Preventing an Aquaponic Problem From Happening

credit to AQUAPONIC GARDEN

http://www.aquaponicgardeningguide.com/prevent-an-aquaponic-disaster/

Prevent an Aquaponic Disaster

When someone new is getting into aquaponics, they need to take the time to carefully review and learn about aquaponic system maintenance. They need to learn about the most common issues that cause problems in aquaponic systems and it will help them to be more successful from the start.

One of the most disastrous aquaponic problems that can happen is when you use cold, chlorinated, un-adjusted pH water to top off and fill the system’s reservoir. Using this type of water will stress and kill everything from your fish and plants to even the healthy bacteria living in the system.

When you are “topping-off” the reservoir in the aquaponic system, you can get away with using less than 10% of this type of water. However, using too much will cause aquaponic problems in a very short time and you will need to start salvaging your system all over again.

Many times, people who are topping of their system using a water hose will forget that the water is on and flood their system. By setting a timer it will remind you to shut off the water to avoid this aquaponic problem.

The Options

Always evaluate the situation first.

Figure out what is wrong, ways to fix it and then pick the best option. Using chlorinated water essentially sanitizes your entire aquaponic system and will possibly eliminate all of the gathered plant nutrients.

When using cold, chlorinated, un-adjusted pH water for your system, the most likely state of each of the living elements in your system are as follows:

The Fish

Chlorine is not good for fish and the best case scenario is that they are just really stressed. The temperature level of their water most likely decreased considerably and the pH of the water is most likely changed.

While it is best to not utilize aquarium dechlorinators since they add sodium and other chemicals that can be hazardous to plants and cause aquaponic problems.

You should reduce the amount of chlorine in the system as quickly as possible to recover the fish’s slime coat that keeps them healthy, using a good aquarium water conditioner will do both of these things.

In extreme aquaponic problem cases, many of the fish may be very sickly, or floating in the water.

The Plants

Your plants also are stressed as a result of the temperature and pH changes, in addition to the chlorine that is presenting the water.

If your aquaponic problems are extremely bad then you might have to clean the system, which removes all of the beneficial nutrients from the system. It is strongly recommend that you add some Maxicrop into your system that will feed your plants while the aquaponic system comes back into balance.

If you catch the aquaponic problem before the water has made its way from the fish reservoir into the plants in the system, then quickly shut off the water pump. You will need to treat the fish tank water before you turn the water pump back on and by doing this it will help to minimize aquaponic problems caused to your plants and the bacteria in your system.

The Bacteria

Likely, the healthy bacteria in the aquaponics system have been destroyed and you will need to start all over again by re-cycling your system.

This is the hardest part since you most likely still have fish in your system and if they all didn’t die, you will need to cycle your system using the fish as your ammonia source.

Unless you have another fish tank or aquaponic system that you can transfer them to and do a fish-less cycling.

All will work out, however be sure to watch the ammonia and nitrite levels very carefully. If either starts reaching the high end of the color graph in the API test kit (4 ppm ammonia and 1 ppm nitrites).

After that be sure to do a 1/3 water change out of your system to dilute the levels back down to where your fish will be able to tolerate to avoid further aquaponic problems.

The Worms

You can assume that they have actually been eliminated by the chlorine and that you should add more worms to your grow beds once you have adjusted the water.

The bottom line is that one disruptive aquaponic problem can reset your system back to when you first started. You may lose a few fish, your plants could stress out and yellow for a few days or weeks, but you will certainly recuperate from the aquaponic problems.

Learn From Another’s Experiences…

The best way to prevent these aquaponic problems is to use a separate water tank to off-gas the chlorine, adjust the pH and water temperature before transferring the water into your aquaponic system.

By doing this additional step, you will save time and heartache from an aquaponic problems turning into a disaster then having to start all over again.

And just think, you will most likely never make these mistakes again or by reviewing this article, you will prevent this aquaponic problem from ever happening!

  

What food can be grown in Aquaponics

PLANTS

credit to Endless Food Systems

Naturally, different plants grow under different conditions. Before you get started growing, it’s important to consider which type of growing bed to use. This is determined by the type of root structure that plant tends to have. Plants with no root structure need floating beds, while root vegetables grow better in wicking beds. Most everything else grows best in media beds. 

For plants like lettuce, herbs or leafy greens, floating “raft” style beds are ideal. For root vegetables, wicking beds are a better choice. If you plan to grow tomatoes, peppers, beans or most other types of multiple yield plants, media beds are probably your best option.

Choosing the right environment in which to place your aquaponics farm is another important consideration. The amount of sunlight, ambient temperature, rainfall and wind are all crucial factors in producing a healthy plant. If you decide to grow outdoors, choose varieties of vegetables that will grow best in your climate. In addition, most areas will require the use of a greenhouse, or you can always grow indoors.

It is best to avoid fighting Mother Nature. Even with a greenhouse, it is difficult to control the temperature, and plants thrive better when the temperature ranges match their normal processes. Therefore, in the colder months you should grow cold-weather crops and in the summer, you should grow your warm-weather plants.

It’s important to carefully schedule your planting times. If you’re looking to produce a sustained food supply, you should stagger your projected harvests so that all of your produce doesn’t become ripe at one time. This can lead to wasted food, as well as in-between periods where your aquaponics garden isn’t producing any vegetables. If you plan to grow multiples of the same vegetable, try to stagger growing periods by approximately the amount of time it will take you to consume a batch.

If you are aiming for more variety in your diet, try overlapping the growing times of three or more vegetable types. It can take a while to fine-tune this process to match your own consumption and the decomposition rates of your already picked vegetables. To err on the side of overproduction is never a bad idea, as you can easily donate excess vegetables, share them with friends or preserve them for later by freezing, dehydrating or canning. 

One of the quickest-yield vegetables you can get out of an aquaponics system is lettuce. Reaching peak maturity at around 28 days, lettuce grows ideally in floating beds. It is very forgiving in terms of the minimum and maximum water temperatures and can survive a range from 25-85 degrees Fahrenheit. 

If you’re looking to produce a more nutritious food in a short amount of time, pole, an Italian-style wax bean, can be harvested in around 54 days. Pole grows best in a media bed and is optimal at temperatures between 59 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Beans overall are an excellent investment, as they can be dried and stored for very long periods of time. 

Tomatoes are well worth the wait, taking around three months to reach peak maturity depending on the strain and variety. Like beans, they grow best in a media bed at a temperature of 59-95 degrees Fahrenheit. In order to ensure the highest yield from your tomato plants, be sure to trim off all shoots, leaving just the main vine. This will ensure that the bulk of the plant’s nutrients are delivered to the tomatoes once they begin to form. 

In about 65 days, you can have a full harvest of delicious carrots. They have a very well defined optimal growing temperature, at between 59 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit, although they are capable of growing in extreme temperatures in both directions. Wicking beds provide the perfect growing environment for carrots and other root vegetables.

With an aquaponics system, your ability to grow edible plants is limited only by your own desire to do so. The system does most of the labor that would be required of you in an ordinary in-ground growing operation, so you can spend your time on more pressing issues like scheduling harvests and finding new and interesting applications for your crops. When done correctly, you should be able to maintain a constantly rotating supply of organic, pesticide-free vegetables that can carry on indefinitely in a properly maintained system. 

FISH
credit to Backyard Aquaponics

There are many different species of fish that can be used in an aquaponic system, depending on your local climates and available supplies. Our local climate in Perth, Western Australia, allows us to keep Rainbow Trout through winter, then a warmer species like Barramundi during summer. There are also a few choices for year round fish that we could grow, but they often take a longer time to mature. If you live in a cooler climate you might be looking at growing Trout all year round, or perhaps another locally produced fish species. In warmer areas of Australia people generally grow Barramundi, or Jade Perch year round, in most warm areas throughout the world Tilapia is the fish of choice.

In deciding what is the best species for you to grow, you should take a few factors into account, most importantly is what you want from your system. If you don’t want to eat your fish then you probably won’t want to grow edible fish, or you may want to grow an edible fish that can live year-round in your area, so that you’re not having to harvest fish out seasonally. The second most important factor is ‘What’s available?’ You need to be able to buy fish to stock your system, even with species such as Tilapia that breed readily, you need to get your broodstock in the first place.

Here’s a list of useful aquaponic species with a few details about each

Barramundi: Barramundi are often grown in aquaponic systems through the warmer months of the year. Most growers will buy fairly mature stock so that they can harvest larger fish, at the end of the growing season. Barramundi that is grown in an aquaponic system has an exceptionally clean, crisp taste. Growing your own Barramundi excites guests and is the envy of neighbours. They provide a decent harvest at the end of the season and are one of the more majestic species of edible fish.

Catfish: There are many different species of catfish around the world that are well suited to aquaponics. Channel catfish are the most widely farmed aquaculture species in the United States, and they are available in many areas of Australia. Catfish don’t have scales so they need to be skinned, they are quick growing and have a good food conversion ratio.

Carp: There are many species of carp that could be very well suited to aquaponics, unfortunately because of their reproductive capabilities, their tough nature and ability to readily adapt in many areas of the world, carp have become noxious pests to native waterways and the environment, and as such they are not easily obtainable, and often there are high fines and fees for keeping them. In most western cultures carp also have a fairly poor reputation, as an eating fish, however, carp is still the most widely cultured fish in the world as it’s grown throughout most of Asia.

Goldfish: Although some people may group these with the carp, I’ve decided to cover these seperately as most people refer to them as goldfish, and this is what they will be sold as, at local pet shops or fish suppliers. Goldfish are generally pretty tough and make a great addition to an aquaponic system. In many areas they will breed in a tank, although they generally need plant cover within the tank to breed.

Jade Perch: This Australian fish is worth a special mention here, as it has the highest levels of omega three oils of any fish species in the world. In fact it’s so high in omega three oils that growers are trying to breed the oil out of them, they are trying to breed a less oily fish because they’ve found people don’t like the high oil content. They require warm water and consume an omnivorous diet. Very well suited to an aquaponic system, they grow quickly and fingerlings are readily available in warmer areas.

Koi: Once again, another species of carp, but better known as “Koi” rather than carp. Koi are very common within many Asian communities and they are often found in large ornamental ponds. For those who love Koi, an aquaponic system is a great proposition for stocking the fish.

Murray cod: Murray cod are a magnificent native Australian fish, known to grow to enormous sizes in their native habitats, their tank culture is still in reasonably early days. Murray cod are grown in recirculating aquaculture systems, and can also been grown in aquaponic systems, hopefully this fish will be utilised more over time because they are quick growing, and a great eating fish. One of the downfalls is that they must be kept at high stocking densities, and kept well fed otherwise they cannibalise each other.

Silver perch: Silver perch are a good allround native Australian fish that grow well under a variety of conditions. Perch are omnivorous and will happily eat green scraps as well as Duckweed and Azolla. They grow within a wide temperature range, though they’re not as fast growing as many other fish, taking 12-18 months for fingerlings to grow to plate size.

Tilapia: The second most cultured fish in the world, and extremely popular in Aquaponics systems. They are an ideal species for aquaponics for many reasons. They are easy to breed, fast growing, withstand very poor water conditions, consume an omnivorous diet and are good eating. The only downfall for some people will be that Tilapia require warm water. If you live in a cool area you are far better off growing a fish species that will grow well in your temperature range, rather than trying to heat the water. Tilapia are also a declared pest in many areas.

Trout: Trout are a great fish for aquaponic systems where water temperatures are a little cooler. Trout prefer water temperatures between 10°C and 20°C. They have extremely fast growth rates and excellent food conversion ratios.

Others: There are other fish species which are quite suitable for aquaponics, that might be available in your local area. In Europe many different species of carp are grown, within the United States such species as Bluegill are often available, while in Australia we also have a number of other native species like Sleepy cod which would be suitable.

Other aquatic animals that can be incorporated into an aquaponic system are fresh water mussles, fresh water prawns, and fresh water crayfish. Mussles are a filter-feeder, and do a great job of helping to clean the water, they will happily grow in flooded grow beds, or can be incorporated into fish tanks. Crustaceans make a nice addition to an aquaponic system and there are a few different species available depending on your location and water temperatures.

For those in tropical areas there’s Redclaw, a fast growing  Australian species, and for those in cooler areas there’s Yabbies or Marron.

Yabbies breed readily, given the right environment and the correct water temperature, as well as long daylight hours. They also grow fairly quickly, but they can be prone to fighting and cannibalism when stocked very densely.

  

How Aquaponics Makes Food Right

Credit to http://www.thecoolist.com

Aquaponics — The farms of the future are growing today. In a valley in the Virgin Islands, in a warehouse in Chicago, on a rooftop in Florida and a greenhouse in Milwaukee, history’s newest and most sustainable form of agriculture has broken out of its seed and has began to take root. In these farms of the future, you’ll find no waste water, no eroding soil and no harsh insecticides, but a mutually-balanced ecosystem that yields fast-growing organic produce– and the freshest, toxin-free fish money can buy. This is aquaponics, a high tech farming technology where vegetables and fish are grown in concert, a next generation symbiotic system that just might change the way we grow, harvest and eat the food of tomorrow.


1. The University of the Virgin Islands: Where the science began

After decades of scientific research, the team at the University of the Virgin Islands successfully grew fish and vegetables in a closed loop system that they ultimately called “Aquaponics”. Aquaponics is a hybrid technology including “aquaculture”, the raising of fish in a controlled system, and “hydroponics”, the farming of plants in a soil-free environment. Both techniques had survived for centuries before being merged, with hydroponics reaching back all the way to the hanging gardens of Babylon, where raised troughs of nutrient-rich water fed plants that hung and cascaded to the grounds below. Aquaculture is a newer technology, most commonly known as “fish farming”, where schools of fish are raised in controlled environments both in the seas and on land.

Both aquaculture and hydroponics produce toxic waste that ultimately harms the environment. In aquaculture, fish produce natural waste that is high in ammonia, resulting in water that must be discarded to maintain the health of the fish. In hydroponics, nutrient solutions degrade in quality and the waste water must be removed from the system or else it will harm the plants. When merged, aquaculture and hydroponics cancel out each other’s waste, providing a closed-loop system where the plants live off the fish waste and the fish live in water purified by the plants. In these aquaponic systems, humans can imitate the precise balance of nature to yield tons of fresh produce and healthy fish with very little effort.


2. Will Allen’s “Growing Power” Urban Farm, Milwaukee, WI

One of the champions of this new food movement is Will Allen, owner of the Growing Power urban farm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Allen has built a series of greenhouses that use aquaponic technology to raise 10,000+ lake perch and over a 1,000,000 pounds of produce every year. By using their own compost to heat the greenhouses, Growing Power runs year round, making them what might be the most productive year-round farm in the Midwest.

The secret to Growing Power, and many other aquaponic farms, is the vertical nature of their farming practice. Using multiple raised beds that stretch toward the roofs of each greenhouse, farmers can multiply the yield that traditional farmers could expect from a flat land investment. A single pump lifts the nutrient-rich water from the fish tanks to top level growing beds. This water feeds these plants and then cycles down to lower levels before falling back into the fish troughs below.

What makes Will Allen’s achievement so remarkable is that he has grown over 1,000,000 pounds of produce and 10,000 pounds of fish in just a few acres. It is an achievement that has inspired hobbyist and commercial growers alike, and has earned Allen a myriad of awards from some of the most prestigious grant organizations in the world. Allen has received a leadership grant from the Ford Foundation, a Genius Grant from the MacArthur Foundation and another from the Kellogg Foundation. In the world of aquaponics, this humble son of sharecroppers from South Carolina has risen to the most recognizable force in the world of future farming.


3. John Edels “The Plant” Warehouse, Chicago, IL

Not far from Growing Power in Milwaukee, another eco-entrepreneur has taken to the empty warehouses of Chicago’s meat-packing district to produce a new kind of edible product. Amidst a slew of slaughterhouses in every direction, John Edel and his company, “The Plant” yield pristine produce of the vegetative kind. Edel uses advanced LED grow lights to give life to his photosynthetic friends, lettuces and herbs grown in concert with fish. As in other aquaponic systems, fish waste in ammonia form is lifted throughout a series of plant beds, where naturally-occurring bacteria transform that ammonia into nitrites and then nitrates, a rich substance that feeds his produce.

Edel’s plan is to prove that empty warehouse space in cities around the world are ripe territory for future farming. Entrepreneurs like John can occupy this space and apply new age technology to farm vast amounts of food in limited space. Even with sunlight taken out of the equation, farmers can use aquaponic technology to raise produce and protein without breaking soil or wasting the water lost in traditional agriculture.


4.  Green Sky Growers: The Future of Farming

Not far from Orlando, Florida, an organic orange farmer and a biologist with Epcot Center experience have teamed up to build the true farm of the future. On a rooftop above their city center, Green Sky Growers use aquaponics and vertical farming to grow massive yields of produce and fresh, healthy tilapia using less than 10% of the water needed for traditional farming. As much a science lab as a farm, this facility uses a software-controlled greenhouse that ventilates based on local temperature, rotating plant towers that soak up solution from fish tanks, and happy tilapia that consume plant waste to produce nutrient-rich water.

A myriad of vegetables grow in this greenhouse year-round, where lettuces, herbs, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and more grow in a hydroponic setting while aquaculture tanks complete a biological closed-loop. Every Saturday, their produce is made available at a farmer’s market on the streets below in Winter Garden, Florida, inviting interested foodies up for a tour of the facility. Technology is everywhere in this farm, but the plants it yields are as organic as can be. No pesticides, genetic modifiers or toxic waste occur in this new-aged farm. It is the perfect marriage of technology and nature, where the people who run it understand the delicate balance between sensible agriculture and sustainable business. Visitors to the Orlando area might find more inspiration and fun in this rooftop farm than they would at the area’s entertainment district, where Mickey and Minnie Mouse dominate the environment.