Fish... "chicken of the future"

[Brunty_Farms]

Check out my trip to Growing Power in Wisconsin. One of the few things I got to do this year was get a tour with Will Allen of his set up. He raises chickens, goats, fish, plants, turkeys, ducks... worms and compost. Has anyone tried raising fish in an aquaponic system? I want to try and incorporate chickens in with the greenhouse to help heat it, however we ran into ammonia issues last spring. I'm a little worried too, that they would eat the plants... Broilers would work best because they wouldn't fly and put out a lot of manure, which if managed right could create a lot of heat through compost.... what do you think?

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=13707&id=123540254350138

 

[EricH]

thats awesome, ive read quite a bit about aquaponics. i wish i had a set up to do some simple tilapia. i know people that have raised them in 55 gallon drums. that farm was awesome though, its great to be able to use the fish poo to fertilize all of their plants/ plants clean the water = recycled back to the fish. what a great system.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I'm on the search next week to begin getting materials to grow tilapia. I think I'll start with a large horse trough. We have near perfect weather here for tilapia, just not so much water.

 

[gettinaclue]

I've been reading a lot about aquaponics lately. My main problem so far is how to heat the water in the winter with out draining my pocket. The rest I have worked out...in theory at least.


Catfish fingerlings in a 350 gallon tank drain beds, bell siphons, yada yada yada.

My big concern is what about storms? What if we loose power for a couple of days. Bye bye fishes - especially in the winter.

Please let me know if you find some way to heat the water with out using multiple heaters that will make me cry when I pay the electric bill. Sigh.

 

[EricH]

Quote:
wow, tuscon, you'd probably be set pretty well weather wise for tilapia or catfish or anything else. well if your weather is anything like phoenix - my g-ma lives there and i know its pretty reasonable all year. the worst part for my part of the country would be heating the water in winter - and i dont even get snow here. i think itd be nearly impossible in a colder state without just going ahead and giving your paycheck to the power company and see if theres any money left over for chicken feed.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I've done a lot of reading and considering. We have free water, and artesian wells and are really well suited for it. In fact the only reason I haven't gone forward is that I hate to take on more than I can handle . . . but maybe one day. Tilapia is definately the right fish as you use the chicken manure to add nitrogen to the water, which creates the algea growth, which the tilapia eat. I was also considering crayfish but haven't looked into that as much.

 

[Ibicella]

Hmmmm, that sounds like a very fun idea! I think my brother and I would have a great deal of fun with such a notion. I'm the fish nut and he's an hydroponics expert.

Our powers combined, we have AQUAPONICS!

I wonder what fish would be good for up here in Seattle.

 

[SteveH]

Thanks for sharing your trip Jeff , very interesting . I worked as a grower in the greenhouse industry for a few years so I know the inflated , dual walled houses and the hollow tubed poly sheet houses heat and hold reasonably easy on winter days and imagine a few hundred gallons of water heated by sun during the day would serve as a good heat well for nights . I remember you have a deal on free natural gas , man you are really blessed . You could even have natural gas engines to run emergency generaters . As you've already experienced , large ventilation fans will be a must . Some of the larger houses I worked in had automated climate control that ran vent fans , heaters , and raised one side of the roof to let heat escape or fresh air in . Others just had hand cranks to raise walls and vent fans you plugged in as necessary . Its time to get those houses filled with poinsettia and Christmas cactus , you better get busy

 

[NevadaRon]

Quote:
Solar panels + batteries + inverters + tank heater. It's a one-time hit to the pocketbook - you'd have to do the math to see if it penciled out.

 

[eKo_birdies]

Quote:
get a generator. problem solved! that's what saved me when i lost power for 4 days to a freak snow storm last may and had 250 baby chicks under lights... generators=money WELL spent!