Adventures in Aquaponics

My first consulting gig!

2010-11-30T07:23:00.002-10:00

I built a 160 gallon FT and three 90 gallon growbeds from WFS for a client. It includes a Danner 9.5 pump from Amazon.

Total price tag for this turnkey system including labor is $1k.

Washing the cinder still not my favorite part btw. I washed all 270 gallons, 5 gallons at at time in about 3 hours. BTW, 1 cubic meter of cinder from Niu Valley equals exactly 270 gallons.

Illustration in progress.

2010-07-30T12:39:00.002-10:00

Koi Group Presentation

2009-11-12T20:41:00.004-10:00

At the last minute, I was asked by Terrance (the owner of Island Koi) to give a short presentation about Aquaponics, as it would be something pretty easy to incorporate into their koi ponds. This was on 11/8/09.
I tried to get a demo unit ready, but just couldnt squeeze it in, despite painting at 11 at night.

The presentation went okay, I made a quicky powerpoint and winged it. There were about 30 people there. Only a few seemed interested.

Meet up

2009-09-17T10:23:00.003-10:00

Our first meet up for www.aquaponicsinparadise.com is set up to happen this Saturday, September 19th at Olomana Gardens. Check the forums for info!

IBC is the way to go

2009-09-17T09:52:00.006-10:00

Aside from scrubbing down the IBC and cutting it, I would recommend an IBC over barrelponics if you can find one.

8/18/09

2 Weeks later, 9/02/09

Break

2009-08-18T12:06:00.007-10:00

Took a break from the leaky 'monster 300' and set up the IBC tank. Much simpler to setup, but not as nearly as pretty, but definately much cheaper. It was 250 gallons and cost around $100.

here it is right after it was cut and scrubbed. you have to be careful of what it used to contain as it may leach out chemicals over time.

its filled with water and a few plants

how not to fiberglass

2009-07-20T07:13:00.002-10:00

the new 299 gallon tank is almost done. spent all day sunday 'fiberglassing' the tank. actually, we didnt use fiberglass, but instead used an iso resin.

learnt some interesting things about applying resins
1) adding too much catalyst makes the resin harden in 10 minutes, also whatever resin you have will solidfy, heat up, and start to smoke.
2) 4 rollers is not enough for 2 n00bs trying to do 3-4 coats of resin. buy at least 8 rollers and a few disposable brushes.
3) change out of your good clothes and into your crappy clothes BEFORE starting to paint.

=p

New website almost up!

2009-07-14T08:05:00.004-10:00

A new AP forum, localized for people in Hawaii, but open to all

>>>Go here<<<

stabilized

2009-07-10T11:07:00.001-10:00

looks like my barrel system has stabilized. need to do some water tests but the fish have finally stopped dying and the duckweed/azolla has finally started to multiply.

the big tank has hit some work stoppage. hope to have it finished this weekend or early next week at the latest.

2009-06-30T22:29:00.000-10:00

its almost done!

2009-06-25T10:24:00.004-10:00

Looks like the new system is almost done. All told it will be about 285 gallons. By next weekend I hope to be testing it out for water retention. Will post pics and info when its done.

In other news, I planted Hawaiian sweet corn, swiss red chard, purple bell pepper, Waimanalo long eggplant, and hybrid eggplant. Guess we'll see how it goes.

Discovered that theres a leak in the system. Turns out that the water pressure/weight pushed out the pvc fittings, making me lose 4 buckets of water a day. As I had tweaked the water height (higher) on the raft bed, I thought I had changed the fill rates, didnt occur to me that water was leaking out somewhere.

Going to do a full water change today, as the new water should be dechlorinated (to get rid of the bad salt water)

found the culprit

2009-06-23T13:08:00.003-10:00

well i am a big dummy. apparently i have been using the wrong kind of salt. even though i had problems with tilapia deaths before i started salting my tank, i was told to use sea salt to calm the fish. a small measure of plain sea salt calms the fish and it will not harm the plants.
i had a bottle of mortons sea salt, right on the front it said 'no iodine, from the plains in spain' or something. stupid me, i didnt check the back where it says 'contains: salt, yellow prussian sdfljkiug anticaking agent"

i will now be changing out all of the water. looks like its going to be a few weeks til i can put in any tilapia, and by then i will have my prototype tank up and running.

it is recommended to use 2ppt of sea salt. (1kg per 1000ltrs = 1ppt) or 3.5 oz of plain sea salt (no iodine or anticaking agents) per 100 gallons.

new project started

2009-06-15T11:51:00.002-10:00

i put in 20 feeder comets last week, of which 2 have died. i also purchased 4 crayfish and put it in the tank with the water hyacinth and first 2 died. figuring not enough oxygen, i put in a battery operated air pump, the last 2 died the next day.
starting doing daily water tests to see if the system is stabilizing. hope to add tilapia's soon.

working on a larger tank now, supposedly larger systems are easier to maintain.

this tank will also be a prototype for a turn key system i hope to sell. its working out to be about 285 gallons and am hope to keep costs down to $1k, with a 75 gallon growbed, black cinder media, airpump, 700 gph pond pump, dc pond pump (backup), pvc piping, water test kit, and fish food.
any takers?

update 6/12

2009-06-12T07:45:00.007-10:00

trellis is built and painted, but needs to be angled so rain wont pool on top anymore.

modified the setup a little. instead of using an airstone to pull water from tank2, im just having one of the grow beds dump straight into tank1, this should push water to tank2.

planted some chinese taro. they should do well as they are a water plant. according to the interwebs, chinese taro is good for the leaves, stems, and the corm (root) can be used to make taro chips, but not poi.

also, did i mention that i found 'seasol' here at koolau nursery over by the old gems? for you youngsters, thats the little mall over by hcc, where the new chucky cheese is going to be at.

next: build 300 gallon tank, move tank1 and 2 to side, nice-ify drain pipes

2009-06-09T21:57:00.003-10:00

evolved the set up a little. added secondary tank to try to maintain water level for fishies. not sure if itll work tho. added trellis with clear plastic on top. hopefully the system will stabilize and i can add tilapia's again. in the mean time 20 feeder comets now cruise in the tank, testing things out.

will start building fiberglass set up soon.
plants doing pretty good so far.

... and then there was none

2009-06-02T13:37:00.003-10:00

the last fish died today. i still think it was new system instability - i added the fish too early. its odd that they lasted for 10 days tho, so there may be other factors.
ah well, im going to take the time to change my setup and do a water change and give it a week or 2 before adding in more fish.

...and then there was one.

2009-05-30T09:26:00.004-10:00

well all the fish save one is dead. i tested the PH and ammonia again, no change. did a partial water change. removed anything metallic that was nearby. added some organic sea kelp fertilizer and a small quantity of sea salt.

i guess i'll just have to do a total water change and hold off buying any fish for a little while.

at least the plants are doing good.

7 fishes gone to heaven.

2009-05-27T22:27:00.004-10:00

failure. 7 of the 12 tilapias have died. not sure why yet. majorly bummed.
there was definately enough aeration in the water. i suspect impurities in the water. possibly a brass hinge i used that i meant to swap out.
will do an 'autopsy' tommorrow and find out what i can. =(

update

2009-05-26T20:52:00.006-10:00

figured out a way to make a nice system for resale. gonna keep it under my hat until i figure all the small details out.

for now, heres what the plants look like, they arent growing as fast as i like, but they arent dead yet. i got some bok choy, spinach, kale, and coriander sprouting from seed in some cheapo tiny plastic thing from kmart. its the one that you have discs of dried peat and you rehydrate and it grows into this fat planter thing.
of course, before i plant it, i'll shake the dirt or whatevers in there out.

found a small battery powered up with built in relay. see the plug? if it detects the power goes off, the pump automatically kicks in. its $16 on amazon.

glenn's autosyphon.

no luck so far

2009-05-21T08:43:00.005-10:00

one fiberglass place called me back. they are not going to be able to make fiberglass nesting tanks at an affordable price.
*note: nice aquaponics kits are made in australlia by murray hallam but costs alot to ship to hawaii*
i might have to go with building my 300 gallon system out of a wood frame and pond lining or a huge horse watering trough.

havent found a local source for clear tarp yet either.

found some hydroton at the only hydroponics shop in hawaii, but its kind f expensive. 10 liters for $25? i guess in hydroponics they only use it for inside the little grow pot.

fiberglass?

2009-05-19T23:47:00.006-10:00

contacted a few places, looking at having 300 gallon fiberglass marine-grade tanks and 100 gallon grow beds made...

when i first met glenn, he suggested that he needed consultants to do installations... are there people who would pay for an aquaponics kit and installation?

would you pay $1000 for a turn-key kit that all you needed to do was add water, fish, and plants? say it included a tank, a growbed, ac and dc pumps, relay, and the pipes and fittings, growbed material, 12v battery and we come over and install it for you?
hmmmmmmmm

testing the waters...

2009-05-18T19:17:00.003-10:00

ph down! eggshells up!

stage 2: continued

2009-05-17T20:03:00.004-10:00

boy those cheap pavillions are a pain. they look okay but its a bitch to assemble.

its day 2 and all the fish are still alive! i also found ammonia test and ph test kits at walmart, still need to find a chlorine test kit.

feeder comets and tilapias

stage 2

2009-05-16T21:37:00.002-10:00

got my tilapia today. i think theyre blue tilapias, each measuring around 2". now my system can start the nitrate cycle and hopefully stabilize soon enough. I picked up a battery powered air pump at kalihi pets and went to visit glenn at olomana and got 10 tilapias for my barrelponic system. while there i got some duckweed and a dozen fresh eggs.
i also picked up a pavilion from (of all places) star market for $25. its constructed of several poles and a tarp with legs. it only comes in hunter green.

Its up!

2009-05-14T22:51:00.001-10:00

Finally finished dechlorinating the water and i have a rudimentary system of 2 half barrels and 1 full barrel as the fish tank going. Soon I will build some kind of trellis over the system and build a more permanent table with another half barrel as a timer.