Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Good afternoon everyone. I look forward to learning as much as possible here. My name is Kevin and I plan on starting a small scale flood and drain and dwc aquaponic system on my lani. If anyone is in my area and like to share some ideas about starting a system all help would be appreciated. Thanks for any help.

Cheers and welcome Kevin

Hi Kevin, I'm not in your area but have family in Lakeland so we get over to your area any time we go to visit my dad / grandparents.

Your lanai is a true lanai? Not closed in? My dad has been closing in a lot of lanai's for people. Keep in mind your evaporation issues with the temps you see on your lanai... it's miserable enough in Florida in the summer time... you're going to add more humidity so need to probably think about air flow so you can control your temperature a bit or you may struggle with finding plants that like things as hot as it may get... I think the miserable part is probably why my dad gets a lot of work closing lanais in... make it so you can air condition them easier =) still a concern for where the moisture would go though with an AP system in there.

Hey Rob, thanks for the reply. I am planning of starting a small scale AP system on my Lani. My Friend has taken me under his wing, and has an awesome well established system. My Lani faces south and has three huge trees that provide shade all summer long, the temp will be my biggest struggle as well as the humidity. The lani is screened and I plan on placing fans in the corners for circulation. It will be mostly experimental during the summer months with mostly drought tolerant plants. I do not have all the lingo down yet with the acronyms but My plan will be 150 gallon tank. Swirl filter,bio filter, one DWC bed and two Media beds. Talipa will be the fish of choice and will experiment with the plants. I have a small green house and outside garden going right now with mostly beans squash and tomatoes. I plan o trying to clone some of the tomatoes in the AP system and might even possibly use artificial lights. I have good knowledge of the mechanics of the fish and ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, since I have always had fish tanks throughout my life. Believe me I have killed many a fish in my early days. Heat is my biggest battle where I live so the succulent plants I will save for winter. I would say that my main goal would be to cycle the system and get the PH/bio levels at constant levels> thats where the experiment part comes in. If I can have the system stabilized by winter I will then move on to fast growing greens and foods that I like to eat. Any input would be greatly appreciated as I learn how to navigate this enormous amount of knowledge on this site.

From St. Petersburg

show my ignorance I thought you were from Russia.

you might want to look in to the legality of raising tilapia in Florida... I don't think it's legal unless you have an aquaculture permit from FWC... I bought my first tilapia from Tampa Aquaculture and I think they said on their website they are not allowed to sell tilapia to Florida residents unless you have an aquaculture license due to the fact that tilapia can live in Florida waters year round and breed so easily they have become very invasive (and can't be caught by normal fishing methods, have to use cast nets because they won't bite a fishing lure). Up here it's not a big deal because even blue tilapia which are the most cold hardy will die before winter since our water freezes and they die at about 45-50 degrees.

looks like maybe blue tilapia are allowed but not Nile (not sure why that would be.. I didn't think any tilapia are native to Florida... but maybe because Blue tilapia have been turned loose in all the waterways they've relaxed the regulations now?) FWC Aquaponics page http://myfwc.com/license/aquaculture-ce ... quaponics/

Thanks again for the reply Rob. I will plan on taking a few talipa from my friends system. He has the blue ones and they are permitted. I could actually go out back in the pond where I work and nest some up, but I do not trust the water or disease factor. I actually thought about sicklets since I do not plan on harvesting my fish for food. I want to start with a small system first and then move a larger raft system into a green house that I will build from scratch. Heat is my enemy here, everything grows great in the winter, summer is another story all together. This will be my first attempt at AP and mostly just an experiment. My goal is to grow plants and conquer powdery mildew.

Check out Ryan chatterson and TClynx on here, they are both in Florida with larger systems you can probably learn from what they are doing.