Aquaponics 101 – Airlift Tilapia Incubator.

In my never-ending quest to build the ultimate incubator for Tilapia eggs, I have built at least 5 prototypes, none of which worked exactly the way I planned. Summarised below are some of the problems that I have encountered in my experiments.

The eggs were not “tumbled” sufficiently and they settled in dead spots and [...]

Aquaponics 101 – Comparing Apples with Apples.

I often use a saying on the various forums that I frequent on the Internet, “When your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.“
This is so true for many of us, and one of my pet hates, is a person who is so set in his ways that he is blind to [...]

Aquaponics 101 – Spring has Sprung.

Heeeha, it’s here at last. SPRING. Well for us in the Southern Hemisphere anyway. Winter was short and sharp with no real surprises. The Tilapia hatchery held up well, without a single mortality amongst my brood fish, despite a low of 16 deg C at some times. The heat pump [...]

Aquaponics 101 – OK, here’s the deal.

This blog is currently attracting up to 800 visitors PER DAY from all corners of the world and I find it it extremely motivating, during my trials and tribulations, to know that a loyal band of readers are following my every move.
I’d thus like to invite you along for the next chapter of my Aquaponic [...]

Aquaponics 101 – Stand by for ACTION

Winter has proved to be an interesting time and predictably the major issue has been with temperatures.  The problem with Tilapia, being a low-value fish, is that one cannot afford to invest huge amounts in heating during Winter, so innovative means have to be found to keep them happy.  My situation is slightly different, in [...]

Aquaponics 101 – Don’t try this at home.

Right. Now for something completely different. How to turn a small IBC aquaponic (AP) system into an oyster display tank. You can’t be serious? Well I am, so here goes.
Some time back I showed you how to build a small home AP system using an IBC.  This week we decided to design and build [...]

Aquaponics 101 – The challenges of Winter

Tilapia grow optimally in a temperature range of 26-32 deg C.  While they can comfortably handle temperatures around 20 deg and still grow, the results are far from ideal.  Also, if you are breeding your Tilapia, they will cease spawning as the temperature drops below about 24 deg.  The number of daylight hours per day [...]

Aquaponics 101 – NFT, what I’ve learnt.

In Aquaponics 101 – NFT I introduced the concept of NFT, or Nutrient Flow Technique and demonstrated how to build a simple Aquaponic NFT cylinder out of 110mm PVC pipe.  This posting is a report back on this system (after about 2 weeks) as well as about some things that I have learnt about NFT [...]

Aquaponics 101 – NFT

NFT? WTF? Since starting with Aquaponics (AP) I have been intrigued by NFT.  While I’ve been fiddling with gravel growbeds the “big boys” have been showing off their NFT systems.  But what is NFT anyway?
Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) was invented in the 1960’s by Dr Allan Cooper at the Glasshouse Crops Research Institute in [...]

Aquaponics 101 – Maturing Systems

I have spoken at length in the past about water tests to determine if your Aquaponic (AP) system is working, but I thought that I’d show you some results today of two systems working side by side, but at different stages in their maturity.
Let me recap a bit on what I mean by “maturity” insofar [...]