New Fish Tank

After about a year of operation I wanted to make some improvements to my Big Aquaponics system. I decided I wanted to do Constant Height In Fish Tank, Pump In Sump Tank (CHIFT PIST) operation. I had been dealing with the need to clean my pump trap quite often and that didn’t line up with . . . → Read More: New Fish Tank

NFT Project

Bracing and header tank for NFT pipes

setting up tubes

NFT stands for Nutrient Film Technique and is the method that uses the pipes or channels with the holes and plants set in them. It is important to filter the Aquaponics fish tank water before sending it through NFT pipes, otherwise . . . → Read More: NFT Project

First Aquaponic Winter

putting up plastic Nov 2 2008

What to do with an aquaponics system for winter protection? My large system trellis/shade structure of cattle panels made for a wonderful support for greenhouse film which was easily secured over my system. Winter here in central Florida is generally rather mild but that first winter was . . . → Read More: First Aquaponic Winter

How it all Started 14, The end.

Well not really The End but I have to choose an arbitrary point at which the “Start” is past. I think that first fish dinner is a pretty appropriate point at which to say, “I made it through the first part of Aquaponics”. The Aquaponics system is not only up and running but producing fish . . . → Read More: How it all Started 14, The end.

How it all Started 13, First Fish Dinner

We decided it was time to sample the products of our labors and have a catfish dinner. While the cook prepared to clean a catfish, I moved some catfish into the quarantine tank to purge. (I don’t think purging is necessary and we don’t bother to do it anymore, we just didn’t know any better . . . → Read More: How it all Started 13, First Fish Dinner

How it all Started 12, Fish Feeder 2

New Feeder Over Catfish

Feeder timer

I finally went ahead and got some new Automatic Fish feeders. We actually tried a fish pond feeder but it was designed to fling the feed out into the middle of a pond and really didn’t work well for our situation for many of the . . . → Read More: How it all Started 12, Fish Feeder 2

How it all Started 11, Tilapia

Breeders

Tilapia Fingerlings

May 29, 2008 we got tilapia for our Aquaponics System. About 100 small fingerlings and 3 larger ones as breeders, two female and one male.

They traveled in a cooler with a battery powered bubbler for the hour + drive home from Morningstar Fishermen and did fine for . . . → Read More: How it all Started 11, Tilapia

How it all Started 10, Sump Walk

Drained Sump Walk

Perhaps this should be in a list of Bad ideas I came up with. See I had thought to have the first two grow beds drain into this “tank” under the walk way that would then drain into the big tank via a float valve and thereby reduce the amount . . . → Read More: How it all Started 10, Sump Walk

How it all Started 9, Quarantine 1

installing First quarantine system

So you have an Aquaponics System Running, you already have fish in it and things are going well. What if you want to add more fish? What if the new fish bring a disease or parasite with them?

This is why it is highly recommended to Quarantine new fish . . . → Read More: How it all Started 9, Quarantine 1

How it all Started 8, Monster Grow Bed

Now the ever changing Big Aquaponics system expands again, this time doubling the filtration capacity all in one bed. I will call it the Monster Grow Bed.

Ground preped for Monster bed

This grow bed will be about 32 inches wide by 28-30 feet long and at least 12 inches deep. It sits . . . → Read More: How it all Started 8, Monster Grow Bed