Fish Pee and Sunshine

Both catfish and tilapia are considered omnivorous- they'll eat both animals and plants (some other species, such as trout, are purely carnivorous). Part of my plan is duckweed. The other part of the plan for feeding my fish and closing the loop with humans so far involves worms and bees.

Worms and compost

Red wriggler worms are a well established component of aquaponics, traditionally used in the grow bed to help break down solid wastes (primarily fish poop and decayed root matter). While I will likely incorporate them in this manner as well, I have also started a stackable bin worm farm to help with our composting needs... and eventually supplement the fish diet.

I'm estimating no more than 1 worm per fish per day (depending on fish maturity of course). I don't have an accurate rate for worm propagation in my farm, but guess it is currently well below 40/day (I started with ~600). We most certainly generate enough food byproduct waste to support a larger worm farm. I currently have another non-worm compost tumbler where the bulk of our citrus, yard waste, and food scraps go. I've had this going since last winter and have harvested incrementally from it in the course of planting my garden and fruit trees.

Bees

I completed my top bar bee hive at the end of April, hoping to capitalize on swarm season (May-June in Colorado). I was figuring that the previous owners' extensive flower garden would be a sufficient lure to my yard. Unfortunately this year's harsh freeze thaw cycle in April has made it a bad year for both blossoms and bees. I did check around for starter hive kits, but the tough year has raised prices above $400- way too steep for me. I can wait until next spring.


A typical bee hive population fluctuates, peaking around 20,000 in the summer and dropping down to 2000 or less in the winter. Many individual workers are lost to predation (a mechanism likely to be lost in a simplified CELSS), but many just die in the hive toward the end of summer and through the fall. I've designed my hive with a hinged bottom for collecting dead bees, which I will seasonally provide to feed my fish. Once I have both, that is.

While I wasn't really intending to start my fish tank for awhile, my wife picked up a 1 gal bowl in her garage saling, and promised our 5 yo son a goldfish. I did the responsible thing and told him that when the fish got so big, we could eat him. Wife was thrilled when this got repeated...


The first 14 cent fish, "Goldy" lasted a couple of days. I don't think it was very healthy to start with. However, it was a lesson for my son in the cycle of life. 10 cents later, we were back in goldfish (they were on sale, 40% off this time). For some reason the pet store clerks seemed to think that the $8 betas would do better. We've since proved them wrong. Goldy 2 is still thriving after almost 2 months. Every couple of days, I drain about half the water in the bowl and use it to water plants. I replace it with hot tap water that has sat overnight to dechlorinate and come to room temp. I use hot water to get the extra iron, which someone told me often becomes deficient in aquarium plants. I have one aquatic plant (don't recall what kind) stuck in the gravel to help filter and oxygenate the water. The fish seems to leave it alone.

I have a horrible track record of killing plants. I've even killed a few cacti out of neglect. My record with animals isn't much better, except perhaps with cats who are fairly self sufficient and not afraid to verbalize their desires. So I'll be throwing into my blog some occasional updates on my gardening and other efforts, as they are tangentially related to the project at hand.

Moringa oleifera:
I bought a pack of Moringa seeds on Amazon, and planted a dozen or so, using a germination station. I got seven to sprout, six of which have subsequently died, following repotting and/or relocation to the basement. The remaining survivor I took to work, where I have an office with a nice sunny southern exposure and about 200 humans worth of CO2. The plant doubled in size but now has recently started turning yellow. My coworker, Julie (from whom I purchased the treadmill of a previous post, and who has such a green thumb she has literally gotten sticks to grow- yes, literally), did some quick google research and discovered that it is most likely magnesium deficiency. We'll see- I've added a Mg rich spike to the soil. Not sure what this will mean for growing Moringa in fish pee.

Out in the yard:
It was a rough spring here , so I didn't get much planted until May. It snowed every Tuesday in April and every weekend it was balmy, tricking many trees into premature blooming.

The composter seems to be going strong, despite being a fruit fly magnet. Probably need to add more shredded paper. I've harvested some partially ripe compost in the planting of several fruit trees, berries, and putting in a garden. My planting does not keep up with the generation of compost. At least it's not going into landfill. Well, actually I may use some of it to fill in some low spots in the yard. Here's what I've planted in the yard:

• Peach
• Chinese Pioneer Apricot
• Tart cherry
• Sweet cherry
• Asian pear
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Strawberries
• Jalepenos
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Edamame
• Pole beans
• Peas
• Melon
• Grapes
• Lettuce
• Carrots
• Corn

So far the squirrels have ravaged all my grapes, peaches, and most of the cherries. Anyone know a good squirrel recipe?

Happened across an aquarium for sale on craigslist not far from home, and it seemed to be pretty good, 210gal with a stand, pumps, gravel, stand and 80gal sump. Talked my friend Ryan into helping move it. DAMN! It was so heavy we barely got it out of the van and into the garage without dropping it. I started to kick myself for not considering beforehand whether I'd even be able to get it into the basement. Never fear, it's "only" 7 ft long, so I should technically be able to stand it on end going around the landing. I will certainly try the stand first- it's only about 180lbs (I previously moved a treadmill upstairs singlehandedly, so this does not intimidate me). Worst case, I can cut the silicone seams on the tank and take it down piece by piece, and reassemble in place.



As the photo shows, it's all still in the garage, taking up most of a bay. I was originally intending this as my winter project, and since it's clearly a 4 person job, I'll need to throw a party for some of my burlier friends.In the meantime, I have plenty to keep me busy in the backyard.

I've decided to embark on another exciting adventure in habitat creation and management, and take another, more committed whack at building a semi-closed ecosystem. The last attempt 3 years ago involved a 10gal tank with few small catfish, some snails, a couple of dwarf frogs, some aquatic plants and algae and a whole lot of mildew. That was in a one bedroom apartment on South Beach. After the frogs escaped and the mollusks and fish went belly up, we called it quits. The humidity in that place was challenging enough without the tank of water in the living room, and we had to repaint the whole apartment to overcome the mold.

Colorado does not have that problem. You can leave your corn chips out overnight (or for weeks) and they'll still be crunchy here. So will your grapefruit. You have to try hard to make mildew here. Plus, we now have a house with a basement, and a bit of land. While the HOA may limit my outdoor activities to some degree, the only limit to what I can do in the basement is what my wife will let me get away with. If I convince her it has educational value for the kids, the sky's the limit. So, she is on board with the aquaponics plan, at least to the extent that I've laid it out for her. So far it's mostly still in the planning and aquisition stage.

Here's the plan:
This will be a flood and drain aquaponics system-

• Fish Tank: 200+ gal aquarium
• Fish: 20 Catfish, 20 Tilapia
• Sump: ~100 Gal tank
• Grow bed: ~200 gal container, not identified yet
• Grow media: Hydroton
• Plants: Moringa Oleifera, Spinach, Broccoli, Citrus, Cucumber, Tomato, Lettuce (winter), Duckweed (in sump)
• Fish food: table scraps, worms from worm bin, dead bees from hive, will probably need to supplement with commercial feed at some point

I'm still playing it by ear to see what I can find in the way of a grow bed, something that will look ok in my basement and still be food grade material. With the recent legalization of recreational pot in my state, I'm hoping folks will be moving their grow activities into the backyard and get rid of their hydroponics cheap...

More to follow on the rest.