Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Sounds a bit too cool for the minnows to eat. The bacteria in the grow beds won't be doing much either so if you add some plant food be aware that some of it might become available later on when the temps increase. Great job to be getting a harvest this time of year in your area with the climate there being what it is

I'd suggest making pesto with any basil before it goes kaput - it won't be long now and they're kind of a pain to clean up when the leaves start falling. Toms are kind of in the same boat. Everything else stands a chance of making it but probably won't grow much for awhile unless your adding supplemental light.

Cheers

Pesto it is! Yum. I'm pretty tickled with how it's going. Thanks Scotty on the fertilizer note, good to know. I'm hoping the water return to the sump is enough to keep it from getting too settled and stagnant. So far no smells or funny water and I've had to top off the sump once already due to humidity loss. I really want to put lights in there too but right now just leaving well enough alone to see how it does and what needs tweaking for next year.

Weeeel I did break down and add a small milk box heater this in January.
March has come and I emptied one media bed and changed it to a DWC and rafts of spinach, kale, and lettuce. I won the battle with our Fish and Game and have ordered my Tilapia. Hopefully they will ship next week and arrive in North Dakota alive.
My black barrels of water never froze but I can't say they if they really worked. I think I will remove them soon.
I have ordered a larger water pump (120gph to 400gph) and hope I can replace the barrels with a strawberry tower or two.

Fry arrived...currently growing them in the house until I can see them without a microscope. A few shipping losses but I think there about 21 left. I Ordered some fish food and found the next morning that the cats had eaten half of it ugh. Although I believe one cat had a rude awakening jumping into the raft bed which used to be a media bed. The rafts were all crammed in the corner so I believe it went for a swim. I need to do some housecleaning then will post some photos.

Anyone ever walk into a finished build and want to rip it out and totally remodel after a learning curve? Ugh

For some types, it is a given that this will be the case. I'd expect that aquaponics in general attracts a lot of "tinkerer" types who by definition will likely continue to "evolve" their system(s). Dasboot's evolution is a great story of starting with a good idea, making it work, redoing it with lessons learned, repeat. Every rework of the system elevates his game and he's now playing semi-pro ball.

There's nothing wrong with someone building a functional system and just letting it run. That's probably the goal of all of us. But for some, if a tweak can be determined that will likely improve something, it could be like an itch that needs to be scratched. It might take a year, or waiting until the next good opportunity to implement that tweak, but some will never rest when there is a reasonable tweak that could result in better production or a more efficient system.

I live this same idea with software rewriting every day. Every rewrite of a piece of code can result in better, more efficient code. Time and energy and resources are the limiting factors...

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Sam

Thanks Sam That is a classy way to put it. I fall into the tweak category (well at least until it's perfected imo). I'd love to go big but not until I figure out what I need to know through and through. It's amazing the little differences you notice after putzing along. Even the fish....one supplier and you never see the fish they hide. The next batch are the most social fish I have ever seen....why is that? Our water is naturally alkaline so in addition to learning what you need to run for the basic cycling now I need to adjust for water. Do I add rain water or work with well water? What do the plants and fish prefer....it's all tweaks right. I'm glad I'm not the 'get frustrated and pack it all in type'. So I foresee a rebuild in the fall. Yes as you mention following the amazing systems posted is never ending entertainment and continuing education. Good thing I read in the AM some of the details would be lost after a few drinks at night.

Costa Rica? What fish are you raising? I spent months in Orotina and would return in a heartbeat!! My favorite home from home. Yo soy Tica! Great now I have your system to go discover... cafe Brit for drinks tonight since I'm out of their coffee....sheesh.

Yup! On the other hand getting older does have an interesting side effect: What would have driven me nuts 20 years ago because I was my own nitpicker, bothers me less and less. There is more beauty to be seen in the builds I've done these days, or perhaps that is mostly in my mind I'm constantly paring down my to-do list and it still feels huge.

Brian your build is beautiful! I'd have my feet up and a book in hand in your fish room and never get my to do list done.

I've had small batches of Tilapia that I've caught in nearby canals, lakes and ponds, but those were mainly bait waiting to go for a ride in the sea... Still working on building my hybrid media-bed/DWC/bucket system. I'm at an elevation where I've got year round temps between 17C - 32C, averaging about 22C, so Tilapia it will be (and maybe Koi) in my AP systems. We eat a lot of other types of saltwater fish, but fresh water fish to eat around here, are almost all Tilapia.

I am very fond of a wood-fired pollo place in Orotina that was where I ate my first food in Costa Rica oh, so many years ago. We rushed out of the airport in San José on the way to Jacó so fast that we didn't have time to eat until we got further down the road. First stop: Orotina and doña (I can't believe I've forgotten her name)'s Pollo a la Leña (chicken cooked over a wood fire.) At the time my Spanish was a lot worse and I thought her name was doña Leña (Mrs. Firewood!)




With the new highway bypassing Orotina on the way up the mountains into the Central Valley, I pass by Orotina a lot these days, but except for when the Fruit Festival is on, or when someone dies (we've got family there!), I rarely stop in.

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Sam

Wish I lived closer, that looks like a great place to eat . Lot of great food down in Central America.

Check out this massive tomato I picked today! I'll be solving world hunger at this rate. Tomato berries!

Well the system did not hold up to the latest blizzard. Three days below freezing with no power has taken its toll. My three yr old tomato tree is the most damaged. We are devastated. The celery and peppers in the floating bed are just fine. Not sure if the fish are still alive they have been laying low for two weeks now. On the fish note surprisingly enough our cows drank the 1000 gallon trough down to ice chunks and when I started to refill today (inverter on pump run by good ole Chevy battery) there is a goldfish amazingly alive and hovering by the incoming water flow. Not moving fast but his gills were going.
There are plenty of tomatoes to be picked tomorrow and brought in the house. Sigh... On a good note this may give me the chance to start a remodel. I will cut he Tomato back and see if we can't save it, hate to give up after three years!

Take a few cuttings from the tomato and see if you can start an extra or two in case the original doesn't regrow .

Hadn't thought of that Scotty. Drrrr Thanks!