Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

http://www.utpa.edu/faculty/zfaulkes/marmorkrebs/

cheers

I hope to start cycling my first system within the next 2 weeks. I live just north of Dayton. My intiial setup was going to be a 300 gal FT and 2, 85 gal GB's. I have already decided to add a sump tank to increase the fish count. After I get things stabilized I will add 2 more beds to deal with the extra FT capacity. My system is in an enclosed sunroom attached to the house that faces the south. Looking forward to reading more about all of your systems.

Hi AquaPatriot,

Adding a sump isn't going to increase the number of fish you can stock - it is the volume of your growbeds/filtration which determines that (unless your fish tank is relatively small to the amount of growbed you have).

be sure to take lots of pics.. i've been trying to get a chance to harvest a bunch of my tilapia,,maybe i'll finally get it done this weekend..

Here's my logic. If I use the 7 gallons per 1 lb of fish model and have a 300 gal FT that would allow me to safely raise roughly 40, 1 lb fish, but when I cycle the water from the FT it will not have the full capacity for a period of time. This will stress the fish, so I have to reduce my fish number to the lowest water level. Let's say I reduce my water level in the FT from 280 gal to 220 gal, that would be the useable water to raise the fish, which would be closer to 30 fish. If I add a sump and replace the FT water simultaneously as the I flood the bed that would at least allow me to use the full capacity Fish to water capacity ratio. Obviously I am new to this but based on my research this theory makes sense. If there are major holes in this please let me know so I can adjust or validate this plan.

you really should base the fish "load" on the amount of filtration you have..
so if you want to grow out 25 fish to 1lb, you need 100 gallons of growbed..
smaller fish eat more (between 5 and 15% body weight) and are more active than adult fish (that eat about 2% body weight daily)
you have 2 85gal growbeds, so 170 gallons (or so - the top of your media should be dry) - i wouldn't go more than 35 fish.. but no matter what you decide, keep an eye on your water parameters..

I am aware that if you do not have enough GB's (filtration) then your system will be out of balance. In the spring I plan to double the volume of my GB's. In a new system, I am betting that the size of the fish will keep the nutrients to a level that the 2 x 85 gal GB's can handle. Sometime in late April I will add 2 more beds to handle the growth of the fish and will begin the warm weather plants. Obviously timing is everything. Hopefully my theory will prove to be sound.

Hello I am from geauga area in Auburn twp. Just wanted to say hi and that my parents use a insta hot and water heated floor in their greenhouse it puts out enough heat and is cost efficient after installation costs...

Aquamaniac, i see its been a couple years since you joinced. i'm just starting out over in Indianapolis and have been mulling over my options for setting up a system in cold weather climate. I think i've decided to simply recycle each spring. I figure if i can get started in march, i can still have a decent season. we'll see i guess. How did you do over in Ohio?

Hi, central Michigan here. I plan to heat my water and my greenhouse the same way I heat my home. My county has a very strong Amish community, and there are at least 20 Amish sawmills within 20 miles of my home. They sell there slab wood in 4' x 4' x 8' bundles for $20 each, I heat my home for about $440 per year - 22 bundles. Adding my aquaponics and greenhouse wont add much of a load as my wood burner is way over sized for my home. About 15 years ago I built my own outdoor wood burner, it heats about 350 gallons of water which is piped into the house where a heat exchanger hangs over the cold air intake of my furnace. It also heats my hot water, I pulled the heating elements out of my water heater years ago. So if there are any Amish sawmills near by, this might be an option for some.