Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have only one other fish that has a spot on him but looks more like a scar. I have not been able to catch him though....it is hard in my tank to catch specific fish. They are all eating incredibly well. I am feeding almost a pound a day of pellets and throwing in leaves of lettuce. I hope soon to see my seeds take off.

I have not had any births that I have been able to see since the crisis. I had floating plants that shielded the fry but they died with the salt so am going to try some other plants...the fish keep eating the roots so not sure if I will get any to take root now.

It has been a challenge finding seeds here to plant in my system. I decided to get my father-in-law to buy some in the US and post them to me so I can get some new plants in the system since practically everything else died when I put salt in the water to kill fungus.

I have ordered
Leaf and head lettuce
Pak Choi
Parsley
Spinach
Mint
Peas
Bush Beans
Swiss Chard (silver Beet)

I am assured these are more shade tolerant vegetables.

I am putting together another system to go on the balcony of my house that gets FULL sun all day. I will plant Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Jalapeno peppers basil, cilantro and other veggies there. (I will start another thread for that one. My plan is to put the females in one system and males in another so I can keep them separate once they are old enough to sex.

I am in a quandary about my next system on the balcony. It is about 12 meters away and 5 meters higher than my fish tank. It would be nice for it all to be one system but the pump would have to be much larger to get water to those heights.
I could put the fish on the balcony in 150 liter tubs but there is the issue of weight. I am leaning more that way though. I would put 4 fish tanks and a 1200 liter grow bed (one from my existing system) and some satellite tanks.

That way if I have a crisis like the last one, it would affect only one system and not the whole operation. (I have been reading Gary Donaldson's thread)

Has anyone tried roses in an AP system?

Your vegetable list is perfect for the more shade-tolerant vegetables. Interestingly, I have heard that cucumber will also take some shade, but that seems odd to me. Might be worth a try.

Be careful of mint. Once it is started, you will never be rid of it. I think it has been known to clog irrigation pipes. Maybe it would be OK on a raft.

Store your seeds in plastic sealed boxes in the refrigerator, and they will last many years. Protect them from moisture.

I think somebody is trying fruit trees in their AP systems, but I haven't noticed any roses yet.

Ok will go easy on the mint.. Thanks. I will post pics of the location I want my next system when I get a chance.

DT- Mint would be a great one to try to float! If the hungry little fishies eat the roots, the mint will grow back anyway, and the fish will have minty fresh breath! The other benefit of the mint in a raft, is there is only so far it can travel. You might want to throw in a few leaves and see if the fish like it, if they do, you can grow some food for them too.

I wish I had access to hydroponic baskets ....for now I am making do with plastic cups with holes floating on a piece of lid from a grape box. Not pretty, but effective. I will try that.

Can I just throw the mint seed the in basket or do I have to plant it in dirt and then transplant? Never grown it before.

Mint--I think you throw the seeds and run.

Honestly, I've never grown mint from seed because it doesn't grow true from seed. Iow, you will get a minty plant, but some will be superior, some will be inferior...I'm not sure how much variation you will get. Plant a lot, sample it early, and discard those with a taste not to your liking. Once you have a plant you like, you can get more with cuttings or divisions.

Given the vigorous nature of the plant itself, I would say it will grow anywhere you put it. I think the seeds would be small. I have planted my smaller seeds on a little piece of seed starting plug nestled in my gravel to keep them in place until they get roots. You might be able to adapt that idea.

I will give that a try...when I get my seed. I tried rosemary....that does not do well for me in AP.

Don't know about roses however, I think carnations and pinks are well suited to hydroponics , so should do will in AP systems.

I will be soon. Climbing roses would look nice around the shadestructure, we used to have them around another garden but the termites liked them too much! The grapevine that we planted is still alive(thats a start!) so if we haven't killed it yet the roses should be a goer!
Cheers Axl

Cool, I might have to try some sort of flowering plant. Put them in some troughs and line them up along the side of the house.

Nova

Hi my lemon has been in over a month now two leaves have gone yellow the two lemons that where on it have doubled in size os i think its a goer

I bought a dwarf meyer lemon and a dwarf tahitan lime yesterday. I'll probably plant them tomorrow.

I do like the idea of having some fruit trees in my aqua system in F&D satellite pots. I am going to start with my paw paw and go from there.