Hydroponic enthusiasts (hobby/personal growers)

[rfari]

For aquaponics ppl, what feed are you using and how much is it?
I understand that the local feed is not perfect. Sinks to bottom sometimes and tilapia for instance is a top feeder.

BTW

Anybody confirm the ttec electricity rate, I read an article saying it was 7cents USD per kWh. Not seeing anything on their website.
Trying to calculate the cost of running a <a class="vglnk" title="Link added by VigLink" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=water+pump">water pump</a> (57watts), air pump(20watts) 24 hours per day etc.

1 - 400 kWh at $0.26 TT cents per kWh
401 - 1,000 kWh at $0.32 TT cents per kWh
over 1,000 kWh at $0.37 TT cents per kWh

http://www.ttec.co.tt/services/tariffs/ ... esidential
total power, kw = 0.077
total energy, kwh = 1.848
approx charge, ttd = 0.48 ~ 0.68/day

as for the tilapia feed, i have not the slightest clue.

[rfari]

@shakes & hustla, aeropost lady say to try pre-alerting the seeds as personal effects. imma try it one more time. if tht fail i'll have to get it myself

[Chimera]

For aquaponics ppl, what feed are you using and how much is it?
I understand that the local feed is not perfect. Sinks to bottom sometimes and tilapia for instance is a top feeder.

BTW

Anybody confirm the ttec electricity rate, I read an article saying it was 7cents USD per kWh. Not seeing anything on their website.
Trying to calculate the cost of running a <a class="vglnk" title="Link added by VigLink" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=water+pump">water pump</a> (57watts), air pump(20watts) 24 hours per day etc.

1 - 400 kWh at $0.26 TT cents per kWh
401 - 1,000 kWh at $0.32 TT cents per kWh
over 1,000 kWh at $0.37 TT cents per kWh

http://www.ttec.co.tt/services/tariffs/ ... esidential
total power, kw = 0.077
total energy, kwh = 1.848
approx charge, ttd = 0.48 ~ 0.68/day

as for the tilapia feed, i have not the slightest clue.

i have ponds in my backyard....we had tilipia and cascadu in them before the caimans come and decided to have a feast

we use to feed them rice bran, use to get it from NFM

when you throw a handful or two of rice bran....wait a minute then throw a cast net....is 50-70 tilipia you catching one time eh, it does be a feeding frenzy

[Chimera]

rfari show me which purple tomatoes you ordering na

if its from amazon....it wud be easier if i bring it for u. wont charge u anything but what it cost in USD

[Coppershot]

thanks rfari,
shake de living the major issue is bandits ,the place i wanted to setup not secure.
Most likely ill start small scale behind my house, only some parts have sunlight most of the day, so system going to be very small.

[rfari]

rfari show me which purple tomatoes you ordering na

if its from amazon....it wud be easier if i bring it for u. wont charge u anything but what it cost in USD

its ebay tho.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Krim-Heir ... 227wt_1112
if u don't get thru, in may i'll be there and would be able to personally bring it in.

[Chimera]

dsi ill organise it

looking at that store, will order a few other things for myself also

[shake d livin wake d dead]

thanks rfari,
shake de living the major issue is bandits ,the place i wanted to setup not secure.
Most likely ill start small scale behind my house, only some parts have sunlight most of the day, so system going to be very small.

at least ur doing something,you shud enjoy it,trust meh...gluck...I cud relate to the bandits thing...

[rfari]

scrapped down most of the systems to prepare change from sharp sand/gravel grow medium to hydroton. added float switches to prevent burning out sumps. will post pics later on.

thinking we can start a seed bank. what you all think?

[Chimera]

i bought some construction plastic in bhags today

the clear one is 14.95 a lb, a lb being 4 feet x 10 feet

starting my "sharon greenhouse" 7 in the morning lol

[rfari]

Nice. Surprisingly bhagwansingh's prices not that bad. Saw some items on sharon's list and some in person and it worked out better than importing it.

[Sharon_S]

i bought some construction plastic in bhags today

the clear one is 14.95 a lb, a lb being 4 feet x 10 feet

starting my "sharon greenhouse" 7 in the morning lol

The plastic apparently is doubled on the roll so try opening it and you will get it to 8 feet instead of 4 feet.

[Sharon_S]

The lettuce has been 10 days in the system and are doing well.



I transplanted the zucchini and 3 of the 6 got damaged so I dont expect those 3 to last much longer.



I harvested some basil today and made pesto,tasted great it was the first time I had pesto.



If I had some land I would seriously do this commercially.

[rfari]

Sweet! Great job Sharon_S. Do u have an EC meter to check the nutrient concentration? Or you're using tracmac's directions for mixing nutes?

[Chimera]

i find the construction plastic from bhags is very very low quality though....i ordered greenhouse plastic on amazon..will have to wait and see the difference in strength

will have to build something bigger and wider still, today i realized i didnt have some stuff i needed and all hardwares were closed so I ended up putting it up anyway

16 feet wide by 25 feet long

[Sharon_S]

Sweet! Great job Sharon_S. Do u have an EC meter to check the nutrient concentration? Or you're using tracmac's directions for mixing nutes?

For now I just changing out the nutrients after a week,but I ordered a meter so I should get that in about 2-3 weeks well at least the other trees in the yard benefitting from the one week old nutrients.

[Sharon_S]

i find the construction plastic from bhags is very very low quality though....i ordered greenhouse plastic on amazon..will have to wait and see the difference in strength

will have to build something bigger and wider still, today i realized i didnt have some stuff i needed and all hardwares were closed so I ended up putting it up anyway

16 feet wide by 25 feet long

Looking good.

[rfari]

looking good man ABA. what's the plan for the ground in the structure?

[shake d livin wake d dead]

sharon-looking bessss...nice stuff there
ABA selling some blocks or wa? need some

[Chimera]

lol na boy shakes, them thing gonna be used sooner or later

[shake d livin wake d dead]

lol na boy shakes, them thing gonna be used sooner or later

no scene.what you gonna be planting in the greenhouse? are you doing it for business purposes or for your own needs..?

[Chimera]

just to experiment for my own needs
gonna be giving away everything i grow lol
gonna try lettuce/tomato/pepper

probably do it commercially once I can get it done right on a small scale.

[Chimera]

rfari, will lettuce survive in 1 1/2 inch pvc in a system like sharon one?

or it need 2 or 4 inch

[rfari]

rfari, will lettuce survive in 1 1/2 inch pvc in a system like sharon one?

or it need 2 or 4 inch

1 1/2 " just might work but I'm unsure. I've seen uprooted lettuce grown in soil and the tap root tends to be about 3" long but I'm unsure how the root system develops in a hydro system. It should be shorter. Imma make a check tonight online.

edit: ABA, best to oversize than to undersize. i'm not too clear on the type of root system the lettuce develops. shakes maybe able to throw more light on this.

this looks like 1 1/2" diameter netted pots, 2" depth with only 1" 'in the action'. 1 1/2" is possible but personally i would have used at least 2"

[rfari]

i wud prefer pvc also but yuh nw give me ah idea with de half of plastic barrel please give some more details on the bio filter

Bear in mind that you would need enough grow medium to fill these barrels.
The bio filter simply converts the ammonia in fish waste into nitrites then nitrates. Ammonia and nitrites are much more toxic to fish than nitrates and plants can't directly utilise these compounds but they can absorb nitrates. So basically, the plants helps to remove the converted nitrates. The actual conversions are done by aerobic micro-organisms that usually live in fish tanks/ponds but thrive in bio-filters. There are different bio-filter designs to follow. In most cases, bio-balls and sponges are used in a re-circulating system with an additional air supply. There are some DIYs online and on youtube. By weekend, I'll post some examples.

Bio-filters are a bit new to me so any mistakes I've made, somebody please correct me.

a few of the good DIYs
http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm



great set of vids here. simple small system that will be suited for your intended setup. it doesn't have to be followed exactly but just incorporate the ideas.

[Coppershot]

Anybody else selling coco fibre or perlite?
Peake sold out in the coco fibre when I checked.

[shake d livin wake d dead]

nice vids fari

[bluesteel29]

Anybody else selling coco fibre or perlite?
Peake sold out in the coco fibre when I checked.

flower shop close to aranguez roundabout $20 a bag for perlite...if they dont have u can get miracle grow perlite for the same price across the highway.

[rfari]

how many pounds per bag at that price?

[Coppershot]

Bluesteel thanks
I will pass and check them. I will also find out how much pounds your getting for the price.
The other place I don't know. Send directions and I will find it.