Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Anybody out there? I have a system going and was wondering if anyone might like to trade ideas.

Hi Danny! Welcome to the board. I grew up in Houston, but currently live in San Antonio. This board is very active so I'm sure someone is willing to trade ideas with ya!

Hi Danny. I'm in NE TX and have just started building my system. Hope to start cycling it in a week or two.

So whereabouts in NE TX?

do Dani or papa plan on growing during a texas weather? I would like to gather more information on that topic as i am from the Dallas area.

I plan on growing what I can year round

I plan to grow year round as well. In fact, I need to plant something really soon because the tomato plants are all gone now. What are you guys planting for end of summer/fall?

Hey Danny, appears you survived the hurricane. You pull through ok?

Yes luckily we survived the hurricane and flooding with only being stranded for a long weekend. The aquaponics got rained on quite hard....the water levels raised a lot. My plants were on the way out anyway. I only have a gigantic tomato plant that doesn't make tomatoes now. That's why I'm asking about what to plant now.

If the tomato plant is still green let a sucker grow it will start fruiting again.

I am right up the road from you in Iola on the other side of Conroe. So what are you planning on growing this winter. I have several gardens indoors and am currently growing cabbage, squash, lettuce, peppers, cherry tomatoes, and many aquatic plants. I really do not eat much fish so most of my gardens have been switched to grow shrimp and other fresh and saltwater creatures.

as far as what to plant outdoors it depends on our weird weather, Last 2 years here we have not had many cold days and I have several tomatoes and peppers that are now going on 3 years old. and a field of tobacco that hasn't stopped growing for 3 years. They just keep coming back from suckers I guess they will keep going until they freeze or I replant. We are lucky with a 10 month growing season. Do you have a greenhouse? Glad you survived the flooding it was crazy around here with 39 inches of rain in 3 days.

USHOG,

That is fairly close in distance, not Australia for sure - which sounds like a great place too.

I set up a hoop house with plastic and PVC ribbing but it's not really going to keep it warm enough for mozambique tilapia that need >45 or 50 F.

Where do you get the shrimp from? Can you breed them?

What is your greenhouse like?

Yes I breed the shrimp and also get some from other breeders. My main system cuts off the outside grow beds during November through March. This way I can grow trout outside to feed the outdoor plants and this keeps the water much warmer inside for the shrimp. I would love to play with heat exchangers but that's a future project. I use solar hot water heaters to help keep temps up in the outside setup during winter I also have a burn barrel in one of the 1500 gallon outside tanks for if it decides to get really cold.

If you have a greenhouse you can always make a huge compost pile inside to help keep it warm or have the compost pile near the greenhouse and pump in the heat.