Lake Conroe Texas

[jimcouch]

My name is Jim Couch, from Lake Conroe Texas (just north of Houston). I've been doing Aquaponics a couple of years now. I have a 15x30 greenhouse with an 8foot stock tank as my main pond (+ - 1000 gal) and 6 IBC totes I've cut the tops off of for planters and use the bottoms for additional pond. (they hold about 175 to 200 gal each. I grow Tilapia in the stock tank and catfish in 4 of the totes. The other two totes will have Giant Australian Red Claw Crayfish this year. Besides the 6 tote top grow beds I use some other beds outside the greenhouse and this year I'm going to try vertical pipe grow beds for strawberries etc.
I'm working on a website with photos and sketches that will be coming along soon.

[kellenw]

Welcome aboard Jim! Glad you found us.

[Wendy in BC]

Jim,

I'd love to hear about your tilapia experience, particulary how you handle over population and the resulting water chemistry.

[ColinW]

Welcome Jim - looking forward to seeing your pics!!!
Regards - ColinW

[Hotrodmike]

Welcome Jim
From another Texas boy !
So in the mean time ,as your site will up up soon . Why not post a few pictures here sooner ?
Have A Kind Day
Mike

[dmorchat]

Jim,
I live in College Station and am putting in a tote system this weekend. I'll put up some pics. Welcome!

http://morchatfarm.wordpress.com/

[leisannp]

I'm in San Antonio and I'm planning on starting a system soon. I've got several Hydroponic systems started this year but really want to move into aquaponics. I look forward to gathering as much information from everyone. Leisa

[kellenw]

Welcome aboard Leisa!

[Hotrodmike]

Welcome Guys
You maybe should intro your selves on a new thread .
Getting quite a few Texas people in here .

Hey Kellen you really should learn to answer your email as a business should !!!!!!!!!!!!

Have A Kind Day
Mike

[kellenw]

Hey Mike,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. We've been shipping fish every day this week and I've been out of the office doing consultation work much of the week as well, so follow ups to non-urgent inquiries have been a bit delayed for the last couple of days, simply because we haven't been near a computer much, which is not typically the norm. I answered your email about two hours ago, but just in case you see this first.... Like I said in my email reply, your water quality parameters are within safe levels for your tilapia, though could use improvement for the longer term... and should essentially begin correcting themselves over the next couple of days without intervention. Feed frequently (4-6 times a day), but very little each time, instead of one or two large feedings every day. It will help to prevent any massive spikes while still ensuring your are getting some food to your fish.

We answer over 300 emails a day on average and log about 3 hours of talk time on the phone every day as well, which is really quite a lot for a small business like ours. I personally spend about 2 hours a day on the forums, helping people and sharing information and advice also. In addition to being reachable by email, we are available via phone all 7 days of the week between the hours of 10am-10pm CST. Our customer service, accessibility, quick follow-up time and informational contributions to the aquaponics community as a whole is actually a huge point of pride for our little family owned farm. If anyone ever feels we are falling short on our commitments or failing to meet their expectations in any way, we welcome the feedback and do everything in our power to correct the issue.