Aquarium and Aquaponics in Fayetteville, Ar

[OzarksPermie]

Hi Everyone,

For a long long time, I've been wanting to convert my backyard swimming pool into an aquaponics systems, growing fish for food and using the water from the cement pond to nourish vegetables and other edible plants. This year, it's happening. And the process has been greatly facilitated by inheriting an aquarium from a renter. I learned a lot by trying to get those fish through a week without electricity, due to the ice storm, and then by setting up a new aquarium. A loach and brown frog did survive. They now have new friends: two Dalmation dollies and some Cardinal Tetra. To my surprise, I am fascinated by the aquarium and may be attending the upcoming meeting in Rogers.

However, my main focus now is getting the cement pond up and running. The folks at Worlds Under Water have been a lot of help, so have people who work for fish hatcheries, aquaculture specialists with the cooperative extension service, and others who have aquaponics systems in place around the world. What I'm doing doesn't quite fit any model. It's not an aquarium. It's not a natural pond. It's not conventional aquaculture. It's closest to aquaponics but with the use of a swimming pool.

Here's where things stand. As of a week ago the pond, which has had no input of chemicals since the fall, had a high ammonia level. I removed leaves from the bottom, added Prime and a Parrot's Feather aquatic plant which is winter hardy, and started aerating. Then I got 3 feeder goldfish and introduced them to the pond over a 7-hour period to adjust for the radical difference in water temperature and chemistry. They are fine. This morning I will pick up a pound of minnows from a fish truck at the local Farmer's Coop. As temps warm, I will introduce more plants and fish.

I've discussed which fish to stock with a lot of people and am now leaning toward tilapia, if I can find them close enough and at a decent price. The tilapia would have to be harvested in the fall, as temps decline. That's a good thing because it gives me a chance to clean out muck from the bottom, but also a problem because I have to get bacteria going again and the system normalized. (This is a good time to note that pond water will recirculate through gravel filled tanks filled with vegetables around the perimeter of the pond. The vegies and bacteria will do their thing and clean the water before it returns to the pond.) I might be able to raise trout in the winter and return to tilapia in late spring--a seasonal rotation. The other options are bass or catfish. I've considered and ruled out crappie because they will breed prolifically and I'm likely to have 10,000 fish at 2-3". Hybrid bluegill are another obvious choice but they bite swimmers and I have two young boys who would like to jump in the pond to cool off. Bluegill, I am told, are also hard on plants, and I would like to have a lotus and water lilies in the pond (believe it or not, they are edible too.)

If anyone has suggestions or advice or wants to get involved in a hands-on way with the project, respond to this post or email me at skyper [at] mac [dot] com. No doubt I will be showing up on different forums with questions like where can I get some daphnia ; )

All the best...
Rebecca

[etheonut]

--I wouldn't worry about the lack of bacteria over the winter months. The bacteria population will decline over the minter months, but it will not be eliminated. Once you reintroduce fish in the spring the bacteria will quickly recolonize and do their job.

--Tilapia are just as likely to bite young swimmers as any sunfish especially when they decide to breed. They can be very territorial and will defend their young from anything that comes close. The likelihood of any fish (with notable carnivorous exceptions) biting a swimmer is unlikely and should not be painful unless you elect to keep gar .

--Many tilapia species are also herbivores and will consume plants kept with them.

This sounds like a grand project. Why don't you take some pictures and document the process. It could make a great presentation some day. Oh, for the record I think Tilapia are a great idea, just trying to present you with more information.

Kevin

[OzarksPermie]

The bacteria loss is a concern if I try to raise trout in the winter. However, bacteria may stay alive in the gravel*, even if the system stops recirculating for a while. (It may take a week to empty the pool, refill it, and get the water properly conditioned each fall/spring. So even though I plan to channel rainwater off the roof into the pond, that's another drawback of the seasonal approach: wasting a lot of water. Furthermore, to the extent I need more water volume, it will come from the City of Fayetteville pumped up with chlorine and chloramine, I think. Hence it may kill any bacteria hanging out on the surface of the pond, as I can't think of an easy way to precondition so much water.

Personally, I don't know whether bluegill are worse about biting or harder on aquatic plants than other fish. But the cooperative extension agents who specialize in pond aquaculture seemed to think so.

The camera is already snapping.

*The gravel will be in several livestock water tanks around the perimeter of the pond, substrate for bacteria and plant roots.

[sumpnfishy]

I would note that Tilapia are probably MORE likely to breed than crappie.
Oh, and if you just need a culture of daphnia to get you started, look no further.
Michael

[OzarksPermie]

Thanks for the offer of daphnia, Michael. I see you are in KC. It would better to find a local source, if possible. Or are you coming down for the March presentation in Rogers?

I really wanted to raise crappie because they taste good and are fun to fish. But I have been cautioned at every turn that they don't do well in ponds of less than 1 acre due to prodigious breeding. Maybe they spawn a lot more eggs than tilapia. Tilapia are low in the food chain and therefore healthier to eat than a lot of other fish and they are also very forgiving of just about everything but cold water temps--not a minor issue in NW Arkansas where the outdoor fish growing season is likely to start sometime in May and end sometime in late September/early Oct, when water temps are drop back below 65.

So you can see my dilemma. One the one hand, I can do seasonal batch harvesting of tilapia and possibly trout with all the associated problems/benefits. Or switch to bluegill, bass, or catfish as the dominant species.

[etheonut]

Yes Michael, are you coming down for the March meeting?

You have a good point, if you elect to add city water with some form of anti-bacterial agent into the pond you are likely to kill bacteria any time of the year. For the record this water will also kill plants and other life as well. My suggestion would be to rely on rainwater to fill your pond. If that is not possible then you may want to consider ordering bulk quantities of dechlorinator. You can buy it in 5 gallon buckets, but I don't know the cost off the top of my head.

If you plan on draining the pond at any time make sure that you retain 'aged' water in your filter beds. This will act as an innoculation source for the bacteria to re-establish your pond.

The tilapia will not over-populate, December-February will take care of that issue.

Kevin

[Sundance]

The real question is whether you can find any fish at a size that will grow enough during the outdoor season to provide fish for a meal (or several) by the end of the season. Also, you need to start focusing on what is most important. You're trying to do an awful lot without really knowing what might work or not. It's my experience that you will start with one set of expectations, and soon will find that some things work and some don't. Just have a plan "B" available. Personally, I wouldn't try to keep the pool too pristine, and I wouldn't worry about changing the water every year. May not make for attractive swimming, but would probably be better for the fish. Realize that all these suggestions are with only a word picture to go on, so it may not match with what you are trying to tell us. Sounds interesting, though. Denny

PS - Michael lives in Springdale

[OzarksPermie]

Lots of good, thoughtful advice coming in. Thank you. I'm looking at the project as an experiment--no hard expectations, except that I would like to achieve a stable system with minimal inputs in terms of fish food and energy for pumps and aeration. The idea is to develop a local model that is as self-sufficient and sustainable as possible.

I'm expecting the pool to be green. Already reconciled to that. However, with daphnia, biofiltration from the plants, tilapia, and the other fish already in there, I'll be curious to see just what color it will be on the green spectrum. The reason behind seasonal cleaning (from the standpoint of the coop extension people) is maintaining decent water quality. It's conceivable
that I may be able to have less muck on the bottom, than the usual folks who do aquaculture, because I'll need to run the pool's sand filter system as an aerator, especially on hot summer nights. I can also use a pool vacuum to clean muck off the bottom. Hopefully, without snagging small fish or damaging plants.

[etheonut]

This is a great discussion, I am enjoying it.

If you are going to grow Tilapia from a moderate size (2-3") to an edible size in one growing season (late April until early October) then you will have to feed them, and probably quite a bit. I am referring to your statement about minimal input in the way of fish food.

Also, any fish or dapnia you put in this pond will end up being food for the tilapia (or any other consumable fish). This will happen in fairly short order unless there is a physical obstruction to access. Please don't expect to have any animal living in your pond except tilapia at the end of the season. There may be a very small population of daphnia and/or minnows which survive in hiding, but it will be inconsequential.

Kevin

[OzarksPermie]

I'm enjoying it too!

According to a coop extension specialist, "Tilapia will eat bloom, photoplankton, and stuff off the bottom and sides of the cement pond. They will keep out filamentous algae, reduce scum, and eat insect larvae." He said to look for 2-3" tilapia at a reasonable price and stock enough to produce 50-100#. He thought the tilapia might be able to achieve 1/2-3/4 pound by fall
with minimal feeding, except toward the end. He also said one of the problems with the batch system was that I would have to harvest the minnows then also, so apparently he wasn't concerned about tilapia eating minnows.

That said, in aquaponics, I am obviously going to need a nutrient rich water to optimize plant growth. So I might need to go to a higher concentration of fish--yet another consideration. The best source I've found for tilapia is several hours away and it ain't cheap: $6.00/pound.

Just so you guys know, people are doing aquaponics in combo with aquariums. If you want more info, here's a good website and you can download the first issue of the magazine free:
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/

[etheonut]

As a random thought and only vaguely related. Won't it be great fun to swim with the tilapia when you get the system set up?

Kevin

[OzarksPermie]

I am hearing a lot of feedback from aquaponics people about raising tilapia in this climate will be a problem. They say I need at least 4 months at 75 degrees. The ambient temperature in Fayetteville averages 75 or better for only 3 months. And the fish prefer temperatures even warmer than that, SO I'm not sure how pleasant it would be to swim in tepid water with tilapia ; )

Course, if I had a greenhouse system, I might jumpstart things with bigger fish. Hmmm.... maybe black plastic over the pool? OR return to the fish list and reconsider.

Whatever species, I am hoping to get a major culture of daphnia going and use them as a sustainable food source. Any advice on which species in this list will or won't eat daphnia? Tilapia, hybrid bluegill, crappie (if I could figure out how to slow reproduction), bass, catfish

I am also going to need some kind of supplemental aeration at the bottom of the deep end during the summer. Any thoughts about good products and how to do that with minimal energy use?

[sumpnfishy]

All of them will eat daphnia. The ONLY fish that won't eat daphnia are ones who's mouths are too small to do so.