Aquaponics 17: Finished system

Hello all,
Just a final picture of the 'finished system'. Finished in the meaning that I can't figure out anything to add right now, but while I wait for something to real, really grow I guess there'll be change or two :-).

All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 16: More sprouts!

Hello all,

Small but promising leaves are appearing all over the place :-):

 Radishes

 Lettuce?

 Peas

More lettuce?


Cost so far: 11$ (8$ + 3$ for the silicone and one metre of new water hose).

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper

Fish Spotlight: Heterandria formosa - AKA least killifish, mosqu or midget livebearer

Hello all,
Once in a while you find that one of the fish you keep turns out to be a favourite although there is no good reason for this. The small Heterandria formosa is just such a fish. Unremarkable in colour, not a really good swimmer, and as small as you are likely to find any fish to be, it still is surprisingly lovable.

 So whats to love? Well, for one thing it breeds remarkably easily. As with guppies, it will keep throwing out babies (the smallest slivers that are barely visible). But it is also very, very, undemanding as it can tolerate temperatures from 5 to 30 degrees.
It is also just plain weird.
Size-wise, the male is less than half the size of the female.
The female will give birth to between one and three baies every three days or so, the only livebearer to do so, which is due to how the eggs mature. At our house it is sometimes referred to as the "rapist", the large 'genital' that is almost half the size of the male, can be swung around and used to perform "swim-by-rapes". The male can literally impregnate the female from afar. And will do so often and at every opportunity. As a consequence studies have shown that the female has developed an ability to eject semen from her body, but (gets weirder and weirder) also the ability to only do so with semen from fish that are too genetically close to her (i.e. 'brothers').

I've found them to unpecky eaters (they will eat anything they can get in their mouth) and will not, generally, eat their own offspring.
Easy, somehow adorable, fish. Highly recommended for small, possible low tech (i.e. no heater and filter) aquariums.

This is what Wikepedia has to offer:
Heterandria formosa (known as the least killifish, mosqu or midget livebearer) is a species of livebearing fish within the family Poeciliidae. This is the same family that includes familiar aquarium fishes such as guppies and mollies. H. formosa is not as commonly kept in aquaria as these species. H. formosa is one of the smallest fish in the world (7th smallest as of 1991), and is the smallest fish found in North America. Despite the common name "least killifish", it belongs to the family Poeciliidae and not to one of the killifish families.
Heterandria formosa is the only member of its genus to be found in the United States. Its range covers southeastern United States, from South Carolina south to Georgia and Florida, and through the Florida Gulf Coast to Louisiana. It is one of the few aquarium fishes to come from North America.
H. formosa lives primarily in vegetated, slow moving or standing freshwater but also occurs in brackish waters. 
Heterandria formosa is one of the smallest fish and smallest vertebrates known to science. Males grow to about 2 centimeters (0.8 inches), while females grow a little larger, to about 3 centimeters (1.2 inches)^.
The fish is generally an olive color, with a dark horizontal stripe through the center of the body. There is also a dark spot on the dorsal fin and females also have a dark spot on their anal fin. Like most poeciliids, males' anal fins are modified into a gonopodium that is used for impregnating females during mating.
 Like most poeciliids, H. formosa is a livebearer. The male uses his modified anal fin, or gonopodium, to deliver sperm to the female. The fertilized eggs grow within the female until they hatch, and the young are released free swimming. H. formosa has a unique breeding strategy even among livebearers. Rather than all the young being released at once, as many as 40 fry are released over a 10 to 14 day period, but occasionally over a longer period.



All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 15: It's alive! Alive!!

Hello all,
Day six and petite small green growths are appearing all over the grow bed! Im as thrilled as something very thrilled!

I think this is the beginnings of our first pea (Pisum sativum)

And our first lettuce plants!

And the radishes are doing excellent.

This might just work!

Cost so far: 11$ (8$ + 3$ for the silicone and one metre of new water hose).

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper

And meanwhile not a single f*** was given :-)

Hello all,

Even though I'm ecstatic with my first radishes from the Aquaponic system, the big fish in my 250 liters tank called me over and told me to relax and feed them. And feed them something good.
After looking at them for a second I decided I had better, otherwise they would only gang up on me...

The Fish Hit Squad: Scalare, Whiptail, and Gourami

I really do not want to mess with those characters!

All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 14: More Success! Radishes everywhere!

Hello all,
If you think I was happy when I saw the first radish, you are correct. And that feling lasted all day as more little sprouts kept shooting up. This is from the morning of the fifth day after sowing:

Best radishes anywhere, right here in my Aquaponic system :-)

Sixteen sweet little beauties. Although I do not really like radishes, the wife does so its really important that at least one of these continues to grow and shows that the concept works!
Thats pretty good for five days, right? I honestly have no idea, but it feels amazing!


Cost so far: 11$ (8$ + 3$ for the silicone and one metre of new water hose).

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 13: Success! We have growth!

Hello all,
Never before has a man been so happy at seeing such a small plant! Four days in and we have our first sprout of... something:

Behold: Success is small, green and hides among LECA nuts!

This is, I think, a radish. And it looks healthy and strong. And its growing in Leca nuts and shitty water. Amazing.
I am so happy right now I could eat the little bugger right now :-).

Cost so far: 11$ (8$ + 3$ for the silicone and one metre of new water hose).

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 12: Need More Power, Captn! New Powerhead

Hello all,
More changes today. The old pump that came with the initial aquarium set-up just couldn't pump the amount of water I want up to the necessary height. So I had a rummage through the boxes any anquarian collects and voila: I found a much stronger powerhead.

New Powerhead with fancy hose and connectionsystem to the Aquaponic growbed

This powerhead provides much more water to the system and is even more quite as an extra bonus.

Creative Gizmo for regulating the water intake and a connection to a water hose... do not mind the mess, will clean up the tank once the system is more stabile...

 Although this also meant I had to get very, very, creative to both connect it to a water hose and to create a system that could, to some degree be regulated... This also meant a new round of occasional water spills, overflow etc.. Sigh. Hopefully this should work.

Cost so far: 11$ (8$ + 3$ for the silicone and one metre of new water hose).

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 11: Cheating at Aquaponics is better than failing?

Hello all,
Soooo, two days in and as no plants have appeared we have decided to cheat a bit :-). We have the remains of a few pots of herbs, used in the kitchen, and we've decided to plant these and see if that might work :-).

Wam-bam, suddenly the Aquaponic system turned green (although a sick shade of green). A pot of Parsley or garden parsley (Petroselinum crispum) that seems to have survived whereas the Basil, or Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum) seems a bit upset by the translocation. Oh well, hopefully some of it will survive..


Cost so far: 8$ for the silicone used.

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 10: Let there be Light!

Hello all,
So this being the darkest hour of the Danish winter (which is long and dark, and long and dark, etc), I thought some artificial light source might actually be a good idea. At least it should let the seeds know which way to go...

The original lamp that came with the 54 liters fish tank should provide some adequate lighting. The light is designed to assist plants (albeight submerged) to grow, so this should work above water as well, right?

 Bam-Bam, Light my Lettuce? (Thats me on the right, as proud as my son :-)):

Son: "Thats my tomatoes!" Me: "Careful!"

Proud as something very proud!

That should be enough light for now, at least until summer kicks in and we get some much needed help from above.
I think the system looks good so far. Still waiting for something to pop up.

Cost so far: 8$ for the silicone used.

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 9: Sowing the seeds of Love!

Hello all,

So, the system is pumping, the water is flowing, time to get something growing!

 Having had no previous experience with Aquaponics, we were a little confuddled as to how and what to plant. My solution was to throw in a little bit of everything and see what worked and what didnt.
We had quite a few different seeds stashed in the apartment so we've gone with three different types of peas, sweet peppers, two types of lettuce, radishes, and a few types of herbs. I really hope some of it works. But there are so many things that could influence them not growing (water height, temperature, etc) that I will settle for just a few sprouts of anything. And this is in the middle of the Danish winter, so anything would really be a miracle...

My wife produced these little seed indiators. Otherwise I would already have forgotten what went where (and as my four year old did some of the seed scattering, the emphasis should go on 'scattering'. We might be in for some surprises :-)):


Cost so far: 8$ for the silicone used.

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper

Fish Spotlight: Hypseleotris compressa

Hello all,
Found the place where I kept the pictures of my Hypseleotris compressa. This fish is full of character and, if treated well, will become an instant favorite of spectators. We've named our male "the red baron" (although my youngest just calls him the 'angry fish'). and he is among my favourite fish. Although their behaviour is not that impressive (they seem to be ambushers, i.e. they find a place and lie in wait for prey) and they will rarely take a swim through the aquarium they are always around, wathching you. And once you start feeding they come out and dazzle everyone with their colours (well the male does, the female is not that dazzling to be honest).
Mine take dry, flake food, but much prefer live food (i.e. daphnia, Hyalella azteca, RCS shrimps etc), but will happily munch on frozen mosquito etc. Somewhat slow feeders they have no problem bullying other fish away and our male has an area in the tank where no other fish go to feed.

Female Hypseleotris compressa

Female Hypseleotris compressa

Female Hypseleotris compressa

 All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 8: Growbed finished (almost)

Hello all,

So, with the pump functioning (wouldn't say working well - it has troubles getting enough water pumped vertically into the air, which is something I'll have to fix later...) it was time to add the Leca nuts my son washed into the grow bed:

I'm so proud. It looks like it is working! Here you can see the water entering in the top right corner. Gravity pulls it though my 'clever' maze system, slowly getting through the holes drilled in the acrylic. It then exits through the draining system in the top left corner - the string is just there to make sure it exits correctly and doesnt drip when the water level is low.
Looks like it should work, doesnt it?

And here the 'emergency drain' (middle left) is visible. After these pictures I had an epiphany and considered how easy the Leca would clutter the 'round hose pipe draining system components' (I might copyright that nonsense later...) and I had to silicone a quick grate solution onto all of these.

 My assistant. Very proud. And very adorable, if I do say so myself :-) He has 'helped' throughalmost all the stages so far.

 We'll have another picture of the chap :-).

Cost so far: 8$ for the silicone used.

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 7: Retrofitting a pump to fit a hose pipe

Hello all,
So because I'm such a cheap-scate I will have to re-use the pump that came with the 54 liters (14 gallons) fish tank that is the basis of this entire endeavour. While this pump has done a perfect job keeping the tank healthy and clean over the last two years, this will be a new experience for it. Pumping water half a metr into the air...

I havnt got the specifics of the pump but it the tank is made by Aquael so this is probably the same for the pump.

 In order to get the pump to fit a water hose I had to construct the following gizmo. Made by cutting a water cleaner into smaller parts, inverting the sequence of them. This created a tight fit that should allow me to use the pump to run the Aquaponic system. Hopefully (I do tend to say 'hopefully' a lot..)

 Fancy thing that will fit both a hose and a pump... I could have bought a similar thing, but hey...

Cost so far: 8$ for the silicone used.

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper