Aquaponics Digest - Mon 02/23/98
Message 1: (Fwd) Can I trust fish spittle?
from "Candace"
Message 2: Salt tolerance
from S & S Aqua Farm
Message 3: First greens... (sorta long)
from "Charland, Stacy"
Message 4: Cold water Tilapia?
from Chad Kruger
Message 5: Small System, was First greens
from S & S Aqua Farm
Message 6: Re: Cold water Tilapia?
from Spivas@aol.com
Message 7: Re: Cold water Tilapia?
from "Wendy Nagurny"
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Subject: (Fwd) Can I trust fish spittle?
From: "Candace"
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 07:49:52 +0000
Subject: Can I trust fish spittle?
Hi Candace-
I don't want to take you away from all the activities you're organizing, but
can you answer a question for me?
My group knows it is important to settle on what methods of sufficiency we
will be using (food production, energy, medicine, etc. ) and we don't want to
just keep without deciding on a method. With that in mind, and
based on your years of experience:
Is there any really MAJOR drawbacks or advantages to relying on a system of
solar greenhouse sheltered growing tables, using the nutrients of fish
effluent such as S&S Aqua Farms system employs? Remember, we are all
vegetarians so this will be our SOLE source of food...we HAVE to get it right!
Any thoughts on why this would be appropriate/inappropriate would be most
welcome. If it is of general interest, perhaps it would be a good post to
the list.
All the best, and thanks again-
Wayne Dennis Holt _____
http://www.ergomania.com
Wayne, I hope some of the others can answer your question, too.
Disadvantage: Solar anything, anywhere might be greatly impaired
because for a while (some say years) the atmosphere/sky is suppose to
be very dark because of Volcanic Ash, etc.
Advantage: Because y2k etc might let loose nuclear waste, etc. the
atmosphere might be dangerous and it would be better to have a food
growing system, covered, indoors; if you can organize enough
electricity.
I appreciate your serious research. Let us know what you all decide
on. Candace
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Subject: Salt tolerance
From: S & S Aqua Farm
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 10:45:59 -0600
Received the following from Jan Kirchner, Sarasota, FL. Any comments from
the list that might answer her concerns about salinity? Paula
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"Like many, I was aware of the fish farming and the hydroponics
separately, but not interdependently. I'm very interested to learn more
about the growing techniques and the systems and the possibility of
their use in warmer and drier climates. (I'm familiar w/ one hydroponic
venture in the Caribbean that uses a water cascade and exhaust fans on
opposite greenhouse ends to deal w/ burn & heat)
Sarasota, as you probably know, is on the West coast of FL and has lots
of rain, heat & humididty in the summer. Winters are usually cooler and
drier (except this one!) and generally great for agriculture.
Another place that interests me as a system location is the northern
Caribbean, where it is pretty hot and quite dry. The island we are
considering gets about 26" all year and water from wells tends to be a
bit briny. The salt tolerance question is important."
Jan Kirchner
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S&S Aqua Farm, 8386 County Road 8820, West Plains, MO 65775 417-256-5124
Web page http://www.townsqr.com/snsaqua/
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Subject: First greens... (sorta long)
From: "Charland, Stacy"
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 12:39:20 -0500
Hi!
My name is Stacy Charland and I have been lurking on this list since late last
year. I am a computer systems analyst/designer, and live in Bethesda, Maryland
USA. Just wanted to let you know that I built myself a little proto-type system
as a Christmas present, and harvested my first watercress last week!
My setup is TINY, since I am currently living in a small townhouse (just made a
bid to purchase 56 acres!), and the system is set up in my bedroom. I already
had a strong, steel frame wire shelf system (from the Container Store) and a 10
gallon aquarium. I purchased a "baby" Beckett Versa Pump (submersible pond pump
- the most expensive component of my system), some plastic hose, fittings, and
PVC pipe, a 1X2X8" plastic container (I probably could have scrounged something
I already had), and 1 bag of brick chips.
I fitted a piece of PVC pipe into the bottom of the plastic container, so the
fitting projected up 1 inch into the bottom of the container and covered with a
strainer to keep the rock from clogging it, and the pipe extends out of the
bottom about 6 inches. The aquarium sits on the bottom shelf, with the
container on the shelf above with the PVC drain pipe going down through the wire
into the aquarium. Since this setup is in my HOUSE, I wanted to make sure that
I wasn't depending on any pumps to keep the water from overflowing out of my
plant bed! The water is pumped out of the aquarium and up into the plant bed on
the second shelf, where it drains back into the aquarium by gravity. The 1 inch
projection above the floor of my plant bed means that even when I shut the pump
off for a good night's sleep, there is still some water retained in the growing
bed. Florescent shop lights hang above the plant bed by chains, and height of
the lights can be adjusted by changing the length of the chains.
I "inoculated" the aquarium water with waste water from my tropical fish
aquarium, and also added some over-the-counter aquarium setup bacteria that I
had on hand. Rinsed brick chips went into the plant bed container to a depth of
about 4 inches. A few days later I added 3 small goldfish (cheap, just in case
this thing didn't work) to the aquarium, and a week or two later, and planted
watercress, basil, and bokchoy in the plant bed.
To my surprise & delight, all has been working perfectly, even while gone on
vacation for a week (left the goldfish with a vacation food block). I don't
think the lights are as good as they could be, and I suspect that the system
would handle more fish, but for a cheap model, I couldn't be happier. The
watercress is clean, crisp, and a healthy dark green. The basil is growing
slowly (due to cool temps in my house?), but it certainly SMELLS like basil when
I touch the leaves. The bok-choy has already required some thinning of the
weaker plants, and will quickly out-grow my container/light system, but I expect
to put most of it in a stir-fry later this week so the basil has more room...
Thanks for all the interesting posts that gave me the confidence to try this out
on my own! Someday, once I purchase my farm and settled in, I will want to try
a much larger scale system...
Till then, back to lurking!
Stacy H. Charland
Stacy_Charland@nih.gov
">>>>Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7th of your life."
-Unknown
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Subject: Cold water Tilapia?
From: Chad Kruger
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 10:26:21 -0800
I recently heard rumor that there is a new breed of Tilapia that can
tolerate cold water. . .does anyone know about this?
Chad Kruger
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Subject: Small System, was First greens
From: S & S Aqua Farm
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 12:44:50 -0600
At 12:39 PM 2/23/98 -0500, Stacy Charland wrote:
Just wanted to let you know that I built myself a little proto-type system
>as a Christmas present, and harvested my first watercress last week!
>
>To my surprise & delight, all has been working perfectly, even while gone on
>vacation for a week (left the goldfish with a vacation food block). I don't
>think the lights are as good as they could be, and I suspect that the system
>would handle more fish, but for a cheap model, I couldn't be happier.
Stacy - I'm excited for you, and can definitely relate to how you feel. I
can still remember our feelings in our experimental greenhouse when the
plants first grew.
Thanks for posting such a great description of your system. We have several
folks trying to gauge a system for the classroom at low cost, and I'm
certain your comments will benefit them.
My only question about your system - do you find the "brick chips" to be
hard media to work with. I don't know if this is actually pieces of brick
or something I haven't heard of. Working in the pea gravel that we use is
not difficult, but I'm trying to envision poking, planting and cultivating
into a bed of sharp edges.
The
>watercress is clean, crisp, and a healthy dark green. The basil is growing
>slowly (due to cool temps in my house?), but it certainly SMELLS like basil
when
>I touch the leaves.
Basil loves the heat (at least most varieties). It seems to prefer an
environment much higher than I can tolerate for long periods of time, but
definitely will grow more slowly when kept cool. I think your lighting
system (extending the hours of light) is helping to keep it growing healthily.
>Thanks for all the interesting posts that gave me the confidence to try
this out
>on my own! Someday, once I purchase my farm and settled in, I will want
to try
>a much larger scale system...
>
>Till then, back to lurking!
Don't lurk too far away - I'm sure you'll have some questions coming your
way about your progress. Welcome, and thanks for the input.
Paula Speraneo
S&S Aqua Farm, 8386 County Road 8820, West Plains, MO 65775 417-256-5124
Web page http://www.townsqr.com/snsaqua/
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Subject: Re: Cold water Tilapia?
From: Spivas@aol.com
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 18:08:36 EST
Back almost 20 years ago, when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the then-
Zaire, I worked on a feasibility study for the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) in the area north of Bukavu, at about 6,500 feet elevation,
on a tea plantation.
A great spot for Tilapia, and the farm was built and another PCV worked there
for a couple of years. I heard from him later, and he said that it was indeed
a garden spot, but that he had to keep trucking or flying in his fingerlings,
since they would not breed (that was usually a real big problem at lower
elevations, i.e., too much breeding at small sizes!)
The reason? The water was too cold. I think they stop at about 54 F. If
anyone has found a cold-water grower and breeder, I hope that they post it!
Steve Ivas, Norwell, MA
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Subject: Re: Cold water Tilapia?
From: "Wendy Nagurny"
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 23:06:07 -0500
Hi, I'm new to this list. I used to raise tropical fish and aquatic plants
(loved it), love to garden, and am striving toward self sufficiency, so the
idea of aquaponic farming is a natural interest for me.
On the subject of cold water tilapia; there is a thriving population of
tilapia living in the Susquehanna River in PA. Somebody had let some loose
in there about 25 - 30 years ago and they managed to survive. They are
not, however, true cold water tilapia. These fish have learned a trick.
During the summer they are found pretty much throughout the river. When
the seasons turn cold they migrate to Harrisburg and live in the warm
effluent of Three Mile Island. My guess is though, that they have become
more cold tolerant than most tilapia. Perhaps if one could capture some
that are living farthest from TMI during the cold months, they would have
some breeding stock of what is probably some of the coldest water tilapia
available.
Wendy
>
> The reason? The water was too cold. I think they stop at about 54 F. If
> anyone has found a cold-water grower and breeder, I hope that they post
it!
>
> Steve Ivas, Norwell, MA
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