Table Of ContentWelcome to my new book on Aquaponics
Welcome to my new book on Aquaponics. I like the idea of writing and Electronic
downloadable book. It can be timely… featuring current events , have pictures galore, and
jump around to your area of interest and it can have live links to web pages for increased
content.
I want to make a flat statement that the BEST way to learn Aquaponics is to attend and
introductory course, learn the language, then VISIT as many Aquaponics Gardens and Farms as
possible. VISITING FARMS is the BEST education. Then buy a reference book that has a Note
(Foreword), 31 Dec 2009, 20:06 encyclopedia
With that thought in mind I want to mention that Dragons Eye Aquaponics is hosting a
Workshop on January 9th for ONLY $75. Go to it if you can. I plan to be there.
http://www.dragonseyeventures.com/Site/aquaponics_tours.html
Follow that up with an all day tour (January 23) of four Aquaponics farms, Friendly
Aquaponics and Justin/ Cherise Bugado on Hamakua Coast to Lynn and Dragons Eye Puna on
the south side. It is only $125 to tour FOUR Aquaponics farms!
This is the BEST way to learn, tour the farms. I have done it three times this year! I learned
SO much.
Check out their info at:
http://www.dragonseyeventures.com/Site/aquaponics_tours.html
http://www.dragonseyeventures.com/Site/Workshop_page.html
Olomana Gardens Certified Organic Aquaponics Gardening
There is a famous saying, is that you do not write a book, you Grow a book….which is the
case THIS BOOK IS GROWING…..this is the seedling.
This is the first manual ever written to teach the Hybrid system of combining Aquaponics
Flood and Drain Australian system with the Virgin Island Float bed system.
This system will describe the Olomana Gardens systems and explain how and why they
work.
It will include descriptions of all of the Aquaponics farms that Glenn has visited and
toured.
This manual will contain a synopsis of all the training the Glenn Martinez has attended in
the last 18 months. You will learn what the best teachers available are teaching.
This is just the opening page. This is a brand new adventure. We are working out the bugs.
This “book” will be updated and expanded on a daily basis. It is FREE for now, keep
checking back for daily updates.
This is a test to see if this “marketing system” is valid and operational. I am having to
switch form a PC to a MAC…learn Snow Leopard, Scrivener (book editing software) and then
switch to Adobe to make a PDF file that can be uploaded to PayLoadz web site so you can get it
for free.
So what are going to have in this book?
A brief overview of Olomana Gardens and a history of how we got to this point in time:
A Power Point presentation of our University of Hawaii Outreach College Course on
Aquaponics. This is the Introductory to Aquaponics course that I taught for three semesters for
UH.
We will have in-depth descriptions of the three workshops and training sessions that Glenn
has attended in the last 18 months. That starts with Friendly Aquaponics on the Big Island (not
recommended) then to Dr. Rakocy of Virgin Island fame 9highly recommended) to Brisbane,
Australia for lesson with Australia‟s best authors of Aquaponics books and DVD‟s, (highly
recommended). Then I went to Nelson and Pade (recommended) for Green House or Controlled
Environment Aquaponics
A drawing of the different systems at Olomana Gardens.
An offer to buy our award winning Video of Olomana Gardens.
A bio on the “who-is-who” in Aquaponics. You will meet and know the top educators and
movers and shakers. We will provide live links to their web sites.
We are going to write a description of every classical system that we know of, with pointer
on their strong and weak points.
We hope to have the address and tour information for every aquaponics farm that
welcomes visitors not only here in Hawaii but everywhere. Seeing and touring farms is the BEST
education.
Anyway, I will be writing just about every day and updating this file and the book will get
better and better.
Thanks and feel free to email me at [email protected]
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Dragon Eye is hosting Introduction to Aquaponic classes and a one day tour on the 23rd
Check out the information
http://www.dragonseyeventures.com/Site/Workshop_page.html
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Dragon Eye hosts tours to FOUR Big Island Aquaponic Farms; they pick you up at
the airport in early morning and bring you back for a 7:30 pm flight.
Check this site for current tours
http://www.dragonseyeventures.com/Site/aquaponics_tours.html
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MISSION
Olomana Gardens is a permaculture farm dedicated to serving the local community as
a demonstration farm for modern, sustainable food growing systems suitable for small-scale
farms and even food production for residential lots.
The central features of our farm are integrated systems of animals, composting and
vermicomposting, and aquaponics (aquaculture + hydroponics), combining fish raising and
production of organic vegetables.
We have a diverse and colorful collection of animals,
including horses, chickens, ducks, turkeys and goats and thousands upon thousands of
composting worms which turn organic waste and manures into natural fertilizer.
We produce aquaponic, certified organic vegetables and natural chicken and duck eggs are
sold as available. We also sell composting and tiller worms, worm composting bins, worm
compost and organic pallet gardens for delivery (the all-in-one pallet gardens are perfect for
budding farmers with limited space or those who want only organic produce).
Agriculture workshops are held regularly, and small group and school tours are welcome.
Visit our web site or call for information
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Aquaponics is an entire ecosystem in itself,
Your system can be USDA Certified Organic on the plant side, but on the fish side there
are no Organic standards in USA. So there is no organic fish in the USA.
Aquaponics is a recirculation system. The fish urine and waste (nitrite) is filtered to
remove fish solids, through
Cinder or clay balls or settling tanks and mechanical devices that naturally contain bacteria
that break down the ammonia into nitrite. Then the nitrite bacteria are eaten by the Nitrate
bacteria that put the nitrogen in a form that the plants can utilize.
The filtered water
Is then recycled back into the fish tank. The problem with Aquaculture fish farms
Is keeping the water clean so typical they flush the water in one third change outs, toss the
dirt water wherever is handy. And the problem with hydroponics is the purchasing the
nutrients (Chemicals)
Needed (usually petro non-organic) and they have to be disposed of every 6 6o 8 weeks in
most hydroponic systems. The revolutionary Aquaponics technique marries the two fields,
Aquaculture married to Hydroponics.
You can grow many tilapias in close proximity to each other in a small container
which make them perfect for this set up. Also, Tilapia has a mild flavor
This is why chefs enjoy cooking with them. They are basically a blank
Tilapia is a blank pallet for the chef to flavor however they want. And the salads and
Herbs that can grow from the fish are amazing crisp and fresh and also
Organic. No pesticides, no fertilizers needed. HUGE leaves. Imagine
1000's of these set up in the poorest countries. It could feed everyone.
In larger Aquaponics systems...with large holding tanks
(1000 - 5,000 gallons). With these, you can produce 100's of Tilapia,
Since they can grow in schools, in close proximity of each other. If
you had 100, you could have fish 1 to 2 fish a week. Have eight hundred and you can eat
up to 16 fish a week. They take about
9 months to grow, and the reproduce all the time, so it's a cycle that
never ends. Most greens are very fast growing and you can begin
harvesting in 21 days. If you start new plants every 7 to 10 days, then you
can have 4 different growing stages (or more) so you can basically eat
fresh salad just about every night if you plan right.
It's amazing how
Positive people are when introduced to Aquaponics. You are invited to YOU
tube Aquaponics; there is information everywhere about this. It's not that
farfetched. It's pretty simple to do. And free organic food is better
than the alternative.
Olomana DVD
To purchase our award winning DVD, please visit our home page at Olomana Gardens
https://olomanagardens.com/Sales.html
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To see Trailers of our DVD here are two live links for instant playing
http://vimeo.com/5106330
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htLg_2bTTyM
If you want to purchase our Permaculture and Aquaponics video please visit our store at:
https://olomanagardens.com/Sales.html
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AWARD FOR OLOMANA GARDENS' VIDEO
Filmmakers, Al and Jayne Cloutier of World Class Productions, have won a prestigious
Award of Excellence from the International Accolade Film Awards for the video, Olomana
Gardens, Permaculture and Aquaponics.
The video features Glenn Martinez of Olomana Gardens as he takes viewers on a guided
tour of Olomana Gardens. Get more information at Accolade Video Awards. The video is
available in OUR STORE online.
https://olomanagardens.com/Sales.html
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A Pocket History of Aquaponics
While most people know that Aquaponics is the combination of Aquaculture and Hydroponics, rather fewer know much of how it came
about.
The notion of using fish wastes to fertilize plants (the fundamental premise of aquaponics) has its roots in early Asian and South American
civilizations.
The ancient Aztecs built „chinampas‟ (networks of canals and stationary artificial islands) in which they cultivated crops on the islands
using nutrient-rich mud and water from the canals.
The ancient Chinese also employed a system of integrated aquaculture in which finfish, catfish, ducks and plants co-existed in a symbiotic
relationship where the ducks were housed in cages over the finfish ponds. The finfish processed the wastes from the ducks. In a lower pond, the
catfish live on the wastes that have flowed from the finfish pond. The water from the catfish ponds was used for irrigated rice and vegetable
crops.
The New Alchemists are probably the people principally responsible for Aquaponics, as we currently know it.
In 1969, John and Nancy Todd and William McLarney founded the New Alchemy Institute. The culmination of their efforts was the
construction of a prototype agricultural “Ark”……a solar-powered, self-sufficient, bio-shelter…..designed to accommodate the year-round needs
of a family of four using holistic methods to provide fish, vegetables and shelter.
In the mid 1980‟s, Mark McMurtry (a graduate student at North Carolina University) and Professor Doug Sanders created the first known
closed loop aquaponic system.
Effluent from fish tanks was used to trickle-irrigate tomatoes and cucumbers in sand grow beds which also functioned as bio-filters. As the
water drained from the sand grow beds it was recirculated back into the fish tanks.
McMurtry‟s research and findings confirmed much of the background science that underpins Aquaponics.
In the early 1990‟s, Missouri farmers Tom and Paula Speraneo modified the NCSU system and introduced their Bioponics concept. They
grew herbs and vegetables in ebb and flow gravel grow beds irrigated by the nutrient rich water from a 2200 litre tank in which they raised
Tilapia.
While gravel grow beds had been used for decades by hydroponicists, the Speraneos were the first to make effective use of them in
Aquaponics. Their system was practical and productive and has been widely duplicated by Aquaponics enthusiasts throughout the World.
Around the same time, at the University of Virgin Islands, James Rakocy PhD and associates developed a commercial-scale aquaponics
system which comprises four 7,800 litre tanks feeding six deep water culture (DWC) troughs. Most large commercial aquaponics systems are
premised upon DWC or NFT growing systems.
Americans Rebecca Nelson and John Pade commenced publication of their quarterly Aquaponics Journal in 1997.
In more recent times, Canadian researcher Dr Nick Savidov has undertaken further research around the productive potential of aquaponics.
Through the efforts of these pioneers, Aquaponics…..a modern slant on an old idea….is enjoying a renaissance.
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This is the sales site for our award winning DVD…..
https://olomanagardens.com/Sales.html
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Basic Design Criteria:
You START designing you Aquaponics garden or farm with the fish tank. Decide how
large a fish tank you want. Everything is built around the capacity of the fish tank.
How many fish do you want to eat per week on a year round basis? For every 100
fish you raise, you can eat two fish a week. Have a large family to feed? Then have larger fish
tank. Bill Hallam recommends 250 gallons is often referred to as the smallest practical size. You
can do smaller, and many people do, but they have small gardens and small fish. If you want to
raise fish to one and half pounds, think bigger fish tank. Five hundred gallons is the minimum for
small commercial ventures. In that you can raise 150 to 200 fish without problems. If you add
float beds to your system, the added gallons in the float bed allow more fish in the fish tank.
Decide on your stocking density. Bill Hallam recommends one fish per two and half
gallons. Dr. James Rakocy runs as high as one fish per gallon of water. I recommend one fish per
three gallons of SYSTEM water. Note I am not talking of tank water alone, but the combined
fish water that is circulating in the garden system. If I have a three hundred gallon horse trough
fish tank (filled to 260 gallons) and three 90 gallon masonry FLOAT BEDS trays (filled to 80
gallons) holding 80 gallon of water each, then I have 260 plus 80+80+80 = gallons of water. So
I can have up to 500 gallons of water in constant circulation. If I stock it 3 to 1 ratio, that would
around 150 plus fish (at one pound =$450 worth of fish). With 150 fish I could eat three to four
fish per week forever.
There are some considerations when deciding stocking density. If you have a lot of fish in
a tank, they tend not to breed. No privacy, no necking areas, too much action to take the time to
breed. Fish like to school and seem comfortable in dense tanks. On the other hand, if a pump
fails and the water stops circulating, the fish are in trouble FAST. So when you start out, have
less fish and increase the chance of surviving power failures. Most beginners procrastinate on
power failure backup systems….till they lose a tank of fish. Then they spend the money to get
alarms, battery backup and generators. Such is life. Been there myself.
So let‟s say you have a system with 300 gallons fish tank, you need one gallon of bio-filter
for each gallon of dense fish tank. I call this the cinder/filter beds. So that means I need 260
gallons (we never over fill the stock tank) gallons of bio filter minimum. So I pick three 90
gallon masonry trays. They are filled to 80 gallons of black volcano cinder or clay balls.
Now I need a pump to pump the water from the fish tank to the bio-filter bed. How big a
pump? The standard in the aquaculture or aquarium world is to pump the capacity of the tank
each hour. So, if I have a 300 gallon fish tank, I buy a 500 gallon or larger pump. I always buy a
larger pump and bleed off the excess capacity back to the fish tank with a by-pass valve. In my
system put in a 900 gallon per hour pump and send it all to the cinder beds.
So, how much is too much? Well we go to our Australians Ebb and Flow systems. After
interviews many Aquaponics gardeners, I found that 10 to 12 minutes was the recommended
cycle. I have built several Aquaponics systems and found that if the system is cycled in 10 to 12
minutes (10 minute fill and 2 minute drain) that the water is oxygenated. If I slow the cycle of fill
and drain to one hour, the oxygen is deleted. We have also noticed that the plants in a system
cycling at 10/12 minutes grow best, and going slower, the plants live, but not the robust growth. I
set a maximum fill/drain cycle of 15 minutes. That is four times an hour. I go for the 12 minute
when I can make it happen.
Description:Olomana Gardens Certified Organic Aquaponics Gardening There is a famous saying, is that you do not write a book, you Grow a book….which is the
