Getting my toes wet finally!

morningstar

Hello everyone! :wave1:

I have been lurking around for the past few years and now that I FINALLY have a place I can move forward with... here I am!
Our ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for a grocery store except for such things as flour, condiments, etc and hopefully to generate a secondary income!
We just recently purchased a 1 acre piece of land with a house on it in northern California. Our plans are to have an organic orchard with tree guilds, some grapes, and berry plants, ducks, chickens, Nigerian Dwarf goats, rabbits, and an aquaponics set up! Rabbits will not be for food, we will be raising pedigreed/registered Holland Lops and American Chinchillas which we plan to sell to FFA, 4-H, and a reputable pet store. The goats will be for dairy, hens for eggs, roosters for dinner and since they will be a registered/pedigreed (whatever) brred they will also be to sell for FFA and 4-H.
We want to have a duck pond as part of our system as well. The "tank" we are using is an old swimming pool that is 18' x 4' that will drain through the duck pond and then from there go to the grow beds. The fish tank and the grow beds will be in a greenhouse and the duck pond will be outside the greenhouse.
We plan to bury the swimming pool/fish tank in the ground about 3 feet to use the geothermal properties to help control the tank temp. I am contemplating using gravel as the grow bed medium. We plan to have red "wiggler" worms in the grow beds as well to help with breaking down fish and duck waste for the plants. In the tank we will have rafts for things like spinach and lettuce.
I am contemplating using netting to divide the tank into about 4 quadrants so we can have more than one type of fish at a time.
I had planned on tilapia but recently read that it is illegal! :shock:

! Since we eventually would like to sell excess at farmers markets one day I want to make sure that we are above board at all times! I would like to have some sort of crawfish like blue marron just for something different and because I think they would be a HOT commodity since they would be something different out here, or maybe some freshwater shell fish and channel catfish.
Our zone is 8b/9a... summers get really warm - like upper 80's/90's, winter (first one here) has been very mild, although there was a very light dusting of snow this morning. Otherwise, we got quite a bit of rain this month!
Any thoughts? :think:

Hope this wasn't tmi or put anyone to sleep... just wanted to give a good idea of what we are up to!

Looking forward to "meeting" everyone! :flower:

robbie

scotty435

Hi Robbie,

Sounds like an interesting place. Welcome to the forum :thumbright:

.

MartinC

Hey Robbie, WELCOME to the forum. Your site and plans sound great and just so you know everyone here loves lots of photos. It really helps to get an idea of someone's system and it is just great fun to envy someone's set up.

Other than that I have one comment: you mentioned "We want to have a duck pond as part of our system as well." This is a big no-no in Aquaponics. If you use waste from warm-blooded animals it can create all kinds of risk, which is why the main animals in an AP system are fish. I'm no expert but I think if you had to try and get clearance to sell produce from this I think you would be shut down. Please investigate this in more detail before moving forward. My understanding is that parasites and other infectious agents cannot cross-over from cold blooded animals to warms blooded animals like humans but of course warm-blooded animals can infect other warm-blooded animals like humans. It would be great to hear from the more experienced members of this forum on this issue.

Other than that, your plans sound exciting. When do you get to start on this new piece of land?

Regards, Martin.

morningstar

Hello and thanks for the welcome!
I have been doing lots of work out here in demo and remodeling for the house, but still thinking all the time about the aquaponics system and setup.
Martin, I plan to start this spring, once the geothermal system (for the furnace) is installed because the lines for that will actually be in the ground (about 5 1/2 feet down) below the greenhouse for the aquaponics. So hopefully it will be happening in the next few weeks. As we are warming up here and the rain is finally slowing down a bit I am able to spend more and more time outside! Don't want the rain to stop but do want to get things growing!! Also, thanks for the comment about the duck pond! I really had not thought of this problem! Just figured since it is a naturally occuring process it would also work in aquaponics, but I do see the logic as it relates to being able to sell commercially at a farmers market!

GurkanYeniceri

Welcome to the forum Robbie.

As long as the duck pond is separated from the AP system, it should be allright.

I assume you want the nutrients from the duck pond flowing into the swales where you develop the orchard. Utilize gray and black water as well to increase the nutrition going into the orchard.

Have you thought about rain water collection for the AP you are planning?

morningstar

We have already been working on the rainwater collection system! It has been raining buckets here this month so I really wish I had it in place already...but it is being built as fast as i can get it up! Hopefully it will be fast enough.

That's a great idea to have the duck pond going to the orchard. Thanks!

nosliwmas

Hi morningstar,

There is some beef to what you read about Tilapia in California. Of course, do check for current
information from the proper agency, but here is a brief break down of Tilapia regs in California:

Aquaponics - California Aquaculture / Univ of Calif, Davis

Aquaponics - California Aquaculture / Univ of Calif, Davis wrote:

Fish: The most popular fish grown in aquaponic systems are tilapia. Tilapias are a
robust fish that do extremely well in recirculating systems. Many states have restrictions on the
culture of tilapia as they are non-native fish and resource agencies do not want the fish
established in natural waters if they were to escape aquaculture systems. California, for
example, has restrictions on where tilapia may be cultured in the state, and most tilapia culture
is restricted to southern California in counties located south of the Tehachapi mountain range
that separates southern California from the Great Central Valley. The State's resource agency
originally stocked tilapia in southern California as they once believed that the fish could not
reproduce, or even survive the cool winter temperatures. Tilapia not only survived, but
successfully reproduced, even in the high salinity inland Salton Sea. The restrictions are in
place now to prevent tilapia from being introduced in the watersheds north of the Tehachapi
mountain range.

Currently, Oreochromis hornorum, Oreochromis mossambica and Tilapia zilli are the
only three tilapia species that are allowed by California Department of Fish and Game (DFGLead
Agency) to be raised in specific counties of southern California. The specific counties are
Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Imperial counties. Tilapia zilli
is allowed only with a Restricted Species Permit obtained from the CDFG. If you live in one of
these six counties and plan to raise tilapia in an aquaculture or aquaponics system, you must
register as an aquaculturist with the CDFG. If you plan to import tilapia into California, you will
need an importation permit from CDFG. You can obtain more information on aquaculture in
California on the CDFG Aquaculture webpage at: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/Aquaculture/, or call
CDFG at (916) 445-0826.

Aquaponic operations north and south of the Tehachapi mountain range use other fish
species besides tilapia in their culture systems. Table 2 is a partial list of common fish used in
aquaponic systems. All fish should be purchased from a licensed fish breeder and, if imported,
the buyer by law must obtain an importation permit from the CDFG.

Table 2. Partial list of fish and crustacean species commonly grown in aquaponic systems.
Tilapia sp. Oreochromis hornorum, Oreochromis mossambica and Tilapia zilli
(Allowed in specific counties in southern California)
Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus
Common Carp Cyprinus carpio
Hybrid Carp Cyprinus carpio x Carassius auratus (cross)
Goldfish Carassius auratus
Ornamental Koi Cyprinus carpio
Minnows Gambusia affinis, Notropis lutrensis, Notemigonus crysoleucas
Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoide
Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus
Red Swamp Crayfish Procambarus clarki
Freshwater Shrimp Macrobrachium rosenbergii

There are quite a few friendly aquaponists from Californa on this hallowed forum. I'm sure you
can check with them to see what is actually being used and where. I believe there was a recent
discussion about pulling Tilapia from the Salton Sea (in southern California.) However as I recall
there was mention of various fish sellers and those are probably more up on the law than the
typical clerk you'd get if you called the right agency...

--
Sam

Max47

Hello MorningStar,
Tilapia is a no-no in Northern California. There are a couple aquacultue suppliers in the area that supply Channel Catfish, Large Mouth Bass, Bluegill and a few other species. I purchase my fish from Freshwater Fish Company. They are open to the public one day each month, very nice people. There is another supplier near Chico that stocks ponds, I forget the name but I believe they have more fish species to choose from. Best of luck, I look forward to seeing your plans and setup.

MartinC

Any photos yet MorningStar?

morningstar

I have been researching where to get fish and and I had found out about Freshwater Fish Co. last year. They sound like a great source and is where I am planning to get my fish once we are all set up and ready to go.
No photos yet, but the rest of this month is dedicated to getting things set up and all the pumps and such configured.... I think that is the hardest part! So far that is!! Hahah! I may be a bit delayed as I determine if we are going to have to put in a new HVAC system because our old one is failing and UBER expensive to run! $450 a month with the thermostat set at 62 for the "winter" months! Yikes! The only reason this will delay us is because it will be a geothermal heat pump and the ground lines would be right where the aquaponics set up is going...

Backyard Aquaponics A place to discuss aquaponics

Getting my toes wet finally!

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics