Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I just moved to spanaway like two weeks ago, very pretty up here!

I have a half dozen bluegill in my mix of fish and they are doing well. I don't have the bedding area that bluegill need in order to breed so I won't ever have any more. They are fun to keep because they will actively pursue live food such as night crawlers. When I come out to feed them they line up like a row of puppies waiting their treats. I don't think they are too good if you are planning on harvesting a lot of fish over time because the growth rate has not been great. I would say for mine, two seasons to go from finger sized to full adult. At least they are temperature tolerant and can handle what ever nature throws at them in my area.

Are Bluegill the same as blue nile Tilapia? Sometimes, I think I have seen people confuse them in YouTube videos. What I hear them call Bluegill actually look like blue Nile Tilapia. I have blue Nile Tilapia myself. 3 males and 2 females currently. I started with 9, 6 males and 3 females. The males began fighting and killing each other off. So I separated them. Lost a female to a suicide flip out of the tank. Had 2 breeding so far. First breed all died but 1 male, 1 female. They are currently still growing in their own tank. All of second breed died, I think I pulled them from mommas too soon. Tried to breed a third time and the male killed my 2nd female. No more breeding until I can buy a new batch of females now. Not enough to keep them alive against a single male. The two babies are now about 2+ inches long and will begin breeding soon. Not sure if I will have to separate them, although I should. I made a breeder tank, with a breeding basket and an incubator. It should work for the next breed batch, when I am ready with more females.

I read the following from an aquaponics specialist:"Fish waste alone does NOT produce ENOUGH iron, magnesium, calcium and potassium to raise blooming plants that continually produce ongoing blossoms... "

I have not tested my water yet for these items or lack of, I just do normal fresh water dip stick tests (ph, nitrites, nitrates, Tec).

My question is this:
What animals or plant or other nature occurring items can I put in my ecosystem to ensure that these exist naturally?
Because I am growing plants from the fish waste and I am raising fish, I don't want any chemical additives even if it is fish friendly. I would rather use animals, etc. For example, I have snails in the system and I plan to add some fresh water jump prawn. I understand that crush oyster shells opvoyld help, so I am thinking of adding clams and mussels to the tank.

hmmm "aquaponics specialist"... i bet the specialist was trying to sell you something you don't need...
get a good API master fresh water test kit, strips are remarkably unreliable..
while a new system may show some nutrients may be lacking, it's often just a case of ph lockout...and can be "treated" with maxicrop (with iron) until the your system matures (and the ph drops)

Source for specialists, see FF powder:


I don't want to use anything that comes in a can or bottle. The idea od my ecosystem that I want to achieve is that everything in it supports the needs of everything in the system. So I am looking for naturally occurring solutions. Going beyond fish feed plants, plants feed fish.

What's up fellow Washingtonians! Up in Bothell... I saw a few people looking to do crawfish... How's it working out? And Larry was it you looking into doing fresh water prawns? If so where are you getting your spawn from... And how are you planning on dealing with brackish water... I've read that fresh water prawns need some brackish water to complete the life cycle... Different species maybe... I also read someone here doing clams... More info would be rad... Anyway we should get a few of together! Cheers everyone!

Just getting setup here in Hilltop/Tacoma.

Haven't built anything yet, but have plans for a small 3x8 grow bed and a couple of 55gal rain barrels as tanks sitting sideways beneath. Right now I'm trying to do some homework for the type of fish we get. Seems like Tilapia and Catfish like the warm and trout like the cold. What is our best bet without having to buy heaters or coolers? Come fall, we're hopefully going to get a little greenhouse setup, but for now, we're outside. Do people have success rotating fish breeds? Or do they have to grow for more than a season?

What's the minimum mil thickness that people are willing to go on grow bed liners?

Also, what is a good timing cycle for the fill/empty rates on the bed?

Thanks for any input!

Daniel

Hi Rob.

I'm in Graham/Puyallup. Just joined the Forum and have been stumbling my way to a general plan for what I'm going to build. Still researching/learning about what others have done and have been successful with before i get started to make sure I get it pretty right the first time.

If there's a group that meets in person anywhere near Federal Way to Tacoma, let me know. Would love to meet.


Jeff

Woah, I never expected to see someone else in Graham here. Hey Jeff (and the rest of you guys in here.)

So I've been studying/assimilating this whole aquaponics concept for several months now, and I'm thinking about making the plunge, and what I want to know is what do you guys suggest for a virtually non-heated greenhouse system?

I expect to be able to keep temperatures over 40 degrees F, but that's about all I can expect given the conditions (combination of the cold spikes in winter and the fact I live in the middle of a valley with hills and trees on both sides of me.)

Oh, and a brief note: I do intend to raise fish for eating, and will be producing as much supplementary feed as I can (worm farming, duckweed, bug traps, etc)

Hi, I am Butch from Olalla.

Was looking for info on heating the system, when I stumbled on this site, nice to see so many people from Western Washington.

Currently working on setting up a new greenhouse, and have a barrel system ready to install as soon as we finish the greenhouse. Pictured below is my brother in the first half. We are attaching 2 10 x 12 Harbor Freight greenhouses together. Should have it done in the next couple of days.

Not sure of what kind of fish yet, or what temps I can keep the water at for reasonable cost.

Later...

Butch

I grew up off of Banner Rd., then off of Burley Olalla Rd. Small world.

Cool... I am between both of them...

Bainbridge Is. Just looking. Have happy rainbows, cold, deep water, too much shade, natural bios that might end up harmful in a closed system with no fresh inlet. Plants might provide a cure. Probably have to heat the water to grow things.

Another fellow Washingtonian here. I'm in the process of building my first AP system. I grew up with an entire lot for a garden...and have kept blackberries, grapes and raspberries on the front porch but really want to have fresh veggies like I did growing up...but without the huge amount of weeding. So now here I am attempting to build an elaborate system that I'm not entirely sure will work how it does in my head

My initial images are on the introduction page
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=19488