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Aquaponics with flies as only input. Possible?

 
Posts: 596
Location: South Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain)
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Can I setup an aquaponic system that I don't have to feed? OK it would need water adding from time to time.

I was thinking two solar powered pumps where only one is needed, and some solar powered lights to attract insects, and I have a near fail proof system?
After calculating how often water needs topping up I could leave it unattended for days? weeks?

We have no frosts here so flying insects all year round. Flies, mosquitoes, dragonflies, robber flies, horse flies. If the system could feed itself AND keep flies away from the house then that would be fantastic.
Anyone done this?
 
pollinator
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Location: Northern New York Zone4-5 the OUTER 'RONDACs percip 36''
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Steve Farmer : I am not sure if Black Soldier Flies and their larva have been introduced to your location or not . If there is an existing population
that over-winters like they can do in our southern states you might want to look at using their larva as part of an auto feeding program for your
fishes.

A quick look in the Permies Search Engine under all subjects/forums gave over 1,000 forum thread hits in 3 sec. Good luck ! Big AL

 
Steve Farmer
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Thanks Al I've just had a browse thru some google results for Black Soldier Fly - they sound useful. I've not noticed them here at all tho, I'll keep a look out.

We leave a light on outside the house and get thousands of flying things on the wall each night. It all looks like free food to me, but I'm not hungry enough to eat them myself.
 
gardener
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hi Steve

is your system to get rid of flies or raise fish?
an aquaponic system that you don't have to feed is a pond
or is stocked like a pond
not a lot of fish/volume
also in a pond the fish can forage for worms, crayfish, etc
will your system have these opportunities?
each fish needs so much "food"/day
so depending on how many kilo/lbs of insect attracted
determines how many fish in your system
if that is the only food source
 
Steve Farmer
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Getting rid of flies is just a possible bonus.
The aim of attracting flies as food is to reduce the amount of manhours attention the system needs and to be able to leave the system unattended for days at a time.
The intended system is aqua/aeroponics with the aim of growing healthy root systems on young plants/cuttings using fish waste instead of manually adding plant sustaining chemicals.

I've had success with homebuilt aqua/aeroponic systems but have always had to add nutrients and acidifiers manually.
 
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Location: Elgin, IL
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Fish don't really need to be fed that often to be kept alive. They can usually go for at least a week without being fed. A system running solely on flies will probably keep plants and fish alive, but perhaps not much more than that. If you're alright with maybe only growing greens (they have low nutrient requirements, unlike fruiting plants) and having slow fish growth rates, then by all means.

Even fish food doesn't quite contain everything plants need. Aquaponic systems usually need a supplemental source of calcium, potassium, and iron in addition to regular feeding.
 
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