New tanks, new plans, new idea?
We’ve been thinking about a new aquaponics system – a phase 2 set-up. Ofcourse we only have a sketch on a back of a napkin at the moment, (so many good plans start like that!) but we’re thinking of a bigger system than our initial prototype we set up in the backyard in our last house.
A bigger set up will give us the chance to learn about medium size set-ups work. For instance, we can get an idea about how to scale up the technical stuff, such as the sort of the pumps we’ll need, how the beds full of vegetables will respond to the Bellingen climate, and what sort of problems a medium size rig will create (not that we are anticipating any, but its good to allow for the unforeseen.)
In the winter, it gets cold around where we are. Well, by cold I mean about 0 or just below – that’s centigrade. Not so cold by the standards of many of our friends, but that’s cold for a beach girl. It will be cold for our plants too – and our fish. Dealing with that cold will be new for us.
Perhaps one piece of the puzzle will be to use a marquee-tent that I found on on ebay. It might act as a makeshift housing for the tanks, (and possibly some beds), and by crikey we’d have to stake it down properly. But it might also act as a greenhouse within the tent, raising the temperature and stopping frost. I wonder if this will work?
Marquee from KMATE - look for it on Ebay
That’s a great idea! Thanks for the comment Darren (sorry it took so long until I replied). At the moment because we are going between Sydney and Bellingen a bit too often for our own taste, we are still in a planning mood. Hopefully this Spring shall see at least the old setup we had in Sydney be back up and running. I am thinking that we will continue with the Silver Perch for a bit and then give Barramundi a try.
I recently visited the home of the NSW distributor for Backyard Aquaponics and got a tour of his setup. He had one system with an evacuated-tube hot water system connected into it, which was keeping the water warm. That could be good for your winter?
A larger setup would be good to allow for multiple tanks, letting you keep similar-sized fish together. You could also potentially play with different breeds of fish too.
I’m interested to read what you do – keep posting!