Would You Like Some Fish With Your Hops.

[Mantis]

Got one grow bed of about 150L up and running.

Setup so far. Will need to modify lid for plumbing yet so I can close it



And here is the bell syphon in full action. The bed is flooding and emptying every 12 min approx



I will add some goldfish from the pond to the tank tommorow and start the cycling process

 

[Ras77]

Nice work mate i will get there one day


Fish and beer couldn't get better could it?


Cheers
Ras

 

[wakkatoo]

I will add some goldfish from the pond to the tank tommorow and start the cycling process

What? No trout?

 

[himzol]

Hi Guys,

Just a bit of an update on trying hops in Aquaponics. I put in a small rhizome last August and have harvested 25grams (dry) of wurttenbuger (sp) hops from this plant. It could have been more but I have really neglected my garden this season (got a reno going on)

from the system came 50 trout @ approx 500grams each. these were either eaten fresh, frozen or bartered for stuff we dont grow.

managed to get some really nice collieflower and cabbage out of the system as well as an abundance of leaks, tomatoes and zucchini. for some reason my cucumbers didn't do anything nor the pumkins. Fish poo basil in your pasta sauce, nothing better :lol: .

For those of you who have bees, the aquaponics system is a great way of providing water for the bees while they pollinate your crop.


Himzo.

 

[Mantis]

What? No trout?

Not yet. Will cycle the system with goldfish that are pretty tough then remove them and add some trout

 

[Mantis]

Hi Guys,

Just a bit of an update on trying hops in Aquaponics. I put in a small rhizome last August and have harvested 25grams (dry) of wurttenbuger (sp) hops from this plant. It could have been more but I have really neglected my garden this season (got a reno going on)

from the system came 50 trout @ approx 500grams each. these were either eaten fresh, frozen or bartered for stuff we dont grow.

managed to get some really nice collieflower and cabbage out of the system as well as an abundance of leaks, tomatoes and zucchini. for some reason my cucumbers didn't do anything nor the pumkins. Fish poo basil in your pasta sauce, nothing better :lol: .

For those of you who have bees, the aquaponics system is a great way of providing water for the bees while they pollinate your crop.


Himzo.

How was the rhizome when you pulled it out. Did it invade the pipes etc

 

[himzol]

How was the rhizome when you pulled it out. Did it invade the pipes etc

Haven't pulled it out yet, it's still got plenty of green leaves on it so I'm letting it gather as much energy for next year before pulling it out and storing it in the fridge.

As for invasion of pipes, I've had some from the tomatoe plants and celery in the past. If you have your outer pipe on the autosyphon large enough (I use 100mm) so that you can get your hand in their or run a knife around the edge so that it clears out the roots. If the roots are allowed to keep growing they create a wicking effect and stop the syphon from cutting out. One other trick is to just turn the outer pipe every few days (without lifting) this stops the roots from finding their way in through the drain holes (I either forget or am too lazy to do this).

Himzo.

 

[cozmocracker]

Hi guys great thread, good to see more and more people experimenting and using aquaponics. i started researching and testing small set ups about 5 - 6 years ago, great fun and really inspiring stuff. Due to renting all my grand plans have fallen well short of what i would like to do but reading this thread has sparked my interest again!

One thing i would like to point out, i have noticed in some of the pictures some people are using what looks like the cheap black tubs from bunnings, if these are the ones im thinking of they're not food grade, but made of recycled plastic and produced in China (no i do not want to start another china bashing thread), there is a similar concern for the green 500 litre water storage units from bunnings. You should be using food grade materials, its good enough for your beer so it should be good enough for the food you put in your mouth. just some food for thought, yes pun intended! Bath tubs make good grow beds but be aware that some do leech lead, its in small amounts and wouldn,t effect an adult but for the kiddies it might be something you might want to consider (there are strips you can purchase to test for the presence of lead). IBCs are good also but if you buy second hand make sure you know what has been in it.

It doesn't get any better than walking out the back door to catch a fish that you reared, and to make a salad from your own garden that you grew, while drinking something you have created.

Cheers to you all, i look forward to watching this thread and seeing peoples systems grow!

as for the concern for rhizomes, there isnt one, the root will be exposed to more air than in soil, you dont have to have the system continually running, with the use of timers the rhizome would only be exposed to water from 10 to 15 minutes an hour, you adjust the system to what you are growing. i couldnt find the site but in the states theres a large hop farm using hydroponics with great success.

 

[Mantis]

Got 10 goldfish in the tank now so will be checking ammonia levels daily the doing water changes.
Three growbeds running with plants in and seeds sown
Keep ya posted

 

[himzol]

Hi guys great thread, good to see more and more people experimenting and using aquaponics. i started researching and testing small set ups about 5 - 6 years ago, great fun and really inspiring stuff. Due to renting all my grand plans have fallen well short of what i would like to do but reading this thread has sparked my interest again!

One thing i would like to point out, i have noticed in some of the pictures some people are using what looks like the cheap black tubs from bunnings, if these are the ones im thinking of they're not food grade, but made of recycled plastic and produced in China (no i do not want to start another china bashing thread), there is a similar concern for the green 500 litre water storage units from bunnings. You should be using food grade materials, its good enough for your beer so it should be good enough for the food you put in your mouth. just some food for thought, yes pun intended! Bath tubs make good grow beds but be aware that some do leech lead, its in small amounts and wouldn,t effect an adult but for the kiddies it might be something you might want to consider (there are strips you can purchase to test for the presence of lead). IBCs are good also but if you buy second hand make sure you know what has been in it.

It doesn't get any better than walking out the back door to catch a fish that you reared, and to make a salad from your own garden that you grew, while drinking something you have created.

Cheers to you all, i look forward to watching this thread and seeing peoples systems grow!

as for the concern for rhizomes, there isnt one, the root will be exposed to more air than in soil, you dont have to have the system continually running, with the use of timers the rhizome would only be exposed to water from 10 to 15 minutes an hour, you adjust the system to what you are growing. i couldnt find the site but in the states theres a large hop farm using hydroponics with great success.

Hi Coz,

good advice on food grade.

I do use the black plastic "crates" from Bunnings as well as the 500 litre containers, this is my choice and do not wish to influence others.

The 500 litre containers are manufactured in Italy and an effort was made on contacting the manufacturer and finding out whether they were suitable. The response was a typical "Marketing" response.
The black plastic crates are made in china, I have tested my system for lead and levels are next to nothing, my biggest problem has been zinc...mainly because the rain water I collect is gathered from an aging zincalume roof.

the above are MY findings, and may not be the same for others, so if in doubt choose certified food grade.


Himzo.

 

[Mantis]

Well its finished and with beds planted and 10 goldfish in the tank , cycling can begin.
I also added a bit of the pond sludge to the growbeds to hopefully get some good organisms into the mix quickly

 

[devo]

Hi guys great thread, good to see more and more people experimenting and using aquaponics. i started researching and testing small set ups about 5 - 6 years ago, great fun and really inspiring stuff. Due to renting all my grand plans have fallen well short of what i would like to do but reading this thread has sparked my interest again!

One thing i would like to point out, i have noticed in some of the pictures some people are using what looks like the cheap black tubs from bunnings, if these are the ones im thinking of they're not food grade, but made of recycled plastic and produced in China (no i do not want to start another china bashing thread), there is a similar concern for the green 500 litre water storage units from bunnings. You should be using food grade materials, its good enough for your beer so it should be good enough for the food you put in your mouth. just some food for thought, yes pun intended! Bath tubs make good grow beds but be aware that some do leech lead, its in small amounts and wouldn,t effect an adult but for the kiddies it might be something you might want to consider (there are strips you can purchase to test for the presence of lead). IBCs are good also but if you buy second hand make sure you know what has been in it.

It doesn't get any better than walking out the back door to catch a fish that you reared, and to make a salad from your own garden that you grew, while drinking something you have created.

Cheers to you all, i look forward to watching this thread and seeing peoples systems grow!

as for the concern for rhizomes, there isnt one, the root will be exposed to more air than in soil, you dont have to have the system continually running, with the use of timers the rhizome would only be exposed to water from 10 to 15 minutes an hour, you adjust the system to what you are growing. i couldnt find the site but in the states theres a large hop farm using hydroponics with great success.

I was under the impression that the concerns with non food grade plastics only really came into play if these plastics were exposed to high temps that would occur with brewing. If this is indeed the case then how could this pose a health issue with AP set ups that do not involve hot or boiling liquids?

 

[himzol]

I was under the impression that the concerns with non food grade plastics only really came into play if these plastics were exposed to high temps that would occur with brewing. If this is indeed the case then how could this pose a health issue with AP set ups that do not involve hot or boiling liquids?

Hi Devo,

the concern is that the leaching will happen due to the time the water + growing media is in contact with the plastic rather than leaching from heating as would be the case in a hot liquids when brewing.

 

[cozmocracker]

plus exposure to sunlight, alot of people dont worry, but if your going to the trouble of producing your own fresh organic food then better safe than sorry, yes it means the cost will go up for the set up but what cost do you put on peace of mind! if you look at the previously mentioned AP websites all the grow beds and fish tanks are food grade.

 

[Batz]

I believe you can't go past old bath tubs for an aquaponic set up. For the fish tank a 1000l bulky bin will cost around $150.00

You can run six bath tubs from that.

Batz

 

[himzol]

I believe you can't go past old bath tubs for an aquaponic set up. For the fish tank a 1000l bulky bin will cost around $150.00

You can run six bath tubs from that.

Batz

yep.. lots of good systems around the country using those same pieces of equipment..some of the most productive too.

As mentioned earlier, as long as you know what was in the IBC before hand and it wasn't anything nasty for people or fish then your OK. Also the IBCs arent UV fixed so they either need to be painted or burried to stop them breaking up over time.

H.

 

[JonnyAnchovy]

Thought of you aquaponics nuts when I was watching Costa on SBS - there is a small section in this episode: http://player.sbs.com.au/programs#/program...-Odyssey-Ep-12/

 

[Mantis]

Yeah, I have Murrays DVD and have bought some stuff from him and have joined his aquaponics forum.

Costa is a dag eh. I wish I had half his energy

edit: spellen

 

[Mantis]

Ammonia and nitrite levels were up a bit when I got home tonight. A 20% water change got them back to negligable
Did a water change in my big tropical tank and put the water out of that tank into the AP setup, hoping it will add some good bacteria to help cycling

 

[himzol]

Ammonia and nitrite levels were up a bit when I got home tonight. A 20% water change got them back to negligable
Did a water change in my big tropical tank and put the water out of that tank into the AP setup, hoping it will add some good bacteria to help cycling

It's going to take just a bit longer to cycle up this time of year due to the overnight temps, the aquarium water wouldn't hurt, but some of the "gunk" out of the filter from your aquarium straight into the grow beds would be better. That's where the bacteria are living in your indoor system.

H.