Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Herbivores kick ass!

Fed the goldfish some leafy weeds yesterday and they loved it! Talk about cost effective!

DD- I don't know if it is the same but my trout used to eat shelled peas.
used to remove the husk(?) which would reveal 2 halves which I chucked in.
I also collected march flies and the trout would get 'air' eating them!

Hey C1:
So you threw in the husk or the peas? I have been considering some kind of food fish to grow next year, blue gills or perch are options, but they eat animals (worms, insects), and I would have to ramp up production of these somehow. I am now of the opinion that I will try the ubiquitous tilapia, as well as a goldfish system. If I feel ambitious I may try some blue gill too (three kinds of fish in three separate tanks).

I should be able to fatten them up nicely with the great dandelion harvests we have in the Spring around here (more yellow lawns than green).

The peas DD-
there are lots of bugs and worms that are quite easy to raise,
I have a creek for the grey water 'permerculture maise' about 30mtrs (95') long got all kinds of things in there.
tiny frogs to huge suckers.
The chooks love it.(buggers)

Updated pictures. This is the new bed that was planted with seeds last week. In the front are tomatoes, on the right are 4 green beans only one in the back sprouted, in the back is basil, and on the left is mesclun mix which will probably be ready in 1 1/2 weeks from now.

This is the other round tub shown earlier. I planted some basil seeds in the blank area yesterday. Shown here is some basil in the left front, tomato behind that, a little green pepper plant next to the stand pipe, and a marigold.

Another money shot. We cut down this lettuce to have some salad with dinner, got compliments from the wife and step-son that they like this lettuce. Best $500 I've ever spent! :tongue:

There is also a tomato on the left and basil on the right. The leaves along the front edge and the little yellow flower on the right are a wild strawberry plant that I found while weeding the side of the house. It looked weak for awhile after putting it in, but now it is doing very well.

Goodness looks nice Dave. Id say feed the perch the talapia, but thats just me. Still planning on Perch or the Bluegills myself, but not close to getting them yet. Your system looks great. Bringing it all in for the winter?

Hi GF:
Yep, although not sure about the configuration. I will be getting a 30 gallon aquarium that my parents were going to give to the Salvation Army. My old lady is warming to the idea of having the system downstairs. She wants me to get another aquarium and some pretty tropical fish for the living room now. The plants have definitely helped; much more aesthetically pleasing than the bare gravel and plastic and cement blocks.

We got our new exchange student from Thailand this past week, and she was telling me that basil is used there but called something I can't remember/pronounce. She is going to fix some Thai dish that uses it! (speaking of dishes, Natalia is moving to NYC tomorrow, sorry guys; going to try to live the Polish-American Dream).

Sounds good Dave.

That weed you threw in looks like dandelion. We have a variety of local weed, very similar, called puha. Spicy green, great in small amounts in salads, on a sandwich, or stewed.

Peas would contain good high protein.

I've found whiteworms a relatively easy culture for carnivores. Also mossies, but only in warmer months, and our mossies are harmless, not a good practise in Oz where some mossies cause illness. If you can get black soldier flies, there's a link here somewhere about them, magic maggots that disinfect and harvest themselves! It's a big read but absolute gold for carnivore owners.

Your plants are beautiful Dave!

Fantastic system Dave. The plant growth is awesome and is one of the best rewards from aquaponics (unless that's what I think). And to have grown a polish student after only one week after planting. Have to get some more PES seeds...I wonder if I can get a PES innoculation along with the bacteria innoculation once my system is setup
Keep up the great pics.

Gold dave, Gold

A great looking system there DD... It sure was a good $500 spend!

Happy occurence lately! Whether it is because of the cooler weather, the plants taking up nutrients, the third growbed coming online, me feeding them lettuce and leafy weeds, no rain for weeks, or all of the above, the water has turned clearer than it has EVER been! I can see all the way to the bottom of the tub, until now no chance. I even saw the algae eater this morning when feeding the fish!