Aquaponics

Finale for my part

2011-08-21T05:58:00.001-06:00

I have moved to Hawaii so I have reached an end to operating my office aquaponic system. The system has been passed on to my family. It will be the first system that I built and is the first system that I have given away. I feel really good about being able to pass on aquaponics to another. I have realized that I like setting up systems. Odd, but satisfying. I never intended to donate it. I have found pleasure in giving the system away as well. Perhaps I have a future in doing such a thing.

This is how I left my system. I relocated it underneath an east facing window to reduce supplemental light and to allow the rising sun to bask the plants.

Good luck!

Thank you for following this blog. In time I will achieve more, but for now I must focus on school so I can do this for a living.

My First Flower!

2011-08-14T21:49:00.000-06:00

I have my first flower! Okay, so the sepals have just opened and the petals are following. It is a good day for this plant. It has finally reached maturity!

Now if I could just keep providing the plant an excellent source of light, she would flower like crazy...

As days go by...

2011-08-11T23:35:00.000-06:00

As the days go on the plants continue to thrive. The habaneros are getting larger. The tomato is growing like crazy. I continue to weave it down and within a couple days the plants are stretched out reaching towards the window. I feel they want better light than the shop light with aquarium bulbs.

The fish are feeding voraciously. I try to make sure to give enough flakes for 5 minutes of feeding. I still am doing this twice a day. I am going to switch to a different feed here pretty soon. Something more nutritious than the flakes I have currently. I am considering an automatic feeder. More on why in a few.

I am leaving off for school in a week. I will no longer be able to operate my system. I am passing on the system to another to whom I am teaching the "basics".

I have learned a lot over these past months and I hope to take this knowledge that I gained and apply it to future experiences.

( pictures to come ...!!!)

Here Fishy, fishy..

2011-07-22T21:28:00.003-06:00

One more fish died. One of the newer fish that I added was having a hard time acclimating. His dorsal fin never really perked up and he struggled to eat.

The rest of the fish look hearty. They are swimming and eating just fine. I think I did a better job of introducing new fish to my system.

I decided to chat with a pet store associate that was knowledgeable about fish. I spent about 30 minutes chatting with him about my system and some of the dramas I have encountered. The main issues have been introducing new fish to the system. I was recommended to try a drip acclimation for new fish. Fish at the pet store live in water slightly different than mine. Basically, I siphoned water from my tank into a bowl containing the new fish with the pet store water. The idea: slowly get the fish used to a change in water quality. After about a half hour I added the new creatures to my system.

I learned a lot by talking about my system with a gentleman who knew almost nothing about aquaponics but was able to approach me from an aquatic perspective. This is the second time that someone with a fish's perspective has allowed me to resolve appropriate issues. I will continue to value and foster relationships with those who understand the marine and aquatic worlds.

2011-07-19T20:26:00.003-06:00

The system has been running smoothly for the last month. There have been no issues or setbacks to deal with lately. The tomato has begun to cover the screen above it. I am starting to weave it through itself. The stems seem to take the curviest paths to their current locations. Aside from all the twists, the tomato is growing vigorously. I have to tamp down the vertical growth every couple of days. If not the tomato grows into the light, which may eventually burn the plant.

No flowers yet. I am starting to wonder if my lack of flowers has to do with my involvement. In the sense that I have chosen to grow a tomato indoors under mostly supplemented light. I am beginning to think that the lack of proper lighting conditions and possibly other environmental influences, like room temperature, stifle the growth of floral buds.

The habanero peppers are doing great. One has just begun to set it's sixth set of leaves while the other is working on it's fourth. The leaves look larger and healthier than most habaneros I have grown outside in Colorado.

The carrot greens are starting to lose their turgidity. (Noticeable in first photo) I am considering pulling them and calling an end to the aquaponic carrot experiment. The carrots seem to be quite small, both in length and diameter. This is a guess based on uncovering and peeking at the carrots' "shoulders".

I have also added 6 new goldfish. I originally added 10 but 2 died the first night, one the next morning and one that managed to sneak into my net. I accidently suffocated the little dude when I failed to notice a fish in my net until the next morning. I noticed a fishy smell and discovered a dry, warm, bloated fish in the retrieval net that I leave next to the tank. I feel stupid not noticing something so simple like that. Lesson learned though.

I will post again soon with updates!

Smoothness

2011-06-12T20:40:00.001-06:00

The system is running nice and smoothly. No dramas so far. The fish are getting bigger and are becoming ferocious eaters. I am feeding them Aqueon goldfish flakes that I bought at PetCo. They seem to like it.

The tomatoes are weaving well along the chicken wire canopy I have given them. I haven't had to coax them much through the wire. These two plants seem to have vine like qualities and almost weave themselves. I am glad I don't have to harass them as much as I thought I would.

I have recently planted a habanero pepper into the right grow bed just to see how it goes. It would be nice to also fruit a pepper under a fluorescent.

I have added more pictures! The most current photos are at the bottom. Enjoy!

SCROG Added For Tomatoes

2011-05-15T15:11:00.000-06:00

I have added a screen (made of 1" chicken wire and 1/2" PVC) above my tomato plants to create a canopy focused near my light. I am going to delicately weave the leaves of my tomato plants along the screen horizontally. I am trying to give the plants the maximum amount of light to their photosynthetic parts. Eventually I hope for the fruit to dangle below the screen for easy picking.

The carrots seem to benefit from this as well.

Up they grow

2011-04-29T17:29:00.000-06:00

Time just seems to fly by. I can't believe it has been 10 days since I last posted. My tomatoes are doing great. The two in the system are about 8 inches tall now. They have started to become pungent. Its a nice smell to have indoors I must say. It is new to me because this is my first indoor tomato ever. The other young'ns are shorter and are still just in a rockwool cube. I am going to wait to plant them outside I think. The weather is getting nice and I think since they have had a good start indoors that I should harden them off and see what the sun can do for them. Hopefully they'll do great!

My fish are getting bigger and have had no problems so far. I have yet to add more fish, mainly because I don't wanna shock my community and kill them. I have put some thought into introducing 1-2 fish at a time and slowly increase my population size. Id think this is the more natural way to allow a system to adapt rather than my previous attempts of dumping in numbers of fish. Wish me luck!

Pictures, tomatoes and more...

2011-04-18T21:20:00.001-06:00

All is going well in my system. I have noticed that the carrots that were once yellowing are now slightly greener. I am wondering if the worms are helping? Time will tell. I also put up a reflective surface along the walls behind my shop light. I am hoping the mylar will increase the captured light and therefore help increase photosynthesis. This is my system currently... Just to the left are seedlings of tomatoes and a spinach.

I have recently added some tomatoes to my system. I planted them when the second set of leaves were just visible 6 days ago. This is them today...

I have been up and running for a little over 105 days. I am pretty excited to begin to figure this out!

Check the pictures link for some new photos -------->

I Got Worms

2011-03-30T23:16:00.001-06:00

I have added red worms to my system. I was able to get a hold of some free worms thanks to a nice lady. I got about a large yogurt container full of worms and bedding. I put about 20 worms into my grow beds to see what happens. I have started a worm bin with the remaining worms.

I learned a lot about red worms today. I showed up to a strangers house expecting to just simply get some worms and was told how these little guys live and thrive. I had a lengthy conversation and am glad I got a better background. Essentially she told me how to start Vermicomposting. This is a whole world that I will begin to learn about. I hear that worms are the secret ingredient in aquaponics. I hope to find that true.

Tomatoes & Spinach

2011-03-29T15:31:00.002-06:00

I have seeded some Italian Grape tomato and spinach a couple of different ways. I directly placed some spinach into the right growbed about 1/2" below soil line. This is slightly above the water's max fill. I have also planted some spinach and tomato seeds into some 1"x1"x1" rockwool cubes. It has been only about 4 days since I seeded so I expect to see sprouts soon. I placed the cubes in direct sunlight beneath a window to help expedite the growth. According to my readings, spinach and tomato are supposed to do well in a frequently watered, hydroponic system. Spinach and tomatoes therefore seem better suited for my system than the carrots or onions did, of course I had to learn somehow.

Running strong

2011-03-25T12:41:00.001-06:00

The system is doing great. Been running for 85+ days now. My greens look very green and are getting bigger. Still no carrot mass under the medium. Oh well. I have some grape tomato seeds germinating and plan to plant those girls soon. I’m also going to look into getting some spinach because I’ve read that it grows well in a system that floods as often as mine.

My goldfish are doing great and they are slowly growing. There are eight left. It has been that way for the last month. My little survivors. I want to add a few more fish so I will have potential nutrients for the tomatoes once they get into the system.

I have been testing water quality regularly. I test the pH daily and about once a week I test the ammonia/ammoniums, nitrates and nitrites. My levels for those three have been about zero for the last 60 days or so. My water temperature has been staying around 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The pH is staying around 7.2 (according to my dye). I would like to see it around 7.0. I am slowly trying to get it closer to 7.0. Aside from that the fish look happy as they swim and chase each other around.

Looking good so far

2011-03-18T15:04:00.001-06:00

It has been a few…

The system seems to be getting stable. I am currently at 8 fish and some underdeveloped carrots. The roots of my carrots are not forming into a tuber. I have Italian grape tomato seeds en route and hope to have better luck with above ground fruit. I am able to see that the carrot greens are a nice green color with only traces of light green on a few leaves. I have confidence that the plant food is available in abundance for tomatoes.

I would like to get more fish but I am hesitant to do so because it might unbalance my system and potentially threaten the fish I have managed to keep alive. A smaller population is easier to keep alive. I suppose that if I don’t try I can never know for sure. When I do get more fish I plan to get more fake plants that the fish can hide under/around. They have seemed to like the fake plants I have in the tank currently. When I look into the tank, most of the fish are hidden beneath some sort of cover.

Until later...Happy Cultivating!

All is well...

2011-03-08T16:06:00.001-07:00

All is well in my system. I have only had 2 fish die since my last post. I am not sure as to why, but it is promising. I had to relocate my system to another room because the room it was in needed to be used for storage space. I couldn't fathom showing people my system in a room full of other things. I have begun to notice the lack of growth with my carrots and onions. The greens of the plants are nicely colored but have lost their turgidity and seem to not be producing a larger root. I suspect I would see a developing root by this time and I have not. I am beginning to think that the way I have the ebb & flow setup provides too much water to these types of crops. They receive a source of water several times per hour, which I believe is too wet of an environment. I have read of potatoes grown hydroponically so I am not deterred from attempting to grow onions and carrots hydroponically. The carrots and onions seem to dislike my particular ebb & flow.

I am planning to change crops and plant some peppers and grape tomatoes. I think above ground fruit will grow better in my system. Time will tell.

Attack of the gato!

2011-02-22T11:56:00.001-07:00

I went into my room yesterday morning and noticed something odd. My carrots were trampled down in my right grow bed. I looked and discovered that my catnip was devastated by one or both of my cats. I found the stalks chewed down to the hydroton. One could also notice little paw prints in the grow beds.

I got a good little laugh as I thought what it must have been like to be a cat and discover a fresh catnip stash. I can see two little sprouts below the clay pebbles. Hopefully they will sprout and I can keep the catnip a better secret this time.

Oxygen :)

2011-02-14T12:50:00.001-07:00

All is well. I have added a second airstone into my system. The other day it was noticed that a couple of the fish were gasping for air at the surface as well as eating air bubbles. Thoughts were that perhaps there may not be enough oxygen in the water, and that could be another reason for my fish dying.

The fish look happy and seem to be swimming better. They don't surface nearly as much as before and like to chase each other around.

As the days go on I am zeroing in on homeostasis!

Minnows no more :(

2011-02-11T11:30:00.002-07:00

I found out in one night that minnows may not be suitable in my system. I found seven dead little fish this morning. They didn't even get a chance to float. I can think of many reasons as to why they may have perished. Temperature, stress, differing water quality than the fish store, etc... In the end what ultimately matters is minnows are too fragile for my aquaponic system. I take every fish death as a lesson. I haven't lost a fish in a few days before these new ones. I see that as an improvement from earlier days as well as a reminder on how to improve.

New fish!

2011-02-10T18:39:00.003-07:00

I have purchased 30 new community fish. The fish are floating in their store baggies as I write. I decided to stick with inexpensive fish until I can prove my worth as an aquaponicist. This time I bought the fish from a different store than the previous ones. The 30 fish are a mix of red minnows as well as small and medium comet goldfish. I think this is a good choice for me as a hobbyist. The goldfish seemed to not be the best fit for my system until I re-evaluated the cost of typical community fish. In time I hope to be able to find a less expensive fish that is more suitable. Since my aqarium is somewhat small I find it hard to justify finding consumable fish. Although I have my thoughts set on Crappie.

I added a small aquarium item that the fish can hide in and swim around. It is made of acrylic and silk. I figure fish like to hide from each other if they can.

I have also changed the design of my drain pipes that sit over the aquarium. The outpour flow seemed very violent. I say this because after much observation of the fish I noticed them struggle to swim when the auto-siphons drained the grow beds. As they drained they formed a current that circled the tank in a counter clockwise fashion. This toilet flush like vortex seemed to be to much for the smaller goldfish. I thought to myself, fish probably want to rest more than my system allows. I altered the outflow to reduce the rush of water that flows out. I capped the end of the drain, and drilled holes on the underside of the bottom most section of the drain pipe (the last horizontal piece where water exits the PVC drain). This design now forces the water to "rain" into the system which seems to disturb the water less than the toilet bowl effect before. The fish now seem to be able to swim well when the grow beds drain.

Slow But Steady

2011-02-07T11:32:00.001-07:00

Things have been going well in the system. I have had a few more fish deaths. The fish all appera to seem fine when i observe them in the tank. In the last week I have found a floating fish every other morning when I do my first daily check and feed. I am not sure what is going on but I see that the gold fish may not be hardy enough. It is apparent. My water quality has seemed to stay stable. I have not noticed an increase in ammonia, nitrite or nitrate and my pH is stable somewhere between 7.0 and 7.2.

The plants are looking wonderful! I have seen the first cilantro sprout emerged a day ago. Exciting! The other sprouts are growing quick and are becoming top heavy. I have turned on a ceiling fan to promote a windier environment and help those plants build strong cell walls.

Here are my plants so far...

As I thinned out the right grow bed I decided to plant the pulled out sprouts into my other bed. They seem to be growing well!

Poor fish, I'm just an amateur. :(

2011-01-31T20:00:00.001-07:00

I have managed to kill several fish. It saddens me to see them die. I have made some mistakes with running my system and I believe that my lack of paying enough attention has caused this drama. I left the window above the system open until the wee hours of the night. Sometime around 2 a.m. I remembered I had opened a window on a 60 degree day to let my plants get fresh air. What I forgot was to close the window when the sun started to drop. It dropped to just above freezing outside. My tank also dropped from 71 degrees to 58 degrees. I m sure this causes undue stress to an already stressed population of fish.

I am at a 55% fish loss. I have been running my system for about 35 days. This is a bummer to me. I do suppose that the lessons of aquaponics come at a price and through hands on learning. I am learning many lessons as it seems. I am not discouraged however and plan to continue to work out any kinks that I have gathered or will encounter. Things will be okay!

On a side note my plants are doing excellent. Carrots and cat nip have all sprouted their 2nd and 3rd sets of leaves and they are growing fast. The onions are getting taller and starting to become pungent. I have staggered the planting of my veggies so that I can attempt to harvest at a regular rate. I only plan to pull a few of each vegetable when they are ripened and the rest will be behind by a couple weeks from each other.

System and Fish Update

2011-01-27T18:44:00.001-07:00

I have had some issues the last few days. I have developed poor pH testing habits and failed to see my pH drop below 6. I was using an electronic meter to test samples of water in 5mL test tubes. I would submerge the meter into the test tube until it sat on the bottom. I believe the meter was reading the pH of the glass rather than the aquarium water. I say this because when I cross referenced it with the pH test dye I got staggeringly lower results.

I have started to see fish die off one by one over the last 10 days. I added 20 more fish after balancing the pH back out with some pH Up (potassium hydroxide). I saw a few more fish die off in the last couple days. I am now down to 30 goldfish. I am disappointed by the loss of 10 fish. I know goldfish have a reputation as being junk fish but it is always a bummer to see them mysteriously die. I attribute the deaths to the drop in pH and subsequent balancing as well as from the introduction of new fish into the system.

I am going to use the dyes to determine my measurements from now on. Live and learn I suppose.

The veggies are doing great! They have grown quite a bit. I'll tell you all about them next post!

More Sprouts; Shop Light Added

2011-01-22T12:09:00.001-07:00

I have begun to see more sprouted vegetables. My carrots and scallions are alive! They have stretched quite a bit in only a couple days. I will post photos under the Pictures page to the right ------>. I plan to take photos of the plants often so I can get a time lapse of sorts.

Since the plants have sprouted I decided to hang a shop light with plant/aquarium bulbs. It is about 8 inches above the plants.

My hopes are that this light will allow my plants to grow more vigorously!

Seedlings!

2011-01-20T12:13:00.001-07:00

It has been less than a week and I have baby plants!. I am very excited to see little green leaves emerging from one of the beds. Yesterday morning I observed sprouted catnip, and later that day I could see carrots beginning to emerge. I decided to snap some early photos to capture my groundbreaking event.

Catnip

Carrots

There isn't quite enough light coming into the window and unfortunately it is the best window I have to use. This means I will set up a supplemental light for the plants so they may grow as much as possible. For the most part, the more light available means the more energy a plant can make. Which translates as heartier veggies for me to eat. Stay posted!

All is Running Well; The Low Down on My Aquaponics

2011-01-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

The system has been operating for 21 days. So far I have established a routine of tending to the fish at least twice a day. In the morning between 8 and 9 a.m. I raise the blinds to give the room more light. At this time I test the water quality, check the various components of the system, i.e. water temperature, heater, pump, both bell siphons, and feed the fish. I spend about 20 minutes each morning conducting these chores. I record my tasks on a chart I made. (See picture --------->)

I feed my fish all they can eat in about 5 minutes. I do this twice a day. Once as before mentioned in the morning and again at night between 8 and 9 p.m. I make sure the fish are swimming and responsive to being fed. They have actually begun to great the feeder by swarming near an approaching pinch of food as it hovers over the tank before the food spreads on the water surface.

To test the water I use a freshwater aquarium test kit. These can be purchased at a local pet store that sells fish and supplies. I test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate as well as the pH of the water. I collect my samples prior to feeding the fish so I don't accidentally test a piece of fish food. I have purchased an inexpensive digital pH meter that has been calibrated with a 7.0 pH solution.

Ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish. Nitrate is not as harmful to fish. As the fish swim in the water, they excrete waste mainly in the form of ammonia. An aquarium naturally promotes the growth of bacteria that convert the toxic ammonia and nitrite to the less harmful nitrate. Over time these beneficial bacteria colonize and allow the aquarium to achieve homeostasis, or balance.

The ideal levels for ammonia and nitrite are 0 parts per million. Plants prefer a pH of about 5.8-7.5; fish at about 6.5-8; bacteria at about 6.8-7.5. Since each of these components require a varying pH the ideal pH level is 7.0. pH ranges outside these ideal conditions may result in partial or total system failure. I must say that a pH of 7.0 is not hard to maintain. Most tap water has a pH of 7.0-7.2.

The aquarium takes time to achieve balance. First the ammonia rises, then bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite. Ammonia levels start to fall. After about a week different bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate. Nitrite levels fall much more slowly as the nitrate levels rise. These naturally occurring bacteria are known as Nitrifying bacteria. The high levels are nitrate are ideal for aquaponics because plants use nitrate as food. The whole system allows the bacteria colony to thrive in the grow bed, where they provide mechanisms to produce plant food. The entire system takes about a month to stabilize.

The most important thing to remember is that the system is running to eventually produce food. What this means is that nothing you wouldn't eat should ever go into the system. Anything that may be harmful to fish should never go into the system. In effect the system must remain "organic" or strange things may happen. In hydroponics, chemicals are often used to grow plants but this MUST NOT be the case because chemicals kill fish. After all the fish are the ones providing food to the plants!

If there are any questions feel free to ask. Happy cultivating!

Veggies are here!

2011-01-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

My vegetable seeds from Burpee have arrived and I have begun the germination process. I ordered Scallions, Nantes Carrots, Cilantro and Catnip (for the cats, naturally). I sowed the seeds into Grodan rockwool starter plugs. These are similar to jiffy pellets but are made from rocks spun like cotton candy, so they are inert. I planted these directly into the right most grow bed beneath the surface of the hydroton. That happens to be where the maximum height the water reaches as it fills and drains. (See below)

I then covered the rockwool with about 1/2" of hydroton. Should expect to see sprouts in 1-3 weeks!

Don't forget to check out pictures! ------->