Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hi
tommorrow i will be taking a field trip. i am going to a large scale hydroponics shop over in sheffield . uk. it has a working display green house , so im expecting big things. not sure if they are up on there aquaponics. i have already got the fish thing down, need to see the hydroponics to get it square in my head.

went behind the scenes at 'the land ' in epcot at disney. that was fantastic but later i had soooooo many questions and no one to ask.

i want to see what i can gleen from the display and adapt it to my needs.
i have designed major marine invert systems so have plumbing /flow / pump experience. just need to fill my head with more STUFF.

its a 150 mile round trip but that seems to be the nearest serious shop. all the local hydroponics shops only know about vegetating not vegetables , and the only food linked to there systems are the chocolate biscuits they crave late at night.
http://www.aquaculture-hydroponics.co.uk/
shop name seems promising too.

blodger

hi
the trip to the hydropnics shop was fantastic. they had a green house ful of different systems growing different veg. melons,squash, butternut squash up nets , 8 foot pepper trees ,tomatos of course, herbs , lettuce ,strawberries and some head sized onions. they where huge and apparently an attempt on the weight record. one of there customers is an onion fanatic and is after the record.
the staff where great. they had heard of aquaponics but its is unused over here. got some interesting info. i have to check out some parameters and figure what fish i intend to keep. then i can work back to what plants to grow. staff quite enthusiastic and want me to keep them informed.
came away with some gear to play and lots of leaflets. very productive trip and worth the miles

blodger

I'm glad it went well for you. We have this farming store that, once you know plumbing and ponds a bit, is an Aquaponic nuts wet dream.

But the staff think I'm a mental case as all they know is cows.

I even pretended to like cows but I think they know I eat them at night.

Finding contacts in industry you can actually communicate with is a thing to be nurtured and cherished.

I love leaflets if they've anything to do with Aqua. I will ignore the admiring glances of girls to pore over my glossies.

AA
i was good to talk to people face to face that did nt look at there watch or start yawning. lol
i got a general book on hydropnics to give an idea of what nutients each type of plant needs and other basic info.
turns out its from oz . so you southerners must be leading the way.
as long as the journeys good i dont care if its crap when i get there. lol

blodger

Interesting you said that. I have often remarked to myself obtaining Aquaponic goals feels as good as the dream.

Yep, when you get to the end it all becomes a bit boring, enjoy the designing, thinking and building phase, I found that after 6 month or so of finishing my big system, it was all just a little, ho hum..... :sleepy4:

Must admit though that the interest of others keeps me enthused....

Keep pushing it over there blodger, soon you'll end up with lots of local people who are interested...

never thought this could get boring... a smooth running system is no cause for boardom - instead its an opportunity to play with the balance by adding towers etc

For me it's not so much boredom as satisfaction but I had so many hurdles and so few guidelines.

A smooth system can become 'commonday' but the Aqua bug's not left me. It's grown. I almost gave up! Right before a breakthrough.

I've had many minor breakthroughs that at the time encompassed my entire world. Healing my favourite fish, zero waste!, plants outstripping what I'd seen in similar hydro...

I love the planning and system design stuff. The learning curves. Still right challenged as to aspects facing commercial production (and somehow keeping it clean you know what the $$ boys are like) and exploration of other areas.

Aquaponics definately kickstarted me out of boredom.

A wise man once said "better to travel than to arrive"

I reckon once your system is finished, just build anotherone!!!!

Yeah but then it's - buy a property, build a system, in Joels case.

im at the bottom of a steep learning curve shouting let me at it . i'm trying to take the time to tie on some ropes on so i dont fall to far . when im at the top of the curve i hope i have time to sitr and enjoy the view.when the views old i ll slide down and start another hmmm maybe a saltwater version hmmm

My aim is to get bigger and bigger (uhm, systems that is )