Over the last few months I have watched this quite a few times. Each time I understand and retain a little more. Today I finally got it all. It's superb! I'm glad I'm going to the schooooool of aquaponics.
What I heard, what I learned, in the simplest thing for me, is exactly what you are presenting. Use a little common sense. A little water chemistry. Knowledge of plants and species of fish, and it's self-sufficient. Great video.
in the immortal words of Barbie " math is hard".. Aquaponics is like almost everything in life, if you do the hard work upfront, you save a lot of mistakes, failures, time and money. I don´t want to call them sheep, but you see a lot of farmers that want to follow exactly what other people are doing without realizing that everyone has a different farm and you really have to understand and measure what is going on with your setup so you can adjust appropriately.
It is easier to calculate projected amount of feed by grow bed surface area, that is how we do it at work. Of course some plants take up more nitrate then others so you have to take that into account as well.
Thanks Diego! This was actually a very generic way of sizing it. There is an exact formula that we use to figure everything out in advance before building anything. We may post that video pretty soon.
This video had EXACTLY what i wanted to find out. and was the first video i clicked on - SUBSCRIIIIBED! Can't wait to have an indoor aquarium that literally FEEDS ME! And doesn't feed the ALGAE and MESS that you usually deal with in normal fish tanks haha
Depending on the age of the fish, the feed rate as a % of body weight changes but the absolute Kilograms of feed used keeps increasing. Take on average 3% of the feed weight as the weight of Ammonia produced. For every 17 grams Ammonia you will get 41 grams of Nitrates (2.5 times higher). On an average 1 sq meter of Bed will absorb 3.5 grams of nitrates. If you have 4 or more staggered tank, you can approximate the average feed weight to calculate average Ammonia produced.
Ok, you got me, I subscribed. You've stopped me becoming a biscuit head, right at the start of my aquaponics journey. Thanks for that - Science and reason FTW! :)
Thank you very much for all of your videos. Along with many other resources, I am building my first system. I am building a fairly elaborate system for it's size. My qustion is where do I add supplimental minerals ? do I need a mineralization tank? where in the system do I install this if needed?
Hi Julie, Glad to hear that you are benefiting from the videos! On 3/3/17 we are scheduled to release a video about mineralization tanks. In the meantime, let's tackle some of your questions Q: where do I add supplemental minerals? A: You can add them anywhere in the system. We typically add ours in the sump tank, but it really doesn't matter because the nutrients will end up in the entire system anyway. Q: do I need a mineralization tank? A: You don't necessarily need a mineralization tank, but you will get the most efficiency out of your money for feed and nutrients if you add one. I would recommend it. Q: where in the system do I install this if needed? A: If you are using flood and drain systems then the media bed would already act as a mineralization tank, but if your using any other method I advice you put your mineralization tank separate from your closed loop aquaponics system. You could put in underground like your sump tank or it could be above ground. Just as long as you're able to dump the waste from your mechanical filter into it then you should be fine no matter where you put it.
Ok I'm thinking when I get my retirement to start an aquaponics and use an old koi pond 3,000 gallons. I am planning to put Trout, bass, clams/muscles, shrimps, lobster bluegill , perch or any type of pan fish . Do my question is will this work I plan to be self efficient and future business on plants and fish. Plan to have it year round in greenhouse And try to do some fruit trees avocado , etc and some grapes and berries. Plus the normal stuff. I live in Oklahoma so what you think.
Hi Aquaponics God Brooklyn! I have a question, you say that 10pounds of young fish can produce more ammonia than 10 pounds of adult fish because young fish eat more feed than adults. So, is 10 pounds of young plants can consume more nutrients than adult plants? Peace.
anthony ordillo I'd suspect that adult plants consume far more nutrients than young plants based on how large the plant grows. For instance, a full grown tree is going to consume far more nutrients than a seedling.
You're making it way too complicated maybe it's just me but I do not understand how am I supposed to know how much the fish weighs I have a 55 gallon long fish tank and I have 6 4inch fish in it and 2 1inch fish in the tank could you explain it in that way for me please I always heard each inch of fish needs 10 gallons of water but with aquaponics you can put a lot more because your plants are constantly filtering and cleaning the tank by absorbing the urine and I made a separate filter to soak up all the fish waste into sponges and lava rocks and it holds the waist and allows the water to flow back out into my grow beds I do not clean that filter so it can breed natural bacteria my plants are doing good
I've got a 4 month old dwc with 9 square meters grow space (system also includes 500 gal fish tank [2 ibc totes], 55 gal solids filter, 55 gal bio filter containing 2 bird nets, and a 35 gal degasser feeding the dwc). Based on the grow space, I should be feeding about 60g/sq meter/day, or 540 g per day. Currently I'm running the system at about 1/10 the feed rate and 1/10 the fish mass (i.e., the mass of fish that 60 g will feed fish daily at a rate of 1.5% the biomass). The problem I'm having is, this quantity of fish food & fish is creating 80 ppm nitrates, so I've not added more fish. My pH is correct, so that's not the reason the plants aren't taking up the nutrients. At this point, my roots are not pristine white either. Any idea what is wrong with the system?
Realy nice and informative vidéo! Thanks a lot.... I'm starting my aquaponic System this spring and you answered to almost all the last questions I had :-) But stil, I have one left... With my 265 gallons fish tank I'm affraid to oversize the biological surface, I'll have: -1 growing bed: 43 square feet. - 1 NFT system wich is 26 feet long and - 1 Raft bed of 75 square feet. I'm planning on getting about 15 small troots of 7 inches or so. Do you think the vast amount of biological surface will be an issue and my plants will not get enough nutrient to grow well? Or the bigger the biosurface is the better it is? In other words, is it possible to oversize the growing surface? Many thanks and keep the good vids coming. You're helping a lot of people out there!
Good question Mo! The instructor will do a video on your question to be released on 2/15/17. We are sure that more people have this same question. But to give you a quick reply to your question it is practically impossible to oversize your biological surface area. This is primarily due to the fact that the bacteria will only colonize to the extent of your feed input and fish input. In other words, if you have 10 fish and you feed them 15 grams a day then the bacteria in your system will be limited to a colony size that can only survive off of the ammonia produced from your fish and feed source. You won't get additional bacteria because they won't have a source to sustain themselves unless you add more food and fish. Hopefully that makes sense, but look forward to the video being released next week. Thanks for your question!
Hey Mo, We were actually able to answer your question faster than expected. Here is the link ruclips.net/video/1dDJUR7M0O4/видео.html Hopefully we were able to assist you!
hey could you possibly post the formulae you've calculated as algebra I'm struggling to follow along without a visualisation of the variables going into a formula
Definitely not a silly question. You are correct, It is per day. Now, that ratio is primarily for adult tilapia that are over a pound in weight. Other fish will have a different requirement. Also feed ratios will be much higher for fry and fingerling. That ratio could range from 20-30% of their body weight.
I'm building a aquapondics system in a 800 sqft area. i have 264 gallong tanks for my fish. i'll have about 500 sqft of grow beds. how many tank would you suggest?
im confused 50 sq feet of bsa or 50 cubic feet cause 50 sq ft can be any amount of cubic feet i.e. 10 x 5 area is 50 sq feet at a depth 1 ft thats 50 cubic feet or 10 x 5 x .5 feet thats still 50 sq feet but only 25 cubic feet i hope im explaining my question clearly enough
Jonathan by square feet of surface area it's meaning surface area of the rocks or plastic bits in the bio filter. So a handful of rocks might be a square foot or more of surface.
Or the rest of the world is 50 years behind us.. depends on perspective.. which doesn't change the fact that the world does not revolve around your measurement system and if you want it in metric... convert it yourself.
Why is it then the U.S. still uses a measuring system the rest of the world has done away because of its lack of universal use around the world a U.S. gallon for instance is smaller than and imperial gallon just 1 example. the rest of the world doesn't follow the U.S for many good reasons we don't to stuck back in the 1800's, so who is behind? not the rest of the world but arrogant America who thinks its the bees Add to knees Americas I've met think the world start at New York and finishes at San Francisco like the world baseball series which no other countries actually compete in just how arrogant is that? it show narrow mindedness's
Dude you are missing the entire point. The guy made a video with a lot of helpful information, he did not have to do that.. and your response.. to whine about how he does not use your preferred measurement system. Is metric better, sure Should the US change, sure SO FUCKING WHAT Say thank you, get a calculator and STFU The world does not revolve around you and your preferences.
+Mart Nel Now, I would tell you to use an online converter because of the same reason you stated, or that here in the USA we dont use metric, but I'm not going to do that. Watch some of the newer videos and you will see that they all have metric conversions.
Over the last few months I have watched this quite a few times. Each time I understand and retain a little more. Today I finally got it all. It's superb! I'm glad I'm going to the schooooool of aquaponics.
Man, 15 seconds in and I love this guy's attitude. He should do a weekly podcast, wonderful personality.
Right!
Straight to the point - no BS! hahaha
Love it
What I heard, what I learned, in the simplest thing for me, is exactly what you are presenting. Use a little common sense. A little water chemistry. Knowledge of plants and species of fish, and it's self-sufficient. Great video.
in the immortal words of Barbie " math is hard".. Aquaponics is like almost everything in life, if you do the hard work upfront, you save a lot of mistakes, failures, time and money. I don´t want to call them sheep, but you see a lot of farmers that want to follow exactly what other people are doing without realizing that everyone has a different farm and you really have to understand and measure what is going on with your setup so you can adjust appropriately.
The most brilliant explanation of ratios for aquaponics! Nice job and ty!
Thanks Joey!
You have filled the information gap from alot of other resources.......Thanks again !!!
Great video, I've been doing this since Sep 2012, I'm still learning a little bit here and there (fine tuning my skills).
It is easier to calculate projected amount of feed by grow bed surface area, that is how we do it at work. Of course some plants take up more nitrate then others so you have to take that into account as well.
this was the best youtube explatation of how to do it. thank yo man! you saved me tons of time and money
Thanks Diego! This was actually a very generic way of sizing it. There is an exact formula that we use to figure everything out in advance before building anything. We may post that video pretty soon.
This video had EXACTLY what i wanted to find out.
and was the first video i clicked on - SUBSCRIIIIBED!
Can't wait to have an indoor aquarium that literally FEEDS ME!
And doesn't feed the ALGAE and MESS that you usually deal with in normal fish tanks haha
38 Litres (10 Gallons) Of water for one fish sounds high to stock a 1lb fish 🐟
Excellent and informative explanation. I'll use that!
Depending on the age of the fish, the feed rate as a % of body weight changes but the absolute Kilograms of feed used keeps increasing. Take on average 3% of the feed weight as the weight of Ammonia produced. For every 17 grams Ammonia you will get 41 grams of Nitrates (2.5 times higher). On an average 1 sq meter of Bed will absorb 3.5 grams of nitrates. If you have 4 or more staggered tank, you can approximate the average feed weight to calculate average Ammonia produced.
Ok, you got me, I subscribed. You've stopped me becoming a biscuit head, right at the start of my aquaponics journey. Thanks for that - Science and reason FTW! :)
Awesome !!! Very Informative !
How about fish tank to floating raft ratio?
I would imagine cycle speed cpuld be a factor that could slightly effect similar setups too
I would really love to know, how much BSA does 8.7 square feet 12 inc grow bed have, if filled with 5 mm clay balls? Thanks a lot
Thank you very much for all of your videos. Along with many other resources, I am building my first system. I am building a fairly elaborate system for it's size. My qustion is where do I add supplimental minerals ? do I need a mineralization tank? where in the system do I install this if needed?
Hi Julie, Glad to hear that you are benefiting from the videos!
On 3/3/17 we are scheduled to release a video about mineralization tanks. In the meantime, let's tackle some of your questions
Q: where do I add supplemental minerals?
A: You can add them anywhere in the system. We typically add ours in the sump tank, but it really doesn't matter because the nutrients will end up in the entire system anyway.
Q: do I need a mineralization tank?
A: You don't necessarily need a mineralization tank, but you will get the most efficiency out of your money for feed and nutrients if you add one. I would recommend it.
Q: where in the system do I install this if needed?
A: If you are using flood and drain systems then the media bed would already act as a mineralization tank, but if your using any other method I advice you put your mineralization tank separate from your closed loop aquaponics system. You could put in underground like your sump tank or it could be above ground. Just as long as you're able to dump the waste from your mechanical filter into it then you should be fine no matter where you put it.
Ok I'm thinking when I get my retirement to start an aquaponics and use an old koi pond 3,000 gallons.
I am planning to put
Trout, bass, clams/muscles, shrimps, lobster bluegill , perch or any type of pan fish .
Do my question is will this work
I plan to be self efficient and future business on plants and fish.
Plan to have it year round in greenhouse
And try to do some fruit trees avocado , etc and some grapes and berries. Plus the normal stuff.
I live in Oklahoma so what you think.
Coz Iii I believe that you are looking more into a permaculture system.
Hi Aquaponics God Brooklyn! I have a question, you say that 10pounds of young fish can produce more ammonia than 10 pounds of adult fish because young fish eat more feed than adults. So, is 10 pounds of young plants can consume more nutrients than adult plants? Peace.
anthony ordillo I'd suspect that adult plants consume far more nutrients than young plants based on how large the plant grows. For instance, a full grown tree is going to consume far more nutrients than a seedling.
So basically 10 fish to 100-gallon tank to 500 square ft of grow bed?
Merci for the quick note. :)
You're making it way too complicated maybe it's just me but I do not understand how am I supposed to know how much the fish weighs I have a 55 gallon long fish tank and I have 6 4inch fish in it and 2 1inch fish in the tank could you explain it in that way for me please I always heard each inch of fish needs 10 gallons of water but with aquaponics you can put a lot more because your plants are constantly filtering and cleaning the tank by absorbing the urine and I made a separate filter to soak up all the fish waste into sponges and lava rocks and it holds the waist and allows the water to flow back out into my grow beds I do not clean that filter so it can breed natural bacteria my plants are doing good
I've got a 4 month old dwc with 9 square meters grow space (system also includes 500 gal fish tank [2 ibc totes], 55 gal solids filter, 55 gal bio filter containing 2 bird nets, and a 35 gal degasser feeding the dwc). Based on the grow space, I should be feeding about 60g/sq meter/day, or 540 g per day. Currently I'm running the system at about 1/10 the feed rate and 1/10 the fish mass (i.e., the mass of fish that 60 g will feed fish daily at a rate of 1.5% the biomass). The problem I'm having is, this quantity of fish food & fish is creating 80 ppm nitrates, so I've not added more fish. My pH is correct, so that's not the reason the plants aren't taking up the nutrients. At this point, my roots are not pristine white either. Any idea what is wrong with the system?
where and what kind of test kits do you use
In short, its not the amount of fish, its the amount of food that being put inside.
Realy nice and informative vidéo! Thanks a lot.... I'm starting my aquaponic System this spring and you answered to almost all the last questions I had :-) But stil, I have one left...
With my 265 gallons fish tank I'm affraid to oversize the biological surface, I'll have:
-1 growing bed: 43 square feet.
- 1 NFT system wich is 26 feet long and
- 1 Raft bed of 75 square feet.
I'm planning on getting about 15 small troots of 7 inches or so.
Do you think the vast amount of biological surface will be an issue and my plants will not get enough nutrient to grow well? Or the bigger the biosurface is the better it is?
In other words, is it possible to oversize the growing surface?
Many thanks and keep the good vids coming.
You're helping a lot of people out there!
Good question Mo! The instructor will do a video on your question to be released on 2/15/17. We are sure that more people have this same question. But to give you a quick reply to your question it is practically impossible to oversize your biological surface area. This is primarily due to the fact that the bacteria will only colonize to the extent of your feed input and fish input. In other words, if you have 10 fish and you feed them 15 grams a day then the bacteria in your system will be limited to a colony size that can only survive off of the ammonia produced from your fish and feed source. You won't get additional bacteria because they won't have a source to sustain themselves unless you add more food and fish. Hopefully that makes sense, but look forward to the video being released next week. Thanks for your question!
The School of Aquaponics That was fast!✈️ thanks a lot and I'll be looking forward for the vid👍🏻😉
Hey Mo,
We were actually able to answer your question faster than expected. Here is the link ruclips.net/video/1dDJUR7M0O4/видео.html
Hopefully we were able to assist you!
Very Informative
Thanks a lot! Glad you were able to get something from the video.
can you jump start the cycle with some pond water?
I have high nitrate and low ammonia but plant or vege not grow
How is this ratio important in aquaponics system?
hey could you possibly post the formulae you've calculated as algebra I'm struggling to follow along without a visualisation of the variables going into a formula
Sure, we'll do an extra video on the topic to help clarify some of the points a bit better.
Hey bud, good vid thank you. This is probably a silly question but the 1.5% feed, is that per day?
Definitely not a silly question. You are correct, It is per day. Now, that ratio is primarily for adult tilapia that are over a pound in weight. Other fish will have a different requirement. Also feed ratios will be much higher for fry and fingerling. That ratio could range from 20-30% of their body weight.
Yeah but eventually you want to eat the fish so it works out a lot better with more
So how's the equations balance works?
How many scales in one pound of fish?
where do you get or buy live fish that are 1-2 lbs of Talapia etc. Petco don't sell'em
Michael Piccirillo order online
MY BRAIN WONT COMPUTE..... please tell me 1fish 2 or 3 pellets?
DIS IZ A THINKIN MANS GAYM
How can we check nitrite and nitrate levels in the fish tank?
using testing kits
can and/ should you use your media bed as your bio filter
Yes. ruclips.net/video/VFiPRE-x-UM/видео.html
biscuit head haha that made me laugh
Lol just having a little fun.
I'm building a aquapondics system in a 800 sqft area. i have 264 gallong tanks for my fish.
i'll have about 500 sqft of grow beds. how many tank would you suggest?
3 fish finished off at 1 Lb. Per 5 square ft of grow bed.. I have a link. I have to go find it. And I'll send you a good way to make calculations.
im confused 50 sq feet of bsa or 50 cubic feet cause 50 sq ft can be any amount of cubic feet i.e. 10 x 5 area is 50 sq feet at a depth 1 ft thats 50 cubic feet or 10 x 5 x .5 feet thats still 50 sq feet but only 25 cubic feet i hope im explaining my question clearly enough
It is referring to square feet of BSA, and It can actually be a lot less than what is claimed in this video.
Jonathan by square feet of surface area it's meaning surface area of the rocks or plastic bits in the bio filter. So a handful of rocks might be a square foot or more of surface.
yeah it hit me after i listened to it again haha
thanks for all the help everyone
a Metric conversion would be helpful for folks outside the U.S.
You have a calculator right???
Google also does conversions now.... knock yourself out.
The U.S. could with catching up with the rest of the world 50 years behind the times
Or the rest of the world is 50 years behind us.. depends on perspective.. which doesn't change the fact that the world does not revolve around your measurement system and if you want it in metric... convert it yourself.
Why is it then the U.S. still uses a measuring system the rest of the world has done away because of its lack of universal use around the world a U.S. gallon for instance is smaller than and imperial gallon just 1 example. the rest of the world doesn't follow the U.S for many good reasons we don't to stuck back in the 1800's, so who is behind? not the rest of the world but arrogant America who thinks its the bees Add to knees Americas I've met think the world start at New York and finishes at San Francisco like the world baseball series which no other countries actually compete in just how arrogant is that? it show narrow mindedness's
Dude you are missing the entire point.
The guy made a video with a lot of helpful information, he did not have to do that.. and your response.. to whine about how he does not use your preferred measurement system.
Is metric better, sure
Should the US change, sure
SO FUCKING WHAT
Say thank you, get a calculator and STFU
The world does not revolve around you and your preferences.
Waffle waffle oohhhhhh at last the point minutes later
So this guy is all wrong he needs to go back and reread it and figure out what he's really trying to tell people before they screwed her systems up
You almost sound like Neal Degrassi.
Lol
When are you americans going to come to the 21st century and use the metric system like the rest of the world?
As soon as you fly to the moon.
Please use metric system. We are living in the 21 century
+Mart Nel Now, I would tell you to use an online converter because of the same reason you stated, or that here in the USA we dont use metric, but I'm not going to do that. Watch some of the newer videos and you will see that they all have metric conversions.
We use IMPERIAL MEASUREMENTS in 'Murica. MAGA
Murica, Fuck Yeah!