Aquaponics Digest - Mon 01/18/99
Message 1: Re: worms
from "Palchik"
Message 2: Re: worms
from Adriana Gutierrez
Message 3: Re: earthworms
from "Jorg D. Ostrowski"
Message 4: Gempler's Catalog
from "Ted Ground"
Message 5: Re: Tomato Varieties
from Gordon Watkins
Message 6: Operating systems open for visits
from S & S Aqua Farm
Message 7: Re: Gempler's Catalog
from Glen Seibert
Message 8: lava gravel
from jilli and lars
Message 9: Re: worms
from jilli and lars
Message 10: Re: lava gravel
from "Jorg D. Ostrowski"
Message 11: Re: worms
from Michael Strates
Message 12: Re: Grey water treatment.
from PDOSSJR
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| Message 1 |
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Subject: Re: worms
From: "Palchik"
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 12:59:44 +0200
Estoy buscando quien tiene experiencia en la utilizacion
de la vermicultura en la transformacion de restos solidos
de sistemas intensivos de cria de peces.
Mauricio
-----Original Message-----
From: William Evans
To: aquaponics@townsqr.com
Date: יום חמישי 14 ינואר 1999 16:23
Subject: worms
>Are you looking for manure (feces) worms(red wigglers)?or info on
>using worms in a hydroponic system as a food source?
>
>> Palchik wrote:
>>
>> who has experience on the ensamble:
>> "peces-hydroponics-worms(red california)
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Subject: Re: worms
From: Adriana Gutierrez
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 08:00:05 -0500
Palchik wrote:
>
> Estoy buscando quien tiene experiencia en la utilizacion
> de la vermicultura en la transformacion de restos solidos
> de sistemas intensivos de cria de peces.
> Mauricio
Translation:
"I am looking for someone who has experience in the use of
vermiculture for processing solid waste generated by intensive
fish culture."
So, it looks like Mauricio would like to run his aquaculture
solids through a worm farm. Sort of like feeding cow or sheep
manure to worms, but in his case it is fish solid waste.
Adriana
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Subject: Re: earthworms
From: "Jorg D. Ostrowski"
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 07:38:13 -0700 (MST)
You said:"I have set up a simple, portable, and hopefully graphic demonstration
of the value of castings. 2 Meter long Kmart plastic window boxes, one filled
with compost and one with compost +10% castings sown with lettuce and radishes.
I saw slides of a similar setup with marigolds that showed extremely vigorous
plants with many more leaves and dramatically different root systems.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Donna: Do you or anyone else have more info on this system? JDO
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Subject: Gempler's Catalog
From: "Ted Ground"
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 08:58:56 -0600
Aquaponikers,
If you work outdoors, have a garden or farm, work in the greenhouse, or
just want to stay warm in the winter with heavy duty coats, boots, parkas,
etc., you will want to have a Gempler's 1999 Master Catalog. There are all
kinds of hard to find tools and equipment for your farm or greenhouse in
Gemplers. Everything from shovels, vegetable harvesting knives, soil test
kits, microscopes, light meters, weather monitoring equipment, weighing
scales, books on Integrated Pest Management, books on nutrient
deficiencies, books on blueberry culture....all kinds of safety equipment,
sprayers, ATV accessories...it just goes on and on. No, this isn't a
commericial plug. But I sure do like their catalog.
Check them out at 800-382-8473 for catalog requests. Outside USA and
Canada, dial 608-424-1544, email corpsales@gemplersmail.com or
techsupport@gemplersmail.com. Check out their website at
http://www.gemplers.com. They have another website devoted to IPM at
http://www.ipmalmanac.com. Let me know what you think about Gemplers,
especially if you have bought from them before- how was their service,
etc.?
Ted
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Subject: Re: Tomato Varieties
From: Gordon Watkins
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 09:47:32 -0600
Thanks for the info Jim. What varieties are you using now?
Gordon
"James Rakocy, Ph.D." wrote:
> > I too am interested in trying more heat tolerant varieties, but have
> none to
> >recommend. Maybe someone else on the list has suggestions (Jim R.?) or try
> >checking with your local organic growers association or cooperative extension
> >agent. Let me know what you find and I'll do the same.
> >
> > Gordon
>
> We are gowing tomatoes now in a raft system, but the last time we studied
> tomatoes was more than 12 years ago in an outdoor flood and drain gravel
> system. The varieties may not be around anymore, but here are the results
> for 16 weeks in the system:
>
> Cherry Vendor Floradade Sunny
> Challenger
> Fruit production
> no./plant 168 31 79 83
> lbs./plant 6.4 8.1 19.8 22.2
> lbs/ft.2 3.2 3.7 3.3 3.8
> Marketable production 97 88 96 97
> Survival 100 81 100 100
>
> Cherry Challenger and Vendor were indeterminants I believe that we suckered
> and trained to one stem and therefore planted at a higher density. Floridade
> and Vendor were determinants that we planted at a lower density and never
> suckered. We just tied up the main stems to supports so they would grow
> upward and not fall on the ground. We achieved just as good a yield on a
> density basis without all the work. Furthermore, the determinant fruit was
> protected from the sun by dense foliage and they did not crack while Vendor
> usually cracked right after it turned pink. Our density was too high for the
> determinants because I remember that the plant at the end of the row, which
> receieved the most sunlight, yielded 50 lbs. The experiment was brought to a
> premature close by tomatoe russet mites, which are so small they can only be
> seen under a microscope. We grew the tomatoes in a hot outdoor environment.
> These results may not apply to a greenhouse in a temperate climate. Remember
> that fruit set and production is better at lower nitrogen levels. Jim R.
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Subject: Operating systems open for visits
From: S & S Aqua Farm
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 11:44:32 -0600
We are compiling a list of operating aquaponics systems that would be open
to visitors by special appointment, or those who would be willing to
communicate with new/potential operators on a one-to-one basis. Size of the
system is not critical at this point, although we'd like to know that as
well. We have inquiries from those interested in academic settings as well
as home production and commercial sites.
Please respond to us directly if your site is
available, and we'd welcome whatever background information you're willing
to share.
Thanks
Paula Speraneo
S&S Aqua Farm, 8386 County Road 8820, West Plains, MO 65775 417-256-5124
Web page http://www.townsqr.com/snsaqua/
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| Message 7 |
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Subject: Re: Gempler's Catalog
From: Glen Seibert
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 10:20:39 -0800
Ted Ground wrote:
>
> Aquaponikers,
>
> If you work outdoors, have a garden or farm, work in the greenhouse, or
> just want to stay warm in the winter with heavy duty coats, boots, parkas,
> etc., you will want to have a Gempler's 1999 Master Catalog. There are all
> kinds of hard to find tools and equipment for your farm or greenhouse in
> Gemplers. Everything from shovels, vegetable harvesting knives, soil test
> kits, microscopes, light meters, weather monitoring equipment, weighing
> scales, books on Integrated Pest Management, books on nutrient
> deficiencies, books on blueberry culture....all kinds of safety equipment,
> sprayers, ATV accessories...it just goes on and on. No, this isn't a
> commericial plug. But I sure do like their catalog.
>
> Check them out at 800-382-8473 for catalog requests. Outside USA and
> Canada, dial 608-424-1544, email corpsales@gemplersmail.com or
> techsupport@gemplersmail.com. Check out their website at
> http://www.gemplers.com. They have another website devoted to IPM at
> http://www.ipmalmanac.com. Let me know what you think about Gemplers,
> especially if you have bought from them before- how was their service,
> etc.?
>
> Ted
Thanks for the tip. Ted. I just went to the site and was gratified that
a single source could bring together so many diverse ag products (they
even have an embroidery service to put neat logos on hats and shirts!)
But I was very disappointed that many, many of the products they sell on
line are not pictured or described. Heck, whats the point of a web site
if you're not going to use its visual potential. And I want to see what
I'm buying with full descriptions...especially among the software and
print information bulletins they offer.
I'm sticking with their print catalog, available from them online, too.
--
Glen Seibert
Fullerton College
Hydroponics
http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/club.htm
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Subject: lava gravel
From: jilli and lars
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 10:34:17 -0800
hi william evans and all -
I'm strictly amateur, but slowly getting pretty good success with
small-scale experiments using aquaponics-like techniques for kitchen
waste/grey-water processing in my home/office (using as many 'found
materials' as possible to keep the expenses of this hobby from being too
much of a financial burden). This past summer I grew tomatoes, basil and
taro using , basically, a 10 gallon fishtank with a 24 inch long plastic
window box as the growing bed. My main fauna was a single, very large,
apple snail named Fist.(If you don't have experience with apple snails, i
recommend this creature very highly, especially if you can watch them -
they are quite beautiful and interesting, besides being extremely
personable - who would believe it from an invertebrate!)
Anyway, to the point, for my growing media I used a material known
locally [san francisco, CA] as "Red Rock", which is sold in garden supply
stores as a (admitedly, rather ugly) decorative stone. I chose it cause it
was lighter in weight and appeared to have more surface area than gravel
- almost like an artificial pumice. Actually, i just sorta assumed it was
artificial. Anyway, it seemed to work OK. My tomatos didn't taste
fantastic, but that probably had more to do with the relatively large
amounts of starchy and soapy water, etc. that i was adding rather than the
growing medium. The tomato stems were very thick and foliage was dense -
even though i was growing them indoors in a westward facing window - the
very worst kind of light for sun loving tomatos, i would imagine - not many
people can grow tomatos in SF at all!
By the way what is "CEC"?
William Evans wrote:
> Speaking of hydroponics, has anyone tried using lava gravel in their
> system?Being porous, and having some degree of CEC, I would think that
> it would be better than most.
> billevans
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Subject: Re: worms
From: jilli and lars
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 11:02:47 -0800
As someone else mentioned a couple of days back, compost worms (red
wigglers) will live in water with a high enough oxygen content (which
actually isn't _very_ high, as far as i can tell).
I accidentally discovered this when I first seeded my small experimental
waste processing system with a scoop of castings from my worm bin -
along with a couple of accidental worms. Several months later, I was
very surprised to notice several of the compost worms still _living
_in_the_water - acting, basically, like they do in my worm bin.
However, I don't know if red wigglers will reproduce in a submerged
environment.
Or maybe red wigglers would enjoy crawling around in a gravel bed, maybe
even keeping it free of solids buildup - so maybe you could just pump
the solids-laden water directly onto the beds?
comments anybody?
Lars Fields, (amateur who doesn't know what he's talking about)
Adriana Gutierrez wrote:
> Palchik wrote:
> Translation:
>
> "I am looking for someone who has experience in the use of
> vermiculture for processing solid waste generated by intensive
> fish culture."
>
> So, it looks like Mauricio would like to run his aquaculture
> solids through a worm farm. Sort of like feeding cow or sheep
> manure to worms, but in his case it is fish solid waste.
>
> Adriana
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| Message 10 |
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Subject: Re: lava gravel
From: "Jorg D. Ostrowski"
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 12:23:25 -0700 (MST)
You said:"small-scale experiments using aquaponics-like techniques for
kitchen waste/grey-water processing in my home/office"
______________________________________________________________________
In our home/office all greywater is treated by one of 3 greywater
treatment systems (we do not use city sewer, water or gas lines),
one of which is as described
above. However, when we have a strong dose of aged greywater (ie. 4-5
days) some of our fish are not comfortable. It is especially hard on
white cloud minnows. Paradise fish complain, goldfish tolerate it and
the crayfish and plecostomous don't care. Any more useful suggestions on
greywater cleaning vegetables and fish would be greatly apprciated.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
HEALTH WARNING: The City of CALGARY has injected fluoride into its
municipal water system, contrary to serious health concerns. PLEASE
RECONSIDER YOUR VISIT for another time (if you value your health), when
the drinking and bathing water is safe for people, pets and fish.
*****************************************************************************
Jorg-Dietram Ostrowski, M. Arch. A.S. (MIT), B. Arch. (Toronto), Ecotect
- in full-time professional practice since 1976 (Straw Bale since 1978),
environmental/architectural design, ecological planning, consulting
on sustainable buildings/communities. Lectures, seminars, workshops.
- 3 residential demonstration projects in Canada, +80,000 visitors
- college campus and office tower recofit under construction
- living a conserver lifestyle & working in a sustainable home and office
ACE, ARE, ACT, ASH-Incs., Phone: (403) 239-1882, Fax: (403) 547-2671
Web Site [under construction]: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~jdo/ecotecture.htm
e-mail:
#########################################################
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Subject: Re: worms
From: Michael Strates
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 19:42:05 +1100 (EST)
On Mon, 18 Jan 1999, jilli and lars wrote:
jal> As someone else mentioned a couple of days back, compost worms (red
jal> wigglers) will live in water with a high enough oxygen content (which
jal> actually isn't _very_ high, as far as i can tell).
Yes.. The dO2 level must be about the same as for your fish. I've seen
living worms at the bottom of swimming pools alive after 4 days, even with
the chlorine in the water!
If you're going to attempt this, make sure that you have an airstone or at
least a small amount of running water which "drops" onto the pebbles and
aerates them.
jal> However, I don't know if red wigglers will reproduce in a submerged
jal> environment.
Worms /will/ reproduce, live, etc.. in a submerged enviroment.. HOWEVER,
they do NOT like it one bit. Because they are a little off neutral
bouyancy, they either rise to the top or stay at the bottom. They will
reproduce, make castings, etc.. but as I said, its not going to be an
enjoyable life.
jal> Or maybe red wigglers would enjoy crawling around in a gravel bed, maybe
jal> even keeping it free of solids buildup - so maybe you could just pump
jal> the solids-laden water directly onto the beds?
My aquaculutre -> vermiculture -> algaeculture system works like this:
1) Yabbies in large polystyrene indoor tanks get fed meat (high protein)
2) Water from Yabbies' tanks gets passed through the first vermiculture
tank.
3) Water from the aquaculture tanks is drained to a settling tank where
algae grows.
4) A week later, water from the aquaculture tanks gets passed through the
second vermiculture tank.
I have four vermiculture tanks for my aquaponics system. On week one, 1 &
2 is used, with three resting, etc.. etc..
--
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Subject: Re: Grey water treatment.
From: PDOSSJR
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 18:56:32 EST
Jorg and others,
I saw a show on PBS a couple of months ago about the Mars Project. They
discussed how one man has come up with a way to make the trip for a fraction
of what they originally thought it would cost. Mainly by producing their
return fuel on Mars thereby allowing for smaller vehicles that can be built on
earth instead of at a space station.
The part that I'm trying to get to is that they have a mock-up of the vehicle
that would carry the astronauts. They have had people living in the mock-up
for a very long time. All water is recycled. This even includes urine. Best I
remember they said the water purification system uses bacteria and algae. It
was a vertical clear contraption with water cascading down. It looked like
green algae growing on it. It almost looked like moss. Does anyone know
anymore about this system or know where one might look?
Paul Doss
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