Aquaponic filters- is a 100% recirculating system possible?

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LawOne

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 13, 2008
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hawaii
I was wondering if anyone has an aquaponics setup that they have tested water quality on. I don't test my aquaponic systems. I just add iron and coral rubble (for pH). I've had one of my systems up and running for 1.5 years without ever having done a water change. I transfer fish and plants in and out of my various AP systems with no detrimental effects. I've heard of people in Austrailia who haven't done waterchanges in 8 years. That's what convinced me to get into aqauponics.
I believe the single greatest detriment of keeping fish in enclosures is all the wasted water that goes into water changes because of our incomplete filtration systems.
Anyway, I know there are a bunch of people around the world doing aquaponics so I was wondering if anyone had the actual parameters of their systems.
 
LawOne;5012764; said:
I was wondering if anyone has an aquaponics setup that they have tested water quality on. I don't test my aquaponic systems. I just add iron and coral rubble (for pH). I've had one of my systems up and running for 1.5 years without ever having done a water change. I transfer fish and plants in and out of my various AP systems with no detrimental effects. I've heard of people in Austrailia who haven't done waterchanges in 8 years. That's what convinced me to get into aqauponics.
I believe the single greatest detriment of keeping fish in enclosures is all the wasted water that goes into water changes because of our incomplete filtration systems.
Anyway, I know there are a bunch of people around the world doing aquaponics so I was wondering if anyone had the actual parameters of their systems.
I dont do aquaponics myself but I know theres a couple aussie forums kicking around devoted to it. If you were really interested might be worth searching for.
 
I forgot to describe what an aquaponic filter is. It is basically a filter using terrestrial plants and composting worms (convert organic matter to plant food) to filter our tank water. The technology is in the growbed where the worms and plants are. In the growbed (Ebb +Flow style aquaponics) there is an autosiphon (which is basically a Carlson Surge Device) that allows the water level to fill to capacity and then drain. This causes a surge at the end of every cycle. The importance of this filling and draining is the reoxygenation of the plant's roots with every cycle (as well as the fish tank water).
By maintaining supersaturated oxygen levels in the root zone you fight off Pythium (fungus/ bacteria?) which causes root rot. Root rot is the number 1 problem with submerging terrestrial plant roots for any period of time.

By overcoming this problem aquaponics offers the first complete filtration system that I have yet to come across. All other forms of filtration are incomplete, requiring additional filters, and water changes. I know I'll get responses about reverse daylight photosynthesis, algae turf scrubbers, and live rock. Of course these systems work in removing nitrates but they are also incomplete because they require separate mechanical filtration. AP has biological and mechanical filtration in one.

I know it sounds too good to be true. I thought so too but since I live in Hawaii I decided to build a bunch of aquaponic systems to test the technology. Worse comes to worse, I planned to just switch to aquaculture. Of course I didn't have to because aquaponics works. It works so well that I've even made AP filters for my fish tanks.

Aquaponics opened a whole new world for me beyond fishkeeping. Now I'm a natural organic farmer trying to raise awareness on our countries food security issues which stem from our over-dependance on oil for farming, processing, and shipping.
All you have to know is that it takes 10 calories of oil to produce 1 calorie of food. That's just nuts. Now AP does use alot of plastics which is very oil dependant but the benefits of aquaponics (for me anyway) offsets that like carbon credits. Anyway, you could use earthen ponds lined with horse manure if you wanted (I've seen it done and it's sanitary- go figure).
I also found out that traditional agriculture accounts for 80% of our annual freshwater usage. That's also just plain bonkers.

Aquaponics uses only 5% of the amount of water that traditional Ag uses (as well as 1/4 of the space) to cultivate the same amount of produce.

Of course there are drawbacks:
Initial start up costs are upwards of 4x+ that of traditional Ag.
The most common species used is tilapia which requires the use of pelletized feeds derived from non-sustainable ocean caught sources.
You need electricity to power the pumps.
You need oil to make all the plastic parts (tanks, pipes, liners, etc.)

This is why my focus on AP has been to overcome all these obstacles. Some of my solutions are:
Alternative fish species (giant gourami, pacu, arowana, grass carp, etc.) which is what keeps me coming back to MFK.
By using alternative species I am in the process of using alternative feed sources (grass, veggies, fruits, livebearers, duckweed, aquatic inverts, terrestrial inverts, algae, etc.)
My brother is involved in the photovoltaic industry in Hawaii and I will be setting up solar P.V. power systems as well as exploring other options for power like wind turbines (for power and water circulation), archemeides screws, air lifts, magnetic perpetual motors (all pertaining to water circulation).
As far as oil usage in AP goes aquaponics is just as dependant as every other industry on oil. With new plastics technologies we will be able to make plastic from plants and algae. Of course I won't be doing this but just waiting for the tech to become available. It was actually this aspect of AP that got me into organic natural farming. Can't put all your eggs in one basket.


Anyway, if any of these terms are unfamiliar please 'google' them. If i've made aquaponics confusing please forgive me. There are alot of wonderful aquaponic websites out there with videos and pics (and much better explanations than I can give). And to anyone who finds their way to Aquaponics I wish you the best. I think Aquaponics is to Agriculture what solar power was to oil. It's just a more sensible alternative.

Aloha
 
I know those Aussie's have severe limitations on how much water they can use, so it makes a lot of sense they would be putting the most effort into these systems.

Let me ask you some basic questions I think most will be wondering. In your research, what have you found, aside from reducing nitrates, that water changes provide? There is of course a lot more going on on a chemical level. How do you think supplementation of trace elements and other things compare to water changes? What about more advanced things like redox and conductivity?
 
As far as trace elements go you really can't beat composting worms for converting organic matter into usable plant fertilizers. How this helps the fish I'm not sure but if it's in the water the fish get it too. As I said the only things I add are fish food, calcium carbonate, iron supplement (people use old iron nails), and top off water for evaporation.

My main focus as far as aquaponics goes was to see if the technology works. And it does. I don't test my water but I also haven't done a waterchange on one of my systems for 1.5 years. I've never done that before with any other aquarium/ aquaculture filtration method. None of my fish or plants goes into shock when I move them from system to system. And my fish (of all kinds) are thriving and breeding regularly. And my plants are all doing great too.

As far as E.C., redox, and the rest that's what I'm looking for. Most people who would look at that come from a hydroponic background or from a serious aquarist background. Thats why I look at monster fish keepers, planted tank aquarists, and marine reef aquarists websites (besides my obvious interests in all these things). I'm sure you can find these things on other aquaponic sites but aquaponics is really in it's infancy in America. Thats why I like it. I've already developed many new technologies for aquaponics because of my extensive background in fish keeping.

I hope everyone looks into aqauponics not only for their fish filters (which I think is what every MFK'r cares about most after their fish) but also to address the issue of Food Security for their families. If you would like info on how to set up your own aquaponics system email me and I'll give you the best instructions I can free of charge.

Aloha

www.law.one@live.com
 
Aquaponics works great as a filter. I had my first tank cycling with out much plant life or media and within 24 hours of adding more each the water cleared.
 
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