More Of The Best in AQUAPONICS

Feature Photo: Aquaponics Tomatoes

February 22, 2012 By Glenn Meyers Leave a Comment

Tomatoes from Deb & Wayne Dorbands aquaponics garden west of Loveland, CO. Vegetables year-round that grow without soil in reclaimed containers. Good sustainability practice.

Photo: Deb Dorband

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Aquaponics: Getting More Out of Less

February 21st, 2012

Charlie Price from the social enterprise Aquaponics UK, explores the role aquaponics can play in the future of our collective food supply. He provides an insight into both the applications for aquaponics but more specifically a new approach to urban agriculture, turning wastes into resources and transforming disused urban spaces to provide not only food, but resilient communities.

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Rust Belt Cities and the New Urban Agrarianism

Milwaukees Growing Power has led the way in demonstrating that community-based food production is much more than beautification or an effort to latch on to sustainability fads. Founded in 1993 by Will Allen, the farm now feeds 10,000 people annually, grows 25,000 pots of vegetables in six greenhouses scattered across three urban acres and runs a food co-operative. Growing Powers greenhouses also feature an aquaponics system growing 10,000 fish at a time. The full article is well worth a READ

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Construction on the PortFish Model 3 aquaponics system is moving along well.  The mild winter weather has been conducive for our work.


More photos are available in our Facebook gallery.

Check out the aquaponics page to see the floor plan and other details about the project.
Want to learn more about aquaponics and have some spare time to lend a hand? Volunteers are always welcome! You can also support the project by sending a donation. PortFish Ltd is a 501(c)(3) organization and your donations are tax deductible.

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Basics of Aquaponics Workshop

• Who: Davis Johnson, Matt Kip, and Eric McClam (City Roots Farm Manager)
• What: Basics of Aquaponics Workshop

          

The Sustainable Carolina Food Team will be offering a “Basics of Aquaponics” workshop as part of our series of garden workshops. Aquaponics is an alternative form of agriculture that combines hydroponics (growing plants in water rather than soil) and aquaculture (raising fish in ponds/tanks or a controlled environment, i.e. fish farming).
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Sustainable Passive Solar Greenhouse – Aquaponics.

Posted on 18/02/2012 by Murray

Murray Hallam. Good morning, my name is Murray Hallam of Practical Aquaponics and I’m here this morning talking to Cord and Penn Parmenter from  Wycliff in Colorado. Now I’ve been told that you pair are going to be at the … Continue reading ?

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Students in FDL go back to basics

Moraine Park Technical College

Updated: Monday, 20 Feb 2012, 8:25 AM CST
Published : Monday, 20 Feb 2012, 5:24 AM CST

• Emily Deem, FOX 11 News

FOND DU LAC - Students apart of the Culinary Arts Department at Moraine Park Technical College are going back to basics.  FOX 11s Emily Deem stopped by the college in Fond du Lac to see what students are learning.
The schools Culinary Arts Department is doing some pretty awesome things with hydroponics, aquaponics and gardening.

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HD Aquaponics Ep.30 - Advanced Barrel Aquaponics, swirl filter, floating raft, u-siphon, indoor

Video.....

1,790

Uploaded by edpozek on 16 Feb 2012

This is the new Barrel Aquaponics system equipped with three stages of filtration, a floating raft or DWC system, along with two, five gallon grow beds. These five gallon grow beds use an external u-siphon to drain the bed
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Canadian aquaponics greenhouse to employ biomass CHP system

By Luke Geiver | February 17, 2012

• 
  Seattle-based ecoTECH Energy Group has begun site work for a 5 MW biomass facility that will supply heat and power to an aquaponics greenhouse project near McBride, British Columbia.

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..........and thats a wrap.
Hope I have fed you enough fishy stories and planted a couple of new ideas.
Back Soon

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Well there are still more Great Sites for us to visit

Here we are, the middle of another week and all sorts of things keep turning up. So Ill see if I can make head or tail of some of it.....:But First - I said on Monday I would make it up to you - Well Heres Your Bumper Crop:
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Courses, Workshops & Events


For Upcoming Courses, Workshops, & Events in Permaculture, Ecovillage Design, Sustainable Living Skills, & More
Resource?Center
2008, Living Mandala
creative services by: 360 Degrees

In Association With

Nor Cal Aquaponics

Mendocino Ecological Learning Center


Facilitators & Instructors

Max Meyers

David William House

Chris Byrne

Guests Instructors TBA


Course Inspiration

What if there was way to produce an abundance of organic food using 98% less water, while producing up to ten times more food in the same amount of area and time? What if you could achieve this using 1/4 the amount of energy, in a system that does not require fertile soil, saves you labor, makes you a good living and is incredibly sustainable?

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Experts release qualified information on sustainable food production.
Right and wrong methods – and little pointers that will rapidly increase food productivity and bio-security with functional foods!


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Feb 03, 2011 – I could hear the spruiker calling out to the public as they walked past "Come on a journey with Australian Andrew S. de Dezsery, M.Sc and International Specialised Skills Industry Fellow as you learn Aquaponics 101The who, how to, where and what!” he cried.

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 From Murray Hallam
The First 12 Months and DIY Toteponics.

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Murray

Guest post by Eco Films.

Just a quick update on what’s happening with the upcoming DIY Aquaponics DVD. The DVD is complete and ready to go. We’ve been waiting for Murray Hallam to complete his accompanying pdf file that will be included with the disk and today we got his first draft and boy is it looking good. We were expecting a plan with measurements of the various layouts of the IBC container, but Murray has submitted almost a detailed book, full of photos, graphics and an extensive parts list with a...


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Herring Gut students learn from experience
by Alexandria Brasili
School of Roots students with harvested greens. L-R: Kyle, Tyler, Jack, Savanah Photo: Alexandria Brasili
Its a cold winter day in Port Clyde. While all is quiet and snowy outside, inside Herring Gut Learning Center its a completely different story. Students dart back and forth in rubber boots and aprons with baskets of fish and clipboards, yelling out weights and quantities in order to determine tank stocking densities. The group shrieks as a fish flops out of a basket and onto the floor. One brave student cups the fish under the belly and over the nose, a handy technique for ensuring that the fish doesnt wiggle out onto the floor again. Meanwhile, students in the greenhouse work in t-shirts, planting and harvesting crisp heads of bright green Bibb lettuce while snow gently falls outside.

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West Chatham Events CalendarWest Chatham Events Calendar
Posted: February 9, 2011 - 12:20am  |  Updated: February 9, 2011 - 3:18am
Advertisement
By Savannah Morning News

TODAY

"Club 316"

5-7 p.m. Feb. 9, Salvation Army, 3000 Bee Road. There will be cooking, sports, Bible study and more for ages 4-18. Free. For information, call 912-352-8366.

Opening Reception for "New Beginnings"

6:30 p.m. Feb. 9, Gallery S.P.A.C.E., 9 W. Henry St. The youth art exhibition celebrates the talent of local middle...[MORE]

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Aquaponics Systems Work With Nature Instead Of Against It
By , on February 16th, 2011%

Growing plants in the ground the old fashioned way may seem like the natural way to grow plants, but in reality, you are working against nature that way. It starts out by...
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 From YAHOO ANSWERS
Aquaponics , how to build aquaponics Garden?
I am trying to build my own aquaponics garden, but i am having trouble completing th eproject. Thus far i have been relying on forums and free guides. All the guide I have found are either: Harder to understand, incomplete, or just dont work. I know they are well intentioned but i want a professional guide that will lead me through the process step by step. Any suggestions? Read on for the Answers...

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Aquaponics

by Walter Newsom
(Gilbert, AZ, USA)

Tilapia from our tanks

We have a small acreage in Arizona that we raise our chickens for eggs, calves for beef and fruit trees. As we aged, we found that raising beef was too expensive and we needed protein that was more digestable.

We started raising talapia in tanks in our back yard 2 years ago. We us... Get the Full Story HERE
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Aquaponics For The Beginner - 5 System Considerations And Requirements
By K Bray Platinum Quality Author

You can set up your own aquaponics system rather easily however there are some factors you need to consider and understand before you get started. The first item is selecting your location, if you have limited space then this will determine the size of your grow beds and the fish tank.
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Aquaponics and Apartments… oh yes!

Photo Courstey: AquaBundance Aquaponics System $1295 retail

With more people moving into apartments from single-family residences, property managers have begun to encounter resident hobbies and behaviors that can be challenging. One of these is the practice of aquaponics, or raising fish and plants together in a tank and plant medium system.

How does it work? A very organic process recycles the fish excrement into plant fertilizer and as the plants grow they

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Grow Leds Hydroponic Aquaponic hps mh solar indoor whatever

Im sick of foreign countries controlling our shit. no offense, jus sick of it..German Hydroton, Netherland rockwool, south american or indian coir , saudi oil or chinese everything else..cmon America .put our heads together.
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Maui Sustainability Learning Center open for volunteers
Banana starts are planted in the Canoe Garden.

Advertisement
LAHAINA — Lahaina’s new sustainability center in Launuipoko invites the public to come and help with its monthly projects.

Established in 2010, the Maui Sustainability Learning Center, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, already has plantings of bananas, breadfruit and sugarcane in its Canoe Garden, with plans for many more plants that the early Polynesians brought to Hawaii in their canoes.

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Farmer-Chef Conference to be held in Buffalo.

Hyatt Regency Buffalo will play host to the Third Annual Farmer-Chef Conference on Monday, February, 21.
             
The theme this year is "Bridging the Farm to Table Gap" meaning all farmers, restaurateurs, and related professionals will gather and build awareness of Western New Yorks agricultural products, their quality, and accessibility to restaurants and the food industry in general.
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Toquaht chief speaks at Seafood Summit
Land-based aquaculture could be future for First Nation community
Julia Prinselaar, Westerly News

Toquaht First Nation chief Anne Mack attended last weeks Seafood Summit in Vancouver and made a presentation about a proposed aquaculture park within her territory.

"At this point were in the early stages," said Mack, who was part of a panel discussing the business of land-based closed containment salmon farming.

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Ryan Lilleys Page
We area a group of students from Santa Barbara City College building an Aquaponic Systems for our class called Projects in Sustainability
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Well, that should satisfy the best of you. I sure hope so....I got RSI of my two typing fingers...
So, have a good week [Whats left of it]
Soon
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More for Newbies and then some

Keeping the trend going, There are several interesting sites that are just begging to be looked at that are full of vital information.
So often we can go to a site and after reading a few lines we find within ourselves a feeling of false security because there seems to be nothing that we havent already read or heard.
The problem is, there could be a little gem in the very next line or paragraph. Some experience or problem that has been overcome the hard way. Something that leaves us with "Thank God I kept Reading".
They say there is nothing you cant find on the web. But you need persistence and really well organized search techniques. 
Or just keep reading what we have here......lol

It does take time and effort to learn how to operate a system and anyone who says different would be telling a lie, but in the end...

systems can actually produce 8 to 10 times the volume of vegetables in the same space and time as conventional farming systems.This makes aquaponics an...

Lloyd Fischel of Lanikai Farm will welcome attendees for a tour of his aquaponics system, where he...

The tilapia fish are still alive and swimming and the plants that are growing in the nutrient laden water are growing quite well. I have to say the...

Aquaponics is the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment....

Ideas included geothermal and passive solar greenhouses; aquaponics — to raise fish and produce in small urban spaces; edible landscapes....

WARNING....This is an MJ grower but his Videos are SO GOOD...

OK, Like I said above always read the fine print - There is always something new.....

And where it all Started....
On an eighth of an acre, a person can produce 25,000 pounds of food, Rakocy said. Of that, 11,000 pounds are fish and 14,000 pounds are vegetables.

That might do for today..

But just to update you on our progress, our BSF gear is now moving along and flies are laying so the lavae will soon be appearing, our test unit is still operational and the major setup is starting to look something special. Will include photos soon..

All the Best
Ozzie

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More Sites to Investigate and Invest Your Thoughts in

One of the absolute attractions of the internet is its ability to encourage our hunger for knowledge. It is the ultimate source. When Bill Gates was asked what the internet was for, He described its content as "STUFF". Really that pretty much sums it up. All sorts of stuff about everything.

Well heres some more STUFF.....

Starting with some commercial Aquaponics sites

http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/article_8e24c684-7641-11df-8ad2-001cc4c03286.html

http://host.madison.com/article_bb8f7f4a-763e-11df-a0b3-001cc4c03286.html

Congrats to the Tyner Acadamy
http://wdef.com/news/pef_awards_grants_to_innovative_educators/06/2010

And some DIY  Which I love to see.....

http://indoorgrowing.org/indoor-aquaponics-30gal-video-2/
http://120thingsin20years.blogspot.com/2010/06/aquaponics-exclusion-zone.html

If youd like to be able to show someone new to AP a thorough rundown of what A is, try this...
http://www.freegardeninghints.com/gardening-videos/aquaponics-grow-up-to-10-times-the-plants-in-half-the-time/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5454414/sea_change_an_argument_for_aquaponics.html

Now, if this lot has not challenged you in some way, let me know. Or if you would like to see some other aspect of AP, again - Let Me Know - I would love to hear from you...

Ozzie

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ONE MORE DAY ONE MORE METHOD

Swirl Tanks
After the last issue I thought it only fitting that we address Swirl Filter Tanks. So we need to look at what they are, what they do and how they do it...

 As usual I will let the net do the talking for us all...


 Before we continue lets recap on what were trying to achieve;
Biological Filtration and the Nitrification Cycle
A biological filter is quite simply the heart of a pond or tank. It is not essential in small fish ponds, but the more fish you stock, the larger they get and the more they eat, so the need for a bio-filter becomes greater. The pond gets to a point where it needs a "sewage farm". Its purpose is to convert the waste matter produced by the koi from harmful ammonia into less toxic waste.
It is less important to remove solids particles from water than it is to process nitrogen, so if there is to be a compromise between mechanical and biological, err on the side of biological.
In other words, it is much better to allow particles below a certain size to escape back into the pond, while converting a great deal of ammonia to nitrate, than it is to catch every little thing down to a micron or less which in the process would slow the water down to the point where the bacteria have a hard time living (because theyre not getting enough oxygen).

The bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrate for us are among a class of bacteria that you may have heard of before. They are the so-called, “nitrogen fixing” bacteria. This means that they take nitrogen that is unavailable to plants in its ammoniacal form, and make it available to plants in an oxidized form.

These are the same bacteria that live among the roots of leguminous plants. Without these beneficial bacteria, life as we know it would cease. So be kind to your bacteria. What they need to survive is a large surface area, chemically inert medium and a ready supply of fresh water. They depend upon dissolved oxygen in the water to live and to do their job. As soon as the water flow is stopped, the oxygen in the filter becomes finite, and eventually gets used up. 

The ultimate result is that the bacteria die, and you have to start over.

Now is this acceptable Information? If it is, Here it is in FULL Its from a Koi keeper but he has described it all in a way that I feel comfortable with.

Now lets take a look from the pure swirl point of view

And now we can hit the subject from a few different angles

Going back a bit to 2007

And finally Afnan touches on filtering (if you can find it down near the bottom) but the search is so worth while.

Just a tip to finish off. If you have trouble in the winter months keeping the fish tank temperatures up, shut down the pump through the night but dont forget to turn it back on in the morning.

REASON: The growbeds act as/like an evaporative air conditioner (in reverse) and release the warmth to the air so you can lose several degrees of temperature every night.

OK. Im done. Hope you are getting something out of all this.
Be Back SOON

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