Automation

Comment by Iowa Aquaponics -

Weve created a series of tutorials with some of these features using the Arduino and Googles cloud infrastructure.
Online Temperature and Humidity
Real-Time Graphing Online
Online Relay Control

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AQUAPONICS DIGEST

Here we are again with the latest and greatest digest of populay Aquaponics reading from throughout the net:

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Aquaponics Backyard Systems
By K Bray
Backyard Aquaponics Grow your own organic fish and vegetables in your backyard.On a global level producing enough safe food to meet the demands of a constant growing population is becoming more and more a daunting challenge. To grow organic crops fresh water and soil is required and there is no new soil being produced so the demand at some point is going to over ride the supply.
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Aquaponics Gardens Take A Little Time Before Being Ready For Planting
An aquaponic garden is a much different way to grow plants than what people are accustom to, but they are very simple to set up and to maintain. There are some things about this way of farming that people will have to learn and get used to. But after seeing the results it can produce and the simplicity of the system, it can become a life changing experience for those interested in growing their own food.
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Aquaponics is the marriage of aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (the soilless growing of plants) that grows fish and plants together in one integrated system. The fish waste provides an organic food source for the growing plants and the plants provide a natural filter for the water the fish live in. The third participants are the microbes...

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Certification / Education
I will be retiring soon and I have been experimenting with Aquaponics for the last 8 months. I am very interested in attending classes/on-line courses/ and or classes that I will result in certification. I know that there are classes in UVI and Friendly. Does anyone know of on-line classes?
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 An email I received from Murray Hallam:
Go here http://aquaponics.net.au/blog/aquaponics-diy to join the new Practical Aquaponics DIY Group. Sorry about the second email. I missed putting the link into the previous broadcast. Happy Aquaponics Murray Hallam murray@aquaponics.net.au

 And some details:

Hi, This is to let you know about a new Members Group we have created especially for "Do It Yourself" enthusiasts. The new Membership Group is a paid subscription. This section contains information about building your own Aquaponics system from recycled materials, or new tanks and grow beds that you are going to connect together into a system of your own design. If you need assistance to build your own in the form of advices and plans then you may wish to join the Aquaponics DIY Group by subscribing. The very modest investment of $12.50 per quarter allows you unlimited access to the files and articles that apply particularly to DIY Aquaponics. Contents to date. Toteponics:- Plans and specifications to construct a three bed Aquaponics system from recycled IBC’s Bathtub Aquaponics:- Plans and specifications to construct a single bed Aquaponics system using recycled bathtubs. To access the list of blog posts for the Members DIY Group , see the listing in Categories in the right hand column of any page on this site. CHOP Mark 2 Modification #1 The addition of a sediment filter or clarifier. CHOP Mark 2 Modification #2 Fitting up a second pump to your system. CHOP Mark 2 Modification #3 Make use of vertical space. A strawberry tower. CHOP Mark 2 Powers On. The growth is just amazing. New information pages and blog posts that apply particularly to DIY Aquaponics will be added regularly. You may find it very beneficial to become a member of this new subscription group. Happy Aquaponics MURRAY HALLAM

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Choosing Where To Locate Your Aquaponics System

There are many great advantages to growing vegetables and fish in an aquaponics garden. Getting started and maintaining this kind of system is very simple, and it can be a lot of fun. In order for this system to live up to its potential and produce exceptional results, there are some details that you will need to get right.

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Legal Battle Follows
By Felicia Friesema,
The cover of The Urban Homestead, written by Erik Knudsen and Kelly Coyne, which might be renamed in the next printing.
?Updated, 2/18, 10:33 a.m.: In an attempt to wield some damage control and hopefully stop the harassing calls to their home (they published their phone number early on) and negative comments to their blog, the Dervaes family has issued a press release which is apparently doing the exact opposite.
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Danby Town Talk: Future farmers explore organics
Dylan Hollenbeck, a Danby resident and 10th grade student at New Roots Charter School in Ithaca, recently participated in the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA-NY) Winter Conference in Saratoga Springs.
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Aquaponics Organic Food Farming IN WATER
By appledragon
Grow your own food easily without soil!

You may well have noticed that the cost of fresh food such as fresh fish and vegetables is soaring just now.  It is at this point that many people look at ways of growing their own vegetables on any spare space they may have,

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 Aquaponics Manuals search results in PDF

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Now a few from Twitter:

Making Your Own Aquaponics Design From Home

Aquaponics is a system for gardening thats been around for nearly 4 decades that eliminates the need for large amounts of chemicals, water and space. Lately, many people have been working from home on creating their own aquaponics systems. There are a number of different ways to construct your personalized Aquaponics Systen
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Indoor Aquaponics - 3 Reasons Why Indoor Aquaponics Gardening Makes Sense
By Michael Harradine
Lets face it. Old traditional ways of gardening sre becoming a thing of the past. Most forward thinking people look towards better ways of optimizing their time and efforts when growing food. And one of the best ways to do that is aquaponics. Aquaponics is becoming a very popular way to grow food plants in a sustainable environment. It relies on the tendencies of fish (discharge) and plants to help each other.
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Aquaponics - Organic Gardening
By K Bray Platinum Quality Author
Aquaponics - Organic Gardening Plus Fresh Fish

If you are an organic gardener or looking to start a garden you may want to consider designing an aquaponics home system. The combination of aquaculture and hydroponics has created a unique marriage where you can grow fresh organic vegetables and raise fish at the same time!
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Aquaponics-A Sustainable Food Source For the Future That Conserves Water and Resources
Developing sustainable food sources to meet the demands of a growing population is a challenge. The availability of fresh water is increasingly limited, especially in urban areas, along with land and resources for producing crops and meat. In Australia, for example, water restrictions are in enforced in most regions of the country that prevent people from

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From The Aquaponics Source
Commercial Aquaponics Training
I meet new people almost every day who are interested in pursuing commercial aquaponics and ask me for direction. They usually have no background in farming, hydroponics or aquaculture but are looking to take their lives on a new path. They want to be a part of the unique potential for global change that commercial aquaponics offers.

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The Symbiotic Relationship of Aquaponics
The symbiotic relationship of aquaponics is much clearer if you understand the ways in which each of the farming methods offers up its faults to the other, and gives back by accepting faults for itself. A complete ecosystem can be achieved just by allowing nature to do what comes naturally - correcting itself with adaptation.
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Practical AQUAPONICS
Murray Hallams Practical Aquaponics
My new DIY Aquaponics DVD is finished and is at the printers now.  If you want to use recycled materials and you are a "Do It Yourself" kind of person,  the the "Murray Hallams DIY Aquaponics"  is just what you have been waiting for.
The full length section "The First 12 Months" follows a premium kit system right from install, adding fish, planting the veggies, testing the water right through to harvesting the wonderful produce.  See how

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Workshops and Training
Nelson and Pade, Inc., offers workshops and training courses on aquaponics and controlled environment agriculture. Courses take place in Montello, Wisconsin. Morning sessions of all workshops take place in a lively classroom setting. Afternoon sessions take place in the
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There we go
See you later
Take Care
O Z Z I E

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Building Plywood Tanks

I get these 40"x47"x36" plywood boxes from a juice factory for $5.00 each.  I cut the shipping boxes into thirds or in half, and add bottoms to the sections as needed.  I look for discounted irregular plywood to save money (generally 1/2 price).

To build the basic plywood box would cost about $60 if you used 3/4" plywood at about $25 per sheet.  These come banded with heavy metal corners.on a pallet.  Its hard to beat these juice boxes built with high grade 3/4" - 5 ply plywood. It takes about 2300 ml of resin per tank at $50/3.5 liters

Fiberglass makes these tanks durable and clean.  Cost was about $60 per 40"x47" tank.

Im filling this tank with water to test for leaks

The deeper tanks on top will be wicking beds.  The shallow 12" tanks underneath will be bioponic grow beds. 

Im not concerned about toxins from the fiberglass resin.  If you are then use LG-730 Mono Epoxy Pool Paint or Pond Shield. for the finish coat  It will add $10-$20 per tank

These same tanks would cost only  $20.00 each if pond liner were used.
Box        - 5/2    =   2.50
Liner     - 100/9 = 11.00
Bottom - 12/2   =   6.00


After one year of use I found that the bulkheads needed to be tightened.  I expect the wood expands and contracts with changes in humidity which eventually caused them to loosen.

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Awesome

I really have nothing to say.  Just noting that Im -$1 cause I bought yogurt...then minus another $1 cause I got it from Wal-Mart

so...

Yoplait yogurt - $0.66 -  $2


Owed so far....$7

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Projectiles Building a blow gun with laser sight

I thought Id build a blow dart gun with a laser sight.

It turned out to be a total success.

It works well, and is much more fun than regular darts of the non-blown variety.

I started with a couple of pins, some string, some cotton, and a thin pipe. A broken car aerial works well, so does a pen casing. Even a drinking straw works at a pinch. The longer the better, and its best to avoid flexible things as your pipe. Drinking straws tend to be a little less accurate.

I started by piercing the string so I had four strings stuck to my pin.

 I taped up the strings so they wouldnt move when I started to wrap them.

This next bit is really important.

Add a loop of cotton running the length of the pin.

Take some cotton and wrap it tightly to make a binding along about a third of the length of the pin.

I also made one where I used electrical heat shrink instead of cotton binding. It worked well, and was much faster to make, but didnt look as nice as one with binding.

Trying to tie off  the end of a binding is difficult unless you have that loop we added.

To finish your binding, pass the loose end through the loop.

Then pull the back of the loop all the way back. This will draw in the lose end, and secure it by tucking it under itself... under the binding.

Thats really important string tech. As long as you plan it beforehand and add that loop its easy, but without the loop, its next to impossible.

 The end result looks something like this.

Next I took another pin and frayed the string.

Wool would work better, but I didnt have any.

When its fully frayed, it looks like this.

You can us it like this, but it was a little slow, and not very accurate.










I trimmed mine down a bit.











The point of the tail is to create drag so it flies straight, and with the sharp end up the front where it belongs.

If you have even one thin strand longer than the others it can cause trouble.

A long strand will make your dart turn off course a bit, and can also get stuck between your lip and the tube, resulting in a blowing noise but no shooting.

An easy way to trim it is to put it into the blow pipe and cut any excess with scissors.

Next, I found my container full of prototyping plastic. I explain it in this post about its possible use in making hand made fishing lures, but basically its stuff that gets soft at 65 degrees centigrade or so, and sets hard once it cools.

Next, I got hold of a laser pointer ($15 or so), then it was a simple matter of heating up some prototyping plastic, and wrapping it around both the tube, and my laser pointer.

I added three screws that sit through the plastic so I can tighten them against the laser to adjust where it points in relation to the tube. That way, its easy to adjust and make certain everything lines up properly.



I shot some video while I was sighting it. I placed the laser sighted blow dart gun in a clamp, and repeatedly shot it, and adjusted the screws to get it more accurate. A simple matter of firing, then moving the dot to the same spot as the dart hit.

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Building an 800 Gallon Tank

I learned that deck screws are not strong enough to hold the bottom plate. I ended up using 5/16 galvanized lag bolts.
Folding the liner is a lot harder than it looks. Heres a link that may help
 http://www.friendlyaquaponics.com/support/trough-videos/

Building an 800 Gallon Tank

Rigid Insulation was laid down first

Lessons learned.  This tank lasted about 2 years.  First mistake was not wrapping the liner down over the outside.  Spilled water got between the liner and the wood.  The sides rotted out.

There were many times I forgot to turn the water off while filling the tank.  I flooded my shop several times and the moisture under the tank rotted the tank.   If you build a wood tank take every precaution to keep the wood dry.

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Quote of the day

While reading through the AP (aquaponics) forums this morning I came across this from Vlad.  It made me laugh.  Vlad has a way of hitting the nail right on the head.  This was in response to a questionable ad  -

"...Well, OK maybe its even a bit less hokey...somebody please just shoot me in the fucking head if I ever start rambling about how some overly priced, energy intensive AP system is going to feed some poor backwater village in the middle of the African desert...I mean its nice for middle class white folks to have a feel good hobby and all, but when folks use the very real and legitimate suffering and misfortune to tug at the heart-strings of Mr. and Mrs. Jones of Lakewood in order to sell them something...it kinda gets my goat. Sorry for the rant..."

Vlad and I are on the same page concerning AP.  Quoting Vlad again (sic) "Aquaponics is a romantic attraction".   

You may wonder where my allegiance lies. This is of course a blog about aquaponics.   I do like aquaponics, but its not the only way to garden (Bioponics or Wicking beds may better suit your needs), and by no means is it cheap or as easy as some would have you believe.

A well managed AP system can out perform a soil based garden, but well managed is the crux of the matter and the term that requires definition.

In any case dont let the lure of technology lead you into grand ideas of easy profits and abundant crops of fish and vegetables.  It may not be rocket science, but it is a science that requires a fair amount of attention.

60 Minutes story about aquaponics

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