Why should Aquaponics as a Hobby?

Are you looking for a way to keep your children busy and make them more responsible or you are a senior trying to find a profitable activity that will not require too much effort? Are you always on the run and you can never get to the market to buy fresh veggies for your meals? Then why not start an aquaponic garden? It is suitable for all the persons listed above and for many more. In fact, everyone will find this activity enjoyable and rewarding.

For children

This is the perfect way to make your children responsible. They will need to feed the fish each and every day and make sure that the air pump is working perfectly so that the fish get enough oxygen. Also, they will have to monitor the state of the vegetables and when they get yellowish they need to announce you. These are not easy tasks, but will give them a sense of responsibility and will know that someone relies on them. Also, they will be able to see how fish and plants grow, which will expand their knowledge about the vegetal and animal world.

For working adults

Vegetables are essential for a good nutrition, yet you can not always find fresh, organic veggies in the market. With an aquaponic garden in your house you will have fish and veggies for your family without depending on the market. Also, you will save some money without investing too much of your precious time. 

For retired seniors

When retirement comes, many people seek activities which do not require too much effort. Aquaponic gardening will keep you occupied for a while, yet without getting over your entire day. In addition to that, it will spare them by going to the market to buy veggies, it will help them save some money and at the same time will not require them too much effort. If they place the system at their waist level they will not need to bend or stretch, which will make this activity far more pleasant. 

No matter what age group you are a part of, aquaponics can prove to be rewarding for you. Give it a try and you will never want to live without this system

To read about how to build an aquaponics system easily and also cheaply, check out Aquaponics4You.

Aquaponics : Are yabbies suitable for my tank ?

The Yabby is a freshwater crayfish, also known as a crawchie, craybob or even lobbie. These are also known as the western blue claw. The common freshwater yabby  (Cherax destructor) is the best known among the hundred or so freshwater crayfish species found in Australia, it occurs west of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales and over a large area of the Australia.
Yabbies usually grow to a max size of 350 gram. Yabbies have a life span of only 6- 7 years, their main predators are insect larvae, fish, , turtles, birds and water rats. Blue claw yabbies are genetically blue, but Yabbies can be any colour black, white, brown, red, green or any combination, whichever is most suitable for camouflage in the wild.
The yabby was recorded as early as 1831 in the north of the State by the Thomas Mitchell .In 1894, the Horn expedition to Central Australia found it was said 'to be eaten regularly by the wandering tribes of natives who know it as the yabber' and from yabber only the present name of 'yabby' came.
Basically, they are vegetarian but also scavenge decaying plant and animal matter.
Aquarium yabbies are excellent pets, and you can treat them the same as a gold fish. Fill the tank with water; yabbies breathe oxygen from the water. To keep your water fresher longer an aerator or filter in the tank can be used. Feed your yabbies vegetables or pellets. Each yabby requires a home, logs in the tank are important.
Yabbies have a hard exoskeleton, Yabbies are fast growing, in order to do so they must molt. Availability of food, shelter, density and water temperature are the main factors deciding their growth. Yabbies are cold blooded animals, Below 10 degree C yabbies dont feed,  when water temperatures are between 22 to 28 degree C, best growth is seen in yabbies. Depending on the amount of With sufficient amount of time, dedication, effort and money,  it is possible to grow your yabbies from 0 to 150mm ( 100 gram ) plus in 1 year.
Yabbies and freshwater crayfish can be successfully kept in an aquaponics system. Details:

Name: Yabby (Cherax destructor)

Distribution: Murray-Darling Basin

General Hardness: 80 – 300 ppm

Diet: Low protein

Growth: 1.5 years (50g)

Temperature: 15 – 25o C

pH: 6.5 – 8.5

Habitat

The smooth-shelled crayfishes occur in lakes, swamps, farm dams, irrigation canals and bore drains (mainly still, warm waters) and also in slow, muddy rivers. The common yabby is especially hardy and can survive many years of drought, later coming out during wet periods to feed, breed and migrate.
Yabbies have been occasionally blamed for the collapse of dam walls, only if  the walls are less than 2 metres thick, and if water levels change frequently .

Environmental requirements

If its gills are kept moist, it can absorb oxygen from the air and survive for many days out of water, so complete immersion in water is not essential. To breed, it must be in water.Experiments have shown that growth is faster on a natural substrate such as mud, than on an artificial one such as plastic tanks.

WATER QUALITY

Dissolved oxygen
The yabby can tolerate very low dissolved oxygen (DO) ,water should preferably contain over 4 parts per million of DO.

Temperature

Can tolerate water temperatures from near freezing to above 35 degree Celsius.

Salinity

A salinity of 12 ppt- equal to about 35 per cent seawater – will not affect the yabby.

Hardness

To maintain strength in the shell, the water must be hard enough (as dissolved calcium)

Heavy metals: As yabby can concentrate Hg and Pb in its body without harm, that is why used

as biological indicator of environmental pollution.

pH: The water in most good yabby dams is alkaline i.e.,pH 7.5 to 10.5

Pesticides

The yabby is susceptible to herbicides and insecticides (organochlorines).

Reproduction

The reproductive or genital papillae of the male crayfish are short projections on the bases of the last pair of walking legs & the female has oval openings on the bases of the third-last pair of legs.
The female yabby reaches sexual maturity when about 9 to 10 centimetres long - the male when slightly smaller.
The female is responsible for the protection of the eggs carefully. Once maturity is reached, the female grows more slowly than the male, because of the greater effort devoted to spawning.
In spring when the water temperature reaches 15 to 16 degree Celsius, breeding begins.

Diet

Healthy yabby populations are usually found where manure is washed into farm dams from surrounding paddocks, or where cattle drop it directly into the water. Juveniles and young yabbies eat the same food as adults.

Growth

The yabby must periodically moult its shell (an exoskeleton) to grow; this type of growth is not continuous, and occurs in steps. Water temperature, available food and population density (that is, the degree of crowding), these are the determinants of growth. Growth usually suffers over about 28 degree Celsius but they can tolerate upto 35 degree Celsius.

Death and disease

Causes of death:

1) Old age

2) Injury

3) Predation (natural, cannibalism and fishing)

4) Starvation and disease, for example, Porcelain disease (also 'white tail' or 'white muscle' disease). In the aquarium

Finally we can conclude that, the yabby is an easy to keep and entertaining pet in the aquarium. Six to ten medium ones, would suit a 100-litre tank. Provide them rocks in which to hide when moulting, and a little lean meat. The yabby can live for months without eating at all, still feed them small amounts of vegetable scraps and chicken pellets now and then, and better to remove what is not eaten each day.
Yabbies breed readily. No special food is required for the young but there should be plenty of cover where juveniles can escape from the adults.To stop the yabby uprooting them while burrowing or searching for food; aquatic plants should be tied to large stones. It is better to keep the water level far enough below the top of the tank to prevent yabbies from climbing the air hose and crawling out.
Yabbies  are used in Aquaculture also and yes yabbies are suitable for your tank in your Aquaponics system if all the above mentioned points about its growth, requirements, food, shelter, reproduction are kept in the mind.

Aquaponics4you video. It is very easy to create your own aquaponics garden.

How to convert hydroponics to aquaponics?

Hydroponics is a subset of hydro culture .It is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only, or in an inert medium, such as gravel.
Aquaponics consists of two parts:
a) The aquaculture part of raising aquatic animals &
b) The hydroponics part of growing plants.
Aquaponics, refers to any system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (growing plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In normal aquaculture, excretions from the animals being raised can accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity. In an Aquaponics system, water from an aquaculture system is fed to a hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down by nitrification bacteria into nitrates and nitrites, which are utilized by the plants as nutrients, and the water is then (when purified) re circulated back to the aquaculture system.
As existing hydroponic and aquaculture farming techniques form the basis for all Aquaponics systems, the size, complexity, and types of foods grown in an Aquaponics system can vary as much as any system found in either distinct farming discipline.

This is how Aquaponics Works:
1. First of all fish are raised in a tank
2. Water from the tank is pumped to the plants
3. Bacteria convert ammonia and nitrite to nitrate
4. Plants absorb the nutrient rich water & then finally
5. Filtered water is returned back to the fish tank, clean

Aquaponics is Considered Sustainable because:
1) Waste from fish is used to feed the plants
2) Plants and fish create a polyculture producing 2 products
3) Water is re-used in the re-circulating system
4) Local food production, increases the local economy and deceases food transportation

Plants like Aquaponics? 
1) Warm water bathing the roots
2) Nutrients are constantly provided
3) Less effort required in putting out roots
4) No need to search for water or food
5) All the energy goes into growing UP not in growing DOWN
6) No weed competition and most important of all
7) No waste – hydroponics waste solution, aquaculture waste fish solids – Aquaponics all waste is used

Components of Aquaponics:
a) Fish Tank
b) Place to Grow Plants
c) Water Pumps
d) Air Pump
e) Irrigation Tubing
f) Filtration
g) Grow light
h) Fish & Plants

Some Aquaponics System Designs are:
a) Media-Based Growbed
b) Growing Power System
c) NFT (Nutrient Film Technique)
d) Towers
e) Raft System
f) VertiGro

The basic tenet of Aquaponics is that the fish are fed with a low value organic product (usually fishmeal, or plant products), which they convert into animal protein. The waste from the fish is then converted (by bacteria) into soluble nutrients, which are absorbed by the horticultural crop, and this ‘cleaned’ water then returned to the fish tanks.
Modern hydroponics increasingly demands a precise control of the nutrient content of the solution, but in Aquaponics this is not possible.

Tips for gardener: Organic alternative to kill weeds

Weeds can be your worst enemy when it comes to caring for a vegetable garden.

There are many ways to get rid of weeds or prevent weeds, but some of the

chemicals used in some methods can harm the environment or health. Consider

using Slayer products organic weed instead. These safer alternatives to herbicide

can help you without putting yourself or others at risk.Remove or kill weeds as

soon as you notice them growing in your garden. Failing to get rid of weeds can

cause your plants to produce less during the harvest season, or wither and die.The

most common form, natural to get rid of weeds is to pull them out. Control

products using conventional garden weeds or herbicides can help you solve your

problems with weeds, but some of them are dangerous to animals and humans.

Some herbicides can even penetrate deep into the soil and contaminate the water

supply of your farm or in the neighborhood.Using organic methods for killing

weeds:Organic gardens offer a perfect opportunity to grow herbs, fruits and

vegetables, using earth-friendly methods. The organic gardening process means no

artificial ingredients such as chemical pesticides based, are applied to the garden or

lawn. Moreover, these gardening principles are easily applied to the whole set-up

garden and promote the growth of virtually any plant life.Weeds and

pestsGardeners can take full advantage of safe and natural ways to get rid of most

species of garden pests. Many natural pesticides help eliminate the most common

pests to attack the plant life. A solution of water and vinegar can solve many pest

problems. In addition, a variety of herbs can be used in the process of controlling

pests.A simple natural pesticide includes spraying a diluted mixture of water and

natural soap. This is very effective in eliminating infestation of aphids. Once they

start cleaning aphids from the leaves, the plants should be given over a spray with

clean water. Another natural choice including a combination of garlic and onion

mixed in water. This may act as an insect repellent in general.

Furthermore, instead of using artificial pesticides to control the population of

unpleasant weeds, a gardener can use a variety of natural alternatives. Use

household vinegar is also a high effective tool in weed killing. Combine 15%

cooking vinegar with water to create a mixture of simple spraying. Apply this to

the plant life during periods of intense sunlight. This will kill the weeds without

causing any damage to the plants.Finally,Fertilization is another way to use organic

materials  to create a fertilizer to promote the health of the garden and lawn. The

organic fertilizer is based on the composting and mulching processes to allow a

variety of materials to decompose naturally.To maintain soil quality, it is

recommended that the top 5 or 6 inches are grown. This will help keep the majority

of the nutrient to a level that can benefit the health of plant life. Furthermore, good

quality organic mulching material should be applied to any type of exposed soil.

Organic gardening practices help maintain beautiful and healthy garden in the most

natural, effective and safe as possible to help secure a healthy garden protection.


To read about how to build an aquaponics system easily and also cheaply, check out Aquaponics4You.