Jeremiah Robinson

Sounds like you're putting in the leg work. Hopefully it'll bear fruit. Have you tried contacting Meg from the AA directly? She's fairly responsive, and would probably love to hear that you're beating the bushes.

I'm from Wisconsin and broke, so not likely to make it to a class

I don't know Walt, but I do know that in the US - at least on the mainland - there's a growing sense with many people that the aqua-shysters have taken over and all the information out their is dishonest self-promotion. I don't think that's the whole story, but there is some truth to it. He could be reacting to that sentiment.

My experience with fish farmers is that they're largely a salt-of-the-earth humble bunch who I often hear say things like "I've been growing fish for 30 years and still have a lot to learn." When they meet some aquaponic (or RAS) upstart saying something like "I've been doing aquaponics three years and now I'm an aquaponics engineer / guru and would you like some consulting?" they can be turned off.

All that's to say if I were you I'd try and take a humble approach, under-promise and over-deliver, and be patient for the first few years. If aquaponics proves commercially viable in the PNW folks will come round.

I'd love to meet you too someday.

peace,

Jeremiah

Hi Seth,

Have you reached out the Aquaponics Association?

I found a site called Washington Fish Growers.

There's also the Western Regional Aquaculture Center and some government folks.

I know there's a lot of activity in the PNW and BC in innovative aquaculture.

Always easier to work within existing structures if you can.

You're right that Hawaii is a bit unique in how collaborative everyone is. I think that's mainly thanks to Glenn and a few others.

Air source heat pumps have changed completely in recent years. You can find mini-split products from Mitsubishi that approach the efficiency of ground source heat pumps. It's a real game-changer.

Looks like fun. Thanks for sharing.

You could boil the water with a fire and use a piece of angled glass to make sure the water condensed in the other portion of the system.

If you were on the moon, the Earth-tide could do a good job of transferring water. If avoiding electricity use is the goal, you'd have to bring a lot of firewood along to keep your water melted. Also little breathing apparatus for your fish since there's no oxygen.

Where there's a will there's a way

Good luck!

You can actually use any T5 fixture from any hardware store, presuming you get 4100k lamps. Been doing this for years. Works just fine.

Hi Terry,

DWC refers to deep water culture. Looking at your system, it looks like a flood drain, so DWC issues wouldn't apply.

When I built my swirl filter, I tried to avoid those bottles with the handles since it seemed like they wouldn't swirl as well. I wonder if that's been the case for you? You can get a round one here or at your local brewery store.

I'm currently looking into developing my filter system further to take out more of those particles, experimenting with bird netting and such. I know UVI uses tilapia in their swirl filter to clean the walls.

I'm guessing you're doing a DWC system. Is that right?

I'm dealing with some of the same issues. Solids pile up fast. I'm thinking I may need to go to a larger filter with bird netting to take out the rest of the solids.

Do you mind posting a pic. of your swirl filter?

Yeah Solexx is Cadillac. Cheap option is single-wall poly supplemented by pool cover in winter. Kinda chintzy but it does the job. For double protection, you could do low tunnels over grow beds.

Awesome - glad to connect with you!

Wow - yeah that's a big span, depending on your snow load. Is there a reason you're opposed to support posts?