New Hobby - Microponics

[November]

Following on from this thread

I have been looking for an efficient way to grow food where I am. My weather conditions are extremely dry and my soil is dust. It is 100km away from the nearest supermarket or maccas. In my googling since my initial question I discovered that I was trying to figure out Aquaponics. My net research has now lead me to Microponics. Has anyone visited a system or been involved with closed circuit systems like it?

I already have the rabbits and chickens. I have a pond and room to experiment. My plan is to try to find a pump before next year, but I am still mulling this over as I am not sure on the maths as to which pump is suited, and I may end up making my own piston type rather than an expensive one. I have a lot to learn but am super keen to get started.

So, I started my first mini experiment tonight. I cut out the side of old 10L plastic water containers and collected a bit of gravel from the side of the road. My first goal is to grow mint. I have also set up 3 floating seed trays attempting to start Silverbeet and Pak choy seeds. I have put some silverbeet on a floating tray with a media of woodflakes as the rabbits use this as litter so I have it on hand. I do not have high hopes for this as I think the woodflakes will start to rot, but I can still learn from it. I think my best bet is to start seedlings in the green house and then transfer them to the system. The pond is full of water and has a fountain but it will likely need a bit of treatment before it is ready to house fish, and I will need to get some piping for the pump and flood part of the puzzle.

I expect a fair few hurdles - likely in the pump department as some info gets a bit technical on it. But I figure I can start with a flood/drain system even if it is being flooded with the hose and drained into pot plants at this stage. What's your thoughts, queries or ideas on this sort of home ecosystem?

 

[Ethan Reigns]

If you leave water outside without pumping it, just stationary, how long does it take to get contaminated with algae? The reason British sailors drank rum was that water could not be kept for more than three weeks at sea before it was unfit to drink whereas rum disinfected itself. Along with a pump, you would need a filter to keep algae from circulating with everything else and you would need some way to backflush the filter and remove the algae. It is more of a problem than keeping a swimming pool from generating algae because you cannot use chlorine or other disinfectants. If you are constantly renewing the water then you don't have as much of a problem but if your water is chlorinated, plants in soil benefit from reactions that remove the chlorine. You don't have that in aquaponics. Do it on a small scale first then see if it works.

 

[November]

If you leave water outside without pumping it, just stationary, how long does it take to get contaminated with algae?

I tried to grow algae and failed! lol. I have a fountain now so the pond water is in motion, but the pump is yet to come. I made a very basic filter from a two sided sponge in a low flow hub, but I reckon you are right. I will need a proper biofilter and aerator pump set up. Especially if I want to grow a fish or marron to eat. I might have to travel to source this, I am not confident ordering online when I know so little.

but if your water is chlorinated, plants in soil benefit from reactions that remove the chlorine. You don't have that in aquaponics.

Good point. The water out of my hose smells like an indoor swimming pool. Is it the reactions that assist the plants, or the leaching of chlorine? I have made sand filters before - could this remove some of the chemicals in the water? I could keep my used brita filters but I am not sure they will filter much out since I use them for my drinking water first. I go through one a month and would love to find a way to recycle these as they are costly! I was guessing that the water would need to cycle through though the plants to filter a fair few times before I think about fish.

Do it on a small scale first then see if it works.

That's the plan 😀 I have three 10L containers as testers just for a hose flood and drain. Once I have stable seedlings, I'll use a bucket to catch the drain and flood with seasol treated water. They are small enough that I could just bucket the water from the pond and back at the next stage. I suspect it will take me a long time to get fully functional production. I wont sink tons of money into it, but since looking into the cost of rainwater tanks, and the cost of pouring water into the dust, it might suit me to have a closed water cycle system.

I should note that I do not intend to eat my rabbits. They are the reason I am so desperate to produce greens! The chooks can have any crappy produce. They are currently on processed pellets and I cant keep up with the eggs! Long term I'd like to swap 2 chooks for 2 ducks. They will hopefully be more helpful than the chooks when it comes to the snail population.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Do you understand what a smaller scale means?
I strongly suggest you go to a place that supplies aquaponic equipment (or aquaporin as Microsoft spells it)
that way you will learn what to buy and how much it will cost and how to do it on the cheap, fun and
maybe a fulfilling exercise but not a cost effective venture.
It'd be cheaper to buy mint punnets from a shop in outback QLD and have it transported back (4 or 5 thousand km's.)

Instead of a 50 meter by 10 meter shade-house you build a 5 meter by 2 meter shade-house but it'll still
need to be 3-4 meters high to allow for the water misters (very fine spray)
You need the same water treatment equipment only for the small area not for the large area.
You need a rainwater container of 500 gallons minimum and hope for lots of rain to refill it. Leak free gutters

When I was a Landscape Gardener one of my suppliers had a system as above for growing his miniature spreading roses.
As for sand cleaning water, nope.
Gravel from the side of the road are gravel that once was the road, coated with tar and that is not good to eat.

It sounds like you are wasting your produce. Break the eggs and crush the shells to feed them to the chooks
makes the eggs stronger. Feed eggs contents to the bunnys.

 

[November]

The largest scale I intend is a 44 gallon drum cut in half for grow beds. That should supply ample food for me and the buns. Its also small enough to use a hand pump if the cost of a pump is excessive. I have priced rainwater tanks and I've priced pumps, guess which is cheaper 😉 I do want a rainwater tank, but that is a very long way off with the prices I was quoted. (Plus shire approval). The pond is already full and undercover with power running to it and a perfect space for a waterfall 😀

I have started with 10L containers as that is what I have on hand. The gravel is still being washed, I havent just chucked seeds in and hoped for the best lol. I wanted to try gravel as pea gravel is available by the ton locally and I can use the excess on my garden paths if I decide to go down that route. I am defo open to other media, I just didnt see the difference between buying in gravel and washing what I have on my door step. I want to see how well the plants help filter those sorts of toxins too. I live on a harvest route so I cannot change the fact my garden gets a dose of road dirt.

I've mentioned I enjoy learning via experimentation and hands on exeperience before. Almost 2 years here and growing food in the dirt is not as productive for me as I'd hoped. It is extremely costly and more suited to fruit than leafy greens. I need greens to feed the buns.

The pub men laugh in my face at the suggestion too. Costs and labour of trying to grow food in the ground here have well exceeded expectations. My body does not handle trips to Coles every time I need fresh food, and living rurally means that even "fresh" from coles is not going to last a week at home. I tried working with the dirt, and all I have seemed to achive is breeding snails and lizards. I have reaccessed two large beds which are currently resting, and will be out if action over summer. I havent given up on the dirt, it just needs more structure to it and I am not rich enough to take the short route of replacement.

Its a hobby, not a commercial venture. I am interested in the future of home food production. Most crops grown in this area are GM for drought conditions as that is expected for the region. I want to see how well a closed water cycle works with my own eyes for personal production 🙂

I was inspired by a guy in drought ravaged south africa who feeds his family of 5 from his aquaponic systems. I have chooks and I have bunnies so it is not a stretch to microponics.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Umm this 44 gal drum, which way are the cuts? A hand pump? what are you going to do for the remaining 10 minutes of the day - sleep or eat?

 

[ILLYRIAN]

One of the problems about trying to use the cost free method is the amount of time needed to do those cheap method. If you state how much your time costs the cheap method can be ruddy expensive.
Keep plugging on.

 

[November]

I have too much time, that is why I keep searching for hobbies! I am unemployed and miss my ponies. I hope this does take up a whole lot of time so I dont fall into existantial crisis yet again.

 

[November]

@ILLYRIAN Somebody is not writing that poem are they?

I have written dozens since your recommendation 🙂 it was a good idea, thankyou 🙂. But it is not stimulating enough for me to fill my days with, and I can not sit down as much as I have been lately.

So far the mint has not died, and has some tiny little dark sprouts coming up. I have it all recorded in my files, I have decided to give up trying to use the computer for these records and returned to written notes and diagrams. I will keep updated when there is anything of value to report 🙂 Its a long term project as I do not intend to move anytime soon, and I am playing with the idea of using water falls for aerators and pond plants for natural filtration and oxygenation. I do not like the aquaponics forums as they are sponsored by shops that want you to buy the set outright and that would be cheating 😉