Aquaponics Digest - Thu 09/09/99
Message 1: pH Problems
from Joy Pye-MacSwain
Message 2: Re: Need off grid advice
from Marc & Marcy
Message 3: Re: pH Problems
from William Evans
Message 4: OOPS!
from Adriana Gutierrez & Dennis LaGatta
Message 5: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
from DAVEINBHAM
Message 6: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
from
Message 7: RCPT: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
from
Message 8: Re: Need off grid advice
from "Jackie/Jon Matisz"
Message 9: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
from Adriana Gutierrez & Dennis LaGatta
Message 10: Re: pH Problems
from "Claude Gelinas"
Message 11: Re: Evaporative cooling
from "Barry Thomas"
Message 12: Re: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
from "Wendy Nagurny"
Message 13: Re: OOPS!
from Marc & Marcy
Message 14: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
from Jennifer Maynard
Message 15: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
from "Wendy Nagurny"
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Subject: pH Problems
From: Joy Pye-MacSwain
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1980 10:23:00 -0300
Morning.....
A question for everyone..... We are running an aquaponics system very
similar to the S&S system. These growing beds all have tomatoes planted
in them, with one node (1000 gal tank with Tilapia, re-circulating
through 6 growing beds) partially planted in tomatoes and lettuce.
Things had been going very well until just lately when the tomato plants
developed their 3rd and 4th trusses of fruit at a height of about 40
inch. The pH dropped ..... as low as 4.7! It has become a daily
process to bring the pH back up to
between 6.2 - 6.5 in 3 systems. Has anyone else on the list had this
problem? What is the cause and is there any solution, besides adding
baking soda every day. or for that mater is there anything better that
I should be using in stead of NAHCO3 which will not harm the fish, but
get my pH back up into the growing range for tomatoes...... Thanks...
Joy Pye-MacSwain
Future Aqua Farms
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Subject: Re: Need off grid advice
From: Marc & Marcy
Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 08:55:07 -0600
..snip..
> base with Marc Nasmeth from the group who is putting together a
..snip..
It's Nameth .. not Nasmeth
Marc Stephen Nameth
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Subject: Re: pH Problems
From: William Evans
Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 08:05:08 -0700
Not well versed in such liquid systems(more a soil guy) but woouldnt a
fine grind limestone(no sodium) be a better choice than baking soda?
billevans
J. as low as 4.7! It has become a daily
> process to bring the pH back up to
> between 6.2 - 6.5 in 3 systems. Has anyone else on the list had this
> problem? What is the cause and is there any solution, besides adding
> baking soda every day.
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Subject: OOPS!
From: Adriana Gutierrez & Dennis LaGatta
Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 11:09:21 -0400
Sorry Marc, I was being so careful not to misspell your first name that
I blew the last...I put up with misspellings of my name often myself.
Adriana
Marc & Marcy wrote:
>
> ..snip..
>
> > base with Marc Nasmeth from the group who is putting together a
>
> ..snip..
>
> It's Nameth .. not Nasmeth
>
> Marc Stephen Nameth
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Subject: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
From: DAVEINBHAM
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 12:47:27 EDT
In a message dated 09/08/1999 11:57:11 PM Central Daylight Time,
aquaponics-digest-request@townsqr.com writes:
<< Message 2: COLIFORM Levels...
from dreadlox@cwjamaica.com (michael kent barnett) >>
******************************************************************************
*****
Mike,
There is no need to reinvent the wheel for your sewage disposal problem.
There is a retired NASA engineer in Picayune, Mississippi who has already
done what you want to do. He was recently featured on a PBS TV show called
Alternative Gardens or something like that. He was the guy who solved the
waste recycling problem for long term space flight for NASA.
He also built a system for his own house where the output of the toilet
flowed into a planter in the next room! The secret of the operation, he said,
is to use the right plants. No odor and no problems he said. He also did a
municipal sewage system for a small town nearby. The town saved millions of
dollars on construction and expects to save more millions on operating costs.
The whole system operates by gravity. No pumps. The raw sewage flows into a
pond planted with the right plants. The output of that pond flows into a
second pond with plants in it. The output of the second pond is cleaner than
from a conventional treatment plant. He also did a system for a local park
which would be closer to what you want to do.
I do not remember the mans' name, but I probably could find it in a few days
if you can't track him down from the information I just gave you. A good
place to start would probably be the NASA websight.
Hope this helps.
Dave Holder
Birmingham, Alabama USA
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Subject: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
From:
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 13:44:05 + 5 EST
Relatively new to this whole list serv thing - someone just let me know if
this message gets out
there.
We have a system up and running in our agriculture department here at our
school (I am the
Biology teacher here). Does anyone else have a problem with extremely small
insect around the
PVC joints in the grids in their beds? We have found that a small colony of
bugs (most look like a
little pile of black/gray dust) are starting to infest our beds. Any
remedies that won't injure our
fish???? Mild vinegar solution and diatomaceous earth powder have both
proven ineffective). Not
hurting the plants, just unsightly!
Mike Comet
Biology Teacher
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Subject: Re: Need off grid advice
From: "Jackie/Jon Matisz"
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 14:57:47 -0400
Hi everyone.
I've been watching this sight for awhile and thought I might make a
suggestion. Has anyone though of using a windmill for pumping there water up
to the upper tank or attaching a generator to it for your power supply?
> > We can at least cut out one direction of pumping, but we'd like
> to
> > figure out a way to do it with some daily manual pumping, and perhaps
> > gravity drip feeding?
> >
> > Any ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
> > thanks,
> > Greg
>
>
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Subject: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
From: Adriana Gutierrez & Dennis LaGatta
Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 16:34:39 -0400
> There is no need to reinvent the wheel for your sewage disposal problem.
> There is a retired NASA engineer in Picayune, Mississippi who has already
> done what you want to do.
The name is Bill Wolverton. Here is a link to an article on his work.
http://www.msbusiness.com/mbj970324/way.html
Adriana
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Subject: Re: pH Problems
From: "Claude Gelinas"
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 21:20:59 +0000
Potassium carbonate can be use as a substitute for your normal potassium =
source
and will increase pH.
I'm not shure but pH drop can be caused by root mortality in hydroponic s=
ystem.
Claude,
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Subject: Re: Evaporative cooling
From: "Barry Thomas"
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 23:29:52 +0100
Forgive what is probably a stupid question but as the main limiting factor
in the effectiveness of evaporative coolers is the RH, why not use a
dehumidifier or two? Especially in the more closed, possibly CO2 enriched
GHs that Adriana and others were talking about recently.
Barry
barrythomas@btinternet.com
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Subject: Re: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
From: "Wendy Nagurny"
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 18:48:37 -0400
Are they fungus gnats? We got them in the greenhouse were I worked all the
time. The attitude there was that they didn't hurt anything (they eat
decaying vegetation and fungus) and that there wasn't much you could do
about them anyhow. I recently read in an article that Bacillus
thuringiensis Serotype H-14 is effective in their control.
Wendy
>Does anyone else have a problem with extremely small insect around the
>PVC joints in the grids in their beds? We have found that a small colony
of bugs (most look like a
>little pile of black/gray dust) are starting to infest our beds. Any
remedies that won't injure our
>fish???? Mild vinegar solution and diatomaceous earth powder have both
proven ineffective). Not
>hurting the plants, just unsightly!
>Mike Comet
>Biology Teacher
>
>
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Subject: Re: OOPS!
From: Marc & Marcy
Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 17:20:39 -0600
My attorney will be in touch :>
Adriana Gutierrez & Dennis LaGatta wrote:
>
> Sorry Marc, I was being so careful not to misspell your first name that
> I blew the last...I put up with misspellings of my name often myself.
>
> Adriana
..snip..
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Subject: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
From: Jennifer Maynard
Date: Thu, 09 Sep 1999 20:14:43 -0300
Is it bad that they eat decaying vegetation and fungus. Are they no a
benbefcial insect. Or am I wrong about that.
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Subject: Re: Aquaponics Digest - Wed 09/08/99
From: "Wendy Nagurny"
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 21:59:24 -0400
Usually fungus gnats are just ignored. They become annoying when they fly
into the greenhouse worker's eyes, mouth and nose. :-p However, if the
infestation is very high, they will attack the new roots of cuttings,
stunting their growth. They can also spread certain diseases from plant to
plant just like anything else that touches one plant then another. Yellow
tape type traps can also used to help control fungus gnats. Since they
require lots of moisture, cutting back the watering to a minimum will
control them also, but this is not a doable solution in an aquaponics or
hydroponics system. I don't think there is a chemical that is approved for
greenhouse control. They are tough and produce a new generation every two
weeks (? I think).
Can they be beneficial? Maybe. By eating dead vegetation and potentially
harmful fungus, they do provide a worthwhile service. I think moderation is
the key word here. As long as they have not began feeding on root hairs or
causing your workers to flee the bay snorting and hacking, they may even be
considered beneficial.
Wendy
>Is it bad that they eat decaying vegetation and fungus. Are they no a
>benbefcial insect. Or am I wrong about that
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