Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

i am with you on all those

Think that's the crux of the discussion Stuart....

Without the fish tanks that's just commonly known "run to waste"....

Add the fish tanks... and it's still "run to waste"....

But is it AP????

It has 'aspects of AP', but is not truely AP

How about.. Here some of us practice 'almost closed' loop AP growing.
Having to add water and power, recycling not reticulating water.

Aquaculture + Hydroponics + Irrigation = Aquaponics + Irrigation = Intergrated agriculture

I don't think I could be convinced that a "run to use" (not waste) system couldn't be aquaponics. I might be convinced of the philosophical and environmental benfits of a recirculating system depending on the circumstances.

Brings up two questions for me. If you have a source of water that is a bit salty (even if it is only a little bit (like my cousins creek in the Otways)) at some point in a recirculating system won't you have to do a water change?

Natural systems are often flushed seasonally so a system that periodically runs to waste to a greater or lesser degree shouldn't automatically be objectionable.

Second question. I live on a farm that is 111 acres (and some roods). About 80% of it is highly fertile, free draining red volcanic soil. The rest is thick sticky grey clay. Actually its all really thick sticky clay its just that about 80% of it is covered in 2m of the red volcanic soil. In a normal year (ie when it rains, not like the last 12) wherever the red soil finishes and the grey clay is on the surface the chance of a spring being within 50m is about 95%. So we have masses of fertile soil and masses of water (relatively). If I were to convert the farm to AP that would mean that good fertile soil would be covered by Gravel filled grow beds. Surely not a good thing. Wouldn't an Aquculture and hydroponic setup on the crappy clay with water irrigated onto crops on the good soil fit within the general greater philsophy of this forum. Sensible use of the land, water, etc.

I reckon that the best use of resources in some areas would be a totally recirculating system but surely not always?

Management and planning go along way.

I like the sound of your land Stuart.

Whether or not it fits the "strict" definitions of what's AP or not....

I'd certainly agree/admire such use of resources.

Yeah we are pretty pleased with it. F&F and M visited today and I got to show off my water and make excuses over my mess.

Yes we visited today there is loads of good water i would like some of the red soil for my dirt garden now the mess [good stuff] it was everywhere[ grouse ] as for him not beeing a tree hugging hippy ive seen the house house building id say if he dount hug trees he stands next to them

You have to get awfully close to them to in order to cut them down

Some of my friends would be horified at the thoughts I now have as I walk through a forest. That'd make an excellent set of beams, bectha that would have a beutiful grain, how would I get a truck in here to get that log ......

Hi,



AM......some of us do what we do to bring AP to a wider audience (like those who are pushed for space or those who have physical disabilities or those who are not willing to accept the limitations imposed by narrow thinking) rather than (as you suggest) going out of our way to prove a point.

I do have some water returning to my sole growbed but I'm open-minded enough to concede that there are other ways of looking at things.

In any case, as I noted earlier, Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics......in all of its forms.

Let's not be frightened of trying new things.

Gary

It is interesting and/or fun to debate the terms, but at the end of the day we can each do whatever the hell we want to do in our own back yards as long as it's legal. I have sometimes taken in advice from the fine forum members and thought - yeah, I could do it that way, but I want to do it my way... The using fish water to grow plants definition is inclusive enough to make everybody happy, probably?

I guess the sticking point in the debate is whether aquponics is (recirculating) aquaculture + _recirculating_ hydroponics. Does everybody agree that the aquaculture is definitely recirculating? You could remove all recirculation out of it like the guy in Scotland with the trout being raised in a side stream of a river, then planting beds, then out in the river again, is that AP?

The definitive thing to do would be to ask the person who coined the term. According to wikipedia's article it is definitely closed loop. If that is the definition then open loop is not AP, it is some other word free for the coining.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics

We all know that in the end it doesn't matter. Each to his own and all that.

One reason that this type of debate has gone on frequently here - other than a pure ego thing - is that people new to aquaponics may:

1. Be taken advantage of by unscrupulous and/or ignorant business people who are selling equipment to be used in ways that are as yet unproven; and/or

2. Mistake an experimental system for one that has been proven to work in the long term and seek to replicate to their own detriment.

One may ask - who cares let them make their mistakes - but that is not what we are about here. This forum is about helping others and mutual learning.

I think it is a great thing for us to experiment using new ways and methods. There is a raft of new things that people are doing very successfully now that have come from individual or collective thought and experimentation out of this forum. What we do need to be mindful of though is making it clear what is an experiment as opposed to what has now been proven to work - so as not to confuse new members. A healthy debate then about the pros and cons of an individuals system can only be a positive thing, provided it is approached in a positive way.

BTW - I’m more than happy for people to critique my system because it will hopefully lead to me implementing improvements.

OK VB, yours isn't as pretty as LB's is. (seriously thinking about painting my styrofoam now BTW)

One of many reasons I enjoy this forum over other web resources out there is that this one really is a "backyard" AP site, as opposed to the research papers and consulting business things, which are talking more to mass production and economic interests. This forum is great because of the homespun ingenuity and tinkering that is going on, and the fact that anyone could replicate one of our systems if they like them because they are described openly. OK, need more Easter candy/fuel...