New kid on the BLOG...

[Crash]

Hi All. Another South African Hello............ Murray, you have chatted to my sister-in-law, Heather lately. Well what can I say. Like so many other people I have been introduced to AP and I am blown away. Would love to make a living out of Aquaponics and save the environment at the same time. I reckon I would be able to sleep better.....;-)

[Murray]

Hi Crash,
Welcome to the forum.
Heather tells me that you have already built a small AP system....is that right ?

If everything works out I will meet you in Johannesburg during August....Really looking forward to it...:)

[Lord Viykor]

Greeting Crash,

got any photos of your set-up?

[Tsaphah]

Ja man, waar's die fotos!

Welcome Crash, youv'e come to the right place to learn, and dont worry about loosing a few fish, some here have done it in style!

Where abouts are you located in South Africa?

Murrray, are you going to run a workshop there or attending some other meeting, and will you only be in JHB or are you going to Cape Town as well?

[Murray]

Hi Tsaphah,
Just about finalised arrangements for a Workshop in Johannesburg,....no, not going to Cape Town...not this time anyway.

[Tsaphah]

Hi Murray, thats exciting, there is a lot of potential there for commercial systems of various sizes, and Tilapia are allowed, so lots of info available, good grow-out and no shortage of availability.

A staple food source there is something called marog (Amaranthus hybridus), which is harvested like spinach and is a good source of protein and vitamin A. Would grow well in raft system!
Corn(maize) is another which would attract attention, many subsistance farmers grow it.
Backup power would be a high priority though.

Guess it helps to know some of the local knowledge before going there!
Was asking about CT as my brother would love to attend! Next time.

[francois]

hi crash

Would love to make a living out of Aquaponics and save the environment at the same time.

my wish as well.

I am working towards it.

this forum is very good place to start,lot's of info.

[francois]

Hi Tsaphah

spot net

bly om nog n siud afrikaner te leer ken

francois

[Crash]

WOW. Hi All. What a great reception. I tried a similar American site and was banned before I even joined for not supplying enough personal info.... Imagine my surprise when I saw all the replies here. Awesome.

Murray, I have set up a small system which is confusing the hell out of me....:crying: Anyway, I will send you some photos shortly along with my progression so far. Hopefully, I can stop guessing now and move forward with this.

Hi Francois. I have been lucky enough to be allocated 2 hectares in the Hoedspruit area, Limpopo to set up 50 "small" AP systems as long as it is a community project with skills transfer and so on. I have however not been given any funding. So my main goal is to find some funding and then to look into Alternate energy sources as I will not have any power. What a challenge...:p I will gladly accept all help I can get as I will definitely still pursue AP on a personal basis as well. Thanks so much Guys

[Crash]

Ja man, waar's die fotos!

Welcome Crash, youv'e come to the right place to learn, and dont worry about loosing a few fish, some here have done it in style!

Where abouts are you located in South Africa?

Murrray, are you going to run a workshop there or attending some other meeting, and will you only be in JHB or are you going to Cape Town as well?
Te bang om nou fotos to wys........ Julle gaan vir my lag man

[Tsaphah]

For the sake of those that may feel offended by us South Africans using one of our native languages, I asked where are the photos, to which I have just been replied that Crash is too scared to put any on, at fear of being laughed at.
Please don't get offended when we type the odd thing in Afrikaans, we would not say anything derogatory, its sometimes the same for us when Australians use the slang terms you have in your language, some things are just expressed better using those terms.
For me, Australia is where I have chosen to settle for now, and this land (and people) provide for me, and so I will honour and respect that.
I certainly respect all the friendly advice that is so freely provided here, and thats what makes all the folk here special.

To my South African countrymen, lets keep it to PM's, for everyones sake!

[Tsaphah]

Hi Crash, that's awesome that you have that piece of land, the amount that you could produce in that area using AP is enormous!
Is there flowing water on the land, if so you could set up a mini hydro to supply power, even if you need to create a small dam?

There is heaps of advice here, the combined mindpower here is huge, so get asking!
There is no shortage of inginuity here.
For the kind of setup you are looking at, go for a combination of gravel beds and DWC, use the gravel to pre filter before the DWC, and back to FT's.

Will try fine photos of a simple DWC sysyem made from stakes, fencing and plastic sheeting.

[RupertofOZ]

Murray, I have set up a small system which is confusing the hell out of me....:crying: Anyway, I will send you some photos shortly along with my progression so far. Hopefully, I can stop guessing now and move forward with this.

Welcome crash.... photos and a description of the problem would certainly help us figure out a solution..



Hi Francois. I have been lucky enough to be allocated 2 hectares in the Hoedspruit area, Limpopo to set up 50 "small" AP systems as long as it is a community project with skills transfer and so on. I have however not been given any funding. So my main goal is to find some funding and then to look into Alternate energy sources as I will not have any power. What a challenge...:p I will gladly accept all help I can get as I will definitely still pursue AP on a personal basis as well. Thanks so much Guys
Certainly a few challenges ahead of you Crash... but a hell of an opportunity as well....

Let see if collectively we can bring it into fruition...

[Crash]

Hi All. Herewith photo's as discussed. Hope I don't get laughed at..... Firstly, I had the system set up running from the fish tank into a holding tank with a syphon in it. It would then syphon water to the 4 grow beds. That proved to be very difficult as I could not regulate flow to the beds. I then changed everything around and created syphons for each grow bed. That had me busy for about 3 weeks trying to find the correct flow and syphon. I eventually settled on Arnan's modified "Bell" syphon which is working really well. "All this before fish". I then planted tomatoes, some lettuce, peas and beans as a start. Then off to buy fish :p This is when the fun really started. I was informed that on my size tank (450 L)I needed at least 100 fish which I duly purchased. I then had to make the 30 minute trip from Pretoria back to Jo'burg with no aeration for the fish. Well, traffic took control of that and 45 minutes later I was dashing down the yellow line trying to keep my Tilapia alive. I eventually got them into my tank and was really excited. Day 1 - 1 dead fish. OK not to bad. Day 2 - 2 dead fish. Day 3 - 4 dead fish. Day 5 - Diagnose Nitrate burn - "poor fish" Seriously "poor fish" Time for a test kit I think. Tests not to bad...???? What now.:confused: Murray's DVD arrives by post........ Wife's goldfish pond in the atrium suddenly received a healthy deposit of 60 odd fish :carrot: Since then I have been told to add salt to the fish water, tried some salt in the garlic pesticide I made to try and control aphids and caterpillars and I have now nearly killed everything in the grow beds. I have had the fish for approx. 4 weeks now and cant say anything is growing. Fish don't seem to be eating. I am at an absolute loss...... So, there is my hell fire baptism to Aquaponics.............. Finally, My apologies to my Australian counter parts for the Afrikaans. I am in fact an Australian citizen thanks to my Father who grew up in Narrabri, NSW. Regards Crash

[Crash]

Some more photos

[Murray]

Hi Crash,
First problem is the pH....far too high at 8. This locks out a lot of nutrients for the plants.
Second, pH above 7 makes the ammonia in the system very toxic to the fish.
Your test does not suggest an ammonia problem, but there must be some there to have produced the nitrates unless there is another factor of some introduced fertaliser or similar in the system.
Your ammonia test tube appears to be empty or partly empty. Some colour down at the bottom, not a very clear photo of that.......

First thing, get that pH down, but do it slowly over two or three days.

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Crash and Tsaphah. I thought it was pretty neat to see the Afrikaans. Of course, I wondered what you said. I wanted to find a translator site.
I have had to 'google search' a few things, the AU guys say.....I kept seeing them talk about loading stuff into a 'ute'...? OH, a pick-up truck...:D
I look at it as, we get to learn about more, then 'just' aquaponics. I think it's neat, that we get to talk to each other, from all over the world. To me, that's part of the fun...:)
Just my 2 cents.

[Murray]

Yes....it is all good re the foreign language usage on the forum....... but we would, by and large like to be part of the conversation.

[bigdaddy]

Hi folk,

I'll go along with what David said,I was not offended at all, just be yourselves,I must admit, I was starting to think..What Tha..? then the interpretation came along.It's all cool.

Hey Crash, don't worry about being laughed at.You can't sound as stupid as some of the things I've said on this forum.It's all good fun.It makes things a little bit more interesting,I think.

Great place to live and learn here.

Good luck

Cheers.

[RupertofOZ]

Hi Crash, don't see anything to laugh about mate... certainly not from me...

I started with a little blue barrel system ... and it's still running like a charm years later.... you can see a few shots over time below...

You do need to make sure you fill your test tubes to the marked line when testing ... to ensure a correct reaction and reading....

Are you using a freshwater test kit.... looks a bit like a saltwater kit to me...

[Tsaphah]

the AU guys say.....I kept seeing them talk about loading stuff into a 'ute'...? OH, a pick-up truck...:D


Got me too that one, till I found out that the blokes here shorten just about everything, even your name down to the first letter!!!! Ute is sort for Utility.
In South Africa we call it a 'Bakkie'!

Crash, with John on that one, better get that pH down, will also affect the bacteria too. Pool acid (hydrochloric), a teaspoon for your size tank, no more till you check it 12 - 24 hours later, then another 1 teaspoon, till it gets to the 7 mark.

Also, you have way too may fish for 450L, you need at least a 1000L for that many, and lots of air with that stocking density and bio-mass. Your system is sized OK, but only need about 20-30 fish in there. (Time to go bigger:broc1:)

Salt in system will kill strawberries! Will affect beans too if higher than 1ppm.

[bigdaddy]

Hi Crash

If you haven't already the first barrelponics site by Travis.W.Hughey is a good read.

I looked at that a few years ago and thats what got me really more interested in aquaponics.

Cheers.

[Murray]

South Africa we call it a 'Bakkie'
In PNG they are called a "half-car"

[Crash]

Hi Crash, that's awesome that you have that piece of land, the amount that you could produce in that area using AP is enormous!
Is there flowing water on the land, if so you could set up a mini hydro to supply power, even if you need to create a small dam?

There is heaps of advice here, the combined mindpower here is huge, so get asking!
There is no shortage of inginuity here.
For the kind of setup you are looking at, go for a combination of gravel beds and DWC, use the gravel to pre filter before the DWC, and back to FT's.

Will try fine photos of a simple DWC sysyem made from stakes, fencing and plastic sheeting.

Hi Andrew. Please could I ask you for any info. you have to assist me. (use the gravel to pre filter before the DWC, and back to FT's. - please can you translate to english for me. LOL...) and if possible any pics or links you can sen dme to. Thanks Rodney

[RupertofOZ]

What he's saying Crash... is both NFT hydro style channels and DWC (deep water culture) raft style systems (ala UVI).... perform better if you filter them first to remove most of the solids which might otherwise attach themselves to the suspended roots...

Our growbeds (gravel/hydroton etc) do exactly that... filter and trap the larger solids...

So you can then feed the water from the growbeds... to the DWC.... back to the fish tank

[Crash]

Thanks John, but I don't know the first step. I am only using a Barrelponics set up at the moment so would really need some help from step 1.

[Tsaphah]

Hi Crash, will do a sketch later today, scan and post it. May be difficult with barrelponics if return from GB is going direct into FT, but not impossible!

[erina george]

Hi Crash
the photo showing your fish tanksump tank looks like it might be galvanised .
if so you will have problems with zinc poisoning
hope you have lined it with a protective coating
regards erina george

[Crash]

Hi Crash, will do a sketch later today, scan and post it. May be difficult with barrelponics if return from GB is going direct into FT, but not impossible!

Tsaphah, don't worry about the barrelponics I am looking at doing a new system from scratch on a commercial basis. I am really looking for some input from scratch. Thanks

[Crash]

Hi Crash
the photo showing your fish tanksump tank looks like it might be galvanised .
if so you will have problems with zinc poisoning
hope you have lined it with a protective coating
regards erina george

Hi Erina. No worries there it ain't galvanised. Thanks for the concern though.

[Tsaphah]

Hi Crash,

Had a whole lot typed out for you and then IE crashed and I lost it.
Check out the attached PDF, and then ask your questions, we'll be glad to help.

[francois]

Tsaphah, don't worry about the barrelponics I am looking at doing a new system from scratch on a commercial basis. I am really looking for some input from scratch. Thanks

hi crash

if you are looking at setting up big system +-5000 sq.meter area.

i have semi/finished my layout for my bigger system.

my concept i developed around my findings and then using as ref.
Dr_ James Rakocy's layout/scale.

this is the system that i would build given the opportunity.
just an idea

[francois]

forgot to mention build the system as simple and cheap as possible.

in my pilot project i use gravity and 24 hrs flow through with pump cycles.

gravity from dam - into pre/filter/sump - into grow trays - into duckweed - into pump sump and then into dam - nothing fancy - nothing can break - easy to manage and maintain.

[Tsaphah]

Francois, just a question? Why are you going NFT, why not raft, you will make better use of the available space? Just my opinion, no need to take it!

[Crash]

Hi Crash,

Had a whole lot typed out for you and then IE crashed and I lost it.
Check out the attached PDF, and then ask your questions, we'll be glad to help.

Thanks Tsaphah for the info. Two quick question. In your drawing: (The fish tank shows a constant height take off. I am a bit confused here. Are you pumping water out of the fish tank from 1/2 to 3/4 down in the tank or feeding from the surface...?) Secondly the sump tank, what is in it? Is that gravel, sand and so on to create a filter or just your depiction of dirty water :) Thanks Crash

[Tsaphah]

Hi Crash,

Just went to look at the picture I drew, LOL, no, there is no sand in the sump, in fact there is no fine media in the system at all. It is good to keep your tank bottoms clear, this way you can see your fish better, judge water clarity and fine gravel on the bottom of a tank traps food that is not eaten and can go anerobic, causing ammonia spikes and could poison your fish.

As for the FT take off, it acts just like an over-flow. Because there is a t-piece in the top open to air, the pipe going down into the tank doen not cause a siphon effect, but allows water to be taken from closer to the bottom of the tank, so yes, you are right. This stops food being just skimmed away into the GB before the fish get to it. Some folk take the pipe to just off the bottom of the tank, I found I got a loss of pressure doing this and raised it up.

[Erich]

Francois, just a question? Why are you going NFT, why not raft, you will make better use of the available space? Just my opinion, no need to take it!

From looking at what Murray had on the Secrets DVD, I think that NFT is cheaper to make than raft as in you dont need the big water containers + such a sturdy framework (cost here) to hold it up etc. Sure, you need a swirl filter (one for raft required as well) and the water temp will be up a bit in NFT (due to lack of volume) but it turns over quickly and the supply should be a lot cooler

[Murray]

water temp will be up a bit in NFT (due to lack of volume) but it turns over quickly and the supply should be a lot cooler

It is true that NFT on a larger scale, has water temp problems, but in a small home system it will not be all that much of a problem.

When building your own home system there are many considerations and sometimes you have to run with the option that best suits your budget or materials available in your area.