Aquaponics Digest - Thu 02/18/99




Message   1: Re: Michael's Urine Ideas

             from Michael Strates 

Message   2: Re: compost tea for hydroponics

             from jilli and lars 

Message   3: Super intensive

             from Jose Pelleya 

Message   4: duckweed

             from Jose Pelleya 

Message   5: RE: identifying crayfish from Florida

             from "Jorg D. Ostrowski" 

Message   6: Re: feasibility question about yellow perch

             from "brett deiser" 

Message   7: unsubscribe

             from "Martha Wright" 

Message   8: Re:unsubscribe

             from "Martha Wright" 

Message   9: Re:unsubscribe

             from "Martha Wright" 

Message  10: Re: unsubscribe

             from "Martha Wright" 

Message  11: Re:unsubscribe

             from "Martha Wright" 

Message  12: Re:unsubscribe

             from "Martha Wright" 

Message  13: Reunsubscrie

             from "Martha Wright" 

Message  14: Re: runsubscribe

             from "Martha Wright" 

Message  15: Reunsubscribe

             from "Martha Wright" 

Message  16: Re: unsubscribe

             from "Martha Wright" 

Message  17: unsubscribe

             from "Decla  Nichols" 

Message  18: Fed Up!

             from Michael Strates 

Message  19: Re: feasibility question about yellow perch

             from "Jorg D. Ostrowski" 

Message  20: List instructions

             from S & S Aqua Farm 

Message  21: Re: request for nutrient supplier

             from Jaarvis

Message  22: Re: duckweed

             from doelle 

Message  23: Re: Fed Up!

             from doelle 

Message  24: Re: uns*bscribe

             from Chris Hedemark 

Message  25: duckweed

             from PHRL33A@prodigy.com (MS JEAN R SHAFFER)

Message  26: Re: uns*bscribe

             from Adriana Gutierrez 

Message  27: Duckweed - info from earlier posts - long

             from S & S Aqua Farm 

Message  28: Fwd. packaging

             from S & S Aqua Farm 

Message  29: Re: Wick Hydroponic System

             from MUDDTOO

Message  30: Word of Thanks

             from Dave Miller 

Message  31: Re: Wick Hydroponic System

             from Dave Miller 

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| Message 1                                                           |

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Subject: Re: Michael's Urine Ideas

From:    Michael Strates 

Date:    Fri, 19 Feb 1999 04:04:01 +1100 (EST)

On Thu, 18 Feb 1999, Dave Miller wrote:

DM> I'm missing something, I assume you run the uhhh solution through

DM> multiple times or continiously?  What exactly is the floss and where

DM> does the powder form?  The theory sounds good, can you detail the

DM> specifics even if offline?  I would be willing to wait until you have

DM> one up and running.

Floss is simple filter floss. The filter is just a normal biological

filter which converts urea into nitrate. The water circulates in it

continiously.

The powder forms in a metal evaporation can which is heated by the sun.

I'll detail more of this when I get it working.

--

e-mail: mstrates@croftj.net   www: http://www.croftj.net/~mstrates

See keyservers for PGP info.  Linux! The OS of my Choice!

"Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned

skyward, for there you have been, and there you long to return."

- Leonardo da Vinci, and below an extract from John Fogerty's song:

Hey, Tonight - Gonna be tonight- Don't you know I'm flyin'- Tonight

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| Message 2                                                           |

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Subject: Re: compost tea for hydroponics

From:    jilli and lars 

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 00:29:31 -0800

KLOTTTRUE wrote:

> Lars wrote looking for snail eaters,Lars go to http://www.Combat-Fishing.com

> ,good site for salt & fresh water fishes info with pictures.Ken

thanks ken - lots of info at that site.lars

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| Message 3                                                           |

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Subject: Super intensive

From:    Jose Pelleya 

Date:    Wed, 17 Feb 1999 22:05:57 -0700

Alejandro:

One experimental project here uses 25 square meter circular concrete tanks

with 10 times a day water exchange and a density of 100 fish per m3. They

have a 3" pipe. They tell me of another who uses a larger pipe, about 6"

and has 250 fish x m3. Both of these raise fish to 500g in 4 months.

I'm looking into possibly tanks in octagonal shapes made from prefab panels

 with every other panel being a common wall, if it makes sense cost wise.

Also looking into the possibility of plastic tanks, but don't know how big

I can get them without custom building them, or the price.

I'll keep you posted.

Jose

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| Message 4                                                           |

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Subject: duckweed

From:    Jose Pelleya 

Date:    Wed, 17 Feb 1999 22:11:09 -0700

Lars:

There's lots on duckweed aquaculture, and it's used in the Orient a lot.

Upside: free food

Downside: Labor involved in harvesting, drying, etc, plus they need still

waters, so they're raised in separate ponds.

If you're still interested, I'll dig up the URL.

Jose

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| Message 5                                                           |

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Subject: RE: identifying crayfish from Florida

From:    "Jorg D. Ostrowski" 

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 08:13:13 -0700 (MST)

Alejandro: We do not have such resources at the university of this

land-locked city. I have seen the Australian web site and it is of help,

but will not help with crayfish from Florida. Any further advice from=20

anyone would be appreciated. Jorg Ostrowski

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| Message 6                                                           |

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Subject: Re: feasibility question about yellow perch

From:    "brett deiser" 

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 07:59:44 PST

>Hello;

>I am in Ohio, just talked to a local guy who does recirculation fish

>farming.  Trout, walleye, and yellow perch, the yellow perch being >the 

ones I am interested in.  He was fairly scornful of the whole 

>aquaponiker notion. His son, he was quick to tell me, is a PhD and >he 

(the son) is CERTAIN that

>there isn't a chance of it working.  ie:  water quality good enough 

>for fish won't support plant life, water that will support plant >life 

will kill the fish.  

             The system as set up at the S&S Aqua Farms doesn't allow 

the build up of waste from the fish to reach harmful levels as the water 

is cycled thru the gravel medium fairly often this allows,I believe, the 

concentration of fish wastes in the gravel to levels beneficial to the 

plants and clears the water for the fish before it's returned to the 

fish tanks. If I've misinterpreted this someone please correct me.

       Keep your nose to the grindstone, Your eye on the ball, and Your 

ear to the ground, and try to work in that position!!

                       Brett:-}

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| Message 18                                                          |

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Subject: Fed Up!

From:    Michael Strates 

Date:    Fri, 19 Feb 1999 17:30:43 +1100 (EST)

Holy sh*t.. Will these fools stop posting unsubscribe messages to the

mailing list. If you had of KEPT the notice you got when you subscribed,

you would have known how to unsubscribe.

Let this be a learning excercise. If you had of asked nicely rather than

sending 1,000s of unsubscribe messages to the list, perhaps you would have

got a little bit further with some help.

--

e-mail: mstrates@croftj.net   www: http://www.croftj.net/~mstrates

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| Message 19                                                          |

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Subject: Re: feasibility question about yellow perch

From:    "Jorg D. Ostrowski" 

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 12:51:01 -0700 (MST)

you said:"The system as set up at the S&S Aqua Farms doesn't allow 

the build up of waste from the fish to reach harmful levels as the water 

is cycled thru the gravel medium fairly often "

__________________________________________________________________________

Brett/Paula: How often is best? I used to do it 24 hours/day. That

required 415 kWh/year. Now it is on a timer for 0.5 hr/day, which only

requires 5 kWh/year. From an energy point of view that is good. Is that

good enough for my gravel hydroponics and the fish? Jorg Ostrowski

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| Message 20                                                          |

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Subject: List instructions

From:    S & S Aqua Farm 

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 13:51:03 -0600

III. SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE INFORMATION

*************************************************************************

If you ever want to remove yourself from this list, send an e-mail to:

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in the body (or message area) type:

unsubscribe

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Messages to this address will AUTOMATICALLY BE BROADCAST TO ALL LIST MEMBERS.

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If you wish to subscribe to the digest format for this list, which will

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If you ever need to get in contact with the owner of the list (comments,

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*************************************************************************

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| Message 21                                                          |

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Subject: Re: request for nutrient supplier

From:    Jaarvis

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 16:49:55 EST

hi all

i noticed the request for liquid nutrients

i work in the research and development department at General Hydroponics,

predominately testing a variety of nutrient formulas

we currently sell a 3 part nutrient formula called the Flora series which can

be combined in different ratios for a wide variety of applications

we have a web site at http://www.genhydro.com that has more information and

pictures of some of the hobby and commercial systems we produce

it also has our toll free number

additionally, we have been working with a mined mineral clay that provides a

wide spectrum of trace elements

we have an article on this at    http://www.genhydro.com/pyroclay.html

or it can be reached off our articles and FAQ link

finally, we have tried a variety of organic nutrient formulas, but would often

run into problems with their buffering capacity

if you want to use worm castings,  you should monitor the pH to make sure it

stays within an acceptable range

some of our trials have produced acceptable growth,  but nothing compared to

our regular formula

good luck

jaarvis

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| Message 22                                                          |

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Subject: Re: duckweed

From:    doelle 

Date:    Fri, 19 Feb 1999 09:09:59 +1100

Have a look at the electronic Journal Livestoch Research for Rural Development:

http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrdhome.html

This group: www.cipav.org.co  works a lot in Vietnam with Duckweed and

earthworms integrated systems.

Good Luck

Horst

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| Message 23                                                          |

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Subject: Re: Fed Up!

From:    doelle 

Date:    Fri, 19 Feb 1999 09:14:34 +1100

Keep your cool, Michael

Went through the same messy exercise. Some never learn.

Horst

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| Message 24                                                          |

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Subject: Re: uns*bscribe

From:    Chris Hedemark 

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 18:42:37 -0500

Martha Wright wrote:

> 

> unsubscribe

[snip]

Paula,

Just some constructive advice... how about setting up the list server to

include the uns*b instructions in the footer of every message?

-- 

Chris Hedemark

Email: chris@yonderway.com   ICQ: 28986378

Rural Living at Yonder Way - http://www.yonderway.com/rural

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| Message 25                                                          |

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Subject: duckweed

From:    PHRL33A@prodigy.com (MS JEAN R SHAFFER)

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 19:04:06, -0500

Jose

Please dig up the URL for me, on duck weed

Jean

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| Message 26                                                          |

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Subject: Re: uns*bscribe

From:    Adriana Gutierrez 

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 19:37:25 -0500

> Paula,

> Just some constructive advice... how about setting up the list server to

> include the uns*b instructions in the footer of every message?

> 

Better yet, Chris, it should be in the header with a live link. 

When people get in the unsubscribe mode they can't be bothered to

scroll through 41 messages.

Adriana

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| Message 27                                                          |

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Subject: Duckweed - info from earlier posts - long

From:    S & S Aqua Farm 

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 19:18:09 -0600

Checking through some of the older posts, I found this sampling of duckweed

conversations and info.  Hope it's of some help to those who were interested.

Paula

----------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 14 Dec 1997 11:05:20 -1000

From: Miguel Olaizola 

Subject: Duckweed info

Aloha everyone:

Those of you who are interested in learning about duckweed may want to check

out the following web site:

http://www.prism-usa.org/

Good luck and keep up the great posts!

--------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 14 Dec 1997 11:58:42 -0800 (PST)

From: "Darren J. Hanson" 

Subject: Re:  Duck Weed

At 10:36 AM 12/14/97 EST, FranksFarm wrote:

>Does any one know the feed value, nutrient contents of such and how to

>incorporate such product into a balanced fish meal ration without having to

>resort to expensive machinery?

The main problem with processing duckweed appears to be its high water content 

from what I've read. (90-95%), but it seems to be fiarly nutritions (42%

protein dry 

weight, several important amino acids, lots of caroteins, etc.)

Also, with the Carp Polyculture I was reading about, one type of carp ate

the duckweed 

and was approximately 50% efficient at converting it's nutrients to its own

use. A second 

species was then stocked that fed on feces in the pond to scavange those

remaining 

nutrients. It's fecal matter then replaced the raw manure to feed algae and

other 

micro-organisms which other carp species fed on.

If anyone is interested, I could try and find the URL again.

-----------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 14 Dec 1997 12:54:41 -0800 (PST)

From: "Darren J. Hanson" 

Subject: Duck Weed

The URL I mentioned is: http://www.prism-usa.org/fulltext/duckweed/duckweed.htm

And this is the table of contents "page". Happy reading!

                                   TECHNICAL WORKING PAPER

                            DUCKWEED AQUACULTURE 

                                        Table of Contents

  Foreword 

  Preface 

Section 1 - Biology of duckweed 

  Morphology 

  Distribution 

  Growth conditions 

  Production rates 

  Nutritional value 

Section 2 - Duckweed farming 

  Land 

  Water management 

  Nutrient sources 

  Nitrogen 

  Phosphorus 

  Potassium 

  Trace minerals 

  Organic wastes 

  Fertilizer application 

  Crop management 

  Containment and wind buffering 

  Seeding duckweed 

  Stress management 

  Harvesting 

Section 3 - Duckweed-fed fish production 

  Introduction 

  Importance of oxygen 

  More efficient culture of top-feeders 

  Review of conventional carp polyculture 

  Fertilization 

  Supplementary feeding 

  Production constraints 

  Typical carp yields in Asia 

  Duckweed-fed carp polyculture 

  Practical objectives 

  Logic of duckweed-fed carp polyculture 

  Basic hypotheses about duckweed-fed carp polyculture 

  Carp stocking strategy 

  Duckweed feed 

  Fertilization of the pond 

  Oxygen regime 

  Management and productivity compared to the traditional Chinese model 

  Crop and oxygen monitoring 

  Fish quality, health and security 

  Harvesting 

  Markets 

  Duckweed-fed tilapia 

Section 4 - Economic and institutional issues 

  Linkage of duckweed and fish production 

  Demand models 

  Two-unit linkage 

  Group linkage 

  Vertical integration 

  Linkage catalysts 

  Technical assistance and extension issues 

  Credit requirements 

  Pricing issues 

  Profitability 

Section 5 - Duckweed-based wastewater treatment systems 

  A wastewater treatment primer 

  Primary system 

  Sedimentation 

  Sludge disposal 

  Odor Control 

  Costs 

  Duckweed plug flow system 

  Duckweed farm 

  Recirculating systems 

  Distributing and containing duckweed plants 

  Harvesting 

  Algae shade 

  Nutrient uptake efficiency 

  Safety of harvested duckweed plants 

  Duckweed wastewater polishing 

  Pathogen removal 

  Final effluent discharge 

  Commercial systems 

Section 6 - Alternative uses for duckweed, constraints, and future research 

  Developing alternative uses for duckweed 

  Duckweed as poultry and animal feed 

  Duckweed as a mineral sink 

  Constraints and research needs 

  Duckweed production 

  Genetic improvement 

  Duckweed wastewater treatment 

  Drying 

  Derived products 

Annexes

  Investment Scenarios 

  Annex 1 Financial Analysis of Duckweed-fed Fish Culture 

  Annex 2 Financial Analysis of Duckweed Cropping 

Selected Bibliography 

  Duckweed 

  Fish culture 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 18:41:53 -0800 (PST)

From: "Darren J. Hanson" 

Subject: Re: Duckweed

>I don't think we have

>analogous, commercially-important herbivorous fish in N. America, though.

>Grass carp can be imported into US only if they are sterilized, since they

>might cause great disruption in our waterways if they escaped. Sterile

>Grass Carp might still be useful for some kind of weed control but could be

>expensive (haven't ever priced them). A paranoid aside: How do they (the

>ubiquitous 'they') sterilize them? 

After doing some further research of my own, grass carp do not appear to be

illegal in the United States and, in fact, the regulations appeat to vary

from state to state. Some states do have an absolute ban. Others (such as

California where I am, unfortunately) allow only sterile "triploid" (genetic

mutants like "seedless" watermelon) specimens. And still others (such as

Alabama) make no restrictions on their import and use.

I'm still trying to find out if there is an analogous species that wouldn't

have the same controls placed on it that could be substituted in the

polyculture. My thought is that they could be combined with excess duckweed

and other appropriate substances to form a pelleted fish food that could be

used to supplement the duckweed in the polyculture, used for growing

ornamental tropical fish in a parallel culture system, or even sold to other

aquaculturists.

----------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 14:52:59 -0600

From: John Shannonhouse 

Subject: Re: Environmental Aspects of Aquaponics

Hello,

        On 8 May 1998, Ted ground wrote:

<>

http://www.prism-usa.org/fulltext/duckweed/duckweed.htm

        I found this site extremely informative.

<>

        An advantage of duckweed (if you want to use it) is that its

preferred nitrogen source is ammonium.  As long as the water's pH is

slightly acid, the duckweed will grow very quickly in wastewater and

effectively scrub it of nutrients.  Since it floats on the surface, no

aeration is needed.  The faster it grows, the higher its quality is.  A

well-managed system will efectively shade out algae.  It makes a complete

feed for Tilapia or common carp (and ducks, I think), but they probably

won't achieve a near-maximal growth rate because the feed is over 90% water

(if Dr. Rakcocy's hypothesis is correct about the reason Tilapia grow

slowly on algae is that they need to purge themselves of excess water in

their feed).

        For the purposes of the system described, the primary disadvantages

are that duckweed cannot be stored for extended periods of time, the

effluent that the duckweed uses must be free of toxic heavy metals (though

this is true for any agricultural system using wastewater, I imagine) and

the high level of carotenoids, which makes it unsuitable for certain

livestock such as cows (it changes the meat's color to unattractive hues).

        Based on my admittedly limited knowledge, I would recommend

skipping the Spirulina and going straight through a duckweed "scrubber"

stage instead to avoid eutrophication, then flowing into you Tilapia ponds.

Unlike the figures from your Lativian collegues, the specific yields and

growth conditions of duckweed are available (and they look impressive to

me).

John Shannonhouse

------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 09:59:32 -0600

From: John Shannonhouse 

Subject: Re: Duckweed as Feed

Ted,

        You have to take my suggestions with a grain of salt.  Everything I

am about to say is based on what I havbe read, not on any experience.

<<1)let the little fish and the big fish eat the duckweed in a kind of

hands off, natural pond, as the duckweed grows in the same culture pond

that the fish are growing in? And if so, does duckweed alone meet all their

dietary needs?>>

        According to the duckweed aquculture website, duckweed is a

complete feed for Tilapia and common carp.  That means the fish will grow

up on nothing else.  Duckweed alone may limit their growth, though.

        I would not suggest using a natural pond.  The duckweed really grow

fast when there is a lot of ammonium in the water (they have a chart about

this on the website, I believe).  This may make the levels of ammonia high

enough to be unhealthy for the fish.

<<2) grow fish in a separate pond, and toss into the fish tank weighed,

daily rations of duckweed which has been grown in a separate pond?>>

        I would guess this is better than the first option.  That is how

the experimenters did it.

<<3) Harvest the duckweed and somehow grind, blend, or concentrate it into

a pellet, perhaps add a few things in the process, like worms, to make

delicious fish gruel?>>

        I would guess that this would be the best option.  You could mix it

with something drier and maybe compensate for limiting nutrients in

duckweed.

        Your questions would be best addressed by experimentation comparing

the three processes.

<>

        Crumble up the duckweed in a mortor before you drop it into the tanks?

John Shannonhouse

---------------------------------------------

From: "Ted Ground" 

Subject: Re: Duckweed as Feed

Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 15:29:27 -0500

John, 

Good common sense answers about the duckweed.  

You know, I should not have been so lazy- I should have checked that

website out before I asked you all those dumb questions in my last post.  I

just went back and checked the duckweed aquaculture website- really good

stuff there- and it was not the website I recall having seen before.  I

actually had another one in mind- it is devoted to the use of duckweed for

water treatment, etc.  I'll find it later and send that link to the group

if it looks like it might be useful.  

Anyway, it is clear that the nitrogen must come from someplace outside the

system when using duckweed as the plant-based feed, and in Uwe's case, it

would be the reaerated anaerobically digested waste.  Hmm.. Interesting

stuff.  Thanks, John. In the future, I promise to review your recommended

sites before I start asking questions!

Ted

------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 10:32:25 -0600

From: John Shannonhouse 

Subject: Re: Duckweed

Hello,

        On 8 June 1998, Jim Sealy Jr. wrote:

<>

<< Isn't this unusually fast growth/spreading even for cultivated varieties

of lemna? Even in a very fertile marsh with 80+ degF temps? I've never seen

a takeover this quick before. Might this be an improved strain? The

leaflets are about the size of a pinhead (1/16"), 3-4 leaflets, chartreuse

in color.>>

        To cover an acre of land, approximately 1*10^8  1/16"^2 plants

would be needed.  Duckweed can easily double in a day.  To get 10^9 plants

(to cover 10 acres).  A fast growing strain of duckweed can double in a

day.  This means that a single duckweed frond could do the job in 30 days

under ideal conditions without predation.  A single plant can do it in 30

generations.  Assuming there were only some (to pick a random number) sixty

to seventy thousand plants the last time you visited (essentially

unnoticable on 10 acres, there could have been many times that), they would

only need about 14 generations to cover the marsh.  You had not seen the

marsh in 21 days.  Duckweed can easily manage a generation every 1.5 days.

I wouldn't be very surprised.

John Shannonhouse

=========================================

From: "Wendy Nagurny" 

Subject: Re: Duckweed

Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 21:11:30 -0400

Candace,

Go out to any pond or slow moving stream.  Stick  your arm into the water

along the shore.  Slowly pull it out.  The little cloverleaf-looking plants

that stick all over your arm are duckweed.  If you still don't know what I

mean, check out this web site. 

Lots of pictures of all kinds

http://www.ntrnet.net/~skilli/threedwds.htm

This is a great duckweed site.  Just about anything you ever wanted to know

about duckweed.  Even discusses duckweed as talapia feed and in wastewater

systems.

http://www.prism-usa.org/fulltext/duckweed/duckweed.htm

Wendy

> How can I get a start of Duckweed?  How might I recognize it around 

> the creeks, fields here in the Ozarks?

> 

> Candace & Les

> Missouri

------------------------------------------

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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| Message 28                                                          |

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Subject: Fwd. packaging

From:    S & S Aqua Farm 

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 19:28:46 -0600

>Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 15:42:39 -0700

>From: "Michele, Clara, Celia & Jeff" 

>To: aqualist 

>Subject: packaging

>

>Does any one have a source for packaging for baby lettuce. Looking for

>8oz bags and larger. In particular I'm looking for a kind that stores

>cut lettuce and greens well (some breathability), Also if any one knows

>of a kind that is bio-degradable that would be great. Thanks.

>

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| Message 29                                                          |

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Subject: Re: Wick Hydroponic System

From:    MUDDTOO

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 23:08:23 EST

In a message dated 99-02-17 23:40:23 EST, Jean writes:

<< Yes I had planned to manually do the buckets, so how does this wick 

 system work?  It sounds ideal.  Please explain.  >>

Hello Jean,

I grow some hydroponic vegetables using Flood and Drain, Drip, Wick, and a

sorta passive setup.  The wick and passive setup are nearly the same.

Wick setup:

Use two containers, one on top of the other - like stacking buckets; top one

for the plant and the bottom one for the solution.  Add a strip or two, say 1

inch wide by 4 to 6 inches long, of white felt or cotton cloth, pushed through

the bottom container and down into the bottom of the lower solution container.

The cloth can wick UP the solution nearly 5 inches into the root area of the

plant above. Clean the dirt off the roots and transplant the plant into a few

inches of perlite in the upper container - while pulling the felt strips up

near the root area. Add your solution to the lower container as high as you

can and set the upper one with the plant on top.  Once a week or so top off

the lower container with solution.

Sorta Passive setup:

Nearly the same as above except push the roots through a hole in the bottom of

the upper container.  Add some perlite to give support for the plant, maybe an

inch or so.  Fill the lower container with solution as high as possible and

never fill it again.  The roots will grow down into the lower container and in

time some or most of them will be above the present water level and will live

on the moist air vapor.  If you refill after they've lived for some time in

air they will die.  This setup is good for fast plants like lettuce.  Lettuce

only need about 2 liters each and about 45 days until their ready to eat. With

tomatoes you'd need a very deep container of about 10 - 15 gallons.

In both cases 1 cheap airstone and air pump (used in aquariams) added to each

container will keep the solution fresher longer.  One cheap pump is running 4

airstones at my house for 20 head of lettuce.  I grow lettuce in both these

methods with the sorta passive setup being somewhat faster and w/o any further

maintenance.

Have fun,

Oh - side note:  I grow tomatoes in 2-liter and 2 gallon buckets.  The 2-liter

size last for a season ( 7 months) and the 2 gallon size supports 2 plants for

about a year.

Joel

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| Message 30                                                          |

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Subject: Word of Thanks

From:    Dave Miller 

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 23:18:18 -0500

Paula,

It is that time to recharge your batteries and I want to thank you

highly for keeping the flag waving, the light on and for generally being

able to read through this list and keep it going.  I have picked up many

side details closely/distantly related to aquaponics; sister studies as

such, vermiculture, rainwater collection and even yurt huts!  I now know

more about snails, frogs, worms, duckweed and even model rocketry!

PLEASE: Keep up the great efforts.  Is there anyway we can help you

archive the best or to thread?  I know you are trying, there must be a

program, even if it only works from this day forward to archive by

subject.

Perhaps this could serve as an example by post/response and archive:

PLUMBING DISCUSSION FORUM:

http://www.europa.com/~aball/msgs.html#post

Still, your list has personality...... :>

Dave

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| Message 31                                                          |

'------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------'

Subject: Re: Wick Hydroponic System

From:    Dave Miller 

Date:    Thu, 18 Feb 1999 23:50:36 -0500

Joel,

I am intrigued with your confined tomatoes, I assume these are indoors,

maybe in a greenhouse.  What is your light source?  How high do they

get?  Are you able to grow off season?  How do they pollinate?

You can answer offline.

--

Dave

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A "green" home remodeler

A father of 2 cockatiels

An organic farmer

A veggie drummer/keyboardist

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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