Rush Creek
We first started building our system at Rush Creek because we were in a drought. It had gone on for so long that our once wonderful vegetable garden was now just dry dirt and our chickens had only a few scraps and grain to eat. It might seem strange to put in an aquaponic system when you are in a drought and relying completely on tank water (as our dam was dry). But in fact aquaponics uses the least amount of water of any cultivation method. Lettuce, for example, grow on 50 times less water in an aquaponic system than in the ground.So we converted one of the three pens in our vegetable garden enclosure to being the new aquaponic area. We had wanted to do it well and produce a bit of a show piece so we went to the expense of erecting a good quality roof over a solid concrete foundation. In fact you do not have to have a concrete floor for your aquaponic system but the ground should be firm and flat. A water proof roof is however something that is very helpful as you do not want to flood your system with fresh rain water if you are doing the flood and drain system that we did here. Remember that the roof must let the light through over the plant area. We do not let light in over the fish as they do not like it.
We decided to start with Silver Perch for our system. We got 300 Silvers from Gwen at Sunland Hatcheries near Pomona. We have been very happy with our choice. The fish are hardy, grow well and do not eat each other. We have only lost 4 fish over the first 6 months and they were all 'runts' so we are very happy.
We planted a lot of different things in our first planting. Basically we planted all the seedlings we had lying about or we could easily get our hands on. We found that growing like this was actually a good method and before long we had a very good growth.
We noticed, before too long, that the green leafy vegetables were looking a little yellow. This is a sign that Iron is depleted from the system. We therefore added some Chelated Iron to the system and all was good. We also added a small amount of Trace Elements to the system. The colour quickly returned to a healthy green. We were eating green leafy vegetables from the system within a few weeks of starting. Our first official 'harvest' of Tomatoes, Beans, Cabbage and Cauliflower took a couple of months.
Once it was established and nitrification was occurring well we found that growth of most plants was outstanding. We have been eating well off the system ever since. By then we were producing so much green leaf that we decided to get chickens again to help eat up the excess. They are now the worlds best fed chickens! As summer started the drought began to break and we had a massive infestation of bugs - caterpillars were everywhere. This was also a problem experienced by most of the systems we had installed for our clients by then. We decided to remain true to the 'organic' nature of aquaponics and rely on the companion planting, organic control mechanisms and pulling the bugs off. The chickens and the fish were very happy with the last solution to the problem.
Although the fish ignored the green leafy vegetables when they were fingerlings by the time they were 5 or 6 months old they happily eating whole cos lettuces (if we throw them in the fish tank). The water, when we first started, was just above at pH 8. It was also quite 'dirty' from the gravel but everything worked fine. Do not worry about the dirt from the gravel. It will soon settle out when the system is going and does not hurt the fish at all. Once settled the water should remain clear.
After a while the pH went down. This is not a problem until it gets below pH 7. Below pH 7 nitrification slows down to a stop. When it dropped below pH 7 we added a small amount of Calcium Hydroxide (Hydrated Lime) to the system to bring the pH back up. This worked very well. Growth continued to be so good that we decided to increase the capacity of the system. We added another two grow beds.
We continue to play about planting alls sorts of fruits, vegetables and flowers in the system. A couple of weeks later we had good healthy growth in those new beds as well. The new beds are the two on the right.
Once the drought broke we started planting our old vegetable garden with crops. We mostly planted root crops which can not be grown in aquaponic systems. When we are cleaning the header tank or sump we tip the water onto this garden - it loves it!
So now we have fish, vegetables, fruits, flowers from our aquaponic system, root vegetables from our garden and very happy chickens. We have more than enough produce to feed the whole family and then some.
