Organic Aquaponics System – Pondponics
This Video is from the Youtube channel: “Rob Bob’s Aquaponics & Backyard Farm”.Β
G'Day Folks. We have made a start on our first Aquaponics/Pondponics system on the farm, one we think is truly "organic".
Please leave any suggestions on how you think we can protect the greens we're growing in the comment section below.
PLEASE NOTE, there is more work to do on this design as there are a few issues to iron out yet. π
Cheers all.
Rob, B & Jack. πΎπΎ
πYou can find the bits & bobs we sell & affiliate links here,
βΊ
BEAT THE PRICE RISE & RECEIVE AU$5 OFF YOUR NUTCRACKER ORDER USING CODE 5$OFF BEFORE 25TH DEC 2024
Want to learn more about Aquaponics? π ππ₯¬π
Learning is easy with my "Backyard Aquaponics for Beginners" Guide for only US$19.95.
βΊ
Our Amazon Influencer page where you'll find the gear I use around the patch & Aquaponics listed
βΊ
Subscribe HereβΊ
Would be great to see you come along & say "G'Day" when we post a clip.
FARM YOUR OWN YARD Supporters site.
"Farm You Own Yard" is a dedicated Supporters/Members site where we host exclusive, supporters only content for folks that would like to support the channel.
By Us a β or the π some food via Bitcoin (BTC)
3MikEjg6fGLa123NPmBPSDh9UhRZdn7Yu1
or PayPal
βΊ
βΊ
Thanks to all our YouTube & Supporter page members for your support & friendship.
A HUGE THANKS needs to go out to these Super Supporters for supporting our channel,
Naughty Goat Farm
Naughty Goat Farm is committed to providing a healthy alternative to the mass-produced soaps, lip balms and personal products currently available on the shelves of stores.
Tina from BS Ranch & Stich 6 to 6
Sally Weiner
Woodworking Chicago based Artist
Etsy Store,
@sallyweinerart on Instagram
Follow us on
Facebook βΊ
Rob (Thatβs me π) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Influencer/Associates Program, an influencer/affiliate advertising program designed to provide means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to
Those ponds should produce some food now
Stretch a wire between the trees, from one edge of the pond to the other. And throw a net over it creating a tent. Float the styrofoam rafts under this tent.
Cheers for that mate. Netting that size would be an issue for us at the moment. Might see how this trial raft goes & if it works as well as we’d like it may be an option.
Hope you have a top weekend mate.
Hi! How deep is the dam? As I was wondering it you could hammer in some recycled poles or star pickets, depending on water depth, hang the netting between them and insert the grow beds under the netting. Yeah, you’ll get wet installing it, but it’ll give you a spot to “anchor” the beds when the weather throws stuff about and, if netting hung right, you can have the edge just touching the surface but still be able to manoeuvre the bed in and out as needed. Two poles could do it, four would add stability but make it harder to get the bed in and out. Just a thought.
Hey Janis. B & I were talking about abandoning the rope idea we discussed on the hangout & use a couple of pickets in the water to tether the raft. I like the idea of using the pickets to hold the netting/insect cloth as well, thanks for that.
Have a great weekend. π
I have no idea, but I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Thanks Jennifer. Hope all’s well with you & yours.
It may look silly but you could make a frame for the netting with pool noodles, fairly inexpensive and itβs guaranteed to float π
Thanks Dan. We did discuss getting some & sitting the raft on them to help create an air gap for the roots under the raft. π
Make floats from empty water bottles. Soda/ carbonated beverage bottles also work. They’re cheap and easy to come by. Tie them together with string, wire, or fishing line. They could also be bagged. There’s a lot of options if you put your mind to it.
Hey Ron. We already have some bottles aside & plan to use them to help create an air gap for the plants roots so they don’t rot.
Cheers mate & have a top one.
How are you planning on setting out the boards? Didn’t you have some some lighter gauged wire fencing?
Use it as a form for the netting attached to floating logs you could make wattle using small branches to support the netting if no light gauge fence wire.
Cheers for that Rogè. We were playing with the idea of making a structure to hold the netting out of some of the sheep fencing we have. My idea was to attach it to some pontoons out the side though. Thanks for that.
It will be great to see how the floating grow bed go. Also, maybe don’t leave fish/crab pots in too long, or you might murder some turtles. (and eels tastes great)
The traps are never left in for more than an hour.
Cheers Marcus.
Rob If you have scrap lumber laying around I would suggest making a simple a-frame raft out old fence posts and staple the netting over 1×2 a-frames….easy peasy and you would only need a few 1×2 which are fairly in-expensive. Great idea with the rafts in your dams.
Thanks for that mate. I like the idea of the A frame as a cover. My initial thought was to form one of sorts out of the sheep fencing we have & attaching the netting over that. The idea was to sit that on the raft itself.
Cheers BWF.
Make a set of parallel docks that can be on either sides of the floats. Then make the pest netting scaffold hang on the docks. you could put more out later if your issues are few. why 2 docks? so you can work your floats without moving the. As roots may end up getting snagged on whats on the bottom. You may need to add different macros like you said. maybe even some air.. Good luck, can not wait to see the results. Would also be cool to see an aquarium style auquapnics unit. So you could showcase the fish differently. π€π€π€
Cheers for those ideas G3@RZ. π
We have some bottles aside to add to the bottom of the raft to provide an air gap. I would still like to build a largish aquarium build for herbs & such. One day maybe.
Those are DWC rafts. Thus, there is no air gap. Without creating an airgap or adding 02 with a solar pump, most of your plants will perish. Watercress is an exception..
If you take a pool noodle, cut it up the center and line the outside of the rafts, then float some empty plastic underneath. It may solve the issue, but add another, and that is wind. If you have a high wind, the air could flip the raft when the plants are young. I would suggest raising the raft and using a solar air pump. That would trap most of the O2 rich water. Then you have the issue of the fish. Some fish will nibble the roots unless protected.
You should use the blue net under water to protect from the fish and bord netting on top as it is cheap and extremely light.
*Bird netting.
You’re the first to pick up on the need for air around the roots. ππ I was wondering how long it would take.
Cheers Mathew.
Put a poly pipe type green house over the entire pond. Itβs small enough that adding reo bars through the pipe shouldnβt be required.
Hey Rob, My missus said you could use pool noodles, and i reckon you could use the plastic milk bottles to help float the raft after you put the netting up
Missed last weekends episodes, great idea growing on the pond.Wishes for great success on that.Looking forward to see how well it works.
Before attempting any fancy builds …Stick a couple of empty rafts in the pond, tied off to the bank or anchored in the middle…. with a brick or two on top.
My bet is the ducks will love the new floating platforms and crap everywhere……… the rafts are a perfect place for them to spend the night away from predators…
(speaking from experience -on a small dam) …..
As for an air gap…I wouldn’t bother… I’ve got heaps of rafts and have removed the air stones because plants grow just as well without….. providing there is water movement…..
If you are going to attempt netting you will need a strong rigid frame …like a tunnel design… that is free floating, self-supporting and not attached to the rafts – the rafts can simply be inserted inside the floating net….
Good luck
Rob have you thought about setting up a chinampa on your dam? You seem to give everything go. You’re very inspiring.
Aztec Technology, he’ll need an aerator to avoid the pathogens & reduce the parasites as that culture used human sewage to feed the plants eaten by the city.
20mm plastic pvc pipe (elbows and Ts) to build a cage to keep the weight down at least can reuse it later on with joiners and cheapest that I found compared to say Aluminium.
I was looking at using a roll of that plastic orange safety barrier mesh and then have some sort of roller to feed in and then harvest on the other side (bought 2 rolls just not done anything with it yet) the square holes I think are 50mm.
I have an idea I want to βFloatβ by you π
Have you tried water spinach? I love it and plan to grow more in the summer months. It does great in a bucket of mud!