Hydroponics Gardeners

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Comment by Joel LeGrand on October 25, 2009 at 8:46pm

Hi,
Thanks Glenn.
I did a search & aquaponics systems cost from 2500.00- 40,000.00 U.S. dallors. One Australian co. has a budget system for around 800.00 dallors, but will not ship. One must pick It up the at a store. they have not anwsered my e-mail as to or if they have a U.S. store as of yet.
I am looking in to Hydroponics, & like the ideal of rising 50- 100 catfish a year(6 month anyways). But the cost has to be as low or lower than buying the fish & viggies, over a 5 year time.

Comment by Glenn Fletcher on October 25, 2009 at 3:39am

Hi Joel
The advantage of aquaponics is that you are getting the plants for free. If you have a sunny climate where you can use solar powered pumps then fishfood is your only outlay.
I think the difficult bit is ensuring that two elements [fish & plants] remain balanced. There must be some skill in that. And that the acidity of the water remains in a range that is suitable for both plants and fish.
The small setup i saw was a tank about four feet by three feet with goldfish in it. [Carp] The water was pumped through a series of 2" square pipes which were set up against a wall. These pipes had holes cut in the top for small pots which held the plants.[Lettuce]
I have seen some Australian sites where the have circular beds and tanks, which look good.
I would imagine that 1200 dollars would get you a reasonable size system. But thats a heck of a lot of lettuces.

Comment by Joel LeGrand on October 24, 2009 at 6:10pm

Thanks Glenn,
What is the Pro's & Con's of the Aquaponics? How is it better or worse than
Hydroponics? Is there a low cost way to do this( under $1200.00 srart up)?

Comment by Glenn Fletcher on October 24, 2009 at 3:53am

Hi Joel
Again i am no expert but as far as i know.....
Aquaponics is a type of symbiotic relationship between plants and fish. Where water from the fish tank is pumped to a vegetagle bed to feed the plants. The plants remove the nutreants produced by the the fish poo, so the water remains clean enough for the fish to grow.
So for the cost of only fish food you get two crops. One being the vegetables in the bed, the other being the fish in the tank. I think they generally use tilapi.
This is someting i saw at the Harrogate flower show earlier in the year.
I would like to set a system up, but for me it is a bit of a pipedream, as it requires space, knowledge and initial investment to make it work.
Its one of those things that you have a gut feeling about. That it is the right way to go.

Comment by Joel LeGrand on October 23, 2009 at 6:55pm

Hi Alex,
What is AQUAPONICS? My wife saw a film on this, she is going to see if I can view the film. But you are the expert, so I thought I would see what you think.
Happy Halloween

Comment by Michelle W. Flannery on August 16, 2009 at 5:58pm

Alex, to load a document, look at the menu bar above the comment box. From left to right: B= Bold. I= Italics. U=Underline. S=Strike Through.

The next image is for "add a link" which Ian describes in the notes at the lower right of the page. Scroll down to see.

The little camera is for uploading pictures.

The next image is for uploading documents.

Comment by Alex Kallas on August 16, 2009 at 4:10pm

You can easily replicate it. How did you load the document?

Comment by Glenn Fletcher on August 16, 2009 at 4:06pm

Alex
I,ve had a look around and found this document.
It looks quite useful, what do you think?

Comment by Alex Kallas on August 16, 2009 at 3:39pm

Aquaponics is something we promote. Good for leafy greens on rafts, nft, or other active systems. It is good to get them both down and then join them together after you see how it goes. I dont know if you can upload attachments to this group, but I will post info. on the subject when you get ready.

Comment by Glenn Fletcher on August 16, 2009 at 3:18pm

I,ve always wanted to have a go at this. I saw an aquaponics setup at a flower show earlier this year where they incorporated a fish tank into the system and thought i might have a go next year.
It looked a bit complex, so i think a hydroponic setup might be a good first step.
Do you pump the fertilised water through the plastic sections?

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