We’ve discussed aquaponics Aquaponics | Alternative Farming Systems Information Center | NAL | USDA briefly but is anyone actually doing it right now? If you are do you collect roof water runoff? A regular sized house is said to collect 500-700 gallons of water per inch of rain water that falls. A 275 water tank can be found used easily for $100 here http://kansascity.craigslist.org/grd/5675845791.html. In Kansas we have plenty of space to raise grains for fish food. Grains such as soybeans are easy to grow. Soybeans fix nitrogen so they are great for the soil. Hypothetically if you had 5 tanks at 275 gallons each with just 5-6 inches of rain per year you could raise a years supply of fish and vegetables. We have over 30 inches of rainfall annually. The fish wastes removed from the tanks are rich with nitrogen and make vegetables grow lush. I realize it’s a lot of work but I can definitely see how a system like that is advantageous. Been kicking around a water collection system for years but I always come back to thinking why not raise fish in the water while I’m waiting to use the water? Lots of people raise blue tilapia http://m.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=blue+tilapia&isNewKw=1&_sacat=20754&cnm=Fish+%26amp%3B+Aquariums&isRefine=true&mfs=KWCLK&acimp=0&_trksid=p2056088.m2428.l2632.R1.TR3.TRC2&sqp= . Tilapia cannot be over wintered in Kansas so I would need to find something else that grows fast and tolerates aquaponics. Already have a couple of acres of water and needing to add another half acre pond to control erosion. I have very little erosion now but when I bought my property they were loosing 1-4 inches of topsoil per year grain farming. I’ve improved the soil every year I’ve owned it. Long term I think the benefits of using fish wastes on gardens is significant. What are your thoughts? The current price of Tilapia is around $5 per pound http://www.fishermanscoveseafood.com/tilapia-fillet-price-per-pound/
In systems such as this one Systems - Backyard Aquaponics they reuse the water which would not necessarily be my goal rather I would add nutrients to the water with fish wastes and use it on the garden. Many use aquaponics with hydroponics which is not my intention. If you caught fresh water from rainfall the need to reuse water would be eliminated. About 25 years ago a pet store asked I breed carpintis for them and at the time I used the waste water on my vegetables. I also raised several other species of fresh water cichlids and other common aquarium fish. I raised guppies on mosquito larvae. I tricked the Mosquitos into thinking they found a nice pond of water to lay their eggs then I turned the guppies into the small tank (300 gallons) to eat the larvae. I rotated tanks back and forth. Similarly I use a light sometimes over my pond to attract insects just over the water and when the insects fall in my fish grow from the extra protein. I got bored with aquarium fish after a few years and moved on to other hobbies. Catfish will breed in barrels much like cichlids breed in clay flower pots. Considered breeding the catfish in the new 1/2 acre pond I need to put in and growing out the small fry over the summer and releasing them at 1/2 pound or so back into the pond where I would grow them out until they reached 5 or so pounds.
Soundslike that setup would generate a lot of algae - would you compost it/till it into the fields?
How much evaporation loss do you have in shallow ponds like that?
The moss has been a problem although some parts of the ponds are very deep. I need to find a good system to deal with pond plants and I’m working on it. They are very rich in nutrients. The plants are like the best cow manure you can get after they are composted but they are very labor intensive. I’m thinking of designing a floating algae and moss collector where I rake the plants up and throw them on a floating device and let them dry in the sun. I could then load the dry plants in a small boat and transport them back to shore.
I “dream designed” a system to deal with the floating algae and plants that I have to deal with.
You can harvest the algae and clean the pond at the same time with…a conveyor belt like they use on the TV show GOLD RUSH to get tailings away from the wash plant.
At one end of the pond dip the end of the conveyor belt into the water just below the surface. Using floating booms create a V shaped channel to the conveyor belt. Run the conveyor belt very very slowly. As the wind blows the algae and floating weeds towards the belt it will pick them up and deposit them on the shore.
In my pond I can put it at either end because the wind swirls and at different times of the day the floating stuff gets moved to either side. In your pond I guess you’d place it where the wind blows most often.
It does not have to be that big it can run slowly 24/7, may even be able to run on solar.
See the attached drawing
Mike
You’re not talking about aquaponics - what you want is straight aquaculture. Just grow fish, and when you clean the filters, use the waste water on the garden.
Don’t get stuck on the idea of using IBC’s. They seem cheap, but they’re not an ideal shape to raise fish in, and plumbing them together is a bit of a nightmare.
Unless you want to spend a small fortune heating the water, pick a species that can overwinter in your area. Catfish and bluegill are always a good bet in my book. They get rather lethargic in the winter, but during the summer when the water is warm (i.e. 90F) - they eat and grow like crazy.
I believe some places in Ia. use abandoned hog sheds to raise tilapia. If I remember right and the article wasn’t BS like so much of the Des Moines Register is, they grew them in the dark to control water plants but I don’t remember the heat source for winter. Most of the fish were sold to restaurants along w/ the lettuce the grew from the waste water. Keep us updated, great use of your land and other resources.
I wonder if roofing materials will have significant effect on water quality?
My grandad had a hunting lodge when I was a little kid. There was a trout pond (an acre maybe) out front that customers could pay to fish in. It grew water plants and moss like crazy. I never saw him use it but he had a rake he welded up , some how he would drop it in one side of the pond and drag it across and pull out a pile of moss. I was there after they had sold it and the moss was not controlled and the pond was so full of it the trout had to swim in narrow channels between islands of moss.
Great design Mike I think you could power the conveyor easiest with a windmill. It would only run when the wind was blowing but you would need that anyway for your moss to move into position. I suspect you would still be raking the moss towards the conveyor. I do need to put a better garden closer to the water ( literally on the water) so the resources are closer to where I need them.
Smatthew,
I was thinking of draining tanks in the winter and throwing the fish in the pond (they would be big enough) to finish growing out.
One thing I noticed is that duck weed is quickly consumed by my bluegill so I might use that for a food source as well. Hard to find nutrient information on water plants. Hog shed usage is a good idea.
I’ve drank roof water before. It’s pretty clean or I should say cleaner than what’s in the pond.
That’s a great idea on taking with a longer handle. Bet that was pretty effective. Might use that trick. Sometimes what’s been working is the simplest solution. We know that works.
I collect the roof water from my barn to water my orchard. The system involves two 500 gallon food-grade containers. You’re not supposed to collect for three years after putting on a new roof because of loose fibers and chemicals. After that, you’re good to go.
I was thinking about putting on a metal roof so I would not need to replace it again. They are pretty nice. The corrugated thick ones I see now look pretty good. Clay tile looks good as well but it seems like it would be heavy.
I think he pulled it across the pond with a tractor and a really long chain, I really don’t know for sure. I should ask Dad sometime, I bet he remembers.
With any kind of wind that would put a ripple in the water, the stuff moves.
Mike
Roof water is full of bird poop!
Just run it through charcoal and call it good. Water that cities use has dead animals and other undesirable things floating in it sometimes. Lots of medicines, chemicals etc. in city water. Roof water is cleaner than that stuff.
Ok…Enjoy.