Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Week 3:

Not much to report. No real progress on the plants because I still only have 10 goldfish. The good news is that the state biologist is planning to visit me next week so at least we're making headway.

It is with great regret that despite all the great help that was given to get my water bridge up and running for the citrus plants, I gave up and added another pump instead. Now the water flow goes fish -> trees -> bed -> fish. So far so good and the trees don't seem to be dying.

fruit trees are gobbleguts, I'd keep an eye on the smaller plants (only if you care about them)

5/29/09 Update:

FINALLY! After 2 months, I was finally able to get the state's biologist to visit my system. I think he was a bit shocked when he got here... luckily he was a nice guy and asked a lot of questions as he'd never seen an aquaponics setup before. The bad news... now he has to go back to the "powers that be" to see what other hoops I need to jump through to get my license. Good times...

Update:



I finally received my license!!! I'm very restricted in what I can do, but I can get my fish finally. That is... if I can get a fish transport permit and provide a fish health examination report. Oh yes... the paperwork is astounding...

Posting updated plant pictures soon.

Sounds like it would be easier to get some mexicans into the country ..... ask them to fill their pockets with fish:)

Update:

Nothing has changed. Struggling tomato, yellow basil, peppers stunted, beans creeping along. I still have zero fish. I gave up hope last week when I saw that the vets (Univ. of Florida & Oregon State Univ.) were still debating which tests needed to be performed. I'm sure I'll have to flip the bill whenever they decide what to do.

As a result, last week I gave up on having Tilapia this summer. I wanted to try and save what's left of the growing season and stock with trout. Should be easy since they're in every river and stream in Oregon right... well, guess what... that's right... I need another &*^$%*$# permit.

Someone tell me again why I'm doing this the legal way? It's easier to import fish from China than it is to buy it in state.

Sounds alot like Wisconsin. I just recently got my import permit for Tilapia (Also from Florida). Unbelievable all of the fees and paperwork involved to bring in a non-native food fish.

Good luck! You have a mostly super sweet setup going there, but I expect you will have issues with pests and rain water. A greenhouse would be ideal, but a simple transluscent roof will really help. The rain can cause rapid temp or other water parameter changes, as well as wash the nutrients out of the system or introduce contaminants.

I have not had any success so far using cuttings in my gravel system, but seeds and rooted plants have done pretty well. I am thinking of trying some cuttings and seeds in rockwool starter cubes buried in the gravel. Has anyone used Rockwool with AP?

Did you use Edgar? If so, we're trying to piggy back on that evaluation.



I agree. I already had one big rain that almost filled the tank. I plan to build a PVC lean-to to cover, just haven't gotten that far yet. Both cuttings, seed, and transplants have worked in both indoor and outdoor systems. They're just stunted from lack of nutrients in the outdoor system right now. I used red scoria in the bottom 3/4 of the bed with hydroton on top. Hydroton and seeds are a win.

As for pests... mostly we have raccoons and slugs. Fortunately, no slugs have found their way into the beds yet and I can always salt the rim.

Ha! That's too funny. I am getting a breeding package from edgar. And I triggered the fish health inspection and all of that. I am going to order my fish in the begining of July.

I should get the 75% off the fish for being the first person im my state to order from him as a registered fish farm, but I ended up paying more in fees than I'm saving!! Not that I'm complaining. I understand why they are bieng so strict, and I'm glad to be in a state where they are so concerned about protecting the natural waters.

I built my roof from clear polycarbonate panels. It was an afterthought on the design, and I ended up making it too short and, after banging my head on it a few times, I added some padding to it. The panels were certainly the most expensive part of my setup, but I diddn't want to have to do it twice.

I am currently battling spider mites in my backyard setup. Nasty buggers. I made a tiny shop-vac attachment with a capture jar, and have been vaccuming them off and regularly and keeping the plants and the top of the bed wet with the hose.

Neat. I'm doing the same thing. You'll have to tell me how it goes when you get them. Looks like we're using the same tank. 150G?

One thing I've noticed being sans poly-protection. I have about a 5-10 degree fluctuation in temperatures when cycling to the growbeds. At night, my tank is holding an even 75F temperature (even when it was 38F outside) but when it hits the cold growbeds in the morning... BAM! I'm building a new 120 gallon system in the house for my breeders. That way I can keep them safe and sacrifice the offspring for testing. This, of course, may all be for not if I can buy some land and get really serious.

The tank is 110 gallons (416 liters). I recently insulated the outside of the tank and areation barrel due to alot of temp flux. It helped, but I also plan to add a foam top to shade the front of the tank on those really hot days.

And yea, I am keeping the breeders inside in aquariums. And using an exclusive set of equipment for them.

Tilapia Status Update - Chappo you might want to sit down for this...

It seems that getting the Fish Propagation license was the easy part of the process. The Oregon State University doctor has deemed it necessary to test for:

Streptococcus and Francisella

However, it seems that the lovely doctor has decided that the industry norm of testing 5 to 10 fish isn't enough to get a valid finding for Streptococcus. They've decided that it will require sacrificing 150 fish. Yes, not a typo... one hundred and fifty fish.

Total cost to do the streptococcus test alone is well over USD$1,000... and we haven't even gotten to the Francisella test yet which will require a completely different set of lab testing and probably another grand.

Any expert advice welcome as any ammo I can fire at this the better. I'm a stubborn SOB but they sure seem hell bent to keep this fish out of here. The irony is that it's imported in from Idaho on a weekly basis.

Luckily, I'm picking up my trout tomorrow. Wish me luck.

150 fish ,, sounds suspicious ,, I tyhink the "testers" may need extra fingerlings:)

All these rules ..... I guess that is why I do my Tilapia in Thailand ,, basically you can do anything you want there ..... if it's illegal just smile and hand over US$5 ....., well you can do anything EXCEPT question anything about royalty,,,,that will see you in GAOL for several years.

WoW!! That is seriously messed up. How do they expect to grow the inustry with ludachrist requirements?!! There has got to be someone who can help you with this. Here we have aquaculture outreach sepecialists throught the University of Wisconsin that can help up and coming farmers with such problems.

Well, it's been two months now. The fight for Tilapia is still ongoing and now in massive debate. I've decided to just try to import breeders and I'm building an indoor system specifically for these if they ever get approved. In the meantime, I'm now the proud owner of 50 trout fingerlings. Hopefully, my tank won't get too hot and cook them. I bought a used $10 mini fridge that I'm going to convert into a little water chiller to try and keep things cold during the warm days. Pictures of that and pre-trout growth coming as soon as I can get my pics off my phone.