparantly doesn't practice himself....

Wonder where he got the knowledge to diagnose and "fix" aquaponic systems from then??????

Without being too overtly biased about my system,
since mine is a 4 bed BYAP Shop system ( 3kl ft + 1kl sp + 4 x 500Ltr GBs)

I am very happy with the production of fish and heaps of veggies without
anything but fish foods as an additive at $2 ish a Kg and an FCR of 1:1
my fish cost me $2 a Kg of fish, with a stocking cost per fish of around $2 each a
$4, 1Kg fish will feed 4 x 200gram meals...
I think making wholesale changes to the systems while ‘learning’ does no good for the
stability of the ‘new’ system.
The longest time of difficulty for me was about 3 weeks and I was away for 2 of them
(Holidaying in Exmouth .... (with the whole forum supporting the babysitting during the begining)

Being able to plan your plantings to take advantage of the available space,
and advice for your area, being in sync with what grows when...!!!
and keeping the growth upto the nirate production or visa versa to have a good balance of growth
of fish and nutrient take up, then it is all in sync until harvest reduces the fish numbers
and eating veggies, fruit, herbs keeps a balance.
again another cycle

Sorry for the rant
C1
....and then there is the moon

Rupe, in response to your query, on 7 Dec 2007 Troutman said:

I see Brett is also offering an Aquaponics course at UWA summer school.
Dont think I would do it though as I have heard (thru fisheries) that his name has been linked to quite a few failed aquaculture set ups.


Tim C also mentioned Brett on the same page in this thread - p.12 I think. I'm having difficulty copying people's remarks - lost my post.

Mary

I have a 4000+ litre system with 6X250litre grow beds in the Kelmscott Area 6111, only been running a month so still watching everything grow. I have a thread in members system's/Clints system.

Joy unit there Clint.
Watch that puppy go balistic
I can see you taking 200mm of the legs of the GB table...
or adding to the height of the GH

Maybe the best planting guide is toe shadows from moonlight?

Not much moonlight left tonight

Hey all, just making myself known

absolute virgin to this game
slight hydroponic experience, and now adding fish

I live in Collie in the Darling ranges..

Thinking of getting a BYAP 4 bed, 2 pump system
I want it to run contineously all year and change my vege's to maintain enough ammonia breakdown etc.

My theory is to only stock to 3/4 load to allow for 1/4ly harvest each time. Stepping the crops. The reduced load will allow for 1 bed to be empty at any one time, without affecting the fish. All beds will have individual green houses attached that are removable for summer.

Using 75 to 100 redfin perch (cause they are yummi and eat anything) in 3kL.. am i allowed to grab straight from wellington dam???
20 to 30 marron in the oversided sump tank. 2kL.. what are the legal methods of getting marron?? i can get from collie river very easily.. but if fisheries catch me?

I dont want a yearly harvest of fish, i want to grow them to 1kg, and eat randomly.. replace it with a fingerling from the marron tank.

Plan on growing garden vege's..
cauli brocc brussel sprouts Corn
Peas beans st berries

only peas and beans are hard to maintain.

Lots of research to do

Hi everyone

I am in Bunbury and know very little about all this that is why I am on here now.
We grow rabbits, Duck, Quail, Chooks etc.
And want to take the next step and would love to see a set up system in person.
If someone is able to show me there tanks that would be great as I don't want to start off knowing nothing than causing a disaster.
Thanks people