Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

No, as far as I know I cant have any in NSW - thery are all outlawed - thats why i said i was so jealous of our WA and US members. I have been offered some from interstate but its all abit weird - I wouldnt know exactly what i was getting and then I'd have to be all clandestine about it and pretend they were something else. Does not sound like very much fun. i used to be naughty but I'm too old for all those shananigans now and about to become a mum ( 31 weeks pregnant!) so I feel like i ought to be responsible and all that.
But still! I'd love some of those red ones....(teehee)

Aeon, congratulations! My baby boy is now 9 months old. It has been a wonderful, frightening, beautiful time. Having a baby has actually made me think that I might need to behave in a responsible way..... maybe one day I might even give it a go ???

But seriously, I suspect that my interest in aquaponics is the male equivalent of my wife's "nesting" behavior. I looked at the food quality of the stuff that I could feed my son, and decided that I can do a whole lot better than that. He needs omega-3 oils - but in our sad, sad world most of the omega-3 oil sources are also mercury sources....

So I am providing him with an omega oil source that has no mercury. And as a bonus he gets vegetables with no insecticides.

Congratulations on your little boy Aeldric!
I can really relate to your interest in AP re your baby. My 'nesting' and psychological preparation for this baby has all been asssociated with gardening, landscaping and aquaponics. Unfortunately my husband is not into outdoor work or building stuff at all (computer nerd) so its been rather hard going but he helps me with the really heavy or hard stuff ( but grumbles all the way through!). As much as all my projects drive him crazy i just think about all those lovely vegies and food we will have for our baby- rich in Omega 3, organic etc and I know its all going to be worth it.
I have always loved having animals around and fascinated with nature, so aquaponics just brings so many of my interests together and it really challenges me as i have no real building or engineering training like blokes often do (no sexism intended!). Aquaponics is also just so timely with peak oil and the energy crisis - I feel so strongly about going in this direction of a more self sufficient lifestyle which is amazing when I think that a few short years ago all my recreation revolved around music. clubs and outdoor parties. I must finally be growing up a bit!
Now that the baby is almost here i am beginning to panic as I dont know how I am going to finish the system in time. i really hope I have the energy to keep going with it once she arrives as right now my belly is too big to do any digging, lifting , sawing or drilling etc. Not much to do but pace around the house and look at all the unfinished jobs I have. I think that is the unversal experience of all women waiting towards the end of the pregnancy...panic and impatience!
Nice to hear from another parent
Cheers
Aeon

Ah, you're not alone Aeon,

My wife is 29 weeks with our third. I said to her tonight, I'm too tired to have this baby now, she replied that's okay it's not due for ten weeks LOL

Good on you for getting into it for all the right reasons, I'm right there with you. My kids love fish and we eat fresh salad every night, they even fight over who gets what, but I do wonder how good it can really be, when you get a bit of an insight into the water the fish were in (imported fish gross) and the shit that gets sprayed on commercially grown produce.

Best of luck

Congrats Aeon, Aeldric, and Monya. Having kids around aquaponics is cool. My daughter (5) feeds the Tilapia when she comes home from school and then my son (10) feeds them after he gets home from school, then I feed them in the evenings and mornings. Both kids enjoy feeding and handling the fish and are not so afraid anymore.

I keep Tilapia illegally, and if the Dept of Fish and Game wants to come to my house, I will be happy to educate them. Lord knows I've tried already but the politics run too deep. If and when I get fined, I will take the opportunity to grandstand in court about aquaponics and closed recirculating systems posing no danger to the waterways, and I will bring my kids with me to testify how fun they are to keep.

Best of Wishes for you and your babies!

Is it just california MF?

Hey Aeon... Glad to hear things are still going well.... I was happy to see you around again recently, and I'm so happy to hear your big n happy...

bring up those happy well adjusted aquaponic babies....

Hi Steve - only in "Northern California". Southern California they are specially permitted for three hatcheries. Also, UC Davis in Northern California has a special permit for research purposes. Wonder if I could ever get a "special" permit?

Just asked, because it seems california has some of the most stringent legislation Your emission control laws are tough Hence the "californian" models of road and trail bikes. Sounds really "cool" to have a californian model..........until you realise that the parts are completely different to the normal model and you can't find parts for the exhaust or carbs

Sorry for the segue

I’m a computer nerd myself (more a manager of computer nerds these days, but I still like to get down and write some computer code occasionally). Never been much good with my hands. But I am learning fast. I suspect that your husband could get into the technical issues around measuring and instrumentation. I’m looking into coding up control systems to automate a lot of safeguards. Interesting.




I know the feeling. In my case it was Gothic nightclubs (I am a nerd). Haven't seen a night club in over a year.

Peak oil is interesting. I doubt that we are looking at the End Of Civilization As We Know It (as some people have suggested), but we are probably in for a tough time. My estimate (guess) is within 5-15 years we will be looking at some significant economic and social dislocation as peak oil combines with global warming and a number of other factors to produce a very complex emergency.

My job requires that I write project plans, risks, issues, threat scenarios, etc for some pretty big projects ($millions), so when my son was born I did an assessment, looking at the economic and social outlook, global warming (climate change), peak oil, population growth, resource and water depletion, etc. I then generated scenarios.

I do not see us returning to the Stone Age (as some alarmists do) but I was surprised at some of the interactions. Some level of self-sufficiency might be a reasonable risk-mitigation response.




I seem to recall that we spent the first three weeks as zombies. I didn’t get back to my projects until about week 8. My wife can only work on her projects if there is someone around to keep an eye on the baby.

Cheers,
David C.

Aeldric, do you work in the city? MY GF works in Queen St, hence how i know of the aquarium there I look so thoughtful driving her to work if i've got a lazy morning............little does she know..........

Yup. I work 10 minutes walk from the aquarium

we'll hook up one day for lunch.............I'm usually in the city on wednesdays

executive lunch- steve you'll have withdrawl symptoms, u got a laptop to keep up the dose or do you burn things when you get home?
sorry but had to say it!

Sounds great.

I have lunchtime meetings every Wednesday - which I will very happily cancel, so that we can talk about stuff that actually interests me