I decided to get my aquaponics set-up running again. Right now I only have three heads of Nevada lettuce and one lonely stalk of belstar broccoli that I transplanted from my somewhat of a garden.
They seem to be doing good a few hours after transplant. No drooping. Some bugs got to them before they were moved to the grow bed but I sprayed them with some neem oil the night before transplant. That should keep the bugs off without leaving any chemicals to drain down into the fish tank.
For anyone not familiar with aquaponics, it's really simple, easy to do, and fun. It's basically a symbiotic system that grows plants with the waste from fish. The fish create ammonia which is turned into plant food (nitrate) by microbes and the plants filter the water for the fish. It combines hydroponics and aquaculture for a system that can produce fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs. You can raise edible fish as well, if you want to.
I busted up an old pallet to make the grow bed platform. The pump was like $10 on Amazon. A little bit of tubing, some pvc pipe and that's all it takes. It can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. One can be made with a five gallon bucket or you can have five grow beds with sump tanks and a swirl filters.
I think aquaponics is a great tool for increasing personal freedom and self reliance. It also ties in nicely with permaculture. Instead of the inputs to a system moving through and becoming waste, the waste can become the input.
Only a few little fish right now (they're hiding). The water is still kind of murky from not having the pump running for a few days. It should clear up soon with the the help of the new plants.
I plan on doing more updates and expanding the grow bed. When the season ends I'll move the setup indoors and keep growing veggies.
Stay free and don't forget to support your local black/grey markets!
-Aahab
