Best Fish for Aquaponics

So, you decide that aquaponics is for you.  Among other important decisions to make about your project, you must decide on what kind of fish to use in your system.  If you're a vegetarian and you only want the fish for pets, obtaining the fish for your system will be very easy.  If you want edible fish, that may be a bit more complicated, but definitely NOT impossible.  Unfortunately, some of my favorite fish are salt water fish and these will obviously not work in an aquaponic system.  Fortunately, there are several fresh water fish that would work really well for an aquaponic system.

You could also grow fish food (such as duckweed) using the aquaponic system.  Mealworms and black soldier flies (which I will talk more about in future posts) are great food sources for omnivorous fish as well.  You may also want to raise minnows and goldfish for omnivorous fish food.

Whatever you decide, there is more information for you in the video below. Enjoy!



   

Health Freedom With Aquaponics

One of many things to LOVE about aquaponics is the health freedom aspects of it.  You could actually grow your own food in the privacy of your own home; by that I mean your backyard, garage or even your basement!

Think of the many different dishes that you could make from your own garden!  You could grow herbs, salad greens and even some fruit bearing plants like zucchini, tomato, cucumbers and many others as well.  What I didn't even think of until recently is that rice would grow very well with an aquaponic system!  So from an aquaponic system you could serve, veggies and rice with prawns, tilapia, bass or crayfish.

Aquaponics could equal health freedom for anyone who has a system.  It's definitely something to consider.  If anyone would like to add recipes to give those who already have an aquaponic system some ideas, it would be both welcome and appreciated.

Growing Food Sustainably with Aquaponics using Fish as Your Fertilizer

I love it! There is an inn in Maui that not only uses an aquaponic system, but they have an entire system of growing food right there in on the hotel property.  The systems are to feed the guests/customers and to teach them about sustainable farming.  They are using many ideas that I'm researching myself; but they've given me some further insight that I will be researching as well.

I must admit that I'm not diggin' the idea of feeding compost worms cola.  I would rather give them something that they could really benefit from.  If they eat well, they will make great compost that your plants will love.  So that's one suggestion I will definitely not be using.

Other than that, I felt that this video offered a lot of wonderful information.



 

Aquaponics, Fruits and Vegetables Gardening in the Las Vegas Food Desert

The systems that John is talking about in the video below are for the people who want to grow a majority of their own food. Aquaponics is, in my opinion, the best possible method of producing food year round.  That's just one other thing that I LOVE about aquaponics!  No matter where you are, you could have year round fresh food.

The video below demonstrates my last point.  Las Vegas isn't the easiest place to grow food, but temperature control greenhouses and hoop houses in conjunction with aquaponics make it more than possible.  Thanks to such a system, people who live in the deserts of Las Vegas can have lovely nutrient dense food all year round.

Enjoy the video!



 

Different Systems

Aquaponic systems can easily run as much as a couple thousand dollars.  The reason why it is still a very popular idea is because of what it accomplishes as well as the fact that many simply build their own systems.  By building you're own system you can save thousands of dollars.  Many have built systems for under $200 and I know of one guy who spent well under $100 for the system that he built.

Below are fancier systems.  Fancier does NOT mean better, however there are some who just want a system to grow herbs like mint, oregano, basil or thyme and the first one would work for something like that; there are some who may not want to build their own system, but want something small to grow some food indoors or in a greenhouse and the second one would work well in a case like that; there are some who want the aesthetics and the third one would work beautifully for that and there are some who don't want to build their own system and can afford to buy a system like the one on the end.

Again, it's most advisable to just build your own systems and save money.  To build your own would require a little research, imagination and trial and error; but the good news is that you'll have an abundant year round source of meat and vegetables.

Aquaponic System

Most aquaponic kits are fairly expensive, but there are more than just a few inexpensive ones on the market like the one below.  For those of you who just want to get their feet wet, (or more literally their salad green roots wet), there are small, inexpensive and rather decorative systems available to just have fun with in your home.

For some, like vegans perhaps, you may only want pet fish in which case a decorative aquaponic system may be all that you'll ever want or need.  In that case something like this is perfect.

September's Book: The Complete Idiot's Guide To Aquaponic Gardening

I don't buy "The Idiot's Guide..." books very often, but for something like aquaponics where I need to start from scratch, I feel it would be very helpful.  I believe aquaponics is a fabulous method of gardening greens and it's also a great way to raise pan fish in your own backyard.  Many people today are looking for ways to grow some of their own food and aquaponics seems to fit the bill for people like us.

Aquaponics combines aquaculture and hydroponics and takes farming to an entirely new level of awesome!  Even if you never want to do this, I invite you to read about it.  You may just change the way you see gardening!

GAPS Update

I haven't been on the GAPS diet for very long.  I've only been on it for less than 6 months, but I feel REALLY good.

I've just completed the introductory GAPS diet and will probably be able to eat more raw foods in a few weeks.  The only "raw" foods that I eat are apples, pears and cultured vegetables.  The real proof that my health is improving happened just this past weekend.  My poor hubby picked up a cold.  He came home on Friday with a scratchy throat, and was coughing all weekend.  Usually, when he gets sick, I get sick very soon after... but not this time.  He has been sick for days, but I haven't had any issues or symptoms at all.  The gut flora is the first line of defense; when that is healthy it's harder for an individual to get sick.

I'm looking forward to more improvements, but in the meantime I must admit that I'm really happy and grateful for my progress.

Garden Progress

I really didn't think my garden (which was planted very, very late) was going to be fruitful at all.  Well, I still wouldn't exactly label it as fruit-"full", but I have one pickle fermenting and a few others on the way.  There was a recent problem with cucumber bugs that kink of threw a spoon in things.  The little buzzards lay eggs in the soil and the larvae deposits a bacteria that kills off the plant.  A good chunk of the plant and several cucumbers were lost; but with a little DE (diatomaceous earth), some garlic cloves and bay leaves in the soil and I managed to save the day.  As I mentioned, I now have a few more cucumbers on the way.  Because of recent rainfall, however, I need to add more DE to the leaves to keep the cucumber bugs at bay.

What are some things that you do for pest control?

Dumbing Down Of America II

Politics is an unfortunate reality that got itself mixed up in health care.  This video demonstrates very clearly where the political tyrants are going with trying to control our food and health care.  What is astounding about this video is that it was made about 50 years ago.  So back then people were well aware of these sneaky steps that some government forces use against the people to overtake them.  Today, there are so many who are blind to it.  I've taught in a school where history was not a part of the curriculum and I wondered why.  I've spoken with other teachers in other states who have seen the same thing.  If you understand what is going on today, you wouldn't wonder why and you would be VERY worried for our country and everything that it was built on.

In the video below, I liked what the salesman said to the farmer about how his product will give him bigger crops and lower costs.  Does this sound remotely familiar?  Isn't this what a certain multi-billion dollar corporation said to farmers around the world about gene spliced crops?  This cartoon was ingenious and yet it was made so long ago.  We all need to be reminded of its message, for it's very, very important.