Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

It seems that americans are finally starting to see the light.... not all but a good amount...

If your in North Carolina and have a system, starting a system, or thinking about making an aquaponics system, shout out and let North Carolinians know about it..

Add pics so we can see the diversity that is AP

jT

I started a system this year: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=12436

welcome to the forum....

system looks good.... looking forward to further updates

JT

We're in the planning stage here in the Sandhills. We almost had our IBC last week but the money went but our old Suburban needed brake parts so we don't have it yet. Still sourcing gravel and fingerlings.

My DH, Dread, is in charge of the technical/mechanical details and is going with the simple version from The IBC's of Aquaponics for our first experiment. I'm in charge of plants and fish and am collecting information about what fish are likely to work for us given the nature of NC summers with the blistering heat and the inconsistent winters that may stay warm and green or may drop into the teens for several weeks.

We're looking at tilapia, trout, catfish, and also, since I don't really like fish much at all (Dread and the rest of the family like fish very much), prawns and crayfish but are very much up in the air about it since we don't know how long it takes to reach harvest-able weight and which months of the year are appropriate for what species.

Hello everyone, I started experimenting with aquaponics late last year. I am currently running three 55 gallon drums and one 250 gallon IBC tote. I have approximately 30sq/ft of grow bed but, I will be adding more later. I am using a Blue/White Nile Tilapia hybrids in all the systems right now, probably around 300 fish combined. I would have more but I split the females from the breeder male because they are prolific breeders. With one male and two females I had more fry than I had capacity for so, some had to be culled. Anyways, I will post some pictures when I am happy with my setup.

Hello North Carolinians

Started building my system Feb 2012, and my intensions is toward raising fish first and if I get some greens, that would be the icing on the cake.

I have been raising Tilapia from fingerlings for the last 14 weeks. I believe for Thanks Giving we will be able to harvest few to enjoy and will Thanks All Mighty for all of his blessings.

I find that it's always something to slow us up... keep plugging away and it will happen....

I think in this area, local fish are best, bluegill, catfish, gold fish, koi... (which I use) Perch is also a possibility but havent tried them.

bluegill can take up to a year to reach harvestable size, catfish a little longer.... but its been so long since last harvest, my catfish are 24" long and I am a little overstocked because of their size.

jT

are you using any type of swirl filter, as 300 fish for only 30 sq. ft of GB is WAY to small for that many fish, even if they are fingerlings.. they grow fast and the waste output grows fast..

JT

I don't have a swirl or spin down filter, yet. I am looking at making a 35 gallon barrel into a large spin down with mechanical filtration for the IBC system. I am running canister filters with biological and mechanical filtration on the 55 gallon barrels. I haven't had a problem with my water quality yet but, I am looking to run only GB's with mechanical filtration in the near future. I was using a fluidized bed for biological filtration but, I am trying to simplify my setup. Running a canister for mechanical filtration and a fluidized bed with the associated plumbing seemed like a recipe for failure.

The IBC system is running a canister for mechanical and biological filtration with a floating GB. I was using a bell siphon with Hydrotron but, I wanted to expand the system without buying more Hydrotron. So, net pots allowed me to use less Hydrotron for 'almost' the same grow area. I know I should expand the beds but, building and sourcing a suitable container can be trying.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

If you're in the Sandhills area you will want to check out Southern Silica http://www.sandandgravel.net/ for your gravel.

I got chemically-inert quartzite, 1/2" x 1/4" for $6.50 per 1 cubic foot bag -- pre-washed and free of fines even.

You can buy it bulk instead of bagged in large quantities but you have to bring an actual dump truck not a pick-up.

The service was great too.

Hello, I started up my first AP system a few months ago!!! Loving it and working on improving it.

Welcome to the forum Lockey, do you have any photos to share? We really love photos here.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

welcome to the forum and welcome to the North Carolina Aquaponisists...

looking forward to seeing your system.... add all the pics you like

good luck on your system..

JT

Starting one. All I have now is a hole in the ground. Well, make that two holes.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14688

Checking in. I'm in Fayetteville. Been interested in Aquaponics and Hydroponics for about 20 years but never had the opportunity to start a unit. I started my first unit last year, a small affair. IBC grow bed hooked into my water garden with goldfish. It went so well that my better half advised me that after seeing the amount of work i put into the dirt garden versus the Aquaponics unit I need to replace the dirt with the water. That is this years project for me. I am looking to put in a system that will grow Talapia. I don't have a greenhouse but I'm trying to design the fish tank so that it is insulated well and has a top to hold in the heat. We will see. Additionally, i'm laying it out so that I can build a greenhouse around it when i have more funds. Been looking at a lot of the postings and reading through some of the members systems to get ideas. Fully entrenched in the planning process for my second unit at this time.