Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Costa Rica is truly a beautiful place - and the climate is pretty nice too!

You would believe how fast things grow under a tropical sun too. If it can stand the sun - you get incredible growth - otherwise, under shade.

We also will be able to maintain pretty much optimal growth for whatever fish we have - just had a little black plastic if we need heat - which is doubtful.

CR, A roof or cover over your fish tank might be an idea. We don't get the same amount of rain as you, but during the wet it all arrives overnight One of our growbeds is not covered, so we get some top up that way. A couple of weeks ago I had to dump 1000L from heavy rain.

Since I have to cover it to prevent too much sun, a little bit of plastic should be in there too. We don't get much wind so it can be pretty flimsy.

OK climate is nice, but here is the key question: Are the mosquitoes big enough to carry off a small child? Mosquitoes home in on me from a 5 mile radius. and those stripey-legged Tiger Mosquitoes leave welts on me that last a month.

What mosquitos? I am from the North (Western NY) and believe me - the mosquitos up there are 10 times worse. We have bats and birds which love to munch on mosquitos. As long as you don't leave water standing everywhere - you don't have many mosquitos

Oh, and toads, can't forget the toads. I have seen toads as big as dinner plates! Our dog isn't afraid of much - except those toads!

Janet I read somewhere that mossies seem to be more attracted to people who are thiamine (B1) deficient.....

Here in OZ we eat lots of vegemite, or some of us do anyway.... rich in thiamine..... seems to work fairly well for me.... but they love my daughter who refuses to eat the stuff

This of course is the key - have a sacrifice person who the mosquitos like more than you. Calling them Skeeter Bait might be giving it away though.

Thanks TRC, I would be that person.

DH thinks that it's great to have me around 'cause he never gets bitten.

As for the thiamine (B1), I might have to look into that....

CRT, looking forward to your progress reports

Aah! Vegemite – lovely story from when I was in Vietnam

We had some American army guys into breakfast one morning and one of the larrikins decided to introduce them to our vegemite

Started off with layering a piece of toast with about ½” thick of vegemite and coaxed our ally to join him – all was good until he was told that vegemite was made from the blood and guts swept from the abattoirs floors

yup, DW gets all the mozzies, unless she's inside. I liken it to sacrificial corrosion :-)

Well, progress awaits the trip to the big city which is scheduled for Friday. There is enough in town to build it - but I would prefer to see what more is available. The pumps seem to not be exactly what I am looking for.

Another question - I notice people are talking about testing for Nitrates, etc. Which kinds of testers are necessary (or good to have) and how often should you use them?

I am pretty good at eyeballing problems with plants, but I suspect it might be nice to be a bit more accurate.

Any, how many don't even bother? (KudaPuCat - I assume you have everyone known to man. )

You want to be able to test for
pH
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate

These test kits are available from your local LFS.
An until recently, I only had pH and Nitrate, but I had to confirm the others were 0 before adding fish.

Get the magazine EB has issued, and it will explain in some detail all about the various tests.
There are others you can get like calcium testers, dissolved oxygen I think, and total dissolved solids etc but top ones are essential.

The magazine can be found here.

I knew about 70% of what was in there, but had arrogantly assumed from the contents page I knew more like 95% so for me, it was a VERY good read.

Hmmm, what is a local LFS? Local Fish Store? Sigh - okay another thing on the list for the "big" city.

All of this reminds me of learning to fish. The first thing you need to learn is to pronounce clearly for the sake of your spouse the following words...

"Honey, I need to BUY..."

We can afford it - not an issue there (my wife is actually encouraging me!) but I hate shopping of any type.

Oh, I agree, time to reread the magazine. I did read it when it first came out (which is how I ended up here) but now I know more so another read through would be a good idea.