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ljgeoffI've been reading about this lately. As with the bees, I think it's something I won't be able to get really going on until we either get a piece of property or if the guy across the street buys the property that the golem is sitting on, and lets me do it there.
So, this will be a new tag. I have a picture in my mind of what I want to do -- start small and all that. It's a biological system, some have called it a "living machine" -- I don't like the "machine" part.
It works like this: we would grow duckweed and algae to feed the fish. We can eat the duckweed and algae, too; it's very nutrient rich. The fish pee and poop goes to the plants -- there is a fungus that's introduced to the plant growing medium which breaks down the fish waste into usable plant food. The water, now cleaned of waste, is returned to the fish.
There's a lot of stuff out there about bioponics. Things that I want to incorporate are organic vegetables/herbs/flowers, vermiculture, compost, bees, algae and fish farming.
So, taking all of that apart:
1) House: To me, the first consideration is the housing of the system. Since I'm in a zone which freezes, this system should probably be in a greenhouse. It could be housed outside, but the fish/fungus/microbes would die in the winter.
I could set up a small system in my dining room if I had fewer people living in my house. But it looks like we might have Jerome's boys come live with us, so we'll need all the floor space we can get. For next year, I think we'll go with a 3 to five meter double-walled hoop house.
I want this to be a place that I enjoy coming to -- it must be appealing to all of the senses. The walls of the hoop house must be easily raised for when it becomes too warm, and the layout must be easy to navigate.
2) Fish Pond: I would like to farm both catfish and tilapia. Maybe crayfish and frogs if we have a bigger tank, but those would probably just be for fun. For a pond one meter deep and 2 meters across, there'd be about 6.25 cubic meters of water -- enough for 6 fish, or so. Make it two meters deep, and there's enough for 12 fish. Etc.
3) I like some of the vertical farms that I've seen. There's also this nifty growing system, Hydrostacker:
Hmm. Another idea -- I could make this as a dome instead of a hoop house. That would be pre' damn cool. Heh, wouldn't you know that the bright kids at the Buckmaster Fuller Institute already have one planned:
So, this will be a new tag. I have a picture in my mind of what I want to do -- start small and all that. It's a biological system, some have called it a "living machine" -- I don't like the "machine" part.
It works like this: we would grow duckweed and algae to feed the fish. We can eat the duckweed and algae, too; it's very nutrient rich. The fish pee and poop goes to the plants -- there is a fungus that's introduced to the plant growing medium which breaks down the fish waste into usable plant food. The water, now cleaned of waste, is returned to the fish.
There's a lot of stuff out there about bioponics. Things that I want to incorporate are organic vegetables/herbs/flowers, vermiculture, compost, bees, algae and fish farming.
So, taking all of that apart:
1) House: To me, the first consideration is the housing of the system. Since I'm in a zone which freezes, this system should probably be in a greenhouse. It could be housed outside, but the fish/fungus/microbes would die in the winter.
I could set up a small system in my dining room if I had fewer people living in my house. But it looks like we might have Jerome's boys come live with us, so we'll need all the floor space we can get. For next year, I think we'll go with a 3 to five meter double-walled hoop house.
I want this to be a place that I enjoy coming to -- it must be appealing to all of the senses. The walls of the hoop house must be easily raised for when it becomes too warm, and the layout must be easy to navigate.
2) Fish Pond: I would like to farm both catfish and tilapia. Maybe crayfish and frogs if we have a bigger tank, but those would probably just be for fun. For a pond one meter deep and 2 meters across, there'd be about 6.25 cubic meters of water -- enough for 6 fish, or so. Make it two meters deep, and there's enough for 12 fish. Etc.
3) I like some of the vertical farms that I've seen. There's also this nifty growing system, Hydrostacker:
Hmm. Another idea -- I could make this as a dome instead of a hoop house. That would be pre' damn cool. Heh, wouldn't you know that the bright kids at the Buckmaster Fuller Institute already have one planned:
(no subject)
Date: 2012-09-02 03:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-09-02 04:22 pm (UTC)A simple wood-fire boiler could keep the pond warm through the winter, and all that warm water would keep the plants warm enough. Also, a large compost pile is very warm.
We're looking at LED lights as a possibility for extending the growing season. They are an expensive investment, but take almost no power to keep lit.
But thinking of LEDs and that kind of stuff, I wonder about availability in the future, and should we stockpile stuff and what *kind* of stuff, and how much of a stockpile. Obviously, the stuff we can't make, electronic components and the like. -- It gets into crazy-making territory.
But, honestly, I often think something like, well, how would a space colony do it?
(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-02 02:35 am (UTC)I am using my own special T5 grow light with enhance spectrum at Red and Blue regions for photosynthesis, they are working well and it is 1/4 of the price of LED, I can send you the wavelength graph measured by my spectrometer if you wish.
I would like to know more about your latest developments if you have any.
Thank you!
Gerald
(no subject)
Date: 2013-11-02 12:48 pm (UTC)I'd love to hear about your project.