Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Good point Charlie, this avenue hasn't been explored too much as yet mainly as it is relatively new (aquaponics) and we have obtained what is commercially available...there has been some forumers branching off into DIY food pellets including BSF larvae (Black Soldier Fly).

Definitely interested in any input from your friend(s) in this area

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Edited by CL

What you specifically need for AP is going to be different from system to system depending on what you feed your fish and what media you use.

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Grow more with less


http://www.FishFarmers.com.au
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http://hedgerowfarm.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/HedgerowFarmVictoria/

Rockmelon loves Aquaponics, and I didn't even believe it would fruit in Melbourne!

gg

Nice GG, are you going to get a few fruit from it?

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Life on the road

Do you know what it weighed GG?
I have 5 nearly ripe and they are a good size.

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Hi EB, Faye

This rock melon weighed 2.5 kg. This vine has produced 4 melons - this monster, a 'normal' sized melon, and two small (hamburger sized) melons. One of these was eaten by rodents or possums, and the other is still on the vine, but I think I will run out of season before it has a chnace to ripen.

The variety is 'Kearos Special' grown from seed from Eden seeds. The ripe one that we have eaten was very juicy, and milder in taste than the usual supermarket 'rock' rock melon.

gg

is rockmelon the same as a cantaloupe? and are they hard to grow with ap? how do you let the vines run .on the ground or on a trellis? and are they heavy eaters, because my system is still new and not fully astablished.

Hi CC,

Yes rockmelon and cantaloupe are the same thing. I don't know if they are heavy feeder- I'm not sure how I would measure that. But I planted them and then forgot them. They seemed to take a long time to sprout and get going, but then the vine sort of wound it's way through my growbeds, and finding fruit was always a surpprise.


Cheers
gg

Hey GG, I just weighed my second rockmelon 1.3kg. My first 2 together weighed the same as your one. Congratulations you have one heck of a rockmelon (cantaloupe)there. Not that there is anything wrong with mine as this is the size we get in our shops. Well done to you, I might have to try some of those special seeds next season.

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http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum ... a&start=45 (Fayes system)
http://backyardfarming.com.au/phpbb3/vi ... f=24&t=119 (Fayes garden) https://www.facebook.com/Botanic.Obsession

thanks gg trying to learn the difference in the lingo. i'll try to plant some, because this is the season for them here.

There are many varieties of rock melon some are super sweet. I learned that you can place the melon in panty hose and tie them up to the sides of grow beds. The material stretches as the melon grows.

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placing melons in your panty hose ...

heard of this before using gourds. and if you tie them in certian ways you can make differnt shapes out of them. panty hose is also good for cucumbers to keep them from growing to long.

It may not be necessary to supply Trace elements via fish food but for it to be incorporated in the water.
As far as we know there is only one place that all the trace elements on earth are found together in one place and in a soluable form and that is in the sea.

It is and has been tempting to try and separate minerals from one another to find out which one does what, only to find that the jigsaw is more confusing than was first thought.
So we have been going round in circles trying to work out what to include in the food chain and what we think we don't need or is not important.

Sea water can be mixed with the fishes water to a level which can be tolerated by the plants and at the same time benefit the fish. Some open pollinated plant varieties may benefit from this practice where hybrids that have been bred to maximise growth using chemical fertilizers may not. (more can be said on this).

In the case of Hybrids (and no doubt open pollinated varieties) the sodium and chloride can be removed from sea water by raising the ph to about 10 and the minerals will drop out of suspension and can be used with a lower salt content.
Sodium chloride acts like a container for the minerals and when opened by raising the ph the minerals drop out in the form of a milky, fluffy, watery mixture and settle to the bottom. The water containing the sodium chloride can be siphoned off and replaced with fresh water there by becoming less salty.

This method has been around for awhile and has now been patented and the resulting mixture used as a fertilizer and other things.

One thing of interest is that the minerals in sea water remain in balance no matter how much fresh water you add (or remove until the water has almost dried up), to say they are in balance I mean that if you try to increase one or more of the minerals to a higher concentration than the others the added minerals will drop out.

Can you see a use for this in AP?
You already have the nitrogen.

I will stop now.

Graytell