Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hi joel,

firstly i would like to congratulate you on your segment on gardening australia. inspired me to get out into the garden and visualise my future setup. i would also like to thank you for your great website and forums. finding this place is like a breath of fresh air.

i am a keen follower of your work and hope to purchase your book in the near future.

for the past few years i have been led down the path of sustainable living. i like the idea of providing for most of my own needs directly through my own energy outputs (with the help of some little creatures ).

I have been breeding worms for several years and after reading about aquaculture and inparticular aquaponics i feel its the natural progression towards my goal. at first the worms were just for disposing waste and making castings and "juice". after months of failing i finally managed to create a stable farm. after this i was blown away by the breeding rates and had more worms then i expected i ever would. i learned that worm farms were not simply a worm only afair. i realised i wasnt farming purely for worms but for a whole eco-system of micro organisms.

about 6 months ago with an excess of worms i started to think about the possibility of growing some goldfish. i had an old broken fridge which i was going to get rid of but figured why not turn it into a small pond. i did so and threw in 3 goldfish and a few plants. i hand fed with 1 worm each daily throughout the warmer months of autum and i saw good growth and healthy looking fish. i was using no filter or airation. i was using the water from the pond for the vegies and topping with tap water. i live near a waterplant and the water is very chlorinated straight from tap.

i now have 6 locally sourcced marron and the 3 goldfish growing in a large rectangular fibreglass pond. i am using a solar powered pump for airation. 1 month prior to introducing the marron i filled the pond, threw in some worm castings and airated. the marron have been hand fed worms and are now starting to look good. i have been considering adding a heater but they seem to have settled in well not to mention im near broke. its now been 2 weeks since introduction of the marron and theyre still alive so i must be doing something right.

i am now at the stage where i am looking to setup growbeds and have a few q's if you dont mind answering.

firstly i was wondering if you need to change the gravel after a period of time or can you use is indefinately?

secondly have you ever used perlite as the medium? if so how were the results?

thirdly have you any expirience with growing marron in you systems? if so how are the results?

Great to have your aboard bio-farmer. As you wade through the posts in this forum you will find lots of answers, and get even more questions.

Hi- BF

I have got perlite in a mini-system hooked up to my goldfish aquarium. It seems okay- fish are happy, no deaths and lots of new shoots on the fern in the perlite, but the level of perlite is slowly sinking, which will eventually need a top up, hence adding medium with no bacteria etc. Maybe this will be okay, however, it's probably something to keep in mind.

Stu

I'll beat Joel to the answer and say that there have been people who have used gravel for years with never replacing it or "pulling it down" for a clean. roots get broken down by the micro orgs and apparently you can even find worms living in there. I'm sure joel will elaborate!

woohoo, another new member
welcome bio-farmer!
rom what I have read and learnt here you should be able to use the gravel for ages! just like steve said

3 years no gravel cleaning. Just rinse it in fish water when I'd harvest and put it straight back in.

Welcome to the site nice to have you here.

thanks for the replies everyone. i must say you are a welcoming lot. i think im gonna love my stay at this place with so many like minded folks.

Hey Bio Farmer, Good to see you here..

Yep, seems like everyone has already sorted most answers for you already.... I have only ever had to clean out my continuous flow gravel bed once, in about 3-4 years as it was getting a little clogged up.. The flood and drain system hasn't had the beds touched in a couple of years now. But certainly I don't imagine that the gravel will ever need to be changed...

Perlite works ok though it's no where near as long lasting as the gravel and I have heard of it causing trouble after a while with it abrading and breaking down into a sand type substance that begins to flow through the system with the water...

Maron do alright , but mine were either harrassed and eaten by the fish, or they escaped....

...
you lost your mind too have you?

i would'nt say lost it, just opened it to the collective mind of nature. i feel some how i have found my way home here. tis a rare thing for me in todays society.

btw i love your sig. no doubt your spirits are floating around the flow of your system.

thanks for the reply eb,

i appriciate your time. i know your a buisy man.

so i take it you have more success with yabbies?