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davidstcldfl
11-09-2009, 06:15 AM
Hello from Dave in Saint Cloud FL.

I haven't started an auquaponics system as of yet. Years ago, I had several fresh water aquariums and successfully maintained them.

For several years, I've been raising veggies. In central Fl, we get to raise them year round. One of the problems is, we have nematodes in our soil here. They attack the roots. We have to raise plants that are resistant to them or rotate where we raise our veggies.

So, I'm wanting to try auqaponics. I've been reading (here) and anywhere else, I find info and ideas on it. I see there is a gentleman in Orlando that sells (mostly) male fry's , also he will sell breeder colonies. These breeder are supposed to produce primarily males. If I go this route, I'll have to get a permit from the state to raise them.
If, I could find some 'blues', I understand a permit would not be required.

I guess I'm like most people....it's going to take some time to get things together. Mostly the "CASH"...lol. :)

I've already been offered 2 above ground swimming pools. One of them is from a friend that also has green houses. He's offered to set me up with a hoop type. Also he has a good contact, to get pvc at a great price.

I also know someone who raises Koi. I know he mentioned he has some extra equipment. I'll have to see what he has.

Thanks for all the great ideas and info from everyone. Take care and be blessed.

JCO
11-09-2009, 06:27 AM
Hey Dave, welcome to the Show...!

First off, before you purchase any fry or breeders from anyone, you need to confer with our resident Tilapia brain, Badflash.

As for Blue Tilapia, since you live in the Orlando area, if you will only go out to your nearest large canal and do a little fishing, you will be able to catch all the Blue Tilapia you can haul home and the only permit you will need is a fishing permit.

Blue Tilapia have invaded just about every waterway and pond from about the middle of Florida all the way south so grab a line, a hook and a pole and go to it and good luck with your project....don't forget... there are many members on this forum who range in experience from beginner (like you) to 'Ole Hands At It and all of them are only to happy to give you any information you may need; additionally, the pages of the main site and all the topics of the forum are worth the price of any Aquaponics manual or guide book and it cost you only a little time to go through it.

Now....GO FISHIN' :lol: :mrgreen:

davidstcldfl
11-09-2009, 08:14 AM
Hi, JCO, I used to live in Orangedale ....just down the river a little ways from you. Thanks for suggesting just catching my own. I read that they aren't that easy to catch on a hook though. I didn't keep my cast net when I moved.... :(

This is the type of breeder colony that I was talking about buying......

A breeder colony consists of six female pure breed orange O. Mossambica, and one male pure breed improved body form O. Hornorum.

No time soon, thats for sure. Kind of costly, but the idea of having (98 % male fry ) certainly sounds good.



Does anyone have an opion on this breeding colony ? Thanks....

stucco
11-09-2009, 08:25 AM
Howdy Dave, we have a working system over in Palm Bay. If you are interested, my old system needs a good home. It is a 10’x2’ cattle trough with two plastic ponds plumbed together one is the tank and one is the sump. It just needs some plumbing parts and grow media. You are more than welcome to it! Any hoo welcome to the group. If you have any questions I’ll be happy to help. :mrgreen: jon

jackalope
11-09-2009, 10:02 AM
davidstcldfl Welcome to the forum! Glad to have you here!

davidstcldfl
11-09-2009, 10:29 AM
Hello to 'Jackalope' in 'brrrrr' (as in too cold, but beautiful) Montana :)


WOW Jon... :D THANKS, that would be great. I'll gladly pick it up at your convenience. I do have a 4x8' trailer, that should work.

If you'll PM me....I'll give you my phone number. Hope to meet you soon and get a chance to see your system in person. :)

mpugh5@aol.com
11-09-2009, 04:34 PM
davidstcldfl welcome to the forum this is a great place to learn and to grab great idea's , i wish i got an offer on a system like you just did :mrgreen: 8-) :mrgreen:

badflash
11-09-2009, 06:15 PM
The further north you go the more likely they are to be blues.

As to the breeder colony, they are not mostly male, but they are fast growing and get big, both the males & females. Grown in cages so they can't spawn they do pretty well, so no sex reversal in needed.

Don't get the gold or orange mossies, get the black ones. I developed them for Mike. They breed like crazy. The orange rarely produce hybrid fry.

davidstcldfl
11-10-2009, 05:26 AM
Hello to you, mpugh5. I sure am looking for lots of info... :D


Hello badfish. Someday I would like to buy some nice breeders. For now, I'm going to try some 'blues'.
Opps....I just noticed I wrote 'badfish' instaed of 'badflash'....that wasn't some kind of a 'jab', just proof I need bi-focals. :D

According to Fl fish and game.... there are 'blues' in the large lake that my city sits on. I'll just have to practice my fishing skills.... :lol:

This is kind of interesting....At Fl fish and game's web site, they say...just "assume" any tilapia caught are blues. But then they say, any ones that are not blues , must be put on ice. However, the blues can be kept alive. They dont want the hybrids to be (live)transported. ;) :? :lol: :roll:

In-order to keep them from breeding.... I need to suspend a net, just above the bottom of the tank ? :?:

Thanks

jackalope
11-10-2009, 04:33 PM
According to Fl fish and game.... there are 'blues' in the large lake that my city sits on. I'll just have to practice my fishing skills.... :lol:

This is kind of interesting....At Fl fish and game's web site, they say...just "assume" any tilapia caught are blues. But then they say, any ones that are not blues , must be put on ice. However, the blues can be kept alive. They dont want the hybrids to be (live)transported. ;) :? :lol: :roll:
If you get tired of fishing, PM me, and I can put you in touch with some Blues ;)


In-order to keep them from breeding.... I need to suspend a net, just above the bottom of the tank ? :?:
Yup! just use a net or screen that is suspended 1" or so above the bottom, so the eggs will fall thru it and she can't get down to pick them up.

davidstcldfl
11-10-2009, 05:50 PM
Thanks for the offer Jackalope. If I cant catch some....I know what to do :)

davidstcldfl
11-11-2009, 11:10 AM
Christmas came early !

A great THANKS to Jon (Stucco) and his wonderful wife, I now have a great start !

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/growtank.jpg

This is for the 'veggies'. I even ended up with some nice bamboo :D

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/fishtandandsump.jpg

Of course the bigger one is for the fish, the smaller for the sump. I also ended up with a start of soidier fly larva ! :)

I had a great time checking out thier set up. I also got to meet their two little boys....what great kids...boys will 'BE' boys ! :D

"THANK YOU" AGAIN !

badflash
11-11-2009, 03:28 PM
Best bet is to net the fingerlings near the shore. The acclimate to the aquarium a lot better.

stucco
11-11-2009, 04:52 PM
It looks like the bamboo did ok at 80.

davidstcldfl
11-11-2009, 07:10 PM
That's a long ride at 50 mph. :D

Thanks again !

jackalope
11-11-2009, 08:11 PM
That's great! Hope you can get it set up soon! I'd like to have something like that setup at my place ..... just a couple of miles too far to go get it :lol: :lol:

davidstcldfl
11-12-2009, 04:42 AM
Badflash.....Thanks for the tip. I'd probably have greater success, catching them too.


Jackalope....That would be nice if you could get to FL. It be great to meet 'ya all' :D

I would think, you would like to get a short break from all that cold....My hats off to you, I dont know how you can do it ? My blood is too thin, after living in FL all these years, and working outside in the summer. 8-)

jackalope
11-12-2009, 09:54 AM
Jackalope....That would be nice if you could get to FL. It be great to meet 'ya all' :D

I would think, you would like to get a short break from all that cold....My hats off to you, I dont know how you can do it ? My blood is too thin, after living in FL all these years, and working outside in the summer. 8-)

It's called economics ;) ...... I don't know where I could go in Fla. that I could find a $135.00 per mo. mortgage :lol: :lol:

davidstcldfl
11-13-2009, 04:41 PM
Jackalope.....I know your right on that . Maybe some day, a vacation ? I'm dreaming of getting to Montana some day (when it's warm there ) :)

Ok, I found myself standing in the backyard ( for hours ), just looking and moving stuff around, Trying to picture, in the future, where I might want to add stuff...... :?

Whys everyone laughing ??? :lol: SOoooo,you been there too ! :D

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/Letsstart.jpg
Dont know if you can tell.....The long tank on the stand, is actually up on a concrete pad.

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/looksaboutright.jpg
The 2 pre-formed tanks will be buried. The small one ( the sump) I'll bury all the way to the rim. The larger one,I was thinking about 1/2 ways and forming some dirt around it , to help support it some.

JCO
11-13-2009, 07:18 PM
Hey Dave,

Just a "Flash" here. If you put the rim of any vessel close enough to the ground for frogs to get in, your tank will be up to the rim in tadpoles during the season. They use up oxygen in the water as well as add waste with no useful results as to raising fish. To solve this problem if you just have to bury the tanks, surround them with welded wire mesh with holes too small for frogs to get through. Don't forget, where there are frogs, you will usually find snakes, surprise....because snakes eat frogs.

Also, if you are using the small tank for a sump and you put the bottom below ground level, how will you remove the accumulated waste?

Now that I have solved all your problems, go out in the back yard and have a good time :shock: :mrgreen:

davidstcldfl
11-14-2009, 08:35 AM
Thanks JCO... :o ....I didn't think about frogs.... :oops: I live less then a 1/4 mile from a lake that is several miles across. If the blue racer in my yard likes frogs...He will be happy.

I will put up a fence like you suggested. I planned on one around the FT to keep the tilapia "IN". If I do get 'Tads'...I'll have to try netting them and feeding them to the soldier flys.

I'm supposed to get a small pool pump from some one....I was going to use it as a 'vac' only. I also was thinking about a filter box 'before' the sump. I have some citrus trees, blueberries, lots of perinials and a necturine tree that would love some fish 'poo'.

Some day I'd like to get some of these tanks and put them in my shop. I might be able to get 4 in there and have room for some smaller ones along the other wall. I could have the veggies, just outside....gotta have a dream/plan .... :D

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/Tanks.jpg

EDIT....I thought that this picture came from Edgar Sanchez's web site.
TILAPIA FARMING AT HOME (.com)
Now I cant find the 'page' where I got the picture. (???) The tank set up's are really nice ! :)

JCO
11-14-2009, 11:09 AM
Dave,

I almost forgot the other evil varmint that can devastate your tilapia, herons and the like will come and sit on the side or wade and eat all the fish that are small enough for them to eat so you need to have a screen of some sort to keep them out or grow out your fish to a size too large for them to eat before putting them outside. OH, and don't forget Raccoons....they are particularly worrisome for all size fish.

It's so great to spread good cheer :lol: :mrgreen:

davidstcldfl
11-14-2009, 02:13 PM
Thanks again JCO. The critters you mentioned this time, I had thought about. I always see bald eagles and such flying around.

I know someone who is raising Koi, in a very large cyrstal clear lake. Well, he ended up having to dye the water to keep the bald eagles from 'seeing' the fish. They were cleaning him out.
Oh yeah, and then there are the otters.

I've been offered by two different people, to help me set up a green house over the fish. I will be using shade cloth on most of it. The lower part, I will use bird netting.

'Stucco' had made some nice wood slat type coverings, for his FT's. I may also do that, to try to keep out the 'coons'..... like you mentioned.

jackalope
11-15-2009, 09:52 PM
The critters you mentioned this time, I had thought about. I always see bald eagles and such flying around.


My wife worries about the Eagles getting our two small dogs when we put them into the outside pen ..... of course, I might not miss her dog too much, it's one of those yappy Pom-Poos that barks at just about anything, including her own shadow ....... Oh, I guess I'd miss her a little bit, she's so darn cute .......... now of course, if an eagle took my Jack-Rat, I'd have to hunt it down and kill it ........ :twisted: :twisted:

Those are nice looking IBC's in that pic ...... I can't find any at all up here, unless they have been filled with poisons for the outlawed weeds in the pastures ....... :( :( ..... who would possibly think of outlawing weeds, except gov't workers that want to justify their jobs ...... kinda like kudzu down south, who was it who introduced it to the US? Gov't Workers! Now they outlaw it's propagation because it's invasive ...... but they have justified their job, haven't they? :lol: :lol: :lol: I'd like to get some Kudzu seeds to grow in my aquaponics for making tilapia food out of it .... it is protein, after all ;).

davidstcldfl
11-16-2009, 05:12 AM
Hi Jackalope, Those are nice IBC's. The picture was from a site, where they add the pipes/filters to the tanks. When you bought them, you already had a system to go.

I just realized, in my previous post. I didn't give them 'credit' for the picture, but it came from their site. :oops:
Now, I cant remember where I saw them ??? I'm practicing for old age ! :? I used their picture, because I liked the set up, so much.

I've been reading too much, I'm forgetting 'where' I read something....


I see them (IBC's) on craig's list, here locally. One of the listings, talks about using them to catch rainwater. Maybe , those are 'clean' ones (?)


I like what you said about the weeds and the government....lol.

On the kudzu, the story I heard.....was a lady had gone overseas on vacation, brought back some for her garden. Then nature took over !

jackalope
11-16-2009, 05:23 PM
On the kudzu, the story I heard.....was a lady had gone overseas on vacation, brought back some for her garden. Then nature took over !

This is pretty much what I've read in many places .......


United States

Kudzu growing on trees

Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, where it was promoted as a forage crop and an ornamental plant. From 1935 to the early 1950s, the Soil Conservation Service encouraged farmers in the Southeastern United States to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion as above. The Civilian Conservation Corps planted it widely for many years.

Kudzu growing on shrubs

It was subsequently discovered that the Southeastern US has near-perfect conditions for kudzu to grow out of control — hot, humid summers, frequent rainfall, temperate winters with few hard freezes (kudzu cannot tolerate low freezing temperatures that bring the frost line down through its entire root system, a rare occurrence in this region), and no natural predators. As such, the once-promoted plant was named a pest weed by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1953.

Infestation of Kudzu in the United States.

Kudzu is now common throughout most of the Southeastern United States, and has been found as far northeast as Paterson, New Jersey, in 30 Illinois counties including as far north as Evanston,[12] and as far south as Key West, Florida. It has also been found growing in Clackamas County, Oregon in 2000 with no known source. This is the first infestation west of Texas.[13] Kudzu has naturalized into about 20,000 to 30,000 square kilometers (7,700–12,000 sq mi) of land in the United States and costs around $500 million annually in lost cropland and control costs.[14]
more here ...Clik ;) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu)
See, just like the so-called Pig Flu, the gov't creates a crisis, and then justifies their job by attempting (although very poorly) to get rid of the crisis!

davidstcldfl
11-18-2009, 09:11 AM
LOL... :lol: ....Just got to love the government.... The current admin has too many voter districts listed for some states, (and giving money to them) makes me think of the show......'ARE YOU SMARTER THEN A FIFTH GRADER ?' :roll:

Sorry.... I better get back to aquaponics, this is starting to read like a Neal Boortz forum :P


This weekend....... my friend's brother, has a green house that we're going to tear down. Then it's comming to my place :D I'll be covering it with shade cloth. It's for the FT, to keep the sun off and to help slow down the critters, from getting in.

TCLynx
11-22-2009, 09:10 AM
Hi Dave,
I'm new to this particular forum (I've very active over on one of the others and I'm sure many people here know who I am though.)

Anyway, I stumbled across this forum and your thread here.

Guess what, if you want some Blue Tilapia, I have some right now I would be willing to share. I'm not that far away. Just Up near Mount Dora. I've got some little tiny babies that were born in the past couple months and I have some more slightly larger juviniles that were from some late spring breeding. If ya got an ice chest and battery powered bubbler, you can easily get some home. Send a PM if you are interested. I won't be keeping the small ones too much longer as I want to get the quarantine tank ready for a new batch of catfish.

I'm not going to keep many tilapia overwinter. Just some in an aquarium inside I think since I don't want to put the effort/money into keeping the system as warm this winter. I have channel catfish that will keep well over winter and in our climate, I think probably grow just as fast as the tilapia. But tilapia are far better for small tanks and can handle a new system cycling up much better than channel catfish will.

davidstcldfl
11-24-2009, 03:53 PM
Wow TCLynx, I've been so busy reading all the new posts by the new people signing on....that this is the first time I've see this. :shock: .... :oops:
Thanks for the offer.

badflash
11-25-2009, 09:02 AM
The best way is to build a cage with short legs that will keep the fish off the bottom. A 4X4X8' cage can house 1000 fish as long as you have good flow and filtration. Easy to feed & harvest. 1/4" mesh works well. The structure can be made from PVC pipe.

stucco
11-29-2009, 08:03 AM
How u feeling Dave?

davidstcldfl
11-29-2009, 01:32 PM
Thanks for asking...still have a bad cold. I can't complain, I rarely get sick. When I do, I'm a big baby... :cry: .

I've been inside all week. However, yesterday I went and got a pice of EPDM liner for free. It's 16x10 ft. It does have a small cut in it. 5 inches long, maybe.
I also got about 30 wooden fence post, just over 6 ft long.

I'm thinking of putting some post in the ground, every few feet, and using some cattle panels to make a FT with the rubber liner.....aprox 3'W x 3'D x 10' L. ( aprox 670 gals) Like TC did, but not round.
I wanted the FT to be tall enough to flow into the GB that you gave me. Then use 1 or 2 of the pre-formed tanks that you gave me as the sump(s). Maybe the big one for the sump/motor....the smaller draining into the bigger one...... and grow duck weed in the smaller one (?)

I have a plastic box that is (aprox) 16x16x40" that I was going to fill with scrubbie pads to make a bio filter out of it.

I know I'll need more grow bed area, I was thinking of using some of the little plastic kiddie pools that are about 1 ft deep.
http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/growbed.jpg
I dont know how long they'll last (?) But it would be good (cheap) for my "starter system". Even if it lasts for a season or two, it'll give me a feel for aquaponics. Besides I got them for free!
I'll have to raise them a little bit, so they will be able to drain to the sump(s)

davidstcldfl
12-01-2009, 04:19 PM
"Ground breaking news, more at 11."

OK, I'm going to start a new topic in Backyard systems. Time to start..... :D

jackalope
12-01-2009, 10:35 PM
We'll be watching that one ;) ...... looks like you're off to a good start as it is ;)