Issue #2 The Bi-monthly Aquaponics HQ e-Zine May 2007

In This Issue Running Your System

• Aquaponics HQ...the changing face of AP 1
Using Timers
• Running your system using Timers 1

• My grow beds and fish tank are set up 2 The flood and drain cycles in Aquaponics
…...what do I do now? systems are controlled by electric timers, float
• What should I feed my fish? 2 switches, auto-syphons or a combination of
these.
• How many fish can I keep in my tank? 3
The simplest control systems (in terms of set
• Why I chose Silver Perch... 3
up) are timers. Timers are of two main types:
• Duckweed - Fast Food for Fish 4
• Electric – adjustable in increments of 15
• How to Build a Grow Bed Stand 6 minutes
• Electronic – adjustable in increments of
Aquaponics HQ minutes – usually programmed to provide
six on/off cycles.
The Changing Face of Aquaponics
These commonly available timers can be
The response to the first issue of the Practical purchased in supermarkets and hardware
Aquaponics magazine was amazing; so much stores. I run a small flood and drain gravel
so that it caused us to re-examine the best grow bed which is fed by a 20w submersible
way to communicate with people who, like us, pump on a timer.
are passionate about Aquaponics.
The pumping cycle is on for about 15 minutes
While we enjoyed putting the first issue of the and off for 45 minutes during which the grow
magazine together, it was a heap of work and bed drains. This simple arrangement has
it was expensive. Also, while your feedback operated for months now without problems.
indicated that you liked what we did with the
magazine, we felt that we were still too remote Using a timer to act as a fail-safe when moving
from our readership. water around is a useful precaution.
The outcome of that deliberation, as you will For example, if you are removing water from a
have observed, is the Aquaponics HQ web tank that contains fish, it makes sense to
site. control the transfer of the water with a timer.
To promote greater interactivity, we installed That way, if you forget that you are pumping,
the Aquaponics HQ Forum to serve as a you will not empty the tank (and kill your fish).
meeting place for those who want to discuss, Gary Donaldson
to contribute and to learn.
The fact that you’re reading this ‘zine
evidences our ongoing commitment to the
production of a bi-monthly magazine. The
differences between Issue #1 and those that
follow is that they will be a bit slimmer and
they will be FREE. Aquaponics HQ members
can access it through the Forum.
The Forum and the Practical Aquaponics e-
Zine are just the beginning. Watch this space
and you’ll begin to understand why this web
site is called Aquaponics HQ.
Murray H and Gary Donaldson Timers - essential tools for the Aquaponicist.

1
 My Grow Beds and Fish Tank beds, you can do so now.

are set up….what do I do now? The presence of detectable levels of ammonia

in your system from this point on suggests a
The three essential elements in any problem and should be addressed quickly.
Aquaponics system are fish, plants and Gary Donaldson
beneficial bacteria.
Your first task, once your fish tank is set up, is What Should I Feed My Fish?
to “cycle” your system. The purpose of cycling
is to ensure that your system is colonised by If you want to achieve optimum growth for your
beneficial bacteria so that ammonia can be fish, you should feed them a pelletised ration
converted to nitrites and then for the nitrites to that has been formulated for that particular
be converted to nitrates (plant food). species. You can buy native fish pellets from
feed stores.
Once your fish tank is full, start your pump and
begin recirculating water from your tank Fish pellets come in a range of sizes to suit
through your grow beds and back to the tank. the size of fish you are feeding. Some pellets
will be made to float (while others will sink
Next, you add a source of nitrogen to the tank.
quite quickly) to suit the feeding habits of
Some people use live fish to cycle their particular species.
systems. This is a questionable practice
because it puts the fish at risk.
I prefer Nitrogen Dosing.
A nitrogen source like fish food, cooked or
uncooked prawns or pure ammonia – is added
to the fish tank.
Ammonia levels will begin to rise and
colonisation of Nitrosomonas bacteria (which
are naturally present in the air and water) will
start to occur.
Bacteria numbers will increase to the point Pelletised fish food comes in a variety of sizes.
where the ammonia begins to convert to
nitrite. The presence of nitrite in your system If you would prefer a more natural diet, and
will encourage the colonisation of a second you are prepared to accept slower growth
group of bacteria (known as Nitrobacter) and rates, you may be able to supplement your
these will begin the conversion of nitrites to pellets with duckweed or Azolla. You can also
nitrates. feed worms, soldier fly larvae, mealworms or
other live food.
After you’ve added the nitrogen source to the
fish tank, commence daily water tests. How much you feed your fish is probably of
equal importance to what you feed them.
Once your system has registered ammonia
and nitrite readings of at least 5ppm and then About 3% of the total weight of fish per day is
returned to ZERO, it is cycling. a useful guide. For example, if your fish weigh
about 200 grams each, and you have 100 of
How quickly your system cycles will depend on
them, you have about 20kg of fish in your tank.
a number of factors including water
You would then feed 600 grams per day.
temperature, bio-filter size, media type and
water volume. It could happen with a couple While you don’t have to be too precise, if your
of weeks if you take a diligent approach or it fish receive too little feed, they’ll take longer to
could take considerably longer in more grow out.
adverse circumstances.
If they receive too much, it will remain in the
It is now time to add some fish. water and will contribute to poor water quality.
Some species of fish may also develop too
Continue to closely monitor water quality until
much body fat as a consequence of
you confirm continuous nitrate production and,
overfeeding.
If you haven’t already planted out your grow
2
You can also adjust your feeding schedule to nitrate removal and dissolved oxygen in the
reflect your need for nitrates. If your plants are system, you will have very little margin for
growing slowly, gradually ramp up your error or mishap.
feeding.
If your stocking rates are high, you will need to
Initially, this creates more ammonia, then have warning or back-up (preferably both)
nitrites and eventually more nitrates. You can systems in place if you are to avoid injuring or
then reconcile your feeding with the capacity of killing fish in the event of a power or
your plants to absorb the extra nutrients. equipment failure.
Of course, all of this assumes that your tank is Conversely, if you have a very low stocking
at optimum temperature. If the water is colder rate you may not have sufficient nitrates to
than optimum, you can expect that the fish will feed your plants. Aquaponics is a balancing
eat much less. act that must be managed effectively if useful
productivity is to be achieved.
It’s also best to spread the daily ration across
several smaller feeds rather than one large Gary Donaldson
one.
Remember, uneaten food eventually becomes Why I Chose Silver Perch for
ammonia. If you see food accumulating on the
bottom of your fish tank, stop feeding for a day my Aquaponic System.
or two. Withholding feed for a day every now
and then will probably do more good than The short answer is, that this species is pretty
harm. tough and they are easy to get.
Gary Donaldson Many people begin by wanting to keep
Barramundi in their aquaponics system.
How Many Fish Can I Barramundi are well known as a good eating
fish. In that respect, Silver Perch are not even
Keep In My Tank? close in terms of their public profile.
I have dozens of visitors to see my system
Because fish come in different sizes from tiny every month and very few of them have even
fingerlings to big ones, fish numbers are pretty heard of Silver Perch.
meaningless when it comes to deciding of the
capacity of an Aquaponics system. Silver Perch are far easier to keep than
Barramundi.
A much more accurate standard is kilograms
of fish per 100 litres. Silver Perch are very tolerant of lower water
temperatures that typically occur in the winter
The weight of fish that can be kept in an months.
Aquaponics tank will be determined by factors
like: My Silvers are still eating well and are moving
briskly around in the tank when the water
• The size of your tank temperature gets down to 15 deg C.
• The size of the fish
• The species of fish Barramundi would be starting to slow down at
• The Dissolved Oxygen levels in the water. 15 deg C and it would not be good to have
• The bio-filtration capacity of your system the water temperature much lower that that
• The level of risk that you wish to assume for them.

Theoretically, the amount of fish that can be Silver Perch are not as likely to succumb to
kept in any system is limited only its ability to such diseases as white spot and fungal
convert ammonia and nitrites to nitrates (bio- attack.
filtration) and to maintain appropriate levels of Silver Perch tend not to bother smaller fish
oxygen in the water. co-habiting in the tank with them. I have
For practical purposes, however, the level of large Silvers (1.5kg) and Silver fingerlings
risk is proportionate to the stocking rate. What sharing the same tank and the big fish do not
this means is that, if you are just managing to bother the smaller ones.
stay ahead of the requirement for ammonia/ Continued on Page 5

3
 Duckweed…fast food for fish
Duckweed is one of the best-kept secrets of semi-shade or somewhere that you are able to
Aquaponics. shelter them from the worst of the summer
heat.
It is a high quality feedstuff that can be
produced in useful quantities at little cost and You should aim for complete and dense cover
with little effort. Of equal interest (particularly of duckweed (within the range 0.6kg/m2 –
in an Aquaponics context) is its ability to 1.2kg/m2) for backyard farming purposes.
remove nutrients from water. Much below this and algal blooms will be an
issue and much above it will cause it to self-
We began growing duckweed in 2004. mulch. Wind or fast-flowing water will also
Initially, we used it to supplement the cause diminished production due to self-
pelletised rations that we fed to our Japanese mulching.
quail. In more recent times, it has become an
important part of the diet that we provide to While a variety of organic materials can be
our Jade Perch. used to supply nutrients for duckweed, the
logical source for Aquaponicists is their fish
tanks. Of particular importance to
aquaponicists, is the plant’s nutritional
preference for nitrogen in the form of
ammonia.
While it is not essential, recirculating water
from your fish tank is desirable. Aside from
saving you the effort of bucketing water from
your fish tank, recirculating the water will
ensure that the nutrient levels in your
duckweed pond remain at a consistent level.
This arrangement will also help to remove any
traces of ammonia that may be present in the
Duckweed - among the smallest flowering plants in
the World - and an excellent natural food for fish. tank water.
Duckweed is capable of rapid growth in water
In the right conditions, this tiny plant can containing just trace elements of nutrients.
double its mass every 24 – 48 hours. Interestingly, we almost killed off a batch of
Its explosive growth rate enables you to duckweed through overdosing it with poultry
harvest and feed fresh duckweed on a daily manure.
basis. Temperature and sunlight are more important
At 35% to 40%, it has a higher protein level growth parameters than nutrient
than Soya beans and higher concentrations of concentrations.
the essential amino acids, lysine and Duckweed grows across a wide temperature
methionine than most plant proteins. range – between 6oC and 33oC – but we’ve
The other great news is that growing determined that it grows best in a range of
duckweed is easy - particularly in the small 18oC to 24oC. We know that growth slows
ponds and tanks favoured by backyard food progressively up to 30oC and the plant begins
producers. to die off quickly at around 33oC.
You can purchase your initial stocks from most While it will live in pH 5 to 9, the optimum pH
aquarium supply shops. for growing duckweed is in the range of pH 6.5
to 7.5 – also the preferred range for
You can use any open tank, large tub or in- aquaponics systems.
ground pond. Place smaller containers in
4
Feeding out duckweed is as simple as Our first challenge was to learn how to grow
dragging a kitchen sieve through the duckweed in consistent, predictable quantities.
duckweed tank and placing it into your fish
tank. Our current focus is on the full integration of
the plant into an aquaponics system. We want
To avoid the duckweed from being pumped to be able to grow duckweed to remove
out of the tank, we made up an inexpensive nutrients, feed fish and other small livestock
duckweed feeder from a bucket with the and to conserve water through reduced
bottom removed. The bucket is suspended in evaporation.
the water and the duckweed is placed into the
bucket. This arrangement allows the fish to Duckweed is a must have for the backyard
access the duckweed without distributing it Aquaponicist.
throughout the tank. Bio-security Warning
Surplus duckweed can easily be dried and Duckweed (and all other aquatic organisms in
stored for later use. When drying small an Aquaponics system) should not be allowed
quantities, we allow the duckweed to drain in a to make their way back into any natural
kitchen sieve and then spread it thinly over watercourse. Plants from an aquaponics
several thicknesses of newspaper or kitchen system that are introduced into the wild may be
towel. Turn it over several times each day for carrying disease organisms that can be
two or three days. Store it in an airtight plastic transmitted to other plants, animals or fish.
container. Cover duckweed tanks with mesh to prevent
Freezing is actually our preferred duckweed birds from drinking from the tank and
storage method. We simply gather up the tiny transferring the duckweed on their feathers.
plants in a small kitchen sieve and squeeze Gary Donaldson
the excess water out of them before arranging
the mass in a shallow plastic container. Why I chose Silver Perch….cont’d
This is a useful trait for small systems. It
allows you to have Silver Perch of various
ages growing out in the one tank, thus
providing a steady stream of ready-to-harvest
fish for the table.
I have just harvested a good number of my
bigger fish and added 200 more fingerlings to
the same tank. In around 12 months I will
have the next crop coming along.
Silver Perch are readily available from fish
hatcheries right across Australia. In most
cases, it is possible to obtain small quantities
for as little as one dollar per fingerling.
Silver Perch represent good value and are
Surplus duckweed can be frozen and fed out during easy to manage for the home hobby system
colder weather when growth may slow down. and the commercial enterprise alike.
Murray H…
After freezing, we turn it out of the plastic
mould and place the duckweed biscuit into a
large storage container. Whenever we need
duckweed for our fish, we select what we need
from the storage container in the freezer and
float it on the surface of the fish tank.
To summarise, duckweed is a high quality
source of plant protein that grows quickly,
costs virtually nothing to produce and requires
little labour. It offers the added benefit of
being able to remove nutrients from water.

5
 How to Build
a Grow Bed Stand.
How to make a very strong and attractive grow
bed stand from easily obtainable materials at a
economical cost.
This grow bed stand will support a standard grow
bed with the base at a height of 450mm above
ground.
Materials needed are:
• 8 standard concrete blocks
• 3 x 50mm x 2400mm pine/hardwood sleepers.
of the same gravel that you will use in the grow
Tools needed are:
bed.
• A square nosed shovel.
This helps to stabilise the blocks a little and has the
• Long spirit level.
effect of helping spread the load by transferring the
• Hand or power saw.
load over the whole footprint of the blocks.
• Set square.
• Tape measure and pencil. Filling the blocks with concrete will make the
structure stronger. Depending on the nature of
The cost of the materials will vary slightly from town your soil, you may even decide to lay concrete
to town. In Brisbane, at my local landscape footings.
supplies place, the concrete blocks cost $3.50 each
and the sleepers were $15.00 each for a total tab of Once this is finished, lay the sleepers in place.
$73.00. Shopping around may produce a better Level ends at one end and trim the other end using
price. your circular saw or hand saw to a length to suit the
Confirm the location for the grow bed. You need to grow bed.
get this right because, once it is filled, the grow bed Notice the middle sleeper has been left short to
will be far too heavy to move. allow for the drain pipe to come out for the return
Getting the grow bed level is the next priority. It line. Now put the grow bed in place ready to load
helps if you have a level piece of ground to start the gravel and fit the pipe work.
with. I determined that there was about 25mm fall How easy is that?
from one end of the space
to the other.
By placing one block
down at each end and
using one of the sleepers
on it’s edge and using the
spirit level you will be able
see if it is level.
Gradually scrape away
Start by scraping the dirt small amounts of dirt
back at the high end first where required until it is
to get a level site.
level both ways.
This phase of the construction may take some time,
but be patient and
spend the time to
get it right.
In positioning the
blocks make sure
you leave enough
room at one end for
the drain outlet from
the grow bed.
Once the blocks are
in position and level,
fill them with some