Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Netted 6 more from the system, since it's going to be 35 degrees in a few days time. Water temp topped 24 degrees today. I've left 3 in the tank, just to see if they survive and grow bigger.

Also bought a new toy ...

Love those new toys Fuzzmonkey, well done on the trout harvest,

The second-best part about growing your own trout (the best part is smoked trout)

Yes sooooo True. And with government corruption, I can't personally feel very comfortable about depending on things like "organic" certification. At one of the markets I sell at there is a vendor there claiming that her produce is "organic" and "naturally grown" certified yet she is lying since other produce vendors that go buy the boxed produce at the state produce market see her there buying regular old produce and then she re-packages it to claim she grew it at her farm (which apparently is a horse farm and really doesn't grow any produce according to some one who went to check out her farm.) and I keep hearing stories about companies that import products and then package it claiming "organic" when it is nothing of the sort.

So much better to try to grow some of your own and try to buy as much local food as possible. And as to stuff getting sprayed, well that is because most of the shopping public buys with their eyes. They want produce that looks perfect and some bug holes or damage would cause them not to buy it so the people growing it have learned that they have to keep the produce as "perfect" looking as possible if they want to sell it. While you and I know that some bug damage to some of the produce doesn't cause it to be inedible so we can get away with not spraying some of our to be eaten at home produce at all. And since we are growing aquaponically, any sprays we DO use have to be as non toxic as possible since we don't want to kill our fish before their time anyway.

It is interesting to note that for about 10 years I thought I was allergic to celery (break out in hives about an hour after eating just one washed full stick of celery.) I now find out that the celery I grow in aquaponics, I'm not allergic to it. So, I'm guessing it isn't actually the celery I was allergic to but probably to some systemic growth regulator or pesticide that is used on commercially grown celery. I have to wonder how many other food allergies out there are not actually allergies to the food but to something else used heavily on that food to grow or process it.

I hear you TC and agree 100%. I am sure Monsanto is backing multiple studies to research the effect of their poisons on people.... Not!

Fuzzymonkey: Easy?!?!?!?

I would love it if it was easy. It's not a huge amount of physical labour compared to say moving house which I have the pleasure of doing this week but it does actually take a lot of planning and logistics and then a lot of knowledge of what you need to plant - what/when/how etc. If it were easy I would also be harvesting trout this week.

Oh, ouch, I HATE moving. I feel for you good luck with the move.

If it were easy, everyone would do it. But keep trying different things and hang on to what works and remember what doesn't work so you don't keep beating your head against it and can modify something to see if you can discover what does work instead.

As to Monsanto, I'm sure they are backing multiple studies that will find that there are no detrimental effects of their products (that being the drawback to corporate funding their own safety testing, ya know when the scientists are basically being paid to only find what the company wants them to find and not publish anything else.)

I concede that aquaponics is not easy, but it isn't overly hard either. I had zero experience with plumbing and hardware prior to these projects and now I have 3 (granted one of them is a BYAP system).

The hardest part is getting started, followed by working out what went wrong. The latter is what this forum is for - the former is all on you

Thanks TC and Fuzzy.

TC I hear you - moving is a mission but I am grateful I did not have to move a farm!

Fuzzy I think you are implying that I need to get my a$$ into gear and set something up?
(I was on the hunt for blue barrels when I found out our landlord was selling the house. So frustrating - I wanted to start the system over spring but now it will be delayed by a few weeks to a month.)

Moving to a new place? That's the best time to start a new system!

I agree Fuzzy. Good plan.

Our new place is actually not as nice as our current place (but not that much difference) but it has a more open garden where I can place an AP system that will get good sunlight.

Regards, Martin.

Aquaponics itself isn't necessarily hard at all. It is just very hard for many people to find the patience needed for some of it and the patience to try new things and then wait and see how it goes so they can learn from them.

I find aquaponics a lot easier than in the ground dirt gardening here. The weeds here are able to swallow whole villages and keeping up with a garden on new soil I mean sand is HARD. The aquaponics once set up is so much easier to tend and keep the weeds at bay and it's automatically watered/automatically fertilized.

Now anyone who says there are NO weeds in Aquaponics has never experienced Florida. Here, weeds can grow on roofs, in trees, just about anywhere but at least they are usually easier to catch and remove from aquaponics where you can sometimes stop them from climbing in and when wind blown or dropped seeds land in aquaponics they are often easy to spot and pull out before they become too huge.

Thanks TC. I agree, when compared to dirt gardening it is much easier. But when starting out from scratch it can still seem a little imposing.

Regards, Martin.

Water temp was 27 degrees at 6pm today. The 3 remaining trout seem happy still... Am I tempting fate by leaving them in there?

weather for next few days is not bad but, we will probably get some hot days soon!