Aquaponics Digest - Sun 04/11/99
Message 1: Re: redclaw identification
from "vpage"
Message 2: Re: redclaw identification
from "vpage"
Message 3: Paludarium (was "Re: Getting started")
from Chris Hedemark
Message 4: organic feed (was "Re: Genetic Engineering")
from Chris Hedemark
Message 5: Re: Aquaponics without eating the fish..
from Chris Hedemark
Message 6: Re: redclaw identification
from "William Brown"
Message 7: Re: redclaw identification
from "William Brown"
Message 8: Re: Fish Waste
from KLOTTTRUE
Message 9: Re: Aquatic microbiology again. Was: redclaw identification
from "TGTX"
Message 10: Re: Aquatic microbiology again. Was: redclaw identification
from "TGTX"
Message 11: Re: Fish Waste
from doelle
Message 12: Re: Aquatic microbiology again. Was: redclaw identification
from doelle
Message 13: Re: Aquatic MYSTERY
from KLOTTTRUE
Message 14: Re: Fish Waste
from KLOTTTRUE
Message 15: Re: Aquatic microbiology again. Was: redclaw identification
from KLOTTTRUE
Message 16: Re: Fish Waste
from "TGTX"
Message 17: Re: Aquatic MYSTERY
from "TGTX"
Message 18: Re: Aquatic MYSTERY
from KLOTTTRUE
Message 19: Re: Aquatic MYSTERY
from "TGTX"
Message 20: Re: Aquaponics Start - up
from "tess"
Message 21:
from sbonney@iquest.net
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| Message 1 |
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Subject: Re: redclaw identification
From: "vpage"
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 11:13:44 -0600
I agree that rockwool is not "organic". I live near a rockwool plant and it
is a disgrace and an eyesore.
I wonder if coir could be certified? It works better than rockwool, has a
natural anti-bacterial quality and can be reused without damage to the crop.
It is very expensive and has te embodied enrgy of transport for most of
us...
vpage
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| Message 2 |
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Subject: Re: redclaw identification
From: "vpage"
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 11:13:44 -0600
I agree that rockwool is not "organic". I live near a rockwool plant and it
is a disgrace and an eyesore.
I wonder if coir could be certified? It works better than rockwool, has a
natural anti-bacterial quality and can be reused without damage to the crop.
It is very expensive and has te embodied enrgy of transport for most of
us...
vpage
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| Message 3 |
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Subject: Paludarium (was "Re: Getting started")
From: Chris Hedemark
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 14:00:14 -0400
mark stephens wrote:
> I am in the process of setting up a tropical fish aquarium and thought to
> filter it using plants. I'm well versed in tropical aquaria and in growing
> plants. I don't want to eat either the fish or the plants. It will be
> small, say a 15 or 20 gal tank and kept in the office.
Hi Mark. I am toying with some balanced environments in a couple of my
pet enclosures, with varying degrees of success.
My largest one is a 55 gallon tank. I have the tank split up so that
1/3 of the tank to the left is dry land, and 2/3 to the right is
aquatic. The water level comes up about seven inches. On the left, in
the land section, is a water pump submerged beneath the gravel. Water
is just at dry land level so the gravel is saturated. The water pump at
the far left end of the tank in the corner brings the water up about
four or five inches above the dry land surface level, and then there is
a waterfall that runs into a prefabricated plastic creek that flows back
to the water section. The water is really agitated in this waterfall
and hopefully assists in the exchange of CO2 for O2.
Now in the gravel I have planted a pair of $1.50 plants from Walmart.
One is a philodendron and hasn't really taken off. The other is
unidentified and has really overtaken the tank. I frequently have to
prune it back to keep it from totally blocking the light (unfortunately
my lighting is pretty poor but it doesn't seem to hurt much). This
plant started to grow straight up towards the light, and then as the
branches got thicker they started growing out sideways and reaching out
well over the water section of the tank.
In the water section I put a small sample of Java moss which has since
consumed much of the water section and started growing up a large hunk
of driftwood that is sitting in the water section and reaches almost to
the top of the tank. The java moss doesn't grow that high as it needs
to be close to the water.
The tank's fauna was originally overwhelming. We used to have over a
dozen small green treefrogs native to the southeastern U.S., about 8
chinese firebelly toads, assorted other critters, and a couple of giant
treefrogs of different species from the south pacific. During this
period of time the plants didn't do so well, and the water was getting
stinky. Cleaning the tank was a major chore and if we missed cleaning
it for whatever reason, frogs would start dying. Well nature did what
nature does and the giant treefrogs started figuring out that the little
green treefrogs tasted like chicken so they all disappeared quickly.
Some of the other animals were native to this area and I let them go
back to the environments I caught them from. I acquired one new frog
for this tank, a Costa Rican Red Eyed Treefrog. Aside from that, the
two giant treefrogs remain, as well as seven of the eight firebelly
toads, a large mudpuppy who spends most of his time in the water but
ventures out onto land from time to time, and a single butterflyfish
whom you can never seem to find until there are crickets in the tank and
suddenly his color changes and the camoflage no longer conceals him.
Every now and then I put some feeder guppies in the water as a treat.
Most of the time I throw large crickets in there.
In its current state, the tank hardly ever needs to be cleaned. The
water tests out pretty well except the pH eventually gets low enough to
warrant a partial water change. I was thinking of putting one piece of
coral rock in there to see how well that buffers the pH. Of course
there is always some frog poop on the glass from the three treefrogs,
but I squirt that off with a spray bottle and it falls onto the gravel
or the water where it quickly breaks down.
I still think that the tank is overcrowded. If I were to do this again,
I would nix the frogs and put a few small fish in the water section,
like maybe neon tetras or something, to add some color. The frogs eat
and excrete quite a bit and really put a limit on the tanks ability to
maintain itself.
Now I also have a smaller tank, no water section. It is a 20 gallon
"long" tank (30 inches long) that sits in the service window between my
kitchen and my dining room. The substrate is moistened & packed peat
moss, topped liberally with maple & oak leaf litter, locally acquired
lichens, and locally acquired moss. I put a couple of hunks of rotting
wood from my wooded property in there, in the hopes that it would bring
some diverse fauna with it to help keep the tank natural. I went on a
shopping spree at walmart and brought home more than enough $1.50 potted
plants to heavily plant the tank. I left a small open area in front of
a hunk of wood with just some moss, and next to that a small shallow
ceramic pool.
The pothos has really taken to this arrangement and must be kept in
check. It has dropped a root into the water dish and took off like a
rocket from that point. The other plants all need to be trimmed as they
approach the screen lid. I try to keep all of the plants from touching
the lid in order to discourage cricket escape.
Now for the fauna. I have half a dozen Mantella viridis frogs (a tiny &
rare poisonous frog from Madagascar) and 10 eastern newts in their "red
eft" stage that lasts for up to three years. So far the newts have been
in there for a year and a half and show no signs of maturing to their
aquatic adult stage yet. I think not having a large water source handy
has probably contributed to their slow maturity.
Now understand the mantella frogs are VERY tiny. Each one, fullgrown,
is no bigger than a man's thumbnail. Every now and then I dump some
tiny "pinhead" crickets in there, and the animals come out of seemingly
nowhere to hunt their prey. To the casual observer, the terrarium looks
more like 100% plantlife and very mature growth at that. It has that
natural look that you can only acheive with time, patience, and pruning
(to prevent one plant from choking out another). A small simulated
rainstorm or food introduced to the tank will introduce you to 16
animals hiding in a tiny amount of square footage and that gives you a
hint of what nature is like if you take the time to look. In the 18
months that this tank has been operating, we have never cleaned it. The
most maintenance we do is pruning the plants and occaisionally replacing
mosses or lichens if they are looking poor. You can stick your face in
the tank and sniff and find no unpleasant odors.
Close examination shows rich soil fauna, and a number of other tiny
species of insect and arthropoda that supplement the food I introduce to
the tank and further help to balance the environment. Droppings
disappear within a couple of days. We had one dead mantella before the
tank balanced itself out and just for giggles we left it in there. Keep
in mind this is before we had mature soil fauna. But the carcass still
disappeared quickly without leaving a residual odor. Our animals are
very healthy now, but should one die, I'm sure I'd never find the body
in time to even have a clue about it.
What am I finding here? Well it only takes a little bit of animal to
support a whole lot of plants. Shifting the ratio to where there is
more animal than plant introduces a lot of maintenance requirements.
Shifting the balance to all plant and no animal is similarly labor
intensive. But having a primarily plant arrangement with a few small
animals around seems to strike a wonderful balance.
Also I found that nature has already perfected what we seek to reinvent
one species at a time. I really think introducing native rotting wood,
lichen, and moss to my terrarium added the necessary microfauna required
to keep the soil healthy.
I hope you post your results to the list. I'd be interested in hearing
about your "micro aquaponics". :-)
--
Chris Hedemark
Email: chris@yonderway.com ICQ: 28986378
Rural Living at Yonder Way - http://www.yonderway.com/rural
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Subject: organic feed (was "Re: Genetic Engineering")
From: Chris Hedemark
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 13:28:44 -0400
Sorry for responding to such an old message. I'm really behind on my
email.
Dave Miller wrote:
> Actually, a mistake need not be made, the switch to GE produced soy and
> many other feed crops WAS made without your consent. You are likely
> feeding your fish with these feed unless you are using what Ted has
> hoped to create: a safe feed that can be declared organic - by some
> senses even vegetarian acceptable. (Ted can fill in here if you have not
> read his earlier posts).
Ted, if you are reading this... you may want to catch up with Dr. Tom
Losordo at North Carolina State University and see if they are willing
to swap findings with you. Last time I was out at their fish barn a year
ago they were working on something just like this, with the idea that
they could work directly with local farmers to come up with a good
organic tilapia feed based purely on vegetable matter with no fish meal.
> We consume milk from another animal meant for the young of that specie
> and then we synthesize a process (insulin) to counteract the illness or
> disease (diabetes) that occurs down line. Funny that we could avoid this
> by not consuming the cow milk in the first place. Why does the thought
> of human breast milk cheese weird many when this is mammal specific? You
> would not digest the milk of man's best friend, a dog, yet one might try
> to remove a camphor gene to make use of a sugar substitute? breath>
Ever look at a comparison of the nutritional value of human's milk as
opposed to cow and goat's milk? Humans milk is down in the nutritional
gutter, as is common with omnivorous and carnivorous species.
--
Chris Hedemark
Email: chris@yonderway.com ICQ: 28986378
Rural Living at Yonder Way - http://www.yonderway.com/rural
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| Message 5 |
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Subject: Re: Aquaponics without eating the fish..
From: Chris Hedemark
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 14:12:23 -0400
Jim Sealy Jr wrote:
> Hey Kevin,
> I think there's probably as much (or more) money in ornamental fish as
> food fish..
And without much of a change in practice.
Go to the local pet shop and find out if they sell Tilapia
butterkofferi. If they do sell it, check out the price. If not, find
out how much they can get one to you for. Rule of thumb: 1/3 of
sticker price is close to what pet shops pay for their fish.
It doesn't take a genius to see that there is a LOT of money in
ornamental fishes. And they don't even have to be very big. Selling
size for a T. butterkofferi is a 50 cent piece size. Quarter size
works, too. Much larger than .50 piece and your market shrinks
dramatically but a few half pounders will attract the rich collectors
who don't like to bother with raising the fish to size themselves.
> I guess you need to plan on making connections with the retail folks
> selling plants for water gardens. Or talk a couple garden centers who
> don't sell water plants and fish into starting selling the fish and
> plants you'll grow for them.
You have to be able to convince the pet shop owner that you can produce
a steady supply of superior fish for the same price or less than his own
supplier. It is a major inconvenience to order fish from two or more
different suppliers so it can be a tough sell.
What one enterprising young man used to do when I worked in the biz was
he found out when we would put the fish orders together, and he took it
upon himself to come in on those days in the EARLY afternoon (since the
orders were always put together in the late afternoon to be faxed in
first thing in the morning). He'd bring an inventory sheet and price
list and would even go through for us and make note of which fish he had
that we were low on. His price was a little higher than the supplier
but the extra service he gave us to make it so convenient was a strong
selling point. We did business with him regularly. I hear he owns his
own large pet shop now.
Anyone who can get a reliable breeding program for clown loaches
together will make some seriously good money.
Consumers LOVE clown loaches, of all sizes, but their costs is
prohibitive. In a store full of small fish selling for under $5, the
clown loach is a tough sell coming in at about $7 at most of the smaller
stores but a little less from time to time in the bigger stores. Anyone
who can come up with a steady supply of this intriguing species and can
come up with a final retail price of <$5.00 will do really well in this
industry.
Fish farms know this and have been trying at it for years. But a
dedicated small-scale enthusiast might make this come to fruition more
rapidly as their resources are dedicated to one or two tasks and not to
maintaining a diverse fish farm.
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| Message 6 |
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Subject: Re: redclaw identification
From: "William Brown"
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 08:23:37 -0000
Coir is coconut husks that have been shredded or chunked. How could it not
be certified organic? Just curious. Here it is very inexpensive, cheaper
than peatmoss.
William Brown mahiwai@cmpmail.com
(aka lettuce@hilo.net)
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| Message 7 |
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Subject: Re: redclaw identification
From: "William Brown"
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 08:40:17 -0000
Am in the process to develop an organic flood and drain hydroponic system
using volcanic cinder and coir for the media and solid organic fertilizers
supplemented with maxicrop and other liquid organic fertilizers. Trying to
stay away from the aquaponics aspect for now because of the potential of E.
coli in fish manure until I learn more. The State is very strict about not
certifying kitchens/suppliers that use produce fertilized with manures.
For some reason organic produce stores don't suffer the same strict
regulations regarding manures. Brown mahiwai@cmpmail.com
(aka lettuce@hilo.net)
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Subject: Re: Fish Waste
From: KLOTTTRUE
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 17:23:56 EDT
Hello People,Several people on the list have said I should remove the waste
solids from my tanks and not allow them to reach the growing beds,excuse my
ignorance,but what is left to fertilize the plants?Are there any ways nature
takes care of E.coli? And how can I know it's not in my system,besides
reading about it in the paper,after a bunch of people get sick? If someone
can post some preventative measures,I can take it would be in the best
interest of Aquaponics,I am very concerned about making a mistake,not just
for myself,but for everybody that is into Aquaponics,I don't want some
blunder I make to hurt everybody else's reputation! You post it! I'll file
it! Please,Thanks,and Good bye,Ken
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Subject: Re: Aquatic microbiology again. Was: redclaw identification
From: "TGTX"
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 16:54:00 -0500
William,
Where did you hear that there IS a problem with E.coli in common fish
manure?
If omnivorous and/or seston -feeding and/or filter feeding aquatic animals
such as Tilapia are raised in ponds fertilized with a VERY LARGE amount of
terrestrial animal manure, then it is potentially possible for the E.coli
originating in the terrestrial animal manure to be injested by the fish.
There is some evidence that the E.coli has some degree of survival in the
fish intestine under these peculiar conditions. Although E.coli likes the
internal environments of warm blooded mammals (especially ruminants), it
may be able to survive, to some degree, the short time and space as it is
routed through the cold blooded fish gut...but it is not a "natural" or
native member of the intestinal microflora of fish. For this to happen,
the E.coli would be a major constituent of the microflora in the water and
the particulate matter suspended in the water. In experiments with cow
manure fertilization of shrimp ponds, small amounts of cow manure were
added as part of a pond fertilzation plan to increase nutrients and thus
primary productivity in the pond. Intensive testing showed no fecal
coliform or Salmonella were detected in the harvested shrimp.
The natural microflora in the water column and in the gut of the fish
mitigate the presence of these pathogens and their ability to multiply...
tremendously...due to competitive exclusion...which is very important in
aquatic microbiology, as well as in soil microbiology. If any agricultural
system in which plants were exposed to coliforms, or other potential
pathogens that naturally occur in the soil, regardless of origin, were to
be disallowed, then all plant culture would be illegal, due to the presence
and diverse forms of coliforms and other potential pathogens naturally
occuring in all agricultural soils.
William, if "the State" is "concerned"- (there is that word again- recent
use of that word has come to almost always mean a euphemism for something
else, I have concluded)- about fish manure, then every organic farmer that
irrigates her fields with creek or pond water in which aquatic animals
happen to live would have to be closed down and she would have her farm
de-certified as organic.
The key is to feed the fish and the "pond" or culture water as the case may
be, with something other than terrestrial animal manure. I would not even
feed the pond composted cow manure, if I were that "concerned" about E.
coli, since I do not agree with the broad generalization that composting
terrestrial animal manure ELIMINATES all pathogens. Practical experience
shows us that composting is pretty good at doing what we want it to do, but
it is not 100% efficient....it is more like making a cassarole or tossed
salad than it is like chemical engineering...at least on the farms I am
familiar with.
Since farm composting is usually done in crude piles and mounds rather than
in biochemical reactors...some parts of the compost pile are cooler than
others... sure it is supposed to be turned, but the mixture is not
perfectly homogenous, the particles clump into aggregates that may never be
completly exposed to the fullest intensity of composting microorganism
activity and subsequent heat etc...these factors.... and common sense....
tell us that the temperatures generated by the decomposing process are in
large part due to the intense respiration of active
microorganisms...Therefore at the end you do not have a sterile product
devoid of microorganisms, but rather one dominated by many of the
Psuedomonads and others that did much of the composting...their population
grew exponentially, then they crashed...but it did not eliminate all
microorganisms, for heavens sake!
Heat and competitive exclusion work together to drastically reduce but not
eliminate pathogens. Indeed, many of these Psuedomonads and others (yeasts,
molds, actinomycetes, etc.,) in a compost heap are generally harmless, but
nevertheless some are opportunistic pathogens...if given a good substrate
to exploit, and introduced in numbers that would "swamp" the competition,
like an open cut on your finger, or the aveoli of your lungs, or even the
intestinal environment- if enough were injested, they could become a
problem and even kill you.
This is common agricultural compost. Organic compost could kill you, given
the right set of (unlikely) circumstances. Run for your lives!
In fact, you could try this little experiment: dont even use raw animal
manure....just put about 35 pounds of grass clippings and old leaves, some
dirt, and some kitchen scraps inside a plastic garbage bag...lets go
anaerobic here just for the fun of it....lets say all this stuff is all
vegetable matter...no meat, no feces...nothing but plant material....Spray
it with some water....Tie up the bag. Set it out in the sun to bake and
digest for...I dont know....2 weeks...open it up....wear a respirator if
you chose at this point. Take a sample of the material, which looks all
the world like cow dung. Take it to the lab. Run a heterotrophic plate
count (aerobic plate count or standard plate count if you wish). Run a
total coliform count. See what happens.
The world is dangerous! Where shall we run for our lives?
There are a number of food spoilage and foodborne pathogen microorganisms
that are potentially "thermoduric." That is, they can survive some
significant measure of heat treatment, such as that encountered in
composting and anaerobic digestion. The survival may consitute only a
small percentage of the initial population, or most of the cells may
survive...in either case if there is some survival from heat treatment
ALONE (not counting competive exclusion in this case), then they may be
referred to as "thermoduric". Thermoduric bacteria have received the
greatest attention in connection with milk and milk products, where the
term commonly is applied to organisms which remain viable after
pastuerization. The genera Micrococcus, Streptococcus (primarily the
enterococci) , Microbacterium, Arthrobacter, Lactobacillus, Bacillus, and
Clostridium ( the last requiring special anaerobic conditions for recovery)
are recognized as containing some species which will qualify as
thermoduric.
Given this context, we can see that
1) Fish manure is dissimilar to terrestrial animal manures..with respect to
native microflora and with respect to microbiological/environmental
abundance/ concentration factors
2) Feed materials and culture conditions are important in controlling
potential pathogen vectors- this is true whether we allow terrestrial
animal manures into the system or NOT !!!
3) All agriculture systems are chocked full of microorganisms of all
kinds...
4) Composting and anaerobic heat alone does not guarantee sterilization or
sanitation in processing agricultural wastes...it does help tremendously,
and it is a practical way of stabilizing and recycling nutrients and to
some degree, comforting our fretful minds at the same time, but there is
always those thermoduric guys and gals, and the inefficiency of the process
to consider. Its Reality Check time again.
Hopes this helps.
Ted
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Subject: Re: Aquatic microbiology again. Was: redclaw identification
From: "TGTX"
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 17:04:59 -0500
Oh, and one more thing. (That might be the epitaph on my headstone)
One more thing. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times.
"You kids go wash your hands before supper!"
"And wash your food before you eat it, you hear me?"
Poppa Ground
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| Message 11 |
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Subject: Re: Fish Waste
From: doelle
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 08:20:29 +1000
Ken,
simply compost it with other organic matter and nature takes care of the
pathogens. After composting you can put it onto the plants.
We here in Brisbane in Australia are not allowed to burn or throw too much
biomass into the garbage bin. Thus every household is forced to compost. The
City Councile provided even the compost bins initially and now, of course,
we have to buy them.
Very good way to educate people to take care of pollution.
My composted stuff I throw then again onto the garden beds. Excellent
fertiliser.
Hors
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| Message 12 |
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Subject: Re: Aquatic microbiology again. Was: redclaw identification
From: doelle
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 08:35:41 +1000
Ted
Your previous email was a great lecture which I enjoyed reading.
However, we do not want STERILISED food. This would not help our immune
system. This is what is wrong with our food of today.
This does not mean we should eat rotten food ! There is something in between.
You are correct to say that neither composting nor anaerobic digestion kills
every pathogen in existence. That is not necessary if you dilute onto the
fields or use the liquid for fish feed. A 70-80% reduction is quite
sufficient and our bodies can handle it as we have build up some immune
system battling against pathogens.
There are many microorganisms which give you a good taste of the food and
you do nto want to kill them as well.
In regard to fish waste, the E.coli does not necessary be in the fish, but
can easily build up in the waste residue and these organisms can multiply.
In my experience in the tropical areas of Thailand etc, aquaculture waste is
a very strong pollutant and must be composted before being put onto the
soil. This does not necessarily mean that the fish is also full of
pathogens. If you go to the west coast of Thailand, where the shrimp farms
are [stretch of 400 km], you would not put a foot into the sea shore. The
Government is now legislating to clean up the mess. Reason: The shrimps are
fed with artificial feed bought commercially. This feed is also a
magnificent source for bacterial growth and since you put the feed into the
water, you also nourish all microorganisms given to us by nature. If you
have human population around with unsatisfactory waste treatment or if you
add manure to the fish feed, naturally you cultivate pathogens alongside the
naturally microflora.
The best recipe still is, compost your waste before fertilising your plants.
If you do that, you should be safe.
Hope this helps.
Horst Doelle
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| Message 13 |
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Subject: Re: Aquatic MYSTERY
From: KLOTTTRUE
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 19:22:20 EDT
Hi there,I have another question,7 of my fish died,I cleaned and examined
their entrails,four of them were full of eggs,but one of the fish,when I cut
it's gut's open a bright green fluid like ink,I'm talking British Racing
Green,came out. I'never seen this before,and I have cleaned thousands of
fish!,is this a result of being an algae eater? Didn't hurt the taste,man
what a meal,Henry's Finest grilled Tilapia,salad with Aquaponic lettuce,Three
mile island baked potato,and Ken and Martha's Hushpuppies with Spring Onions.
Thanks, Your Loving Son
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| Message 14 |
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Subject: Re: Fish Waste
From: KLOTTTRUE
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 19:23:23 EDT
In a message dated 4/11/99 6:16:25 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
doelle@ozemail.com.au writes:
<< Ken,
simply compost it with other organic matter and nature takes care of the
pathogens. After composting you can put it onto the plants.
>>
Thanks Horst
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| Message 15 |
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Subject: Re: Aquatic microbiology again. Was: redclaw identification
From: KLOTTTRUE
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 19:24:38 EDT
In a message dated 4/11/99 6:04:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
ground@thrifty.net writes:
<< You kids go wash your hands before supper!"
"And wash your food before you eat it, you hear me?"
>>
O.K. Pop Thanks
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| Message 16 |
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Subject: Re: Fish Waste
From: "TGTX"
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 20:03:06 -0500
Hi Ken, Hi Horst, Hi Everybody!
As Foghorn Leghorn might say...
"Now just hold, I say, just hold on there, boys.
Hold on, that is."
I think it is O.K. to continually pump the solids onto the gravel without
this composting thing taking place...and this is why.
Suppose you have 100 lbs of fish in a tank. Suppose you feed them 1 lb of
feed everyday. Suppose half of that ends up as fish feces and a bit of
wasted feed solids.
O.K. so you have 1/2 lb of solids. Most of that settles down to the
bottom, but not all at one time...so there is a slow, discontinuous
deposition of solids, but it is not like a big group toilet flush if you
will forgive the imagery....O.K., so, you pump from the bottom of the tank,
and during the course of the day, the pump keeps most of the solids from
accumulating in the tank....but it does not pump all the solids in one
single half pound slug....all at one time.....
This pumping happens in increments or continuously over the course of the
day and the night...The solids are diluted with a lot of water as it goes
out of the tank and onto a VERY large surface area of pea gravel or
perlite...with bacterial biofilms on every surface, and eventually the
water and nutrients migrate toward the plant roots.
What we have here is a biological carburetor, folks.....Let's keep it
humming smooth.
Gotta keep the air/fuel mix just right. Not too lean, Not too rich.
If you have at least 350 square feet of gravel surface area for every 100
lbs of fish biomass, (no, not grow bed surface area...gravel surface
area...are you with me?) and especially if you do this with an ebb and flow
cycle, letting air come in and replenish the biofilm, like the surf of the
ocean, the beat of your heart, the turning of the earth from night to day,
yada, yada, yada,...(don't get me started with the poetry) then you get a
picture of the dilution factor and intense biological processing over the
course of a few hours that these solids experience (I have not even
included the vast surface area of the living plants, and the "bioturbation"
effect of earth worms moving materials around like ecological road graders,
front end loaders, and back hoes)
If everything is well oxygenated as it should be, the solids are rapidly
transformed in a process that I call "aquatic composting"...This is where
the dirt farmers who never raised a fish or looked into the miraculous
world of the microscope... these dyed in the wool organic activists who
wanted to change the world, and did in their own way (thank God) but are
nevertheless becoming their own grandfathers....start to fall behind in the
marathon of advanced, progressive, correct thinking....their children and
grandchildren will surpass them, and honor them by growing aquaponic
organic lettuce and Tilapia on Mars...with a combination of high
technology, perspiration, and good old algae, fish, and wiggly worms...God
willing.
The particles of fish feces and wasted food pumped out of the fish tank are
very small, therefore they have a large surface area to volume ratio,
therefore, they are captured and collected upon the gravel media,
colonized and degraded over this VERY LARGE surface area VERY RAPIDLY.
Think about why fuel aerosols burn more efficiently given enough
oxygen.....Think of a large kidney or liver with a large surface area..or a
huge mitochondria...whatever helps you visualize this rapid, intense
biological process.
Buckminster Fuller lectured us on doing more with less and doing it faster
and more efficient. He called it "Ephemeralization", in part because he
was fond of excess verbage and long windedness. Sound like any method of
growing things that you know of ? Sound like anyone you know of? I seem to
be a verb, and a pronoun, and an adverb, and a preposition.....
Anyway, what awaits these solids as they arrive at the gravel biofilm
surface is an aggressive, efficient, complex community of microorganisms.
They KICK BUTT AND TAKE NO PRISONERS, if you will excuse the thick necked,
bowling alley, testosterone-poisoned, pedestrian colloquiallisms of your
humble journalist, here. (Suppose I were to have the movie rights to the
first Aquaponics movie...let's think about this.....I vote we cast Stallone
or Swartzenneger...2 of the most sensitive and "KINDA REAL TALENTED" guys
on the planet...How about these for titles...."Greenhouse Nursery
Cop"....or "Stop, Or My Mother Earth Will Shoot"....Think about it...Have
your people call my people...we'll do lunch..)
At that most silly digression, I will excuse myself.
Next Journal Entry: Aquaponics, Bamboo Potato Cannons, and Peach Wine
Ted
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| Message 17 |
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Subject: Re: Aquatic MYSTERY
From: "TGTX"
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 20:22:07 -0500
Ken, either you have a fish with a gut full of algae,
or you have fish with a gut full of Prestone AntiFreeze.
or, you have a fish with a gut full of slimy ectoplasmic apparition
material from Hades.
Bon Appetit !
Ted
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| Message 18 |
'------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------'
Subject: Re: Aquatic MYSTERY
From: KLOTTTRUE
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 21:57:30 EDT
In a message dated 4/11/99 9:22:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
ground@thrifty.net writes:
<< you have a fish with a gut full of slimy ectoplasmic apparition
material from Hades.
>>
Anybody Know an Exorcist?
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| Message 19 |
'------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------'
Subject: Re: Aquatic MYSTERY
From: "TGTX"
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 21:39:10 -0500
>
> In a message dated 4/11/99 9:22:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> ground@thrifty.net writes:
>
> << you have a fish with a gut full of slimy ectoplasmic apparition
> material from Hades.
> >>
> Anybody Know an Exorcist?
Yes, I know Him, and as a matter of fact He works miracles with fish.
Hope to see you at Supper, Ken.
Ted
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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