Aquaponics

[politicalcenter]

Yeah I wouldn't say I know much about anything when it comes to AP gardening, this being my first attempt and all that.

We were lucky in that the pump was putting out enough to keep the plants happy until I was able to clean the lines out. It wasn't moss or anything icky in there, the pipes were clogged with masses of roots. No idea why they were growing in there. Much better flow now.

I've changed my feeding regimen to one light feeding in the morning before the sun comes up and another in the evening after dark. I only put out enough that it's all eaten within a few minutes. If there is any left over I'll cut back on the next feeding.

I run my pump 24/7 also now. I had one on a timer but it wasn't getting the job done.


RichnSteph

I had an old whole house filter for under the sink and I found some filters on sale and I bought all they had. Two filters cost me $ 1.50 and they filter the green out of the water. The only problem is that they clog up in about 15 minuets. I take a brush and clean them in a 5 gallon bucket. Then I can reuse them.

This weekend I am going to try to get one pond clear. I don't want to use a chemical because when the stuff dies the water turns brown. So hopefully I will finally get clear water....hope this helps.

I lost three catfish when a chicken unplugged my pump. It could have been worse.

 

[RichnSteph]

I had an old whole house filter for under the sink and I found some filters on sale and I bought all they had. Two filters cost me $ 1.50 and they filter the green out of the water. The only problem is that they clog up in about 15 minuets. I take a brush and clean them in a 5 gallon bucket. Then I can reuse them.

This weekend I am going to try to get one pond clear. I don't want to use a chemical because when the stuff dies the water turns brown. So hopefully I will finally get clear water....hope this helps

What is it that makes your pond so green? Is it a massive algae bloom? Ours went from deep deep green due to an algae bloom to dirty brown when it all died off before we had the tilapia in there. If I recall correctly you're not using your pond to feed your garden yes?

 

[politicalcenter]

What is it that makes your pond so green? Is it a massive algae bloom? Ours went from deep deep green due to an algae bloom to dirty brown when it all died off before we had the tilapia in there. If I recall correctly you're not using your pond to feed your garden yes?

For one thing I have a lot of fish in a small space and the ponds are directly in the sun.
But I think the main reason is because when I first got the fish it was cold and I overfed them and they would not eat the food and it just sunk to the bottom and this is probably what fed the constant bloom. It is pea soup algae. The pond with just water plants (and few fish) gets clear until I swap the water with my other ponds. There is just too much algae food in the water. I have a filter set up now that runs crystal clear water but it clogs up fast.

I am not using my pond to feed my garden because I really don't know enough about it and I have many other things to take up my time.
i had to wait a couple of hours today for some folks to come and pick up a pig I just sold.

I do believe I will get the water clear soon. I am going to leave my job ( retired) next month.

If I shut the pumps down the water just has a slight green tint and you can see the fish on the bottom. But the pumps stir the water up and it gets really green.

 

[knjinnm]

Add daphnia to your green water to clean it up, leave your filters off but leave air bubblers on.

 

[RichnSteph]

Found a dead fish this morning. Looks like one of our crawfish got to it during the night. Problem is that I don't know if the crawfish caught and killed the fish or if it died of something else and the crawfish just gnawed on it afterwards. Out of the original 26 that we put in there I'm down to less than 20 fish. I'll have to find/buy some more to put in there but they've got to be large enough that the bass can't swallow them.

 

[lazy gardener]

I once put a cray fish in my tropical tank. He'd neatly decapitate and eviscerate a fish every night. I'd get up and find a fish neatly cleaned, and looking like it was ready to be rolled in seasoned flour, and fried up for breakfast. Only problem was, it would take a lot of them to make a decent meal! I then moved him to a bowl at the top of our stairs. Every time he heard someone coming up the stairs, he'd come to the surface and wave his claws, looking for a meal.

 

[politicalcenter]

Add daphnia to your green water to clean it up, leave your filters off but leave air bubblers on.

I have thought about daphnia but I am not sure how to grow them. When I had tropical fish years ago I read about using hay or straw as a starter culture.

They would also be good fish food.

 

[knjinnm]

If you have green water that is all the food they need. Do you have access to daphnia? If not I could send you a culture, start them in a 20-30 gallon rubber-maid container.

 

[politicalcenter]

If you have green water that is all the food they need. Do you have access to daphnia? If not I could send you a culture, start them in a 20-30 gallon rubber-maid container.

I would like to try some. I haven't found any nearby.

 

[RichnSteph]

Our tilapia have started laying eggs and rearing fry. We had a rather large cloud of fry in the system and before I could get a net to them and get them out all but 17 were eaten. I brought those in the house and dropped them into our indoor aquarium and watched in horror as they were all devoured by the few Black Mollies in there. Dang it.

Now we have another pair out there playing "kissy mouth" with the eggs and in the hope that we can keep some of them alive I'm going to find and order an in-tank container that we can put the fry in to keep them from the rest of the fish until they are at least a few inches long.

The garden part of this little endeavor is terrible. We're getting nothing with regards to produce. All the plants are doing well and still growing but none of them are making veggies. I"m pretty sure it's due to the high nutrient load of the tomato and pepper plants and the lack of nutrients in the system since I have so few fish. Ah no worries though. I'll pick up some more fish when I get a chance and see what I can get to grow this winter.

Still having fun with it so I'll keep on making little adjustments and upgrades until it's running like I want.... and then I'll probably tear it all out and start a much bigger system.