Hey all.
Just getting started in Aquaponics. I've been planning on moving to the foothills of the Giant Sequoias and starting a small ranch / farm. I'm a commercial Union plumber (here in Los Angeles) by trade, and can't stand going into work anymore. Time for a major change of scenery and career. I figure any place I wind up with will be hilly to say the least and made up of decomposed granite. The Granite has great drainage properties, but that's about it. More than likely, because of the rolling hills, I would be using a terrace style of farming with NFT tubes for crops like non-GMO corn and non-GMO tobacco. I'll be burying 3/4" plastic tubing in the terrace rows under the NFT tubes for geothermal cooling of the ponds in summer time. I'll also plant another tube just above the geothermal closed loop tubes. The second tubing will be perforated to supply water into the medium around the geothermal tubes. Water around the tubing should increase the efficiency of the system in heat transfer.
A small orchard is in the plans wherever I wind up. I would be using AP water in drip systems to feed the trees. Some apple, peach, lemon, orange, walnut, cherry, palm, and olive trees. I'm also an avid hobby wine maker. Hard apple cider and cherry wine are my specialties. I'm just getting started in making beer.
I don't know yet how I would use AP to grow crops like wheat and barley?
The fish I will be raising are #1 Catfish, #2 Tilapia, and #3 Crayfish in that order along with feeder fish like Guppies, and Minnows. Currently, I'm planning on a small system here in LA till I can get up the cash to move.I've already spent about $1500 on supplies and materials for a Hydroponic system, and most of it can still be used for a nice Aquaponic system. Timers, tubing, fittings, pumps, sumps, valves, filler makeup water valves (I had planned on using many small sumps and tanks) and sediment filters.
My goal for the ranch would be to have at least two 1400 gal tanks to start (above ground pools in a well insulated shed / barn), and a in ground natural catfish pond to supply water for the trees and outdoor plants. I'll be building a greenhouse for the fruit and vegetables using geothermal heat exchange. The winter and summer pond water temperature will be regulated to stay as close to 72*F as I can get it. Much less than that is not good for promoting the good bacteria, and much above that promotes mold and other pest problems. My target PH is 6.5, and my target air temperature in the greenhouse will be 62 - 82*F. Keeping the air temperature plus or minus ten degrees of water temperature causes less plant stress and hopefully happier plants.
The majority of what I will be growing will be for animal feed. Pigs, chickens, goats, and rabbits, along with a milk cow and depending on what I can get property wise and location, a couple riding horses that can also help contribute to the compost piles.
So far, my understanding is that a 1400 gal tank will comfortably accommodate 140 adult catfish or Tilapia. I'm still figuring out how much grow area I need to have per 1400 tank, and how many plants that will hold. I plan on doing a lot of fill & drain growing beds with expanded clay and gravel in the greenhouse, but will also be using a lot of vertical grow tubes, and the NFT I mentioned earlier. I have not found any information yet on how to figure grow area for the vertical or NFT systems.
For the crawdad's, I'm planning on making a tank with a hole in the ground and a pond liner 1 1/2' deep, 2 1/2' wide, and about 20' long. Mud bugs are tasty! Mmmm! I plan on adding that to the insulated temperature controlled structure where I will be keeping the two 1400 gal fish tanks. There is not much info out there on raising crayfish except for how they do it down south. I guess it's a regional thing? I was introduced to them as a kid living in San Jose. I was introduced to catfish as a kid living next to the Sacramento River in Sacramento. First fish I ever caught on my own. You just don't forget things like that.
This looks like a good site to learn from. I caught the AP bug and am infected with it now and there's not a darn thing I can do about it.
Backyard Aquaponics
