Just Starting out in Dallas, TX

[oboeash]

Hello Everyone!

I'm excited to start my Aquaponic system here in Dallas, TX. I plan on starting small with a 50 gallon fish tank, two black grow beds, and a water pump. I am still in the planning process and appreciate all the posts in this forum. As the weather is a bit cold at the moment, do I need to wait a few months before I construct my habitat? The temperature averages 40-60 degrees at the moment so even the garage is a bit cool without an artificial heater?

Questions for you, the pros :geek: :

Anyone growing in Dallas, TX? If so, how and for how long?
Anyone using a smaller system with an old fish tank? If so, pictures or previous thread recommendations?
Anyone growing organic and selling to neighbors?

Thanks in advance to all! I look forward to learning and growing soon!!
:D
Ashley

[JCO]

Welcome to the show....pull up an easy chair, relax and stay awhile. New voices are always a welcome addition to our family..! Whatever questions you have on you mind, this is the place to get the answers so pick a topic of your interest and start your own thread and Enjoy. :mrgreen:

[davidstcldfl]

Hi oboeash, Welcome to the forum... :D
You could start setting up your system. It'll take a while for the water to cycle anyway.
You mentioned your garage...is that where your planning on having your system ? What kind of fish were you thinking about ?

I started a small system with a 55 gal tank, inside when I first got started. I did have a couple plants to play with.
see bottom of page 2 and page 3...
Dave's ground breaking news. (http://www.diyaquaponics.com/forum/showthread.php?224-Dave-s-ground-breaking-news/page2)

I'm not using plants now, just the solids seperator and the bio-filter. Well, actually I have duckweed floating in the solids seperator , which I feed to the tilapia.

[jackalope]

Hi oboeash;

Welcome to the forum, glad to have you along!

[Hotrodmike]

Welcome
Not sure how many would claim to be Pro's :lol:
There are a few people in the DFW area that have systems and there are a few people in here with smaller systems.
Selling to neighbors , I'm sure a few have , most tend to give away . I have had multiple people say they are more than willing to buy if I have extra including the Bistro down the road . So maybe I need more beds :o
Have A Kind Day
Mike

[RS_]

Hi Ashley,
Welcome,
It's good to see others in the DFW area getting into AP...

I garden and sell what i can, and give some to neighbor's too, have had my AP system going a little over a year now.....

build up your system now, and cycle it up with a few gold fish or guppy's, so that it will be already running good when the weather warms up in a few weeks.....

[badflash]

I prefer turtles to guppies or goldies. Far less likely to get a fish disease from a turtle. You can usually "borrow" large red eared sliders from a local pet store for a few weeks, then bring them back once the system cycles. Turtle poop gets the system going fast, and turtles could care less about ammonia or nitrites.

[GreenPhoenix]

Hi there! I have been waiting for another person in DFW to start doing AP.... Everyone else in Texas is just a little bit further away than I can manage... Well, your close RS, but everyone else is to far away to make a quick trip to visit...

Anyway - I have a little system that started out as a barrelponics system, but has now morphed into its own animal. I plan to post pictures and such soon. I would love to meet up and chat sometime, just send me a message.

Phoenix

[oboeash]

Thanks for all the replies!

I like the turtle idea and look forward to discovery what so many of you deal with on a daily basis. I'd love to see pictures of current systems as I'm just getting around to exploring this forum.

good luck to all of us!

Ashley

[urbanfarmer]

Hello and welcome!

My first "test" system was with a 10 gallon fish tank. I purchased a 10 gallon plastic tote from WallyWorld and filled it with Hydroton (not expensive in these small quantities and very light). I set up a flood and drain system with a bell syphon. It sat directly on top of the fish tank. I used some CFL lights (I believe 4 or 5 100-watt equivalent day bulbs). I had a hot pepper plant in there with a few other smaller plants. It produced quite a few peppers, and I would often pick the red ones to snack on during a meal. It was pretty fun, but on a larger scale it would be too expensive indoors; however, outdoors it would be great.

I also used this test system after about 4-6 months on the fish, and converted it to peeponics. I moved the fish to a large pond (they were getting too big), and ran it on pee for 2 months. To be honest, I only put the pee in there ONCE. The ammonia dropped to 0 within 20 hours (the initial test registered the higher than the test could read). The nitrate went from 80 PPM to way too high for it to read (it was over 200 PPM). Anyway, kind of off topic, but since you're looking into things it would be something fun to try. All my systems now run off fish poop, but in a survival situation or an emergency you could always use an alternative source of nitrogen! :lol:

[Boo Daddy]

Waco,Texas. Been at it sinceAugust. I found Tilapias have to have heated water. Catfish seem to tolerate cooler water. I am still experimenting with plants and grow medium with mixed results. Good luck!

Boo Daddy