Mark Reed

I was thinking of bluegill in the upper basin for cold hardiness and low maintenance (and because they are readily available in the pond), but the yields seem like they would be pretty low relative to tilapia.  But tilapia would require a lot more management.

What would you in my situation?

I'm not sure what your goal is, mine would be largely aesthetic, just to create and enjoy a bit of a natural environment. I'm also very interested in food production but mostly as a moderate supplement to our meals and mostly seasonally. Although in a set up the size of yours and in your climate much more might be possible. A restriction there is the topography of your pools. If they are close together with the eight-foot fall in steep sections rather than in a gentle stream or shallow pool it wouldn't be as easy to grow the necessary plants to keep it all clean and you might need some kind of artificial filter.

That said, I would go with the bluegill for sure. Also, probably striped bass maybe of the hybrid type, crappie and catfish. Lots of other things might also work like crawfish, freshwater shrimp and for sure freshwater clams. Things like frogs might and water snakes might move in on their own. I definitely would not screw with tilapia or anything else that is picky about warm water. Just adds an unnecessary unnatural aspect and as a rule I think the colder the water it came from the better any fish tastes. O' I forgot about carp. They are nasty fish that taste awful, but I wonder if that is mostly because of where they live. In a nice clean environment that might not be true. They grow fast and they have lots of fish oil which is supposed to be good for up. I would definitely experiment with carp and if it worked out, I'd call it hillbilly salmon.  

For plants you have to have lots of them to clean the water and maybe to eat. Mint for sure, it makes masses of filtering roots. Hornwort grows super-fast, cleans the water and can be harvested for fertilizer in the garden. Waterlilies of course because they are pretty. Lotus for sure, pretty and I've heard you can eat them. Edge plants too, like cattails and cannas. I might experiment with things like rice too.

There isn't anything complicated about playing with water, it doesn't require engineering or schematics at all unless a person wants to make it so. Only problem in a small scale set up such as we are talking the water has to be in circulation and the only way I know to do that is with electricity. The video of the fellow with the tubs shows things can thrive without pumps, but it looked like he was into raising tropical fish. I think that would be fun but, in my climate, they would freeze solid unless inside a greenhouse or something and that adds a whole bunch of engineering and schematics and expense.  

Sam Shade wrote:The complexity and engineering involved in aquaponics has thus far kept me at bay, but I have a couple set ups that keep bring me back to the concept.

First, I have about a half acre pond that is home to the usual assortment of freshwater fish, turtles and algae. My dad is nuts for building water features and so he built a sort of volcano shaped fountain/ pond along side it, using a pump to push water about 8 feet up and then cascade  down into a series of large basins (each of which probably hold about 800 gallons) before streaming back into the pond.

Thus I have some quasi aquaponics infrastructure already in place. I already grow water lotus in the lower basin but I would really like to add some fish to the upper basin. I get a few fish out of the big pond with a fishing rod,  but I can't shake the appeal of netting dinner out of the mini pond.

The problem is from everything I've read, tilapia is the most efficient fish to raise in a set up like this but I'm in zone 7b, which makes tilapia raising an annual prospect. So I'm on the hunt for an efficient variety that can overwinter in 7b.

The second tempting use  of aquaponics has been referenced several times in this thread - since I'm going to be using 200+ gallons of water as thermal mass when I put in my greenhouse,  why not get some dual use out of it? I intend to cultivate some water hyacinth if I can keep the greenhouse temperature up,  but it sounds be great to utilize more of the water than just the surface area of the openings of my 55 gallon barrels.

Sounds to me like you have a pretty sweet setup there already. A series of 800-gallon basins with moving water in a couple of zones warmer than mine. All kinds of things should be possible with that.

Kevin Feinstein II wrote:

I like aquaponics for the fish and the life-force that living water systems provide.

I also just like anything water, fish, plant related. I don't usually watch videos, but I peeked at the one you linked and ended up watching a bit of it and loved it! Whole different set up from me though mostly because he is apparently in a climate where it doesn't freeze in winter. Those tubs would freeze solid in my climate.

My outdoor (200 gallon) pond is about two feet deep and freezes as much as eight inches sometimes over winter, only the pump keeps a bit of open water running in the stream part. It attracts enormous amounts of birds in winter; way more than the feeders do. In early spring it does turn pea green, almost thick looking for about a week or so. My theory on that is rotted leaves, fish poop and stuff have accumulated over winter and release an explosion of nutrient when the weather warms up, mixed with more sunlight the algae also explode. Then the water lilies, hornwort and other plants wake up, and the water quickly goes perfectly clear. Left behind is a layer thick of green fur on all the surfaces, then the toads come and thousands of tadpoles eat most of that. Whatever that is also lives in my aquarium, but the Otocinclus Catfish keep it under control.

I agree with you on the "life-force", but I do think actual food might also be possible except I'm thinking of the fish, not vegetables. As far as not using pumps, in my climate the water volume would have to be much larger and deeper. I don't use filters in my little pond or in my indoor aquarium. The plants and biofilm take care of all of that. Our local fish species bass, bluegill and catfish always do well but I have to turn them loose when they overgrow it. I can't raise a quantity big enough to eat, just a few and they are more like pets.

I would have to have a greenhouse to do it, but I have thought more than once about putting together a set up similar in some ways to the fellow in the video.

Here is a little video of my pond.

I don't have chickens right now but planning to build a new coop and get some. The old one was rather makeshift, and I tore it down already, but I'll try to describe it. Picture seven large locust posts, set to an 8 x 10 rectangle with the seventh dividing one end to make a 4 x 5. division. Chain link fence from the ground up to four feet and wraps over into a "floor". Above that is the roost. This 5 x 5 roost is secured from the inside so the chickens cannot get under it at all.

Outside the entire coop is wrapped in chain link fence, including over the top, withe exception of the corner with the roost. That is left completely open to the outside, remember the chickens can't get under there. Higer up around the roost solid walls of old barn siding will block wind and rain from directly hitting the birds, but it's completely open below. In winter a piece of that aluminum bubble insulation goes in above their heads.

I'm not sure I did all that well in describing it but that is how my old coop was and I never had a sick chicken in ten years. The worst thing that might happen is a chicken might get a bit of frost bite on her comb but that is minimal and pretty none at all on the creeds that don't have a big, tall comb. There was never any stink, nothing gross at all.

My nest box was, will be an extended addition on the other end. I don't have to go inside to get the eggs. The space under the roost is accessible from outside and a good place to throw weeds, leaves whatever and let it get mixed with chicken shit to compost, and it's easy to clean it out.

And if done correctly, you don't need a pump

Could you elaborate on that?

My system is a little 200-gallon pond with fish, frogs and lots of plants. I get a lot of garden fertilizer from it and a lot of biomass for the size. If I want to, I can grow most anything hydroponically in the stream portion. The pump feeds the stream, aerates the water, prevents mosquitos and keeps it from freezing in the winter.  Having to use electricity is the only thing I don't like.

I haven't worried much about maximizing production as I've mostly been focused on breeding them for growing as seeded annuals. I do think that allowing them to root along the vines, especially if they have a trailing habit takes away from a nice harvest of larger roots and instead makes lots of little ones. Worse they are all spread out and hard to find and harvest but you might get by with it if you have a longer season and don't mind digging a crater to find them. I grow them mostly in pots and have selected for bushy, non-trailing vines and a clump of nice roots directly under the primary stem: I think those traits would also be nice to have even if growing in the ground.

I also haven't worried much about specific soil nutrients or anything else that would require me to test for or purchase anything, I just grow them in what I can scrounge up around the place. I do think though that a nice loose soil helps encourage larger roots and keeping them well-watered helps too. One year I saved a bunch of yard clippings and leaves and kept them dry in bags in the shed. In spring I mixed that up with some pretty decent compost and a little plain garden soil. That was the best ever as far as production, I got two to four pounds per 3.5-gallon pot. *If you grow in pots, especially small ones it is important that the drain holes be buried in the ground, so they don't dry out so fast and so feeder roots can exit into the soil below and never move the pots once those roots have established.

I saw a fellow on YouTube that grew them in large Rubbermaid tubs with a very specific soil recipe of purchased potting mixes. He had a fantastic harvest, many pounds per tub. It looked like most of the space in the tub was filled with just sweet potatoes. It was interesting but not something I would do because it violates my buy nothing policy, plus I don't need hundreds of pounds of sweet potatoes as there are only two of us here to eat them.  

Next year though, I am going to revisit the issue of maximizing production and have already stockpiled several large bags of leaves, weeds and grass to fill my pots. As I move to this new phase of my breeding project, I'm setting a goal of averaging three pounds per 3.5-gallon pot.

I had to laugh at this a bit; I guess at myself really because I never knew there was such a thing as cooking spray.

From what I've read about them they are bog plants, so they need to stay pretty damp all the time. I grow them and pitcher plants outside. I put them in hollow chunks of wood with leaves and so on stuffed in the bottom to wick water from the little stream part of my garden pond and in full sun. They don't always completely die down in winter but mostly so.  

I never had a lot of luck growing them inside. I think maybe it's because they are adapted to a winter dormancy time, but I don't really know. You might need to feed them too, they like houseflies or any other bug you can catch, just drop it in the trap and touch the triggers with a toothpick or something for a minute or two to make sure it locks up good. Otherwise, it might open back up because a dead bug doesn't struggle. Once it is fully closed and locked it won't open again until the meal is digested.

I have some occasional pains in mostly in my elbow and fingers, have never bothered to identify exactly what it is. It was related to when I drew maps on mylar plastic in ink.  Anyway, one time during a particularly bad flair up, an old fellow told me to eat all the nasty white stuff inside of grapefruit peals. I don't have an actual diagnosis of what caused the pain or if it might help in general, but the grapefruit worked.  Oranges and tangerines which I like much better than grapefruit, don't work.

A couple more little videos about this year's sweet potato project.