Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm sure the majority of the new members here (including myself) were inspired by the Gardening Australia segment and subsequently found their way here.

I reckon we should all email them and beg them to show the segment again, as it will no doubt expose it to more people. I only saw it cause I get ABC2 and happened to be walking past the TV when it came on.

What do you all think? I'm sure Peter, Josh and co at GA would be absolutely stoked to see that the segment has whipped up so much enthusiasm amongst all of us here, and I'm sure there were plenty of people who saw it and perhaps haven't yet found the portal.

1164 new posts in only a week and a bit is pretty impressive to IMO.

Simon

lol, when i read on here it was going to be on I checked the TV paper religiously and then taped it!! (and watched it twice on tv, on the friday night and sat morning i think it was aired)

Be great to expose some more people to it though

Simmo,
Do you have an email address for the correct person at the ABC to email ? If so please post it so we can act on your suggestion.

http://abc.net.au/gardening/ is their web page, gardening@your.abc.net.au is the email address... I'm planning to draft one up this afternoon.

<snip>

Josh doesn't have any say in what happens on the ABC, so it's probably not a good idea to write to him... But the ABC would be worth while....

I sent an email to both addresses... anybody else done it?

got this back when I emailed Josh

Out of Office AutoReply: Aquaponics
This is an old email address and is no longer active. In an attempt to reduce the amount of Spam, please contact me initially via www.joshbyrne.com.au using the Contact Form. I will reply to genuine emails. Josh Byrne

Cool, I have been playing with a new system this morning for a few hours, so haven't gotten around to it yet. Will very shortly...

Is there any way to check an average number of visits per day before and after the airing of the episode. It would be interesting to see the difference. Another one would be to see how many people signed up for the forums during the week after the show. I'd probably be one of them, I signed up as soon as I got the group email that it was going to be on. I still had the iinet address bookmarked mind you, so I was thrilled that there was a forum up.

I just bought the magazine and found my way here from the article.... wish I'd seen the episode, but we hardly ever have the tv on and I always seem to forget!

Melinda

Welcome Mel: Lots of great articles here.

Finally got around to sending mine...

I found aot about this from watching GA. Found the iinet site through google the next night, then found the new site a couple of days later. Ordered the book and then signed up here as soon as I started gathering some stuff together for a setup.

Would love to see the episode again now that I know more about it.

Nova

Thats exactly how I got here Nova, and I'd imagine a whole bunch of the newer members and guests.

The stats summary from before and after the airing would make interesting reading. Well, maybe not interesting....but you know....

I got a replyfrom gardening Australia today. The email and attatched file are below:

Dear Mr Downing

On behalf of Peter Cundall thank you for taking the time to write to
Gardening Australia.Attached is the Fact Sheet on Aquaponics which may be of interest to you.Unfortunately it is unlikely that the segment will be repeated in the near future.
We wish you continued success and enjoyment with your gardening activities.

Kind regards,

Gardening Australia Team
_____________________________________________________________
and sent this attatchment (a transcript from the segment):

Josh visits an aquaponic backyard in Perth

Joel Malcolm's suburban backyard is not big but it's extremely productive, with thriving fruit trees and vegetables. It’s also no ordinary garden because fish are an integral component. Joel uses a system called aquaponics, where waste water from fish tanks is pumped into gravel filled beds to fertilise his plants. The water is purified during the process and recycled back to the fish.

Joel says he’s always had an interest in organic gardening, and while searching the net for permaculture information, discovered aquaponics. “It just made so much sense that I started studying it and building systems from scratch.

“The nutrient rich fish water is pumped through the gravel beds, and the plants extract nutrients out of the water before it’s returned to the fish, clean and oxygenated - and the plants grow well.

“The fish give off ammonia which builds up in the water and it can become toxic, so you need to strip the ammonia out of the water. The bacteria grows on the gravel and it then converts the ammonia into nitrogen. The plants use the nitrogen and the water is returned clean.

“Pea gravel is the medium used as it’s locally sourced, cheap, free draining, and it provides a great surface area for the bacteria to grow on.

“A number of fish will grow in these systems. I got a great crop of barramundi last year. But try goldfish or coy carp. But check with your local fisheries department to see what's available and what you're allowed to grow in your area. Another two to three months and my fish will be ready.”

Joel says that all the material needed to build the aquaponic system is available from local hardware stores. He says it takes two or three months for the bacteria to build up in the beds. “But once the bacteria is built up and the system is in balance, then it's robust and stable.”

The water is constantly recycled, so it's actually water efficient. And because there is no seepage, there is no nutrient pollution.

Joel says the system has to be organic because the bacteria in the fish would be affected if any insecticides or fungicides were sprayed into the system. “The only thing that goes into the system is organic fish feed.”

There are obviously plenty of nitrates in the water, because things are green and leafy and thriving. But how about trace elements and other minerals that the plants might need? How do they get those?

Joel says they get trace elements out of the fish feed, but if there are any symptoms which show the fish are lacking anything, then chelated iron or seaweed extract are added.

He says: “The system is holistic; the fish, the plants, working together in a natural ecosystem. The water sound is beautiful. It's simple to set up, operate, and maintain.”

Aquaponics doesn't have to be expensive. A lot of this system is built from reused materials, and the cost of running the pumps is minimal. Joel also has breeding stock of yabbies - pairs of males and females in the tank to grow next year.

And he’s going to feed the fish on worms and duckweed. “The duckweed is growing in with the yabbies, and the worms are growing underneath in bins. The worms will grow on offcuts and scraps from the growing beds of the old vegetables. I'll feed them to the worms and feed the worms to the fish, as well as the duckweed,” Joel says.

Further information:
Joel Malcolm’s website: www.backyardaquaponics.com