NON PLANT BASED BIO-FILTER DESIGN BASICS

Fish need good filtration to keep them alive in a typical backyard pond, and serious filtration to keep them growing like they would in the wild. So, a large part of the this hobby is fiddling with filtration systems so we can cram more fish into our ponds, and still keep them alive, happy and growing. But the problem is, there are many, many different commercial and DIY pond filters, all with conflicting theories on which works better, and why they work. 
I have spent a lot of time reading about the different types & theories, and have found many contradictions. I also happen to have a unique perspective, The majority of ponds were created by people that have not put much research into published pond and bio-filter design guidelines, so the ponds end up at being a random guess at what the pond needs to be healthy. There are some key factors that kept showing up.

High turn over rate; Pumps with actual flow rates that cycle the pond at least 1 or 2 times per hour.
High aeration; Waterfalls, fountains, aeration towers etc.
Regular water changes; At least 10% to 20%per week.
Running Current; Moving water so the fish have something to swim in.

So what is the most efficient bio-filter to use?
After you get past the guessing stage and want to be a real pond enthusiast and employ an adequate filtration system, there are a number of factors to understand. Furthermore the efficiency of your filtration system will effect how much you spend on your pond, and how much electricity, water, and time you use. I hunted around and think I found some answers from the serious fish farming world in the book Aquaculture Engineering. With this information, filtration systems can be evaluated better, or you may be able to design your own system.
Trickle style media is not as efficient as submerged media. That's a shocker, there is currently a lot of hype about trickle filters being higher efficiency than submerged media. Possibly what the trickle filters are mostly doing is aerating the water more than a standard submerged media filter system. I believe a highly aerated submerged bio media is the best overall choice.
Does the bio-media (with bio film on it) need to be in dark, in the light, or does it not matter?
The filters need to be in the dark, or at least shielded from the light, because the light reduces the nitrification process.
Temperature range for best bio film growth
Bacterial activity occurs between 5 degrees C and 35 C, with the most activity at 30 c. With temperatures above 35 c, the bacteria may start to die off.
Best pH for nitrification 
The best pH range for nitrification is between 8 and 9, which is high for a typical pond. Nitrification rate decreases when the pH falls below 7.
Oxygen concentration for optimum bio film development needs to be at or above 4mg per liter.
So adding an aerator just ahead of the bio reactor is a good idea. 
Start up time using plastic media.
In ideal conditions, it takes between 20 and 40 days to mature a bio-filter.
Plastic media has been proven to show good results at hosting bio film. Thin new bio film has the highest nitrification rate, higher than older thick bio film. The reason the older film doesn't work as good, is because it is tougher for the oxygen and nutrients to get deep into the layers of the old bio film. Moving bed / fluidized bed reactors knock off the old bio film and allow new film to develop making them best.
Bio filter Media Calculations
K1 media has 259 sq ft of area per cubic foot of media, and has proven in aquaculture applications to be able to process 2 ounces of 40% protein food, per day, per 1 gallon of K1 media in a moving bed filter. Other filter manufacturers rate it at a lower efficiency, of about 0.61 ounces of food, per day, per gallon of K1 media. To get the K1 to “boil” properly, you can only fill it 40% full.
Example Using 55 gallon Barrel
A 24" fish that typically weighs around 134 ounces. 
If you feed it 1% of it's body weight per day, then you are feeding 1.34 ounces of food per day, per fish.
1.34 / 0.61 per gallon of K1 = 2.19 gallons of K1 needed per 24" fish.
You can fill a 55 barrel 40% of the way with K1, so that is 22 gallons of K1
22 gallons of K1 / 2.19 gallons per koi = 10 of 24" koi per 55 gallon barrel filter
Other plastic media materials can be calculated similarly. You need to spend the time to calculate the square feet of media surface area that will fit in a cubic foot. As K1 is 259 sq ft per cubic foot of media.

APS

THE AQUAPONIC PROPAGATION SYSTEM
The propagation table is a wood box on legs, lined with plastic to hold water. The totes below hold water, fish, a biofilter, and a small pump to operate the filter and deliver water to the growing area. A float switch turns the pump diverter solenoid on/off to auto fill the grow bed when needed. If the plants need additional fertilizer I can add it through time release granules (organic) in the container media. This system does not recirculate grow bed water back to the fish tank.
I have several versions of this system that combine the advantages of using cold blooded animal poop (fish, worms,frogs,etc.) as an organic fertilizer in my grow systems.
I hope this helps and encourages you to build and try your own techniques.
Good home grown food is our objective. And a few flowers for the soul doesn't hurt.
PS. In addition to the garden veggies, I grow goldfish and catfish in my systems.

Buy Local

Local is better! Why?
It takes 1500 calories of petrochemical energy to get 1 calorie of food energy to The East Coast from California.
Clearly, that is the definition
of 'not sustainable'.
Buy local, get great food, support your local grower and save the environment, all at the same time! Look for local sources for natural foods and organic packaged and prepared foods as well. Make the effort, it's better .

Aquaponic You Tube Videos

http://www.youtube.com/channel/HCa6Kx4iXZbW8  This is a great link to Aquaponic information. Enjoy!

SeedCookies

On a recent sun-kissed afternoon, we got our hands dirty. We mushed together some AR red clay, compost, seeds and water in a large bucket, then spooned the sludge onto large wax paper lined cookie trays.
We were making seed cookies, a sort of all-in-one tool for preserving and propagating plants of all sorts.
And while our versions may have been on the fancy side, how they work is simple.
Just scatter the seed cookies over soil and wait. When the rain comes, the seed cookies will decompose. As the warmer weather arrives, the seeds will germinate.
Over time, you'll have budding plants on your hands, without ever having to dig.
It's the best low-cost, low-maintenance way of planting that we have found.
The late Japanese farmer-philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka helped pioneer the use of "seed balls" over the last half century. Fukuoka's focus was on natural farming - he believed that the no-till method was best for the soil and ecosystem - and seed balls offered several advantages.
First, the casing protects the seeds from being blown away or eaten by birds and other animals.
Second, they don't require watering or planting.
Third, they can help rejuvenate soil once the ball break down.
Seed cookies are more versatile.
For the home gardener, seed cookies offer a distinctive way to save seeds. It's a fun project that kids can help with, and the seed cookies themselves make great gifts.
Making seed cookies isn't an exact science, but the overall composition is important.Our general purpose flower composition is a 4-2-1 ratio of clay to compost to seeds to prevent overcrowding once the seeds germinate.
The clay holds the cookie together, forming a hard 1/4" thick cookie when dry.
The compost component can include worm castings to enrich the native soil. We also add a dash of hot pepper to some of our mixes to discourage some critters from damaging the seed.
As for the seeds, you'll want to choose plants that require little maintenance, and native to your area.
Plants that need attention, like lettuces, won't do as well, given the hands-off nature of sowing seed cookies.

Local Organic Farm Business

I don't do this often but I want to share this website with all of my readers. This guy has a couple of good you tube videos too. Spend a few minutes at their site, good operation. Maybe I will see you in one of their garden classes!
http://www.foundationfarm.com/

Potting Aquatic Plants

Useful video.
http://youtu.be/xy7AuyFwSVw

Free Garden Secrets E Book

This Garden Secrets Ebook is worth the read.
Enter your email address above this post, click submit,  and then click the link below.



http://freeplants.com/Secret-Handbook.pdf

Plantsocks* in our new vertical Aquaponic Growing System

We have in the planning and pre-building stage a new vertical aquaponics based growing system. Simple in concept, the fish tank and integrated sump tank are a total of 90 gallons and include a small Plantsock* based lettuce raft grow bed. The Plantsock* based vertical grow beds employ our bio filter material and our grow media in the Plantsock* vertical garden configuration to maximize the available grow bed area without increasing the fish tank footprint.
Sign up to follow this blog and monitor our progress on this exciting new project.We will publish up dates every Saturday.

* Plantsock(s) are registered trademark of PSC Enterprises5 LLC and Ron Christian.

Raise Goldfish in your Aquaponic System

Goldfish are quite hardy making a welcome addition for any aquaponic system. Easy to care for, they over winter with little problem here in Arkansas. If you like, you can grow 5 to 10 Goldfish per gallon of water.
Keep in mind that they are prolific breeders. In this area there is a good market as mosquito eaters and as feeders. If you want to market them remember the fry need a "breeding mop" to hide from adult fish. It's that carnivore thing!
Locally, live Goldfish go for $10.00 a pound, three times more than talapia or catfish. We buy our food fish already filleted for about $4.00 a pound.

Nitrification In Aquaponics

The Nitrification Cycle in an Aquaponic System is key to a successful system -- Fish, Plants, and Bacteria working together.
Fish excrete ammonia . The ammonia is toxic to fish and if left unmodified will kill both fish and plants.
Naturally occurring nitrifying bacteria convert the ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate.
The nitrate produced by the bacteria is used by the plants as food. The plants readily uptake the nitrate and in consuming it keep the water safe for the fish.
A lovely natural life cycle.

Our New Aquaponic Propagation Station

Our new Aquaponic Propagation Station can start over 1800 plants and cuttings in an area 2'x5'. It also includes a small goldfish hatchery tank(31gal tote on right). Center tote is a misting tote for stem cutting propagation. Left tank is the sump tank. Also used for various experiments.
More about the grow bed, lights and cover later.

Plant ID's for your Landscape Plants

To create natural plant markers for your landscape plants, write the names of plants, using a permanent marker, on the flat faces of landscape rocks and place them at or near your plants.

Happy New Year Aquapons

Florida Aquaponic Greenhouse

Commercial Aquaponic set up in Florida

Market Farm Growing Micro Greens

Aquaponic Community Gardens -- Lets Discuss It

Aquaponic vegetable gardens may present an excellent opportunity to create very productive Community Gardens. Has anyone tried this? Please, lets discuss the possibilities......  Leave your comments to get the topic going. .
My personal interest in this concept is motivated by wanting to keep and expand my Aquaponic Garden. Both my wife and I are getting to old to keep it up as a hobby and we are not interested in making it a commercial operation, so in an "over the morning coffee" discussion we thought  the Community Garden concept might be a workable way to keep our Aquaponics system, help the local community, and provide educational opportunities to the participants.
Please give us your insight and share the concept?
Thanks

The Best Aquaponic/Urban Farming

Building an Ecologically Balanced Gardenscape

Combining vegetable gardening, naturescaping, and water gardens in a sustainable home landscape can provide a thriving  balanced ecosystem. 

Using aquaponics, vegetable gardening, natural landscaping, and water gardening methods you can create an attractive, productive and balanced home landscape.  All four of these methods occur in nature naturally, and together. We belief these  methods should be incorporated into your landscape design from the beginning.

Aquaponics is becoming the new generation of organic gardening.  Growing  plants and fish in an environment of circulating pond water and grow beds are beneficial for both and no chemicals are required.
Water gardens (fish pond) can transform an outdoor area into a paradise for you and your family to relax, unwind and spend quality time together. When coupled with plant gardens(grow beds) you get the benefits of aquaponic gardening at the same time.
Berries, fruits, herbs, and vegetables can be grown using aquaponic gardening methods, and at the same time add many benefits to the balanced ecosystem you are creating in your yard. Think of it as keeping nature in balance while at the same time receiving the rewards it can provide you.
Landscaping with native plants when possible will create a natural habitat for wildlife in your area. This is a very important part in creating a balanced ecosystem. Beneficial insects, and other predators rely on native plants to survive, and without them the ecosystem in your yard would be out of balance.
Watching the way nature works in your area, and mimicking it using the  gardening practices presented will greatly benefit you and the environment.