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HaveMore Demonstration Micro-Farm

HaveMore Farm is my own waste transformation demonstration farm.

It’s located on a 900 square metre (just under a quarter acre) residential block on Macleay Island in Queensland’s Southern Moreton Bay.  As such, the climate is sub-tropical.

Currently, we have:

  • 360 square feet (about 33 square metres) of wicking beds
  • Moringa and neem trees – and various types of bamboo
  • Fruit trees
  • Chickens and Japanese quail
  • Aquaponics and hydroponics systems
  • Black soldier fly larvae and redworms
  • Duckweed and kangkong
  • Native bees
  • Biochar production

I describe what we do as Microponics  – it’s waste transformation farming at the backyard and small-to-medium enterprise level.

Microponics Origins

The challenge when designing small integrated food production systems is to see every output as a resource…even waste body heat and expired carbon dioxide.

When I first set out to describe a concept of small-scale integrated food production, over a decade ago, I called it integrated backyard food production (IBFP).

Integrated Backyard Food Production became too much of a mouthful and so, in 2008, it became Microponics. The name suggests its own origins – the combination of micro-farming, micro-livestock and aquaponics.

Some years later, I made the acquaintance of Dr Paul Olivier – a waste transformation expert.  To my delight, his waste transformation model accommodated (and complimented) Microponics.  He provided me with fresh insights into the integration of organic waste and I showed him how to integrate aquaponics/iAVs into his model. He persuaded me that using organic waste to make biogas was wasteful and polluting…and he designed the gasifiers that I now use as the alternative to biogas digesters.  Suffice to say, I value his friendship and knowledge…and our collaboration is ongoing.

Applied Microponics/WTF

The best way to get a sense of how waste transformation works on our micro-farm is to accompany me on my morning routine.
 
The day begins with a quick trip around our various food production systems to confirm that fate has been kind to us overnight.  Don’t laugh, we’ve encountered a carpet python (full of quail) in our quail pen and equipment failure has killed a tankful of freshwater fish.
 
At the same time, I feed any fish that we may be growing, collect any eggs from our chickens and quail and gather ripe fruit and vegetables from my various wicking beds or aquaponics and hydroponics systems.  I also harvest moringa, perennial peanut and duckweed.
 
I check my BioPod and gather any black soldier fly larvae that have self-harvested overnight.   BSF larvae are the favourite food of chickens and they disappear within seconds of them hitting the floor of the chicken pen.
 
I fill our small gasifier with wood pellets and flash it up.  A few minutes later, I have boiling water for a cup of tea which I drink as I sort through the fruit and vegetables that I’ve just harvested.
 
I take the best of this bounty to the kitchen.  I gather any kitchen scraps that may have accumulated in the preceding 24 hours and add some organic chicken feed and the remaining boiled water, to create a warm hot mash.  This, and some duckweed and perennial peanut foliage, is also fed out.
 
By this time, the gasifier has burned out and the wood pellets that were used as fuel have now become biochar. Our biochar production is an excellent example of where you take something of low value (the wood pellets), add value to it (the gasifier) and end up with high grade heat (to boil the water) and biochar for our gardens (and other uses).  In this example, we’ve got the hot water at no cost and the biochar is worth much more than the cost of the wood pellets from which it originated. Where wastes, like rice hulls and nut shells, can be obtained for nothing, the biochar is free.
 
Smaller quantities of mash, duckweed, and peanut are also fed to our quail.
 
We’re gradually transitioning our birds from the expensive organic ration that we feed them to homegrown feed…so that the birds continue to lay at capacity while the change happens. Sudden shifts in the feeding regime will often be reflected in reduced egg production.
 
Any manure that has accumulated in the chicken and quail pens is removed and fed to the BSF larvae. Counterintuitively, the manure quickly ceases to have any odour once the larvae get hold of it.  For every kilogram of manure and food scraps that are fed to them, we get 200g of larvae in return.
 
Even though we continue to use the purchased ration, the supplementary feeding has reduced the amount of the bought stuff that they consume – so our overall cost of feed has reduced.  When the transition to a home-grown ration is complete, we’ll be feeding our birds for no outlay save our labour.
 
Once our chickens have had breakfast, we let them out into a fenced space that we use as a soil pit. It provides them with shade, protection from predators and space to run around.

It’s also where I throw all of the garden residues, grass clippings and bamboo trash.  The chickens break this material down…spreading their manure…to create an excellent growing mix for use in our wicking beds and other soil-based gardens.

Other periodic farming tasks include:

  • transfer of BSF waste to the worm farm – ‘larvicast’ retains 50% of its original protein levels and is excellent worm bedding
  • processing fish, ducks, quail and chickens
  • harvesting and drying moringa leaves to make powder – for human and animal consumption
  • gathering bamboo trash to make garden mulch and mesophilic bedding
  • harvesting bamboo for trellising poles and fuel
  • planting out seedlings and propagating plants

All of this activity produces a series of waste transformation “cascades and loops” (as Paul Olivier calls them) that result in reduced inputs and increased outputs…more food for less money.

  • The fish provide nutrients for plants (including duckweed) and the plants clean the water for the fish.
  • Plant residues and fish processing wastes are fed to Black Soldier fly larvae. The larvae are fed to fish, chickens and quail.
  • The chicken and quail meat and eggs go to the kitchen and the viscera (guts) are fed to the BSF larvae. The feathers are composted.
    The castings from the larvae (which retain up to 50% of their original protein level) and kitchen scraps are fed to worms.
  • The worm castings are mixed with compost and used as a soil conditioner for trees, vegetables and fodder plants; while the worms are fed to fish, chickens and quail.
  • Chickens fertilise the trees and eat weeds. They also eat spoiled fruit and the fruit fly larvae that it contains.
  • Other chickens and quail eat the fodder plants and provide manure (and eventually feathers and other processing wastes) for worms, black soldier fly larvae and composting systems.
  • Bamboo gives us poles for trellising and light construction.  The leaves and twigs become fuel and mulch.
  • Low value crop residues (like rice hulls, nut shells) produce high-grade heat for cooking and yield biochar.
  • The biochar is infused with beneficial micro-organisms and mixed with our homemade garden soil.  We’re even adding it to our livestock rations. 

The development of HaveMore Farm is a journey rather than a destination.  Just when the end is in sight, new prospective integrations reveal themselves.

Our project list includes:

  • Hybrid energy production
  • Wastewater treatment
  • The integrated aqua-vegeculture system (iAVs)
  • Organic hydroponics
  • Fruit and nut trees
  • Aquatic plants – azolla, Chinese water chestnuts
  • Fodder plants and trees – pigeon pea, amaranth, comfrey, chou moellier, tagasaste and moringa
  • More live animal protein – feeder roaches and mealworms
  • Snails
  • Guinea pigs
  • Mushrooms and fungi

If we weren’t constrained by zoning laws, we’d also keep meat rabbits, pigs, goats and even miniature cattle like Dexters.

As it is, HaveMore WTF yields fish, quail/chicken/duck meat and eggs, worm castings/tea, duckweed, free livestock feed, vegetables, herbs, flowers and honey. We also get pollination, pest control, cultivation and weed removal as an added bonus.

The integration of fish, plants and micro-livestock leverages the volume and quality of the clean fresh food that we grow – and it makes for a healthier and more resilient food production environment. Income that would otherwise be used to buy food becomes available for other sustainability projects.

In short, HaveMore Farm allows us to have more for less. 

-o0o-

In the next (and final) article in this series, I’ll offer some insights into how Waste Transformation Farming might work from a business perspective.

If waste transformation farming interests you, and you’d like to talk about it with other like-minded people, feel free to take up membership of my Have More For Less forum.

Why Waste Transformation Farming is the Future

Industrial farming has wrought incalculable damage on our planet.  As such, it is unsustainable.  We need alternative ways to for us to derive our nutrition without devastating our place…Mother Earth!  

Waste Transformation Farming is that method.

It also means more income, better health and greater food security for those who embrace it.

WTF is productive, resilient and sustainable.

Productivity is the rate of output that is created for a unit of input. It’s used to measure how much you get out of an hour worked – or a dollar of investment. It follows, therefore, if you don’t have to pay (or pay less) for livestock feed and fertilisers, you are more productive. WTF offers unparalleled productivity.

Resilienceis the ability for a system, entity or individual to endure stress. It’s how well you take a hit…and how well you bounce back.  If you’re not in debt to feed and fertiliser suppliers, and you have a diverse range of products, you’re in a better position to cope with market downturns and adverse weather events…while still putting food on your table (literally).  WTF is the most risk-averse way to farm.

Sustainability, in a WTF context, means deriving your nutrition and livelihood without harming the planet.  No chemical pesticides or herbicides.  No chemical fertilisers.  No production systems that produce toxins.  No discharge of effluent to groundwater.  WTF is arguably the most planet-friendly act that you could undertake.

The availability of fresh water is one of the more pressing limits to world agriculture.  WTF embraces integrated aquaculture strategies that mean that you will use much less water (than conventional farming) …or it will provide you with unparalleled productivity for the water that you currently use.

WTF provides for biological and financial leverage.

Leverage is your ability to influence the outcome of your efforts – without a corresponding increase in the consumption of resources.  It occurs when we integrate two or more food production systems.   Integrated systems are always more than the sum of the parts. They’re the agricultural equivalent of 2+2=5 (or more).

When we gather the manure from chickens and feed it to black soldier fly larvae and worms we get not only eggs but also live animal protein for chickens and fish, excellent soil amendments…for no added cost.

WTF is infinitely scalable.

You can practise waste transformation farming in your backyard.  You can set up a social enterprise to empower impoverished villagers.  You can expand a backyard micro-farm to become a commercial enterprise.

To summarise…WTF will provide more food – of better quality – in a shorter time – at lower cost.  It will give you more for less!

And our planet will love you for it.

-o0o-

The next article will look at WTF from a practical perspective.  We’ll walk you through HaveMore Farm…our very own waste transformation farm.

If waste transformation farming interests you, and you’d like to talk about it with other like-minded people, feel free to take up membership of my Have More For Less forum.

How does Waste Transformation Farming Work?

To understand how waste transformation farming works, we can do no better than to take a look at the work of Dr Paul Olivier.  This disarmingly humble man – lives in Vietnam – and devotes his life to empowering the poor through waste transformation.

He’s developed a transformation model for biodegradable (organic) solid wastes.

Waste Transformation is a 4-step process:  Wastes are identified…then they are categorised…and we add value to them…before putting them to their highest use.

4 Steps to Waste Transformation

  • Sourcing
  • Categorisation
  • Value Adding
  • Application

Sourcing

Waste is available from many sources – often just for the taking.

There are many different types of biodegradable waste.  The following list is not exhaustive, but it will provide some insight in the scope of organic waste opportunities waiting to be exploited.

  • Spent brewer’s grains
  • Bones
  • Cardboard and paper
  • Eggs shells
  • Grain husks and hulls
  • Plate scrapings
  • Meat and fish scraps and offal
  • Nut shells
  • Plant residues
  • Spoiled hay
  • Straw
  • Stale bread and pastry goods
  • Sawdust/wood shavings
  • Urine – animal and human
  • Manure – animal and human
  • Seaweed
  • Windfall wood., twigs and leaves
  • Coffee pulp
  • Coffee grounds
  • Effluent
  • Weeds and grass
  • Waste heat and expired CO2.

….and many others.

Of course, you don’t have to generate these wastes yourself.  All you have to do is find them in your area…and then do the person who owns them a favour by taking care of their waste problem by taking them back to your place.

Is rice grown (rice hulls)? What about nuts (like almonds, macadamias, walnuts)? 

Are there any shearing sheds in your area (the farmers will often allow the removal of sheep manure from under the sheds)…or is someone keeping horses (horse manure)? 

Are your neighbours mowing grass that they might like to deposit in a heap at your fenceline?

Do tree loppers clear trees from around powerlines and then mulch the waste?  Some morning tea or a light lunch may score you a truckload of mulched tree waste.  

Is there windfall wood on the roadsides that you can harvest?

Do you live near food processing operations, restaurants/cafes, hotels or anywhere that has food wastes?

Once you identify prospective waste sources, think about the logistics of collecting and storing the waste.

What quantities of the waste are available?  Is your requirement for this type of waste continuous, intermittent or regular?  Do you have space to store the waste?

Do you have to pay for it? How much?  What is the cost of recovery and transportation?  Even if you do not place a financial cost on your time, do you have to use a vehicle to recover the waste…or are they being delivered to you…at a cost?

Can you ensure that the waste that you collect will not create a nuisance (like odours, flies, vermin) for your neighbours?  Anxious neighbours are a clear and imminent threat for micro-farmers so you should not give them cause for concern.

Categorisation

To categorise available wastes:

Those wastes are divided into those which are putrescent…and those which are non-putrescent.

putrescent…. undergoing the process of decay; rotting

Further, split these categories into high grade or low grade.

And then rank the wastes in order of nutrient content.

Type 1 waste (e.g. fresh food and spent brewery grain) contains a lot of nutrients. Ideally this waste should be used for feed for higher animals. Lactic acid fermentation is the preferred way to transform Type 1 waste into feed.  Another simple and effective way to ensure that food wastes are pathogen-free is to flash fry them. 

Type 2 waste is food that is unfit for consumption by animals.  Arguably the best example is livestock manure. Generally, there’s no better nor quicker way to transform this type of waste than through the combined action of larvae and worms.  

Type 3 waste (e.g. leaves and coarse plant residues) is easily broken down by composting microbes into soil conditioners and amendments.

Type 4 waste (e.g. bamboo prunings, macadamia shells, wood shavings, twigs, rice hulls, etc) is the stuff that won’t quickly break down in the compost heap and is often carted to the tip – or just discarded.  Type 4 waste, however, is ideal for the production of syngas and bio-char.

Value Adding

 When we obtain:

  • grain husks and hulls – or wood shavings or sawdust – and add animal urine to them to mesophilically compost them
  • plant processing wastes and ferment them so that they become pig and poultry feed.
  • fish wastes and mineralise them to become plant nutrients
  • nut shells and burn them in a top loading updraft gasifier to get biochar and high-grade heat
  • animal manure – or coffee pulp – and feed it to black soldier fly larvae to produce high quality animal protein
  • food processing and aquaculture effluent and vigorously aerate it to produce plant nutrients
  • kitchen wastes and flash fry them to become pig and poultry feed

…we are adding value to them.  

Organic waste sources abound and the opportunities to add value to them are limited only by our imagination.

Application

Another key WTF principle is that waste should always be put to its highest use.

High-grade putrescent waste (Type 1) should not be composted or fed to larvae and worms, unless it has spoiled to the point where it can no longer be preserved as feed for higher animals.

We only burn Type 4 wastes in a device that will give us biochar in addition to the high-grade.  The effort involved making a top loading updraft gasifier (or the investment in buying one) is worthwhile in any situation where the waste is of uniform size…like nutshells, rice hulls and wood pellets.

Low-grade putrescent (Type 2) waste that can be fed to larvae and worms should not be composted.  Larvae, worms and worm castings are far more valuable than compost.

That’s essentially how waste transformation farming works.  It’s about identifying waste streams…adding value to it where necessary…and ensuring that we put all so-called ‘waste’ to its highest use…to achieve the greatest value from each waste type.

By treating waste in this way, we produce valuable farming inputs (feed, biochar, compost/fertilizer/plant nutrients at little to no cost.

-o0o-

The next article will look at the benefits of WTF.

If waste transformation farming interests you, and you’d like to talk about it with other like-minded people, feel free to take up membership of my Have More For Less forum.

WTF is Waste Transformation Farming

Waste Transformation Farming (WTF) is a productive, resilient and sustainable food production system.

It’s about identifying and categorising organic waste streams – and adding value to them – before using them to produce clean, fresh organic food– while reducing the need to purchase feedstuffs, fertilisers and soil amendments.

The secret to WTF is integration. Integration, in a farming context, is where food production systems are linked to each other to enable the waste from one organism to become the feedstock for other organisms.

Aquaponics/iAVs is an example of integration in which aquaculture and horticulture are combined.  The fish are fed and produce waste that is converted to plant nutrients. The plants take up the nutrients and, in so doing, clean the water for the fish.

Integrated systems are always more than the sum of their parts. They’re the combination of leveraging elements that are the functional equivalent of 2+2=5 (or more).

In the aquaponics example, we get fish and vegetables for the same amount of fish feed that it would take to just grow the fish.  We also get two crops for the same amount of water – and a cost-saving…and a huge environmental benefit.

Of course, WTF is not limited to aquaponics.

It’s an infinitely scalable food production system which embraces many ‘organisms’ including:

  • Vegetables and herbs
  • Freshwater fish and crayfish
  • Japanese Quail
  • Chickens
  • Fruit and nut trees
  • Ducks and other waterfowl
  • Bees
  • Aquatic plants – duckweed, azolla, water spinach, Chinese water chestnuts
  • Fodder plants and trees – pigeon pea, amaranth, comfrey, Chou Moellier, tagasaste and moringa
  • Live animal protein – Black Soldier Fly larvae, feeder roaches, mealworms, worms
  • Farmed rabbits
  • Snails
  • Fungi
  • Pigs
  • Sheep and goats
  • Cattle

The thing that all of these organisms have in common with each other is that they generate some type of waste that eventually presents as a problem. WTF turns problems into opportunities.

The next article will address how waste transformation farming works at a practical level.

If waste transformation farming interests you, and you’d like to talk about it with other like-minded people, feel free to take up membership of Aquaponics Nation forum.

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De-Cluttering is Not Just about Stuff

At the heart of de-cluttering (on the way to simplifying our lives) is the notion that we should identify the essential – and eliminate the rest.

While we generally think of clutter as having a physical form – like objects that you can see and touch – it also extends to other things like:

  • ideas
  • thoughts
  • mindsets
  • habits

I love new ideas…and I constantly think (and write) about them.  I’ll often spend large amounts of time entertaining ideas to the exclusion of other things that I really should be doing.  

I also have a continuous improvement mindset which means that I’ll often be so busy trying to make something perfect that it actually prevents me from just making it good…with the result that nothing happens.  Perfectionism is said to be the mother of procrastination…with which I have enormous experience.

Suffice to say, some people find this irritating.  

While it’s often interesting to reflect on what other people think (another great time waster), I’m really motivated to do something about this because I have a lot of things that I want to do before I depart this mortal coil – and mental clutter is an obstacle to that happening.

Anyway, in my quest to resolve this issue I’ve enlisted the assistance of Leo Babauta – author of “The Power of Less” – The 6 Essential Productivity Principles that will Change Your Life.”

Babauta’s big 6 include:

  • Set limitations
  • Choose the essential
  • Simplify
  • Focus
  • Create habits
  • Start small

Since this is an abiding topical issue in my life, I’m going to commit to a project to fix it.  I’ll be documenting my progress on my Have More For Less discussion forum…HERE…and you’re welcome to join me to see how things are going…and to discuss any aspect of de-cluttering.

-o0o-

De-Cluttering

De-cluttering is the pathway to minimalism…and simple living.

The notion that underpins minimalism is that we accumulate stuff…but we eventually get to the point where that stuff owns us. It determines how and where we live…and what we have to do to buy more of it…and to keep what we’ve got. Then we have to insure the stuff so that, if someone steals it, we won’t be out of pocket.  The theory goes that individual freedom (to large part) comes from abandoning our attachment to stuff.

We find that as we own less, so we have greater freedom to choose where we live and how we live. If life is suddenly costing much less, then we don’t need to spend as much time working…and we’re free to pursue other things like travel, volunteering……anything!

In 2013, we moved from a three bedroom house on 3000 square metres to a one-bedroom cottage on less than a thousand square metres on Macleay Island.  While we welcomed the lifestyle change, an initial declutter was necessary just for us to be able to get almost everything under cover.  This was our first faltering step toward minimalism – and a simpler life.

In the ensuing three years, we slimmed down a bit more, but we still had a 20′ shipping container full of things for which we had a questionable need.  I’d also erected a 6m X 3m shade shed to accommodate the things that would no longer fit in the container.

My living space is just 6m x 4.5 metres (20′ x 15′) but its contents were such that it made keeping the place clean and tidy took more time that I wanted to spend on housekeeping.  My workshop was even worse.  Undertaking any task that required access to a workbench required that I move a heap of things before I could start work.

So, in late May, I embarked upon the third stage of the de-cluttering process.  

I can now walk the length of the 6m x 2.8m shipping container and I can also circumnavigate the bench in my workshop.  Housekeeping my living space now requires less time.

Some of what I’ve discarded will be sold and the rest will be donated to local service clubs.

Another outcome is that I’ve learned that decluttering is an ongoing process.  As I sit at my desk, I can see several items that seem to have escaped our most recent move toward minimalism – and I’m sure that the same applies to the house, workshop and backyard.

I’m also confident that each subsequent decluttering event will become quicker and easier.

-o0o-

Sayonara Aquaponics

In recent weeks, I’ve been reflecting on aquaponics – and its impact on my life.

I wrote the Urban Aquaponics Manual back in 2007 – and then revised it three times – and I’ve been endeavouring to roll out the 4th Edition for several years…but I struggle to make the time to complete the work.

I’ve designed and built a dozen systems…and I currently have my latest creation ready to go…but I lack the motivation to even find the fish and start it up.

I’ve spent about 13 years on various discussion forum and Facebook groups and that has brought me into contact with the full spectrum of humanity ranging from the delightful to the absolute arsehole…and I’m tired.

Part of my problem with aquaponics has to do with my introduction, in 2014, to iAVs…the method that best demonstrates what integrated aquaculture looks is really about.

Suffice to say, I’ve been at the aquaponics crossroads for some time…but the disenchantment has peaked in the past couple of weeks.

About a week ago, Permaculturist David the Good released a YouTube video called “The Aquaponics Delusion – Why Aquaponic Gardening Doesn’t Make Sense” in which he canvassed his concerns with aquaponics.  The ensuing reaction from elements of the aquaponics community caused David to pull the video but the gist of his argument can be found in this article.

While article had some shortcomings, enough of it resonated with me that it became the straw that finally broke the aquaponics camel’s back.

My problem with aquaponics is exacerbated by other personal issues.  Suffice to say, I have too many projects – and too little time – to the point where I’m not achieving anything except to frustrate myself and others.

As things stand, right now, I’ll be selling my latest (unused) recirculating aquaculture system.  I’ll also be calling a halt to the rollout of the 4th Edition of the Urban Aquaponics Manual…at least until I’ve cleared the backlog.

I’m not abandoning integrated aquaculture…simply changing direction. 

-o0o-

Sand Bed Configuration – A Few Thoughts

1. The top surface (both before forming furrows and in the bottom of the finished furrows) should be level from side to side and also from end to end (and thereby from corner to diagonal corner).  Since water ALWAYS seeks ‘its’ own level’, the easiest way to accomplish this is to block the drainage outlet, flood the beds to saturation and slightly more, and then adjust the sand (and furrow) surfaces to be consistent with the water level.  Note, all sand will settle some what during the first one to three saturation/drainage cycles.  Some sand more so than others and not necessarily uniformly along the length and/or width.  Therefore, it is suggested that one allow the bulk of this settling to occur before finalizing the surface preparations.

2. Because the top surface is level but the bottom of the bed is sloped down toward the outlet (drain) end, then the longer the bed length is, the greater the change of sand depth will be from one end to the other.  The 30 to 33 cm depth suggestion is meant to reflect average depth at the shallow (uphill) end.  The longer the bed is, the deeper the mean depth will become at the drainage (downhill) end.

3. To accomplish complete drainage of the bed (strongly advised), the longer the bed length is, then the more drainage assistance in the form of a longitudinal drainage pipe/tile is advised.  As long as the bottom plane is sloped toward the exit, then beds of 3 to 4 meters in length may not require (but may still benefit from) drainage lines.  Beds longer than 4 meters will probably benefit from drainage assisancet.  Beds of 6 or more meters in length WILL require drainage assist provided by drain pipe/tile.

4. Beds of from 1 to 1.5 meter in width would require a single central drainage line.  If beds are wider than this (for whatever reason you resist our recommendation), then two or more parallel drainage lines spaced approximately 2 meters apart (as many as needed) is suggested.

5. When using drainage lines, these need (do) not penetrate the end wall or cap of the bed.  Merely terminate the lines into a small mound of pea gravel covering the drain line exit and also covering the the bottom slit (exit) of the drain end wall.  This pea gravel covers the slit that is cut into the liner at the bottom of the end wall (NOT cut into the bottom plane of the bed).

-o0o-

Hope for the Best but Act for the Worst

My recent hospitalisation achieved two things.  Firstly, it served as a timely intervention for what might otherwise have been a life-threatening situation – and it provided the opportunity to think about things.

Since this is not the first time that Mother Nature has reminded me that she recycles redundant organisms, I viewed my enforced break as an opportunity to pause and reflect on how I was doing in my quest for happiness through simple living and self-reliance.  Given my circumstances (I’m 66 years old and I’ve dodged two bullets), it’s not unreasonable that such reflection eventually settles on the question of time.

To say that one’s own time is finite, is a blinding flash of the obvious.  Much less obvious for most of us, however, is the question of time as it relates to the planet…or, more specifically, the amount of time that the planet can continue to support its most troublesome organism…the human race.

Scientists are divided into two camps on this question.  First, there are those who don’t talk about it out of fear of the professional consequences.  Then there’s the second group…the scientists who believe that human habitation of the planet is at imminent peril.  The only thing that divides this group is not if…but rather when.

At the other end of the apocalyptic spectrum is Guy MacPherson who says that human extinction is likely by around 2030.  Other scientists have a more optimistic outlook.  For example, a History Channel documentary titled “Two Degrees:  The Point of No Return” predicts that the world will start to really feel the effects of climate change by 2052…with the “end of days” happening in around 2117.

Regardless of where you’re placed on the spectrum, there’s no denying that it’s getting hotter and that this will have serious consquences for humanity.

MacPherson’s strategy for dealing with this?

“I recommend living fully. I recommend living with intention. I recommend living urgently, with death in mind. I recommend the pursuit of excellence. I recommend the pursuit of love.”

While I don’t know who’s right in this debate (although the emerging evidence seems to support the “apocalyptic ecologists”) I’m drawn to MacPherson’s strategy for dealing with the crisis.

Even if we assume that he’s wrong about the whole human extinction thing (much less the timing), his prescription is a sound one for humans living in troubled times.

My approach will be to hope for the best while acting for the worst.

-o0o-

 You’re welcome to put your views…and offer suggestions…and you can do this by joining us over at Have More For Less.

Are You Part of the Solution?

The United Nations has stated that, if we are to meet the food needs of the projected population, food production will have to double by 2050.

A formidable task of itself, this goal is further complicated by some serious environment factors including:

  • Desertification
  • Soil Salinity
  • Erosion
  • Water Pollution
  • Aquifer Depletion
  • Drought
  • Climate change
  • Loss of biodiversity

Any one of these poses a serious challenge – but all of them together place the world’s ability to feed itself at serious risk.  

And it’s risk from which no-one is immune.  For those of us who live privileged lifestyles in so-called developed countries, think about how quickly the food disappeared off the supermarket shelves the last time you experienced a power blackout – or a little riot – or some similar disruption to your otherwise cruisy lifestyle.

These are the times when having money is really not much use at all.  In anything other than a 48-hour ripple, inflation (official or unofficial) will quickly see your money lose its value leaving you to pay exhorbitant amounts just to acquire life’s staples. 

The first part of dealing with any problem is to know that it exists.  

So, now you know…and, quite simply, if you’re not taking active steps to mitigate against the risks to the food chain, then you’re part of the problem.

So, where are you on the problem/solution spectrum?  Do you have any ideas for how to turn this mess around?

-o0o-

You’re welcome to put your views…and offer suggestions…and you can do this by joining us over at Have More For Less.

Part 1 – Introduction to the RAS Build

This is “Part 1 – Introduction to the RAS build” of  Chapter 8 of the Urban Aquaponics Manual.

Chapter 8 is where we build the system…and its a big one…so I’ve broken it down into a series of sub-chapters:

  • Part 1 – Introduction to the RAS Build
  • Part 2 – The IBC Fish Tank
  • Part 3 – The Radial Flow Separator
  • Part 4 – The Packed Media Filter
  • Part 5 – The Moving Bed Biofilter
  • Part 6 – The Tricking Biofilter
  • Part 7 – Putting It All Together

In Part 1, I’ll walk you through the water flowpath for our proposed build…and then we’ll look at the tools that I’m going to use.  In Parts 2 to 6, I’ll show you how to build each of the major system components.  In Parts 5 and 6, I present you with a choice…between a moving bed bio-reactor (very effective but at a cost) or a trickling biofilter (still quite good but much cheaper).  In Part 7 – we hook our various components together.

It’s useful to have a clear picture of how our RAS will function so let’s begin by getting a grasp of the water flowpath.  Since the water pump is located in the sump, we’ll start there:

  • The pump starts and moves water from the sump to the IBC fish tank.  The water enters the tank tangentially and imparts a circular motion in the water in the tank.   Solid wastes are pushed outwards to the tank walls and fall to the bottom.  When they reach the bottom, they begin to move toward the centre point at the bottom.
  • The weight of the incoming water displaces water already in the fish tank and forces it up the suction end of the solids lifting outlet…drawing any solids that are within reach of the suction.  The water passes through the fish tank wall and into the radial flow separator (RFS).
  • The incoming water in the RFS is directed upwards into the water deflector which causes it to change direction – downwards.  The downward movement of the water encourages the heavier particles (sedimentary solids) to gravitate to the bottom of the RFS.  The lighter water (without the sedimentary solids) rises up to the weir where it overflows and drains into the packed media filter (PMF).
  • As it enters the PMF, the water is directed to the bottom of the filter.  As it reaches the bottom, the velocity of the water is reduced and it moves upwards.  It rises slowly up through the static media in the PMF exposing suspended solids in the water to the sticky biofilms on the media.  The ‘clean’ water overflows the weir and enters the moving bed bio-reactor (MBBR).
  • The water is directed to the bottom of the MMBR slowly rising up and exposing the dissolved solids to the nitrifying bacteria that live on the gently tumbling bio-media. Once it reaches the surface, the water overflows the weir and drains into the sump tank…and so on – ad finitum.

I should point out, at this stage, that there’s another layout option…one where the pump is located in the fish tank.  The water passes through the filters and then drains back into the fish tank.  This layout requires that the filters be positioned above the fish tank.  That means that we dig a hole in the ground large enough to accommodate the fish tank…or we put the filters on a platform high enough for them to be able to drain directly back into the fish tank.

The upside to this arrangement is that we no longer need a solids lifting outlet – or a sump tank – so the build is easier.  One downside is that integrating growing systems will be a bit more challenging.  And then there’s the digging part.  My view is that life is too short to spend any of it digging holes that aren’t absolutely necessary.  

The RAS Builder’s Toolkit

Building recirculating aquaculture systems, like our proposed unit, are like every other technical endeavour…may seem daunting to the unitiated but really it comes down to some very fundamental skills:

  • Cut plastic – specifically the plastic bladders of IBC’s.
    • Jigsaw
  • Cut steel – specificically the galvanised steel frame of IBC’s.
    • Hand grinder and ultra thin cutting disks
    • Hacksaw
  • Cut PVC pipe – in the range of 20mm to 90mm (3/4″ – 4″).
    • Mitre saw
    • PVC Hand Cutter
  • Drill holes – specifically those required for the installation of bulkhead fittings and Uniseals.
    • Holesaws
    • Drill and Drill bits

To this list, you can add the following:

  • Tape measure and marker
  • Eye and hearing protection.
  • Screwdrivers
  • Wrenches – or (more specfically) any device that will enable you to grip bulkhead fittings during installation.
  • Deburring tool

Before we start work, here are some other things I’d like you to note:

  • With the odd exception, I’ll be leaving all of the pipe and fittings unglued.  This is a basic recirculating aquaculture system and there will be things that we can do to enhance it…and, should you decide to embrace those enhancements at some later stage, doing so will all be much easier if we haven’t glued every fitting or piece of pipe.  Having said that, unglued pipework is a risky proposition, so we need to demonstrate some commonsense around how we set things up.
  • I’ll be using ball valves to enable us to isolate each major component.  This allows us to work on a single component without having to drain the entire system.
  • Each of the filters will be fitted with a dump valve…to enable us to clean and drain it.

That said, let’s build a fish tank.

-o0o-

I’ve had to call a halt on this rollout of the Urban Aquaponics Manual.  You’ll find an explanation…in this article on my blog.  I’d like to say that I’ll continue with the work but that depends on how I go with some other priorities.  In the meantime, I’m reasonable satisfied with what I’ve published here so, if Aquaponics is for you, then I invite you to make ongoing use of the work.SaveSave

 

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Part 2 – IBC Fish Tank

This is Part 1 of Chapter 8 of the Urban Aquaponics Manual.

“An intermediate bulk container, IBC tote, or pallet tank, is a reusable industrial container designed for the transport and storage of bulk liquid and granulated substances, such as chemicals, food ingredients, solvents, pharmaceuticals, etc.”

So sayeth Wikipedia.

Notwithstanding the uncomplimentary things that I had to say about IBC’s in earlier chapters, I do acknowledge that, for many people, they are the most cost-effective means by which to acquire a fish tank.  For that reason, we’re going to use one for this build.

My biggest issue with them is that their shape and structure can be problematic when it comes to concentrating and removing solid wastes.  Most of them are not actually square; they’re slightly rectangular.  The bottom of an IBC is not flat; it has structural moulding that discriminates against herding all of the solids into its centre.

Suffice to say, if we can make this work, you’ll be able to take what you learn and make any round or square tank work even better.

Our first task is to remove the steel retaining bars to give us free access to the plastic bladder.

Then, we mark up the top in readiness for cutting.  Removal of the top allows access to all internal surfaces of the IBC – to give it a thorough cleaning – and for ongoing management.  

This particular unit contained glycerine in its former life – non-toxic, water-soluble and easy to remove.

An electric jigsaw is my weapon of choice when it comes to cutting IBCs and other plastic containers.

The dump valve enables the IBC to be emptied and the space immediately behind the valve is a trap for solid wastes.  To prevent your toddler (or your sister’s toddler) from operating the valve, we’re going to zip tie it in the shut position.  And then we’ll plug up that space behind the valve to prevent solid wastes from accumulating there.

I’d like to be able to drain this tank directly through its bottom but, the pallet arrangement doesn’t easily lend itself to that, so I’ll install a solids lifting outlet (SLO).  This is a fancy name for a simple device that uses the weight of incoming water to displace water already in the tank…forcing it up a pipe and out of the tank.

Clear as mud…right?  Well, hopefully, this simple diagram will clarify things for you.

We’ll be setting this IBC up so that the solid wastes are directed to the centre of its bottom…so it’s logical that we’ll place the suction end of the SLO over that point.

Before we get too concerned about the SLO, however, it’s time to modify our IBC for its new role as a fish tank.

Step 1 – Remove the retaining bars at the top of the tank.

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Step 2 – Mark out a square section to be removed to provide our tank opening.

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Step 3 – Cut and remove the plastic top to create the opening.

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 Step 4 – Mark out the exit point for the SLO – and drill a hole of the appropriate size.

There are two way that I’d propose for the

Step 5 –

 

Building the SLO is a simple matter of assembling some PVC fittings and a couple of short sections of pipe.

-o0o-

In the meantime, I invite you to comment…to express any concerns that you may have…and to provide ideas or suggestions that you feel will improve the book – or add value to it. 

Selecting the Components

This is Chapter 7 of the Urban Aquaponics Manual.

In the last chapter, we developed a design specification for a small recirculating aquaculture system (RAS).  Now. it’s time to select the components that we’ll need for the build.

Before we go too much further, I need to say that I don’t propose to provide a set of plans or a materials list for the design that we’ve produced.  Just accommodating the measurement system differences from one country to another makes such an undertaking a nightmare.  

Ultimately, you’ll make component choices based on…

  • the amount of fish that you want/need to produce
  • what’s available to you in the way of materials and equipment
  • the amount of money that you have to spend
  • your abilities and skills
  • your personal preferences

…so, I believe that it’s more important that I provide you with options that can accommodate your specific circumstances.  

We’ve all heard the old adage…”If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.  If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”  

My goal, by the time you ingest the contents of this Manual, is that you should be able to take the principles that I describe and apply them to the broad question of system design rather than just be able to build one specific system.

Our goal is to produce clean, fresh food…so the materials from which our components are made – and any prior use that they may have had…must be safe for humans and fish.  Reject any tank or vessel where you can’t be certain of what it contained before it became available to you.  

At this stage, we’re just looking at components.  While, for the purposes of illustration, I’ve approached the design process in a linear fashion, I recommend that you read the entire manual before you start to get too set on your design.   Our basic design is just that…basic!  There are plenty of things that we can do to enhance the basic design and I want you to have the opportunity to consider those tweaks and bells ‘n’ whistles before you finalise your plan.

That said, let’s commence our component search.

Tanks

The key imperative of a fish tank is its ability to facilitate the removal of solid wastes.

Concentrating solids within reach of the drain is the consequence of tank shape and design…and managing water movement within the fish tank.

The ideal fish tank is robust, round in shape and will have a slightly sloping bottom with a centre drain at its lowest point.

Water returning to a round fish tank is directed tangentially at the surface.  This creates a ‘hydrocyclone effect’ – setting up a slow circular movement in the water in the tank.  A weak centrifugal force causes heavy matter in the water (solid wastes) to move outward to the wall of the tank and to slowly spiral down to its bottom eventually moving across the tank bottom toward the drain.  

You can replicate this effect – on a tiny scale – by swirling the last mouthful in a tea cup while observing the dregs gathering in the centre of the bottom of the cup.

Most smaller purpose-built aquaculture tanks function like this. 

They are also usually quite expensive.  Secondhand units may become available but, you’ll need to act quickly since they are usually in high demand from aspiring small fish farmers.

Other off-the-shelf options (in order of preference) include:

  • round plastic or fibreglass tanks with flat bottoms…like re-purposed rainwater tanks or large round livestock watering troughs.
  • square plastic or fibreglass tanks…(preferably with rounded corners) like produce bins.

The desirable circular movement to which I referred earlier can be created in round tanks with flat bottoms – and even square tanks – and we’ll cover that in more detail as we get into the construction of our system.

Rectangular tanks are the most difficult to accommodate as fish tanks so I’d recommend that you avoid them if at all possible.

While I prefer those made of food-grade, high-density polyethylene or fibreglass, people have managed to repurpose all manner of containers for use as fish tanks.

DIY Fish Tanks

So long as we bear in mind the need to concentrate solid wastes so that they can be removed from the fish tank, the scope for viable do-it-yourself fish tank options is limited only by your imagination.  

This situation is made possible by the existence of the food-grade low density polyethylene liner.  LDPE liners are tough but flexible and can be used to line fish tanka that are built inground, on the ground and above ground.

They can be used in conjuction with existing concrete, steel/aluminium or brick/masonry structures – and you can build very serviceable fish tanks from timber and/or plywood and line them to make them waterproof.

Intermediate Bulk Containers

IBC’s are plastic vessels (generally with a capacity of 1000 litres or 250 US gallons) contained within a galvanised steel frame with a pallet base.

Notwithstanding that they are probably the most widely used off-the-shelf fish tank option in the world, I’m not a fan of IBC fish tanks – for the following reasons:

  • Encouraging a circular flow in an IBC can be difficult and that can negatively impact solids removal.
  • They are not fully UV-stabilised and will begin to fall apart over time.
  • It’s hard to know what has been stored in them. They are often used as mixing tanks for herbicides and pesticides.
  • They will always look like IBC’s.

Regardless of what I say, some of you will opt to use them anyway – so, if you’re certain about their previous use and they are really cheap, I’ll do what I can to help you to address their shortcomings later in the manual.  We may even experiment with putting a bit of ‘lipstick on the pig’ to make it look a little less aesthetically confronting.

Mechanical and Biological Filters

I’ve built filters out of all manner of off-the-shelf and recycled containers.  Some worked better than others.  The ones that I liked the most just happened to be those that were the easiest to clean.

Not surprisingly, those that were usually the easiest to clean usually worked best…largely because a clean filter works better than a dirty one.

With the exception of swirl separators, which must be round, shape doesn’t matter too much.  Having said that, I have a preference for round filter tanks mainly because they are readily available in a variety of sizes and they’re relatively inexpensive.

And, at the top of the list for cost and availability, is the ubiquitous recycled blue plastic barrel.  

These two barrels are 130 litre (30 US gallons) – perfect for our emerging RAS design.

Indeed, the only drawback of these robust vessels is the colour.  That can be addressed by buying new plastic barrels (available in a range of colours at four times the price of recycled ones) – or by cladding them in something a bit more aesthetically pleasing.

Water Pumps

Water pumps are the means by which we recirculate the water through our RAS.

For our purposes, they tend to be of two main types – submersible pond pumps or externally mounted centrifugal pumps. 

Pond pumps are cheap, very convenient to use, require minimal plumbing and are suitable for most urban aquaponics applications. The principal limitation of pond pumps is that they are best suited to low head applications. Flow rates will diminish quickly once the pumping head increases.

Two sumbersible pumps of the type commonly used by backyard fish farmers. The unit on the left is designed to be used as a submersible but also as an externally mounted pump if required.

Externally-mounted pumps generally cost more to buy but usually move more water for a given power consumption – and they are better suited to applications where the water has to be pumped up heights of greater than a metre. Their installation is also a bit more complicated.

An externally-mounted centrifugal pump – available in various sizes and usually reliable and long-lived.

A Few Pump Hints and Tips

  • Depending on your application, it may pay to consider using two small pumps rather than one larger one. The benefit of multiple pumps is that, if one pump fails, the other will keep your system going long enough for you to discover the problem. This is simple risk management.
  • Avoid the use of submersible sump pumps – they are generally not rated for continuous operation – and they can be power-hungry.
  • It may pay to buy more pumping capacity than you need initially – to cater for the likelihood that you’ll expand your system.
  • While independence from the electricity grid is a worthwhile goal, solar-powered pumps add a new layer of complexity to the establishment of an urban aquaponics system. Keep it simple to start with. 240-volt (or 110-volt for US readers) pumps will provide for relatively reliable and inexpensive recirculation during your formative stages as an urban fish farmer.

Air Pumps or Blowers

I regard air pumps as essential equipment because low dissolved oxygen levels are the principal cause of fish deaths in small aquaponics systems. In any case, fish, plants and nitrifying bacteria all benefit from high dissolved oxygen levels.

In the event of water pump failure, good supplementary aeration may be the difference between a minor nuisance and a disaster. Air pumps are cheap insurance.

Our little system is going to require aeration at several points:

  • Fish tank – continuous
  • Moving bed biofilter – continuous
  • Packed media filter – periodic…when cleaning
  • Plant growing system – continuous

We can have one larger air pump that meets all of these requirements – or we can have two (or more) air pumps to deal with specific parts of the system.  Air pumps (particularly those with diaphragms) can fail at short notice so having a couple of smaller air pumps might be a useful risk management strategy.

Pipe and Fittings

PVC pipe in the range of 25mm – 50mm (1″ – 2″) is widely used for backyard fish farming and is easy to work with.  PVC pipe and fittings in our preferred size range are of two main types…pressure and drainage.  The types are not compatible with each other although experimentation (and the judicious application of heat) will enable you to reconcile the types where circumstances demand it.

PVC fittings come in wide range of sizes and types. Their cost quickly mounts up so limiting to them those necessary is a good idea. Having said that, most backyard fish farmers have a substantial collection of PVC fittings…”just in case…”

We’ll be using 25mm (1″) PVC pressure pipe and fittings for the water supply side of our little system and 50mm (2″) for all drainage pipework.  

Some people like to use larger stormwater pipes and fittings on the drainage side but I’ve found that the lower water velocity of 90mm+ pipework often allows solids to settle out in the pipes – with the potential to create anaerobic zones.

Control valves may be required in some situations and the two most common types in use are ball valves and slide valves.  Ball valves are available from the same places that stock the PVC pipe and fittings.  Slide valves are nicer to use, more expensive to buy and are usually only available from specialty aquarium/aquaculture suppliers.

Connecting Tanks and Pipes

Secure connections of pipes to tanks are achieved through the use of bulkhead fittings (also known as tank outlets) Uniseals and flange fittings.  Each of these has their place in RAS construction and we’ll learn more about them in the next chapter as we begin the build.

One of the challenges with this chapter, was deciding what to leave out (rather than what to include).  The list of gadgets that can be included in a small-scale RAS is long.  What we’ve covered here will allow you to build a RAS that is productive, resilient and versatile.  You can always reflect on the available bells ‘n’ whistles later – as you sit down to eat your first fish and salads.

In the meantime, I propose to build our little 1,000 litre system using the following:

  • IBC – not because I like them but because (regardless of what I say) some of you are going to use them. 
  • Blue barrels – I’ll use three of them to create a radial flow filter, a packed media filter and a moving bed biofilter.
  • PVC pipe and fittings – we’ll use 25mm (1″) for the pressure pipework and 50mm (2″) for the drainage.
  • Pump – 4500 litre submersible pond pump.
  • Bulkhead fittings, Uniseals and flange fittings – to hook it all together.

-o0o-

In the meantime, I invite you to comment…to express any concerns that you may have…and to provide ideas or suggestions that you feel will improve the book – or add value to it. 

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Designing Your RAS

This is Chapter 6 of the Urban Aquaponics Manual.

Designing any food production system starts with the question… “How much food do you plan to produce?” 

The design of an urban aquaponics system begins with questions. too…

How Much Fish?

We’re going to keep it simple for the purposes of this design discussion so let’s assume that we’re going to grow enough for one person to eat fish once a week…so we’ll need about 50 fish.  We’ll also assume that each fish will be around 500 grams (one pound) at the time of harvest.  That’s 25kg (50lbs) of fish per year.

Once you establish how many fish you want to grow each year, you’ll want to know…

How Much Fish Tank?

 We can accommodate our 50 fish in a cubic metre…about 1000 litres (250 US gallons)…of water.

Over time, you’ll come to appreciate that everything in aquaponics starts with feeding the fish and that leads us to…

How Much Feed?

Fish in recirculating aquaculture systems are most effectively fed a percentage of their bodyweight – each day.

Fingerlings may be fed up to 8% of their bodyweight but that figure decreases over time to the point where they may only be getting 1% at the time of harvest.

Each fish will, at the time of harvest, be around 500g and will (based on a daily feed rate of 1%) be eating 5 grams of feed per day,  Fifty such fish will be eating 250 grams (0.5 pounds) per day.

Assuming a feed conversion ratio of 1:2 – one kg of fish biomass for each 2kg of feed provided – we can expect that our 50 fish (each weighing 500g) will consume a total of 50kg of feed throughout the growing period.

While it’s interesting to know how much feed we’ll use in total, the more important number, for our immediate purposes, is the maximum daily feeding rate of 250 grams…because that figure will allow us to calculate the size of the filtration system that we are going to require to deal with the metabolic wastes of our 50 fish – with a total weight of 25kg (50lbs).

So…

How Much Filtration?

Back in Chapter 3 – Understanding Filtration, we looked at all manner of different mechanical and biological filtration devices.  For what it’s worth, the list of filtration devices that I chose to ignore is far bigger than the one that I provided.

While choice is a wonderful thing, introducing too many choices into a learning situation becomes confusing so, from this point on, I’m going to focus (based on my experience) on what I think will work best for you rather than attempting to cover every possibility.

Our filtration system will comprise three elements:

  • a radial flow separator – to capture sedimentary solids
  • a packed media filter – to capture suspended solids
  • a moving bed bio-reactor – to nitrify dissolved solids

If this is all sounding pretty complex, let me assure you that, behind each of these fancy names, is a simple blue plastic barrel.  It’s how we fit out each barrel that determines its function – and name.

We’re going to build these filters in the next chapter so, for now, all we need to do is work out how much filter media we need.  Once we know that, we’ll be able to determine the size of the barrels we’ll need.

The radial flow separator contains no media so that one’s simple enough.  The packed media filter is almost filled with media so that one is easy, too.  That leaves us with the moving bed bio-reactor.

Manufactured plastic media is very effective, is self-cleaning and will deal with a predictable solids loading so I’ll be using AnoxKaldnes K1 filter media for this design model.

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AnoxKaldnes K1 manufactured plastic media – excellent bio-media.

How Much Bio-Media?

The manufacturer of K1 claims that each 50 litres of media will deal with the metabolic wastes arising from the use of 750 grams (0.75kg or 1.6 pounds) of fish feed per day.  That figure applies to industrial wastewater treatment and commercial aquaculture and it assumes that there is some heavy duty filtration equipment upstream of the moving bed biofilter.  

Our design will feature some inbuilt redundancy…so we’ll be using 50 litres of K1 to deal with the wastes from our 50 fish…based on a maximum daily feed rate of 250 grams (0.25kg or about 0.5 pound).

When sizing a moving bed biofilter, I calculate the amount of media to be 60% of the total filter volume.  So, if our filter was going to be, for example, 100 litres we’d use about 60 litres of media.  Since we’ve already decided that we need 50 litres of media (a standard shipping volume, by the way), a 100 litre plastic barrel will suit us just fine.

In fact, we’ll use three 100 litre (25 gallon) barrels to house our entire filtration module.

One More Thing…

This particular design will feature something that we haven’t spoken about previously – a sump tank.  We’ll look more closely at the sump tank, what it does and its capacity in the next chapter.

Now that our system has taken on a physical dimenstion, it’s time to address the two things without which no fish can live…water and oxygen. 

How Much Flow?

Implicit within the notion of a recirculating aquaculture system is the idea that water flows from the fish tank through the filtration modules and back into the fish tank.  That flow is created by a water pump.

When calculating the size of the water pump to be used in a RAS, I take the total system volume and double it.  What we are looking to do here is to move the entire capacity of the system through the filtration unit twice per hour.

The fish tank, filters and sump tank contain 1400 litres (around 370 US gallons).  If we double that figure, we’ll be looking at a total volume of 2800 litres (or 750 US gallons).

Pumps are rated in terms of the volume of water that they will pump – per hour – so that would suggest we need a pump that will move around 3000 litres/hour.

For reasons that I’ll clarify as we get into the construction of this system, we are going to want a bit more than than that amount. so, for now, I’ll be proposing that our pump will have a capacity of 4000 – 5000 litres (1000 – 1250 US gallons) per hour.

How Much Oxygen?

Our fish need oxygen..and so do the microbial organisms that facilitate nitrification.    

Having said that, the matter of how much oxygen we’ll need depends, to some extent, on the plants we grow – and how we grow them – since plants need oxygen, too.

Suffice to say, at this stage, oxygen is as fundamental to recirculating aquaculture as water.  Quite simply, without it, nothing of value to us will live.  We will, however, address the matter of how much oxygen we need – and how we’ll provide it – when we get into selecting our system components.

OK, let’s take a look at what we’ve got so far.

RAS Design Specification

Our proposed recirculating aquaculture system will:

  • raise 50 fish to a harvest weight of 450 – 500 grams (one pound) in about 30 weeks – subject to fish species.
  • utilise a fish tank with a capacity of around 1000 litres (250 US gallons).
  • require around 250 grams (0.5 pounds) of fish feed per day by harvest time.
  • feature a filtration system – comprising a radial flow separator, a packed media filter and a moving bed bio-reactor – each housed a 100 litre (25 US gallon) plastic barrel.  Fifty litres of AnoxKaldnes K1 (or similar) will be adequate to nitrify the metabolic wastes from the 250 grams of feed that we will feed our 50 fish by the time that they reach harvest.
  • utilise a 100 litre (25 US gallon) sump tank.
  • turn over the entire volume of the system – about 2800 litres (750 US gallons) – twice per hour.
  • use a water pump with a capacity of 4000 – 4500 litres (1000 – 1100 US gallons) per hour.

Standard+RASThis simple schematic representation of our RAS shows the major components and the water flow path.

While it doesn’t look like much yet, this little RAS will yield lots of clean, fresh fish.  It will also provide some other valuable outputs – about which we’ll talk more later.

Scalability

OK, so what if you want/need something bigger – or smaller? 

The amount of fish to be produced can be doubled – or halved – by simply doubling or halving the specification numbers.  

Indeed, you could scale this system up to provide five times as much fish by making proportionate adjustments to those numbers.  A system of that size is, for most people, on the upper limits of a family fish production unit.

In that situation, my preference would be to have two (or more) smaller units rather than one larger 5000 litre system.  I have good reasons for feeling this way but I’d like to address larger systems in greater detail later in the manual.

In the next chapter, we’ll find ourselves something to use as a fish tank and filtration modules…and all of the other bits ‘n’ pieces that we’ll need to build our very own recirculating aquaculture system.

-o0o-

In the meantime, I invite you to comment…to express any concerns that you may have…and to provide ideas or suggestions that you feel will improve the book – or add value to it. 

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Things to Think About

This is Chapter 5 of the Urban Aquaponics Manual.

In previous chapters, we looked at what recirculating aquaculture is – and how it works in a basic microbiological sense.  Most importantly, we should have connected with the fundamental notion that aquaponics starts with a recirculating aquaculture system.

Before we leap into the design and construction of a RAS, however, let’s take the opportunity to consider a few things that will impact your system design.  

Don’t allow these considerations to overwhelm you.  Just have them in the back of your mind as you sit down to plan your system.

Up until now, we’ve been talking about recirculating aquaculture systems.   The considerations in this chapter apply equally to the RAS – and its attached growing systems.

Health and Safety

My inclusion of Health and Safety at the top of this list is deliberate.

Every day, we hear of people who have been killed or seriously injured in so-called freak accidents.  In truth, however, there’s usually nothing accidental about health and safety incidents (as they are more appropriately called)  around aquaponics systems.  They are are almost always preventable.

The health and safety risks that apply to aquaponics systems include:

  • Drowning
  • Electrocution
  • Poisoning
  • Manual Handling 
  • Structural Collapse

A fish tank is no less dangerous than a swimming pool or a spa. How will you ensure that small children cannot climb into your fish tank? The ideal is to cover the tank but the least that should happen is that you should be able to exclude children and pets from the area.

Electricity is an essential part of any aquaponics system but it does not suffer fools lightly.   Think carefully about how you will manage prospective electrical hazards.

To prevent your family from ingesting toxic substances, or to avoid poisoning your fish, you should ensure that your system components are made from safe, inert food-grade materials.

If you are contemplating the use of recycled materials, you need to confirm that they have not previously been used to contain toxic substances.

Manual handling is another issue that requires careful consideration, too. There’s no shortage of heavy things to lift and a hernia or a dislocated disc are a high price to pay for a momentary manual indiscretion.

Manual handling injuries are not the only weight issues. A 200-litre (55 gallons) drum of water weighs around 200kg. A 1,000 litre (250 gallons) weighs a metric ton. Given the potential for injury to people (and damage to property), there’s no place for sloppy construction.

Environmental Control

Fish and plants (like everything else) grow best in a particular environment.  While that environment will include water quality, dissolved oxygen levels and pH, our main environmental concern (for design purposes) is temperature.  Our secondary concern, specifically for plants, is light.

Temperature will impact your choice of fish species and the types of plants you can grow – and when you can grow them.  The amount of natural light that is available to you will also directly impact plant production.

You can control the environment in which your fish and plants grow.   Indeed, you can keep warmwater fish species in the depths of a Montana winter.  As a general principle, however, the further away from the optimal temperature range that you get for your preferred fish species, the more money you are going to have to spend to heat their water.

Similarly, you can grow plants in a basement or warehouse that never sees sunlight but providing artificial lighting of the correct photoperiod, intensity and spectrum is going to require significant investment.

Points of Failure

A recirculating aquaculture system is a life support system.  

If it stops functioning, for whatever reason, the living organisms that it supports will die.  An aquaponics system may experience catastrophic failure for a variety of reasons including:

  • Power interruptions
  • Equipment failure
  • Serious leaks or bursts

So, when sitting down to design your system, you need to undertake a bit of ‘what if’ analysis.

What if the power supply is interrupted? What if the pump(s) seize? What if you experience unseasonal rainfall, wind or extremes of hot or cold? What if you had to leave your system unattended for a day – or a week?

Think of every piece of pipework…and every fitting…as a prospective point of failure and design your system accordingly.

System Scale

If your system is to be housed in an urban backyard it will need to be reconciled with other backyard activities including entertaining, play area or pet space.

Sustainability

Herbicides, pesticides and chemicals will kill your fish and have no place near an aquaponics system.  The planet is well overdue for a respite from its most troublesome organism…humans…so cut it a break and use  materials that have the lowest possible environmental impact or those that can, at least, be fully recycled.

Durability

Your choice of system components should take account of their lifespan.

Cost Effectiveness

A key question when making any investment is “How quickly do I get a return on my investment?”  Your system design should provide you with clean, fresh food without breaking the bank.

Once the system has been built, it will cost money to operate.  Your biggest variable operating expense is the energy required to run the water and air pumps – and to heat/cool the water in the water in the fish tank – and your system should be designed to minimise these costs.

Portability

The ability to empty a system and to relocate it is a distinct benefit for people who rent accommodation. The system will also retain its resale value if it can be moved relatively easily.  Consider the use of rubber slip joints and barrel unions to enable you to dismantle and re-assemble the components as needed.  Similarly, consider quick release couplings for water hoses, air lines and electrical/data connections. 

Your choice of plant growing systems is particularly important if you need portability.  

Accessibility

Having tanks and growing systems at a comfortable working height is an issue for everyone but particularly for people with disabilities.  Can you overcome space limitations (with a small system) by mounting some components on robust castors? 

Ease of Operation

Your filters will require regular cleaning.  Do you have drains at the lowest points in the system to ensure that there are no places for water and organic matter to be trapped and become anaerobic?

Are thermometers and digital displays located so that they are easy to read?

Aesthetics

Whether you get to engage in food production may require that you satisfy your partner that you are not going to create an eyesore in your backyard.

Similarly, your neighbours may begin to take an unhealthy interest in your system if they perceive that their property values are negatively impacted by your activities.

You may argue that what you do in your own backyard is your business but local government authorities will take a different view if they start receiving complaints from disaffected neighbours.

A neat and tidy system is also easier to operate and keep clean.

Nuisance Potential

Nothing will bring the wrath of the local health inspector down on your head faster that something that stinks or attracts vermin.

Still water is a breeding haven for mosquitoes and, if it contains nutrients, it can become anaerobic and will quickly produce bad odours.

Managing your system in a healthy state is essential.

System Location

Whirring pumps and running water might be music to your ears but could well drive a neighbouring shift worker to distraction. Locating your system out of hearing range will avoid this issue.

What are the other design implications of your preferred location?  Does your proposed plant growing area have enough sun?   Or too much?  Is your fish tank going to be located inside our outside? If outside, what is the likely effect of sun, wind and rain on your fish tank?  What is your closest access point to power and water?

The system design should also integrate well with other food production units.  You may decide to extend your backyard self-sufficiency endeavours to include laying chickens, meat chickens, fruit and nut trees, quail, rabbits, worms and other possible integrations. You should design your system with this in mind.

Size Does Matter – and Small is Beautiful

This implied contradiction simply suggests that choosing the optimum tank size is a question of balance – too small and you’ll become a slave to the system – too large and you’ll chew up too many resources while trying to achieve a useful result.

For backyard purposes, I suggest that your first tank be of 800 to 2000 litres (200 to 500 US gallons). A system of this size will allow you to produce 15 – 50kg (30 – 100lbs) of fish per year without the need for you to become its constant companion as you juggle the production parameters.

For the purposes of this discussion, this is a small system…not to be confused with the micro ‘demonstration of concept’ units that people sometimes build in their homes.

You can always increase the size of your system once you satisfy yourself that aquaponics is really for you and once you’ve had the opportunity to educate yourself properly about some of the options that are available to you.

In any case, if you can’t operate a small system, you won’t be able to operate a large one.

Even if you are planning a larger system, having two or more 1000 litre tanks makes more sense (particularly in an urban aquaponics context) than having one large tank. You can keep fish of different species and ages and managing risk is easier if you have several smaller tanks.   Losing some of your fish might be annoying but losing all of them would be a tragedy.

Smaller tanks are also easier to move about and cheaper to cover and insulate.

You may be thinking, by now, that designing an aquaponics system is much more complex than you previously realised.   The truth of it, however, is that it’s much simpler than it sounds.

In the next chapter, I’ll show you the process that I use to design a small recirculating aquaculture system.

-o0o-

In the meantime, I invite you to comment…to express any concerns that you may have…and to provide ideas or suggestions that you feel will improve the book – or add value to it. 

The Aquaponics Fork in the Road

This is Chapter 4 of The Urban Aquaponics Manual – 4th Edition.

In a Chapter 2, we looked at how aquaponics works from a basic microbiological perspective…and I said a properly-designed aquaponics system was a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) to which growing systems were (loosely speaking) attached.  Consistent with that direction, Chapter 3 looked at the filtration methods that are at the heart of a RAS.

Then I revealed that there was this creature called the basic flood and drain system…where media grow beds allegedly doubled as the filtration system.

Here’s where I explain what I meant when, back in Chapter 2, I referred to “informed decisions” – and here’s where you get to make what is arguably the most important choice that you will make with respect to aquaponics.

First the explanation…

The Basic Flood and Drain System

The Basic Flood and Drain System (which I also refer to as the Speraneo model) comprises a fish tank, a pump and a grow bed that contains media like gravel, expanded clay pebbles or lava rock.

The water is pumped from the fish tank up into the grow beds. Once the water reaches a predetermined level it drains back into the fish tank.

Basic+FD

It’s simple to understand, easy to build and operate – and (within particular constraints) it can work.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the basic flood and drain system is the most commonly used backyard aquaponics system in the world.

Tom Speraneo inadvertently discovered that he could take a gravel grow bed (long used in hydroponics circles) and adapt it to:

  • capture and mineralise the fish solids.
  • facilitate nitrification
  • aerate the water
  • grow plants.

It all sounds very positive, so far. So, what’s the problem?

Well, there are several actually but, before we get into those, it’s appropriate that we should learn a bit more about how the Speraneo model came into being.

Aquaponics Biggest Mistake

Many people who are interested in aquaponics know that Missouri farmers Tom and Paula Speraneo popularised what is commonly termed as flood and drain aquaponics.

For the uninitiated, flood and drain aquaponics in its simplest guise comprises a fish tank and one or more media (usually gravel) grow beds.  Nutrient-rich water is pumped from the fish tank into the gravel grow beds before draining back into the fish tank.

What far fewer people know is how the Speraneos came to be involved in aquaponics and where the idea for their basic flood and drain system originated.

In the mid-1980’s, Dr Mark R McMurtry invented the Integrated Aqua-Vegeculture System (iAVs) – the first successful ‘closed loop’ production of vegetables using the metabolic wastes of fish.

iAVs comprises a fish tank and sand biofilters (in which the plants are grown).  It’s simple to understand, easy to build and operate – and it definitely works.

Following the completion of his PhD dissertation at North Carolina State University, McMurtry undertook a series of trips to showcase iAVs and its benefits for allied faculty staff, students and aquaculture industry professionals.

In December 1989, one such trip to Arkansas put McMurtry in contact with Tom and Paula Speraneo at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock.

A week later, he facilitated a 3-day interactive discussion/workshop at the Meadowcreek Project in Fox, Arkansas for the usual mix of faculty, staff, students and other interested parties – including the Speraneos.

The Speraneos returned home keen to construct an integrated aquaculture system based on what they’d learned from its inventor.

As it turned out, they weren’t able to afford the sand that was central to iAVs’ effectiveness, so they dug up their gravel driveway for use in their system bio-filter.

Let’s remember that the efficacy of iAVs relies on the use of sand (not gravel) so this was a significant change and one that would have serious implications for iAVs – and aquaponics.

Meanwhile, oblivious to the fact that his work was about to be usurped by a mistake, McMurtry had begun a promotional tour of sub-Saharan Africa and Middle Eastern countries.

When he returned, he became aware of the Speraneo’s substitution of gravel for the sand and he counselled them at length about their choice – but they persisted.  This aberration would subsequently be popularised as the flood and drain aquaponics system.

This “mistake” – subsequently to become wilful ignorance – was what best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell would later describe as a “tipping point” – one that would have profoundly negative implications for aquaponics.

The sand bio-filter is the heart of the iAVs “living machine.”  The substitution of gravel for sand impacted the design in several ways including:

  • a dramatic reduction in mechanical filtration capability
  • a dramatic reduction in soil microbial types and population numbers
  • reduced aeration of media bacteria and plant root zone
  • reduced nutrient utilization and system stability
  • a significant reduction in feed conversion rate and fish growth
  • increased capital costs with reduced fish and plant yields
  • increased risk profile
  • increased operating cost per unit of production

One of the key features of the iAVs design is its versatility.  A backyard farmer – or an impoverished villager – or a protected cropping greenhouse operator could use the same system design.

The first casualty of the change in media was iAVs‘ commercial potential.  The basic flood and drain system never gained commercial traction because gravel does not lend itself to the mechanisation and automation that is a feature of controlled environment agriculture.  Sand, by contrast, had been used in hydroponic greenhouse culture for decades – subject to all of the usual constraints associated with greenhouse culture.

The iAVs could be built and operated by a humble villager with some seeds and relatively little guidance.  The basic flood and drain system, by contrast, requires a connection to the grid, a pump (or two) and ongoing access to mineral supplements.   The basic flood and drain system also required greater skills and knowledge to offset the heightened risks that it poses.

As an aside, the Speraneos (who initially gave credit to McMurtry for their introduction to what was yet to become known as aquaponics), eventually used their utilisation of gravel as a point of sufficient difference (in their minds at least) to assume ownership of the concept.

This process of taking a system design and “tweaking” it (with a view to assuming ownership of the idea that underpins it), was to become a recurring theme in aquaponics.

Anyway, the Speraneos developed an information package and promoted their system through an Internet mail list (the fore-runner of the discussion forum).

Interestingly, when this information package first became available, purchasers were asked to agree (by way of a binding legal instrument) not to market their own information packages. It seems that the Speraneos were not keen to have done to them what they had done to McMurtry.

This requirement obviously lapsed at some point because, in 2005, Joel Malcolm bought the Speraneo’s information kit and “tweaked” it into an Australian context.  Australia’s ABC Gardening TV program ran a segment on Malcolm’s home-based system and the basic flood and drain system enjoyed a new surge in popularity.  Regrettably, however, the “new” flood and drain system had the same basic flaw – the media particle size.

Various other kit makers (including Murray Hallam and Sylvia Bernstein) adopted the Speraneo flood and drain system and, while they “tweaked” the model too, none of them managed to grasp the toxic tipping point – the gravel instead of sand.

To summarize, the substitution of gravel (or clay pebbles) for sand was not just a minor detail – it was the aquaponics difference between chalk and cheese.   The iAVs is a living machine whereas the basic flood and drain system is, given a convergence of common (indeed likely) events, a killing machine.

In terms of its filtration efficacy, McMurtry has characterized the use of gravel to capture solids in the biofilter as “attempting to catch BB’s with a basketball hoop.”

It’s important to understand that the difference between iAVs and the Speraneo model is much more than one being usurped by the other…or any philosophical notion.

The basic flood and drain aquaponics system was/is nothing more than a big mistake – an unfortunate mutation with nothing like the productivity, resilience and versatility of its iAVs predecessor.

Anyway, this manual is about aquaponics and, since iAVs is not aquaponics, it’s time to focus on the technical issues of the Speraneo model.

Earlier, I said that the basic flood and drain system relied on the gravel grow beds to:

  • capture and mineralise the fish solids.
  • facilitate nitrification
  • aerate the water
  • grow plants.

The simple fact is that the capture and mineralisation of fish solids in the gravel grow bed is at odds with the nitrification and aeration functions of the grow bed.

In other words, particulate matter consumes oxygen – and, in certain circumstances, inhibits the conversion of ammonia into nitrite and (subsequently) nitrate. The greater the quantity of this particulate matter, the greater the amount of oxygen that is required to deal with it.

For an understanding of how this happens, let’s hark back to what we said about ammonia when we looked at the aquatic nitrogen cycle.

“As the fish digest food, they produce solid wastes – and they include urea, uric acid and faeces. Uneaten food also contributes to the solid wastes in the system.

These solid wastes eventually yield ammonia – through a process known (not surprisingly) as ammonification.

The family of bacteria that facilitate this conversion of organic nitrogen into inorganic ammonia are called heterotrophs.”

Not bloody Heterotrophs again?

Heterotrophs are as essential to the operation of any aquaculture/aquaponics system as autotrophs – the nitrifying bacteria – however the relationship between the two types of microorganisms is not without its problems.

The first issue is the rate at which their numbers grow – relative to each other.   Autotrophs multiply relatively slowly – where heterotrophs multiply very rapidly.

This means that heterotrophs can overwhelm autotrophs – indeed eat them – to the point where nitrification is stalled.

OK, so what is likely to cause heterotrophs to multiply to the point where they might actually inhibit nitrification?

The answer is solid wastes – in the form of urea, uric acid, faecal matter and uneaten food.

More solids = more heterotrophic activity.

The other issue is that rapidly multiplying heterotrophs consume large quantities of oxygen from the water.

So, the problems for the fish are twofold – they can run out of oxygen and/or, in the event that nitrification is stalled, they’ll be affected by ammonia toxicity.

We’ll look at the role of oxygen in aquaponics, in depth, in the section titled “Managing Water Quality.” At this stage, it’s sufficient to know is vital to the survival and wellbeing of fish, plants and beneficial bacteria.

Once dissolved oxygen in the water drops to sub-lethal levels, fish begin to die – quickly. Even if they don’t quite reach that point, low dissolved oxygen levels stress fish – and stressed fish are more prone to disease and parasitic infestation.

In fact, low dissolved oxygen levels (or stressors arising from low DO) are the leading cause of fish deaths in aquaponics systems.

OK…so what’s the solution to the solids issue?

The best way to deal with sedimentary and suspended solids is to capture and remove them from the water column.

Now, this viewpoint flies in the face of aquaponics fundamentalists who argue that the solids contribute to the overall nutrient mix in an aquaponics system. They contend that the solids will be trapped in the grow bed, mineralized by composting worms and eventually become part of the nutrient mix.

While I don’t argue with the basic mineralization proposition, here’s why I suggest that solids be removed:

  • Bio-filters (including grow beds) function more efficiently when solids are removed.  
  • Both fish and nitrifying bacteria require oxygen. Fish wastes and uneaten food consume oxygen and, in extreme situations, will drive dissolved oxygen levels down to the point where fish can no longer survive.
  • Built up fish wastes create pockets of anaerobic (without oxygen) activity resulting in de-nitrification – the opposite of what we’re trying to achieve.
  • Grow beds will require less frequent maintenance if solids are removed. Regardless of how many worms you have in a grow bed, there will still be some sediment left in the bed. Over time, this sediment will (unless removed) build up and will eventually impair the biological functionality of the bed.
  • Solids irritate the eyes and gills of the fish – and stress them. Stressed fish become more susceptible to disease.
  • Solids can harbour harmful pathogens.
  • Working with clean grow beds (and clean hands) is a more pleasant task.

OK…but, by removing the solids, aren’t we wasting nutrients that would otherwise be available to our plants?

First, we need to understand that there are three types of solid wastes – dissolved, suspended and sedimentary. The dissolved solids – and the smaller fraction of the suspended solids – remain in the water and undergo ammonification and nitrification.

Indeed, up to 75% of the wastes produced by the fish in the system – having passed across their gills – are in the dissolved form. Put another way, up to 75% of the nutrients in the water are in dissolved form.

Second, the simple fact of removing the solids ought not infer that we are wasting them – quite the contrary.

The solid wastes can/should be processed so that they deliver up any remaining nutrients. The nutrient-rich water is then decanted from the sludge and returned to the aquaponics system.

The remaining sludge contributes nothing useful to the system. In fact, it can harbour harmful pathogens and irritate the fish’ eyes and gills and the best place for it is the compost heap or the worm farm.

OK…..so what prompted the confusion around the removal of solids in the first place?

A Matter of Dogma

Earlier I said that the basic flood and drain aquaponics system was the most commonly used backyard layout in the world.

That begs the question…“If it’s so problematic, why are so many people using it?”

Fair question…and here’s the answer…

  • Few people knew about it’s iAVs heritage. For several reasons, Mark McMurtry wasn’t around to defend the iAVs method and, while the Speraneos knew about it, they obviously decided that it wasn’t in their interests to press the facts around iAVs.
  • Its inherent simplicity appeals to people. It’s easy to understand, build and operate…and it works (right up to the moment that it doesn’t).
  • During its rise to worldwide prominence, kit manufacturers owned three out of the four largest aquaponics discussion forums in the world, and they promoted it as the aquaponics ideal. They exploited the fact that it’s easier to sell something if you don’t confuse the purchaser with all of the things that could go wrong.
  • Most of the people who set out to build the layout didn’t understand its pitfalls – they got caught up in the hype and simply didn’t know what they didn’t know.

As far back as 2007, I argued in support of the use of dedicated mechanical and biological filtration in media-based aquaponics systems.  I met with such a barrage of criticism from aquaponics fundamentalists that I built four basic flood and drain systems side-by-side.  Over a period of nine months, I trialled three Australian native species – and a diverse range of plants – in these units.

New System - 29 Dec 08 003 (Small)

The pretty picture belies the biological unhappiness that’s happening in the fish tanks.  This is the truth of the basic flood and drain system – it’s presentation as a sustainable way to grow food is largely an illusion.

To summarise the outcome, most of the plants grew very well.  Regrettably, the fish suffered almost from the outset.

Various 003

Plant production was no issue with the basic flood and drain systems that I built but, the presence of sedimentary and suspended solids means that there’s a heightened risk of disease and death for the fish.

To summarise…the basic flood and drain system is a very bad idea…particularly for fish. It was the product of wilful ignorance and it continues to be aquaponics’ biggest mistake.

For those who are attracted to the basic approach, my advice is to learn about the Integrated Aqua-Vegeculture System (iAVs), build the real deal…and reap the benefits.

The Improved Basic Flood and Drain System

For those who want to persist with gravel (or clay pebbles, lava rock or other coarse media) grow beds, I still recommend that they be thought of as hydroponics growing units to be attached to a recirculating aquaculture system.

Improved+FD

The inclusion of mechanical and biological filtration will make a vast difference to a basic flood and drain system. From the fish’ perspective, it’s probably the difference between life and death.

So long as you have an effective means of capturing the sedimentary and suspended solids, you can utilise the gravel grow bed as a biofilter.  There are still advantages, however, to including a dedicated biofilter into your design and we’ll explore those in detail in the next section.

So, having put what I hope is a reasonable case for using a recirculating aquaculture system as the basis for all aquaponics systems, it’s time to head over to Chapter 5 – Designing Your Recirculating Aquaculture System.

-o0o-

In the meantime, I invite you to comment…to express any concerns that you may have…and to provide ideas or suggestions that you feel will improve the book – or add value to it. 

Understanding Filtration

This is Chapter 3 of The Urban Aquaponics Manual – 4th Edition.

In the previous chapter, we looked at how aquaponics works from a basic microbiological perspective.

In this section, we learn how to optimise the conditions under which the beneficial bacteria work – in the best interests of fish health and wellbeing – from a practical perspective.

Fish wastes take three forms:

  • Sedimentary – usually comprise fish faeces and uneaten food that will settle out if water velocity is low enough.
  • Suspended – small particles of food or faeces that are neutrally buoyant – they neither sink nor float but are carried in the water flow.
  • Dissolved – largely ammonia arising out of the gills or generated by the mineralisation of fish wastes – they are in solution.

Filters are the means by which we optimize water quality for our fish…by capturing sedimentary and suspended solid wastes and/or converting the dissolved wastes that they produce – which would otherwise eventually prove toxic to them – into a more manageable form.

A good filter will be:

  • Made of inert, non-toxic materials
  • Inexpensive to build
  • Easy to operate and maintain
  • Reliable
  • Space-efficient

The devices that we use to capture solids are mechanical filters and those that we use to oxidize (nitrify) dissolved wastes are biological filters.

Mechanical Filters

Mechanical filters include:

  • Sedimentation tanks
  • Clarifiers
  • Swirl tanks
  • Radial flow separators
  • Packed media filters

This list is far from exhaustive but these are the filtration devices most commonly used in small-scale aquaculture.

Sedimentation Tanks

Sedimentation tanks serve to reduce the velocity of the water flow so that sedimentary solids will settle to the bottom where they can be removed. In essence, the longer the water remains in the sedimentation device, the greater the volume of solids that will settle out. The minimum retention time is 20 minutes – more is better.

For example, if the fish tank is 1,000 litres – and the flow rate is 1,000 litres per hour – then the sedimentation tank should contain not less than 330 litres of water.

Some sedimentation tanks are fitted with weirs to assist the settling process. 

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This is a variation on the sedimentation tank idea.  The water passes under the first weir – over the second one – under the third weir and over the final one.

Clarifiers

Clarifiers (not my preferred name for them) are another form of sedimentation tank. They usually comprise a round tank with a cone-shape bottom and they are fitted with baffles that direct the water flow downwards – with the idea that the solids keep travelling toward the bottom.

Like all sedimentation devices, clarifiers rely on a reduction in water velocity to function effectively…with the added effect of directing the watery solids downwards.

DSC00315

This is a clarifier of the type used at the University of Virgin Islands Aquaponics Research Center. The water enters the small chamber and is forced downwards.  As it enters the second chamber, it is forced even further downwards – causing the sedimentary solids to settle in the clarifier apex.

In my view, there are other sedimentation devices that are easier to build and are more efficient in their use of space.

Swirl Tanks

Swirl Tanks rely on centrifugal action (specifically the ‘hydro-cyclone effect’) to force heavy particles (solids) to the outside of the tank where they then settle to the bottom for easy removal. 

Swirl+Filter

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This is an inside view of a swirl separator.  The water enters via the 90 degree bend and exits through the pipe on the left.   An upright pipe (removed for viewing clarity) sets the level in the tank and serves as a weir.

Swirl filters are easy and cheap to build but radial flow separators are much more efficient – and they are no more expensive nor difficult to build.

Radial Flow Separators

The water (containing particulate matter) flows from the fish tank into the centre of the radial flow separator where it is forced downwards. The water velocity drops abruptly at the change of direction and the solids continue downwards and settle out while the clear water exits the separator via the overflow weir.

Radial+Flow+Seperator

Packed Media Filters

Packed media filters are designed to trap suspended solids – those that maintain neutral buoyancy – and carried around the system in suspension. There are a variety of different types including manufactured media (using Kaldnes K1 – or similar – filtration media), filter mats and brush filters.

Packed media filters function by allowing the water to pass through various types of static media.  After a short time in the water, the media in the filter will become coated in a sticky substrate – biofilm.  As the water passes through the filter, the suspended solids adhere to the biofilm where they remain until the media is cleaned.

There are various types of media used in these devices including:

  • Bird netting
  • Matala Mat
  • Filter Brushes
  • Manufactured plastic media

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Nylon bird mesh is inexpensive and effective at trapping solids – but cleaning it is an ordeal.

DSC00314

Matala mat comes in different densities (denoted by colour). It’s effective at capturing solids, is more expensive than bird netting but easier to clean.  This box filter (used in a small commercial system) utilises Matala mat to good effect.

DSCN7970

Brush filters are effective at trapping suspended solids, relatively inexpensive and easy to clean.  They are suspended in a barrel so that the solid-laden water flows up through the bristles. The suspended solids adhere to the ‘sticky’  biofilm.

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Manufactured plastic media (in this case, Kaldnes K1) is just as effective in a static packed media application as it is the moving bed bio-reactors for which is was originally designed.  It offers high specific surface area (to produce a correspondingly large space upon which biofilm forms) and cleaning it is as simple as ‘boiling’ it with air.  This causes the tiny sections of media to rub against each other – dislodging the accumulated solids – which are then easily drained from the filter.

There’s a wide range of off-the-shelf filtration devices including:

  • Rotating drum filters
  • Screen (sieve) filters
  • Fluidised bed sand filters
  • Bubble bead filters
  • Cannister filters
  • Vortex filters

Some of these are very effective (others less so) and those that are effective are priced accordingly.  To be candid, you can achieve perfectly acceptable water quality – for a lot less money and hassle – with the DIY options that I’ve described.

Biological Filters

Having got the bulk of the solids out of the system, it’s then time to facilitate ammonification of any remaining suspended and dissolved solids – and then to convert the ammonia into nitrites and subsequently into nitrates.

Biological filters are simple devices that facilitate the colonization of the beneficial bacteria that are central to recirculating aquaculture. As the fish tank effluent passes through the biofilter, the remaining solids are exposed to the bacteria that facilitate nitrification.

Other by-product bio-filter functions include:

  • Oxygenation of the water
  • Removal of CO2
  • Flashing off of nitrogen in gaseous form

For small-scale aquaculture purposes, there are two main types of biological filter:

  • Trickling Bio-filter
  • Moving Bed Bio-filter

There are other types of biological filters including rotating biological contactors, bead filters, and fluidized bed sand filters….but those that I’ve listed are those best suited to backyard fish farmers – in the short term at least.

Trickling Biofilter

Trickling biofilters have been around for more than 100 years.

They were still widely used in wastewater treatment plants when I trained as a wastewater treatment operator in the 1970’s.

The huge trickling biofilters, with which I worked, used rocks (about 150mm or 6” in diameter) as media. A rotating boom arrangement ensured that the effluent was distributed evenly across the media.

The rock media served as the substrate to which the bio-film attached and the nitrifying bacteria lived in the bio-film.

The charm of trickling filters is that they are simple to build and easy to operate and maintain. They work well across a wide range of nutrient levels.

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Trickling biofilters are simple devices that cost little to set up and are easy to maintain.  This small stand-alone recirculating aquaculture system was used to grow out jade perch.  A pump (ln the fish tank) pushed the water through a cannister filter and up to the manifold supplying the biofilters.  The water then percolated down through the oyster shell media before draining back out into the fish tank.

The percolating action of the water as it trickles down through the media provides for excellent aeration. It also facilitates the removal of carbon dioxide and nitrogen (in gaseous form) from the water column.

Choosing the right media is also an important design consideration. Media options include:

  • Oyster shells
  • Manufactured plastic media
  • Coarse gravel or river pebbles
  • Light expanded clay aggregate (clay pebbles)
  • Scoria/lava rock

Oyster shells are our preferred media – they cost nothing and never clog. 

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The downside of oyster shells is that, compared to other media, they have a low specific surface area (SSA).

*SSA refers to the amount of surface upon which the biofilm that houses nitrifying bacteria.  SSA is measured in terms of square feet/cubic foot or metres/cubic metre.  In other words, if you were to lay all of the exposed surfaces of a given quantity of media (a cubic foot or a cubic metre) flat, the SSA would be the number of square feet or square metres that you’d have.

My next choice would be Kaldnes K1 manufactured plastic media.  

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Kaldness K1 is, compared to some other media, relatively expensive – but it has a very high SSA.  It can be used to good effect in packed media filters, trickling biofilters and moving bed bio-reactors.

Good nitrification will depend on effective water distribution throughout the filter.   Large commercial biofilters often feature rotating spray arms. Small units will often have a deflector arrangement that spreads the water across the top of the filter media.

We made an inexpensive water distributor out of a plastic bowl in which we drilled holes. It functions like an oversized shower nozzle spreading the water evenly over the media. Another option is to drill 8mm holes in a PVC end cap (like a crude shower fitting) and mount the cap so that it sprays the water across the media.

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Trickling biofilters rely on even distribution of the solids-laden water across the media.  We made an inexpensive water distributor from a cheap dishwashing bowl into which we drilled holes.  The bowl functioned as a sort of shower head and spread the inflow evenly across the media.

Moving Bed Bio-Reactor (MBBR)

While we started out using trickling biofilters, we’ve gradually transitioned to the moving bed bio-filters pioneered by Anox Kaldnes.

An MBBR consists of a barrel – or tank – filled with water to which 2/3 by volume of Kaldnes K1 media is added.  The water is aerated using air stones or a diffuser.

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Initially, the media will float because (like all polyethylene or polypropylene) it’s hydrophobic – it repels water.

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The media in a new MBBR is (slightly) positively bouyant.  That changes once the media has assumed the loading of a fully functioning unit.

In the weeks following the commissioning of a new filter, however, biofilms will establish themselves on the exposed surfaces of the media…and the nitrifying bacteria will begin to colonise the filter.  The subsequent increase in loading moves the media closer to neutral bouyancy – to the point where it takes on the characteristic slow rolling action of a functional MBBR.

Getting an MBBR operating properly will take longer and require greater effort than a trickling filter – and, depending on the media choice, it will cost more to build.  

The reasons that I now use them, however, include:

  • The creation of an oxygen-rich environment.
  • The massive specific surface area of the media.
  • Unrestricted water circulation through the media – no dead spots or anaerobic zones.
  • The media is self-cleaning.
  • The ability to accurately predict how much feed you can use for a given quantity of media.  

Manufacturer trials established that 50 litres of K1 would process the dissolved metabolic wastes arising from 0.75kg of feed (40% protein) per day.   Given that your filtration methods are unlikely to be as effective (nor anywhere as expensive) as those in a modern commercial recirculating aquaculture system, I strongly recommend that you settle on a more conservative number – around 0.4kg per 50 litres of media.

Let’s use this figure to calculate the amount of media needed for a small system:

For the purposes of this example, we’ll assume that we have 100 fish…and we propose to harvest them at 500 grams. That would give us a total fish biomass (at harvest) of 50 kg.  At a rate of 2% (of bodyweight per day), we would be feeding up to one kilogram of feed per day.  Based on my recommendation of  0.4kg of feed/day/50 litres of K1 media, then we’d need 125 litres of K1 media.  This amount could be contained within a 200 litre (55 US gallon) plastic drum.

That level of predictability is the principal benefit of using the moving bed biofiltration process.

The continuous churning movement of the media in the filter causes the tiny elements to rub against each other sloughing off the dead bacteria and continuously exposing fresh habitat for new bacteria.  The great thing about this is an MBBR rarely needs cleaning and, any cleaning that does occur, is limited to draining out any sediment that forms in the base of the filter.

Somewhat paradoxically, I’ll generally use a couple of small 65 litre trickling biofilters to kick start an MBBR.  Using conditioned filters on a new system provides effective nitrification from the outset and will speed up the commisioning of an MBBR quite considerably…but we’ll get into the detail of that when we get to the chapter on starting up a new system.

To summarise, gaining a thorough understanding of how biological and mechanical filters work – and how to use them – is essential if you are going to optimise water quality and fish health.

Each of these mechanical and biological filtration methods performs a similar function – to capture solids from the water column.   This list of filters is far from exhaustive.  It’s merely intended to provide you with options that are affordable and within the scope of the average DIY handyperson.

You can buy various off-the-shelf pond filtration devices but those that work well are expensive and the rest are not worth having.

To summarise, I recommend that you equip your system with most effective filtration that you can afford.  At the risk of beating the ease of cleaning thing to death, it’s important because (and I’ll explain the detail of this later in the  book) filters should be cleaned frequently.  Trust me, if you’re going to be doing it often, you want to make it as quick and easy as you can.

Now, you may have heard about an aquaponics method that uses the growing system for filtration.

Does such a method exist?

The short answer is YES. In fact, there are two such ‘closed loop’ methods.

One is the Integrated Aqua-Vegeculture System (iAVs) developed by Dr Mark R McMurtry.  Indeed, iAVs was the precursor to everything that we now know as aquaponics.  McMurtry vigorously asserts that is is not aquaponics…so the discussion of iAVs ends here…except to say, that is an exceptional way to integrate the closed loop production of fish and plants – and is well worthy of consideration by anybody seeking a productive, resilient and sustainable way to produce food.

I said that there were two such ‘closed loop’ methods so, before we embark upon the design and contstruction of a recirculating aquaculture system, we should take a look at the basic flood and drain system.

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In the meantime, I invite you to comment…to express any concerns that you may have…and to provide ideas or suggestions that you feel will improve the book – or add value to it.

Foreword

This Foreword is part of The Urban Aquaponics Manual – 4th Edition.

The Urban Aquaponics Manual first saw the light of day in 2007 – the first publication of its type in the world.

I created the 2nd Edition in 2008 and, in 2010; I revised the Manual yet again (3rd Edition) and made it available through a subscription web site – another first.

In 2012, I embarked on this 4th Edition.

I had already done a substantial amount of the work when, in 2014, I made the acquaintance of Dr Mark R McMurtry. In the ensuing couple of months, everything that I thought I knew about integrated aquaculture got turned on its head.

In the mid-1980’s, McMurtry invented the Integrated Aqua-Vegeculture System (iAVs) – the first successful ‘closed loop’ production of vegetables using the metabolic wastes of fish.

Indeed, iAVs features so prominently in the history and development of aquaponics that the relationship between the two is an egg that can’t really be unscrambled.

While it was the precursor to everything that subsequently became known as aquaponics, McMurtry vigorously asserts that iAVs is not aquaponics.

So, aside from acknowledging its historical significance – and asserting its genealogical integrity I’ll be respecting the views of iAVs’ inventor and not mixing integrated aquaculture metaphors by attempting to shoehorn iAVs into a book about aquaponics.

Aquaponics is a dynamic discipline so any published work on the subject quickly becomes redundant without frequent revision. Notwithstanding the fact that the Urban Aquaponics Manual has undergone the process three times, this 4th Edition is a very different book to the 3rd Edition.

Enjoy!

Gary Donaldson
Macleay Island, Queensland
September 2017

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Getting Started with DIY Food Production

In our Introduction to DIY Food Production, we talked about why we should grow our own food and how to determine how much we’d need…and we introduced you to Microponics – the integration of fish, plants and micro-livestock.

While Microponics is not complex, we want to make your entry into DIY food production even easier so we’ve mapped out a pathway to help you get started…quickly!

Let’s begin with a garden.

Now, just so we’re clear, I’m not talking about the traditional kind of gardening where you labour and sweat…and run up big water bills while you fight weeds and insects for a tiny share of what you grow.

I’m talking about smart gardening…which is the reverse of traditional gardening.

The methods that we’ll show you are efficient in their use of water and labour…and require no herbicides and pesticides…so the outcome is clean fresh food for you and your family.

We’ll start this gardening adventure with three ideas for you to consider:

Any one of these methods will see you eating your first leaf salad, Asian greens and radishes within a few short weeks of planting your seeds or seedlings.  They will also accommodate any plant – including vines and root crops.

What’s more, they are water-efficient and won’t leave you with a sore back…and will only require the investment of an hour or two of your time to get started.  They will only require a few minutes of maintenance each day.

The other good thing is that you can take a modular approach – gradually growing your vegetable garden – one module at a time.

Right from the outset, we’d encourage you to start to think about food production from a waste transformation perspective.  

At this early stage, that means composting your kitchen wastes and newly acquired vegetable residues.  Keep it simple.  Just put the food scraps into a compost bin and allow them to decompose naturally.  Once you fill the bin, remove all of the earthy-smelling black compost to use on your plants.  Put the partly composted stuff back into the bin and resume adding your kitchen wastes.

You can also get a worm farm going.  Compost and worm castings are superb plant foods…but, even more importantly, they are part of the biological leveraging that enables you to produce your food cost-effectively…while also keeping you out of the destructive and expensive chemical fertiliser/herbicide/pesticide cycle upon which industrial farming is premised.

Once you’ve got your vegetable garden happening, it’s time to expand the menu to include some eggs.

Three chickens will produce 15 – 20 of the cleanest and freshest eggs that you’ll ever eat – each week – and you’ve achieved your first important milestone in your DIY food production.  You can now sit down to your first totally homegrown meals.

Don’t have the space…or local government or housing convenants prohibit keeping chickens?

Never mind…because you will almost certainly have the space to keep Japanese quail.  A dozen quail hens will provide you with 60 – 80 eggs a week.   Five quail eggs equal one chicken egg and, anything that you can do with a chicken egg, you can do with quail eggs.  A few quail hens can be housed in a square metre and they can be explained away (to anyone who needs to know) as cage bird pets.

The arrival of your chickens or quail signals the need for a subtle shift in our waste transformation efforts.  

First, we now need to redirect everything in the way of food wastes to the chickens or quail.  Start to think of those fruit and vegetable peelings, plate scrapings, stale bread and virtually anything that you’d eat yourself as being leftovers to be consumed by your birds.   

Kitchen wastes will offset the cost of purchased chicken mash or pellets and the best (and fastest) way to compost anything is to put it through the guts of a chicken.

Second, we need to start thinking of chicken or quail manure as an asset…something that has value  -and that can have further value added to it.  

At the very least, we can rake it up, mix it up with other carbon-rich plant wastes and end up with a richer compost…or we can feed to worms.  If we are keeping a  dozen or more chickens, then we can gather it up and feed it to Black soldier fly larvae and, in the process, produce another valuable dietary supplement for our chickens.  What’s more, we can take the larvicast (the stuff that’s left over when the BSF larvae are finished with the chicken/quail manure) and feed that to our worms, too.

Welcome to the world of the cascading returns that become possible through waste transformation farming.

Now, we’ll quickly reach the point where…as good as it is…our egg salad will become a little boring from a culinary perspective.  When (and if) you reach that point, it’s time to start thinking about some homegrown meat.

There are a range of options available to you when it comes to backyard meat production and they include:

You can even add lesser known organisms like snails and guinea pigs to the list – subject to your culinary and cultural preferences.

If you already have quail hens all you need to do is buy some cockerels and let nature take its course.  Incubate the eggs and 16 – 17 days later you’ll have your first chicks.  About six weeks later, you’ll be eating your first meal that includes homegrown meat.

You can purchase day-old broiler chicks from a hatchery or feed and grain store and be eating them about six weeks later.

Muscovy ducks are perfect waterfowl for backyard food producers.  They make very little noise and a drake and three or four ducks will keep you in duck meat forever.

A buck rabbit and 4 does will provide you with some of the finest meat that ever graced a kitchen – and you can raise it in a footprint of about three square metres.

Of course, all of this has to acknowledge that meat production is not a story with a happy ending…but, if you already eat meat, then you owe it to yourself and your family to only eat clean fresh meat that is ethically raised…and processed.

Once again, the rabbit manure is an important part of the value chain and should be harvested.  It, too, can be fed to the BSF larvae and/or worms. Indeed, chickens will even eat it.

By now, you are eating clean fresh food the like of which would cost you a lot of money if you had to buy it.

But, we’re not finished.  How would you like to add fish to the menu?

A simple recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) will enable you to grow your freshwater fish in a footprint of as little as five or six square metres.  

What’s more, you can use the nutrient-rich water from your RAS to water your gardens…effectively providing you with two crops – fish and plants – for the same amount of water that it would previously have required just to grow the plants.

Connect a hydroponic growing system to your recirculating aquaculture system and you’re doing aquaponics.

You can even build my personal favourite – the integrated aqua-vegeculture system (iAVs) –  the truly remarkable food production system that was the precursor to aquaponics.

Small-scale food production doesn’t end there.  If you have the space and zoning, you can also include pigs, goats and small cattle in your integrated food production system…along with fungi and fodder plants.  The sky’s the limit!

All of these things are not only possible but they are also quite easy to do…and we can help you.

Welcome to the world of Microponics and waste transformation farming…where the waste products of one organism become the feedstock for other organisms…in the quest for clean fresh food.

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An Introduction to DIY Food Production.

Growing one’s own food is a key aspect of the ‘Have More For Less‘ concept…and I’ve been doing it for much of the past 40 years.  For the past 12 years, I’ve also had an enduring commitment to integrated agri-aquaculture…and I’ve been writing about it for much of that time.

Suffice to say, I have a substantial body of work on DIY food production to share with you.  To simply dump it in front of you would be a little overwhelming – so I’ve created the following links to enable you to access the material in a structured manner.

I developed a small-scale food production regime that, in 2008, I described as Microponics.  Essentially, Microponics embraces the integrated production of fish, plants and micro-livestock…in an urban backyard.  If this all seems a bit confusing, at this stage, just bear with me and I’ll help you through it.

The first thing to understand is that there’s no need to do everything that I talk about.  If you do nothing more than grow your own salad greens, you’ll be in front.  If, however, you want to make a big difference to your food bill…and your health…the sky’s the limit.

Let’s begin with why we should grow our own food…and then we’ll look at what’s involved in producing enough food for our own kitchen.

If we try to mimic commercial food producers, the food that we grow will be more expensive than food bought from a supermarket.  To eliminate the need for commercial fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides – and to offset the cost of live-stock food – we use something called integration to give us a financial edge while, at the same time, preserving our health and the well-being of the environment.

Now, Microponics is the integration of fish, plants and micro-livestock and it operates on the premise that the one thing that all food organisms have in common with each other is water – so we’ll introduce you to integrated aquaculture in its various forms.

Of course, one consequence of growing fish is that we end up with nutrient-rich water that we can use to grow fruit and vegetables for us – and fodder for our micro-livestock.

When people think of growing plants, things like forks, shovels, hard work and sore backs quickly enters their mind.  There are lots of very interesting ways that you can grow food plants that have nothing to do with hard work so we’ll be exploring things like the Integrated Aqua-Vegeculture System (iAVs), aquaponics, wicking beds, square foot gardens – and much more.

A constant diet of fish and salad would quickly become boring so we’ll also look at backyard egg and meat production…and that’s where the micro-livestock enter the picture.  There’s a long list of those for you to choose from including: 

  • chickens
  • ducks
  • turkeys
  • quail
  • rabbits
  • geese
  • pigeons
  • snails
  • bees 

The links in this article are just a taste of what’s to come as we venture forth into the world of Microponics and integrated backyard food production.

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The Have-More Plan

One evening, in early 1976, I walked into the Third World Bookshop – my favourite book haunt – in Adelaide’s Hindley Street night quarter.

About twenty minutes later, I emerged with a book that was to help chart the course of my life.

Written in 1943, “The Have-More Plan – A Little Land and a Lot of Living” was destined to become one of the classics of the back-to-earth genre.

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In just over 70 pages, authors Ed and Caroline Robinson provided their prescription for “how to make a small cash income into the best and happiest living any family could want.”

The book’s lifestyle promise proved to be an irresistible lure for me…to the point where we embarked on our own quest for self-sufficiency.

In late 1976, my family and I moved from suburban Adelaide onto a neglected 20-acre olive tree farm on the urban fringe.

In the ensuing years, we moved from one rented farmlet to another before buying our own house.  While the addresses changed, the general self-sufficiency idea remained constant.  We aspired to the Robinson’s suggestion of “the best and happiest living any family could want”…and we rode a learning curve like the Big Dipper.

We bred rabbits, goats and various breeds of poultry and waterfowl. We reared broiler chickens and pigs, milked two cows, grew olives and owned a 20hp grey “Fergie” tractor.  These humble beginnings paved the way for my introduction to integrated backyard food production (Microponics).

Wind the clock forward thirty eight years…and The Have More Plan re-entered my life.

The need for information relating to a project led me to my bookcase and, as I shuffled through a box of books, suddenly there it was in my hands – my copy of ”The Have-More Plan.”

I re-read the book three times in the week after its re-discovery.

On the first such occasion, I experienced the same sense of exhilaration that I did when I first read it 38 years ago. I even found myself being drawn into the back-to-earth call to action.

The Have-More Plan is a reflection of its age.   While much of its content is timeless, the book is a social snap-shot of the US middle class in the early 1940’s – complete with beliefs, values and behaviours to match the period.

During the second reading, I paused on the Robinson’s call-to-action – to move to a place in the country.

While being on acreage has its merits, much of what is discussed in the Have-More Plan is no less applicable to an urban backyard.

Most people, it seems, aspire to happiness and it’s my perception that they should be able to do that regardless of their age, ethnicity or financial circumstances…or whether they live in the city or the country.

It was during the third reading, that I realised that, for me, the real legacy of The Have-More Plan is the idea that the pathway to happiness is…self-reliance.  What began as an attempt to underpin our own food self-reliance later branched out into other areas like finance, housing, and transport.

In acknowledgment of the impact that The Have-More Plan has had on my life, I’ve named my island micro-farm…Have-More Farm.

You can obtain a free PDF download of “The Have-More Plan”…HERE.

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HMFL Cornerstones

At the heart of the Have More For Less concept is my belief that happiness is the product of simple living and self-reliance.

My own self-reliance is achieved through:  

  • growing food
  • exploring alternative shelter, energy and transport options
  • designing and making – and mending things
  • trading – selling and bartering

In this post, I provide some detail about those strategies.  In so doing, I’m not suggesting that you should follow an identical path.  This is simply what works for me.

Food

Arguably, one of the most tangible indications that you are serious about self-reliance is the decision to assume control of your own food chain.  

There are a variety of reasons for doing so and, principal among them, is food security….ensuring that you have food when you need it.  Knowing where your food comes from, and what’s in it, is central to your health.  Making intelligent food choices is not only good for you; you’re helping the planet out, too.  By the way, implicit in any discussion of food is acknowledgment of the need for potable water. 

A less tangible (but no less important) benefit of growing food is the self-confidence it invests in you.

If the words ‘grow your own’ inspire thoughts of traditional gardening…with all of its digging, weeding and other hard work – relax!  It doesn’t need to be that way.  There are literally dozens of food production strategies that don’t require a shovel or garden fork.

Of course, there are also ways to access clean fresh food that don’t require you to grow it yourself.  You can buy it directly from others who grow it – and still reap the financial and health benefits.  You can also underpin food security by setting up your own food bank…stockpiling non-perishable essentials as a hedge against hard times.

The important message here is to take control of your food chain.

Shelter – Energy – Transport

Once you’re had something to eat and drink, your next survival requirement is shelter.

Regardless of whether they are buying or renting, keeping a roof over their head is the biggest expense for most people.  Even those who have freehold ownership of their homes will be shelling out substantial amounts of money for insurance, rates, taxes, utilities (like water and sewerage) – and maintenance.

Most people require a loan to buy a house.  Many of them will then spend the next 25 to 35 years paying off that loan.  Known as the ‘mortgage trap’ this process is an issue for two reasons.  Firstly, the sheer amount of life energy that has to be directed to the repayment of housing loans is huge.  Second, is the insidious affect that it has on personal freedom.   All manner of life choices will be made to mitigate against the risk of not being able to pay that mortgage.  

You may have to work in situations that you detest simply because of the captive impact of your mortgage.  It’s no exaggeration to say that, for many people, home ownership means decades of anxious scrutiny of the quarterly central bank interest rate announcements.

My interest in alternative housing is largely driven by the desire to demonstrate that people don’t need to be victims of the mortgage trap.  They don’t even need to subject themselves to the indignity that often accompanies the renting of residential property.  Fortunately, there are many strategies that can be employed to offset the cost of shelter.  They just require a little ‘outside of the box’ thinking.

I treat the whole matter of housing as an adventure…a challenge.  I live in a tiny house – not because I have to – but rather because I enjoy it.  The cost effective provision of providing your own shelter is liberating and no less of a boost for your self-confidence than growing your own food.

Living without electricity is possible but, for most people, not all that practical.  Buying electricity through a power company is increasingly expensive but there are things that you can do to reduce your energy costs.

Transporting one’s goods – and oneself – is also an important (and prospectively expensive) part of conventional living.  For convenience sake, I treat them as part of my housing deliberations.

Suffice to say, at this stage, the exploration of alternative housing, energy and transport is a cornerstone of the Have More For Less concept.

Designing, Making and Mending

The procurement of goods and services costs money but, the more you can do for yourself, the less expensive it gets.

Eating out will cost you more than growing and preparing your own food.  Building your own furniture and making and maintaining your own clothes will also save heaps of cash.

Acquiring practical knowledge and skills not only reduces the cost of living but will also assist you to generate income.

Trading – Buying, Selling and Barter

If you’re like most people, there will be some of life’s essentials that you’ll struggle to provide for yourself and that’s where trading becomes a part of your self-reliance program.  

Trading is business…selling products or services.  People have been doing it for thousands of years and, in its most fundamental form, it’s easy to do, too.  

Long before money existed, people used barter – a system of exchange where good or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services – without using a medium of exchange – like money.

To summarise…HMFL is about growing food, living comfortably, design and making, getting around and selling stuff.  It’s about building an enjoyable and sustainable lifestyle in which time assumes a greater value than money.

In my next post, I’ll reveal how a chance encounter with a little book set me on the path to food self-sufficiency.

I like to share and discuss these ideas with others.  To that end, I invite you to go to www.havemoreforless.com.

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The Pursuit of Happiness

I have an abiding interest in happiness.

Having experienced unhappiness (in many of its various forms), I can state categorically that I much prefer happiness. In fact, its pursuit underpins everything I do.

So, what is it?

Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary defines happiness as…

…a state of well-being and contentment.

Why is it important?

Well, as it turns out, happiness is apparently what the overwhelming majority of people want from life.

Hundreds of people have attempted to put the concept of happiness into words but, for me, nobody put it more succinctly than Aristotle when he said…

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life; the whole aim and end of human existence.

But knowing what it is – and why its important – is one thing. Knowing how to achieve it is a very different thing.

The research that surrounds happiness is apparently abundant and, while the numbers vary slightly from one author to another,  the consensus suggests that it is the result of three things – our genetics (50%), our circumstances (10%) and our intentional activities…the things we do on a day-to-day basis.

While there’s not much that we can do about our genetics, the clear message is that half of the things that determine our happiness are within our span of control.  In other words, it’s up to us!

Even cursory reading of writings on the subject tells us that:

  • Happiness is a personal responsibility. You have to determine what it means for you and you have to bring it about. You cannot rely on anyone or anything else for your contentment and well-being.
  • Happiness should not be postponed. In life, there are no guarantees and so happiness must be viewed as a journey rather than a destination.  Grab it where you can.
  • Happiness requires two things – actions and decisions. It’s not going to happen for the simple act of wishing.
  • Happiness is a skill…and the more you practice it, the better you get at it.

To summarise: Being happy – the state of well-being and contentment – is a worthwhile personal goal.   Indeed, it should be our absolute priority and, since it’s within our grasp, we should be ridding ourselves of anything that stands in our path. Each of us is solely responsible for its definition and execution…and for our own outcomes – and that should happen without delay…every day!

That’s the WHAT of happiness.  While we’ll periodically explore that in greater depth, the real focus of www.garydonaldson.net – is the HOW.

I contend that the pursuit of Happiness – through Simple living and Self-reliance – enables us to Have More For Less. Conversely, Have More For Less is the pursuit of Happiness through Simple Living and Self-reliance.

If you’re interested in what I have to say about happiness, I invite you to visit regularly and, if you’d like to discuss it – and exchange ideas on its attainment – feel free to drop around to the Have More For Less forum.

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