Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

The beginings of my system, to date it has been cycling for 3 weeks!
Plants after about 3 weeks in system with just seawead extract. I had problems within the first 3-4 days of planting with leaf burn, due to 100+ degree days in las vegas, i bought some solar screen that blocks out about 80 % of the direct sunlight and they are doing great. However the screens that i built were the size of the tanks so they did not supply enough shade so plants on the outsides of the tanks were suffering from burns still. i fixed this buy building a 13 ft long x 6 ft deep by 8 ft tall shade structrure for it! pictures to be added in a few days! As well if anyone knows what kind of fish survive better in warmer water please advise, tilapia is not an option in las vegas it is banned unless you get a permit to import them.

Nice looking system and you can hang strawberry towers from the basket ball hoop

welcome aboard VV

great system!

starting to flower ! i think i counted 8 females on one of the three cantaloupe plants. they are really taking over the bed.

side view of the system w/ the new large shade cover for the plants, im going to remove the shades attached to the beds this weekend.

female?

does anyone have suggestions for fish that would do well in this heat other than tilapia ? as well ive been testing my ph for weeks, and i cant get it to drop below 8 .

how hard is it to get the permit? I can only imagine how beneficial it would be to simply have tilapia. The natural heat of the place would keep your water at optimal temperature and wouldn't cost you anything extra to heat.

Channel catfish would be a good choice as long as they have shade. Bluegill would work as well. You probably need a permit for either of these so it might be worth comparing the cost to Tilapia which would grow faster and breed in the tank more easily. I don't know if Tilapia would survive your winters but they probably would (50 degrees would be the minimum water temp). I know Bluegill and Catfish would.

SYSTEM UPDATE : made some plants have nookie the other day and we got 2 fruits coming along on the cantaloupe plants. The jalapeno pepper isnt liking the 115 degree days we have been having , and the strawberry plant isnt looking so happy with the weather either. Hope everything turns out okay. On the floating raft im planting lettuce in the remaining cups, within like 2 days i had life coming from the cups so hopefully those will do well.

Great work VV

HELP!!!!
i got tons of ants invading my plants, they are killing a lot of growth. Any suggestions ?

Yeah... kill them...

Diatomaceous earth or mix a little borax with water and add some honey (place in small containers on the ant trail). Wouldn't use the second if you have young kids or stupid pets (its not terribly toxic though)

^Thanks for the suggestions Sleepe, will try them out today.
As well figured i would put some pictures of growth of the cantaloupes!

crazy vine plants, probably a bad idea to do watermellon; cantaloupe; cucumbers in one bed lol; oh well you live and you learn. i do have cucumbers coming around as well.

big aZZ mama cantaloupe

little baby girl cantaloupe.

As well i was still looking for fish to grow for consumption, no luck unfortunatly. So i just bought gold fish.. Lame... oh well i will try to get out to california and search there for a place to buy tilapia or bass or catfish of somesort. Unless someone knows of a place in las vegas or within 100 miles to get them?

Looking Nice, you want to kill the ants you can use Aspartame (and if you consume this please stop it's bad for you) quoting - Aspartame is best known by the brand names NutraSweet, Equal, Sweet One and Spoonful. Aspartame is a synthetic chemical combination which is comprised of approximately 50% phenylalanine, 40% aspartic acid, and 10% methanol. Aspartame is found in thousands of foods, drinks, candy, gum, vitamins, health supplements and even pharmaceuticals (crazy). Ants think it's sugar and eat it up and die.

Here are few more-

1. Mix dry active baker's yeast with an equal amount of honey or molasses. Add a little water to moisten but the mixture should be more of a paste rather than liquid. Spread small amounts of the paste on two inch square pieces of cardboard and place throughout the house where pets and kids can't reach. This natural ant exterminator is a good one to leave out all summer and takes about two weeks to work on its own.

2. Another excellent natural ant control method consists of a mixture of 1/3 cup white vinegar, 2/3 cup water, and 2 to 3 tablespoons of dish soap. Combine in a spray bottle and apply to places with ant infestations, both inside and out. Expect to repeat the application weekly. Use this method with other natural ant control methods.

3. Grow some fresh catnip and sprinkle around ant hills and on pathways to the house. Ants seem to dislike catnip and will avoid it.

4. Repel ants with ground cinnamon for an aromatic natural ant control. Sprinkle the spice on the ground across doorways or on the outside of window sills where ants enter. Ants will not cross the spice barrier.

5. Apply food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) to ant hills as a natural exterminator. DE is a safe for pets and children and works well as an ant control method. DE is also effective for killing fleas, ticks, chiggers and other crawling insects in the house and garden. Buy DE from feed stores, gardening centers and online.

6. Scatter fresh spearmint leaves along the ground around the perimeter of the house as an ant repellent -- they hate it and will not cross the line.

7. Make an ant killer juice by combining one tablespoon of boric acid powder with one cup sugar and enough water to make a runny syrup. Allow the dry ingredients to fully dissolve. Pour the mixture into a squirt bottle, like an old ketchup or mustard container with a long applicator tip. Squeeze a drop or two of the liquid on small pieces of cardboard and place strategically around the house away from pets and children. The ants will at first be drawn to eat the syrup. They'll take it back to the queen and it will kill the entire nest. Use the liquid outside in hot spots as long as it's not accessible to pets. This is a highly effective method for killing all types of ants, including fire ants. Squirt some right down the hole of the ant hill and watch it disappear overnight.

Got to be a leason there...

And thanks for all the other tips...