Backyard Aquaponics

[opsec]

Ok. next question. How many fish are required to feed a given area of garden space and how big does the tank have to be to support that many fish? So we need to establish a proportion between fish, square feet of garden, and the size of the tank which in turn determines the size of the water pump, air pump, and food supply for the fish.

[Bidadisndat]

Now you're getting technical. To be quite honest I don't have all the answers yet. I did spend A$90 on the DVD, CD-Rom and Manual, but made the fatal mistake of lending it to one of the guys on base. That was in February, and though I haven't seen it since, (despite many promises of "I'll bring it in tomorrow/on Monday/next shift"), I will get it back.
I do know that you can run a system using only one water pump, and it doesn't need an air pump.
If you log onto the website www.backyardaquaponics.com you'll find most of the answers there. The members are all an extremely friendly, knowledgeable and helpful bunch, (even those from the U.S., lol). In fact, I'd go so far as to say that you could easily build a complete system with the information that you'll find there, without having to actually buy the info kit.

[The Future]

I've done a lot of research over than last few years and for some reason the Australians are frequently the champions of some really good techniques, products.  Another added benefit to the fish is they are more efficient conversion machine than larger animals.  In fact, from my studies they are the most efficient converters among commonly eaten animals in say North America (for the record I don't eat animals).  One animal that is more efficient - but not eaten - is the earth worm.  Calculations show then at almost 100% efficiency.  So I put them to work for me.

[Atash Hagmahani]

Australians are frequently the champions of some really good techniques, products.

Permaculture was their idea.

Another added benefit to the fish is they are more efficient conversion machine than larger animals

Because they are cold-blooded. It is true for most cold-blooded critters. That is one of the main reasons I suggest raising fish, even though it is not culturally-familiar to most of my likely readers. But if using the right kind of fish--like, say, a Tilapia or a Carp--then it's not that hard. What is culturally-familiar to them--beef--is too inefficient in most environments, unless you just happen to live on grassland too dry for grain (and yet have well-water for the cattle to drink...).

for the record I don't eat animals

Off the record, I don't either. I don't want it to turn into a source of needless controversy. On the one hand, I encourage my readers to be just a bit "ruthless" in terms of what they might NEED to eat should the situation arise. On the other hand, I also try to subtly encourage them to live low enough on the food chain that they don't starve to death in the midst of plenty, which is what I expect to happen to many.

"I was the frog, and I was the snake that ate the frog..." Deepak Chopra I think...though he might have been quoting someone else. The meaning, that Emptiness gives rise to many varieties of Form, which all collapse back into Emptiness. We are the waves but it is no tragedy when we crash onto the beach as our true nature is Ocean.

[The Future]

Another added benefit to the fish is they are more efficient conversion machine than larger animals

Because they are cold-blooded. It is true for most cold-blooded critters....

I've read efficieny correlates with size, as in the smaller the more efficient.  Worms will convert 1 lb of compost to 1lb of worm mass - which must include some water cause there is also the castings to account for. 

Will large cold blooded creatures (are there any?) be efficient too?

As for doing what needs to be done in dire situations, eating another vegetarians vital organs isn't out of the question if we get into a crunch.  It is intereting to note in nature how creatures designed to eat meat have a hierarchy where the most dominant - say lions - get the organs and the weak scavengers - say hyenas - get the (less nutritious) meat...

[offdalip]

I can catch carp all day from my backyard.

a better aquacrop for me to raise would be farm raised shrimp, lots taistier too

[Chem Guy]

Rodale Institute had a manual for raising Tilapia using backyard swimming pools and home made bio-wheels and such.  Title was "Home Aquaculture" By Steven Gorder and Douglas Strange.  Also, check out the hard-to-find "Gardening for All Seasons" by the former New Alchemy Institute, edited by Gary Hirshberg and Tracy Calvan.  Lot's of ideas for aquaculture in a greenhouse setting using the water tanks as a passive solar heat storage source.  Another one from the Pacific Northwest was "Fish Farming in Your Solar Greenhouse" by William Head and Jon Splane of the Amity Foundation.  Some of these can be found on occasion on e-bay or amzon.com used.  I have also ran into them through library and inter-library loan from university and other sources.  If career would have allowed me to continue to live in the Pacific Northwest, I would have pursued it more.  I do have a greenhouse here in the mountains of of Utah, but lack the space and time to give it a try.  Although, I do raise chickens and rabbits.... 

Anyway, some of the New Alchmist Publications can be found at:

http://www.librum.us/

I have held on to these publications in case at some future day I can head back to the Willamette Valley after retirement in 2-3 decades.

Some of the current permculture works also go into a lot of detail, but mostly in the context of of ponds or other water catchments. 

[The Future]

classic

 

[Dame]

When I was a kid we got to catch frogs once each summer and have frogs legs appertifs.  They were little guys, and a heavier harvest would have been an ecological problem.  They are really good.

[opsec]

Good find. I've been downloading furiously for the last 45 minutes. I think I got about 4 gigs of data.