Week 3 Progress

FEB 27th - MAR 5th

This past week mother nature was in full effect!  There were a couple much needed heavy rain showers in Southern California.  With that being said, I lost my first goldfish this week.  But like Milli Vanilli I'm going to blame it on the rain!  Not exactly sure what the rain does but I'm thinking it changes the PH level in the water.

Effect of Rain on Ponds link

Some major milestones this week.  The artichoke I started in the stonewool blocks are finally starting to sprout.  It took 3 weeks for the seeds to germinate, which is normal according to my fellow blogger.  To read more on how to grow artichoke please click on the link below

Artichoke Blog

Another major milestone is that the 2nd pond is complete.  Well the water part anyhow.  My plan for the next few weeks is to pour the concrete borders and build the trellis.  The trellis is going to be similar to what I have on my existing patio, to keep everything aesthetically pleasing.  And I might run strings of lights up top as well if there is extra power from the solar panel.

Interesting facts for the week.  I was wondering what volume the ponds were knowing the dimensions 4' wide X 8' long X 2.5' deep, so I decided to calculate it out.  Total volume is about 600 gallons per pond.  The golden rule of fish care is 1 inch of fish per gallon, and I plan to let the Tilapia grow to about a foot long. So that equals 50 grown fish in the "Ready for my Belly!" pond.  Each pond will have different size fish, but in the end it should be a sufficient supply for me to live off of if needed!  All this for a very minimal investment.  Most of the dollar cost will be spent making it look pretty!

1 inch per gallon link

Fish Tank Volume Calculator

Week 2 Progress

FEB 20th - FEB 26th

After almost two weeks since getting this project started I have good news and bad news.  The good news is that I am still very skilled at raising fish.  Not one goldfish or Tilapia has died on me yet!  I have only added one Tilapia to the pond as a test, the others remain in my tank.  The bad news is that my plants are not doing as well as I would like.  The seeds are mostly still dormant, and the duckweed is quickly disappearing from the pond.  I'm not sure if the fish are eating it, or it is dying from the cold temp.  I also added a small amount of sediment to the pond.  Not sure if that was a good idea, it disturbed visibility but I am hoping it adds nutrients to the water.  As of now I don't think there is enough fish "nutrients" in the water to support the plant beds.

I started feeding the Tilapia that are still in the fish tank some earthworms, and they seem to love it!

I have also began to dig the second pond!  It is going to be the same dimensions as the first one unless the ground is softer and I can dig deeper.  The same spacing around the pond, 4 feet between ponds for a walkway or perhaps a rack for more planters.

Went back down to the Hydroponics shop an bought a pump for $21!  It is rated to be able to suck water up 6 feet, so from the bottom of the 2.5 ft pond to 3.5ft above ground in the highest planter box!  The water flow seems to be very good, I probably could have settled for a smaller pump but it will be nice to test this out.  Hopefully it will last longer then a cheaper pump but it might draw power inefficiently.  The company that makes the pump also has a nifty website full of information.

Link to Sunlightsupply.com

It's still not pretty yet but I am making progress!  I had some squash growing from seeds out of soil so I decided to transplant them into 3 inch net pots and put them on floating Styrofoam rafts in the pond.  Just to test the water to see if it has enough nutrients to support plant life.  The water flowing into the pond will be attached to the planter boxes one day and I will build some kind of waterfall to aerate the pond water better.

Prepping the Veggies!

On Sunday Feb 16th as the pond water was settling, I started working on the seedlings.  These are the steps I took.  This is a whole new way of growing veggies for me, can't wait to see the results!

Step 1 - Take the stonewool out of the wrapper and separate them,

Step 2 - Soak the individual blocks in water with a little lime juice in it for 10 seconds

I later checked prices on a PH meter, they were at least $80 at the Hydroponic shop, too rich for my blood but I am hoping to find a better deal online!

Step 3 - Rince the lime juice off

Step 4 - Place seed in hole

Step 5 - Push seed down with unsharpened pencil (or something similar)

Step 6 - Mix some plant food and saturate blocks with them

Step 7 - Place blocks into a container and put some plastic wrap on it to create a greenhouse effect.



Fishies!

While conducting research I learned an interesting fact.  The chlorine in tap water will evaporate out if you leave it standing for a few days.  As a kid I knew the aquarium shop guy would tell me this but I never knew why.  So after letting the water sit from Saturday (Feb 15th) night to Monday (Feb 17th) afternoon, about 48 hrs, I decided it was time to put it to the test.  Not wanting to test the water on expensive fish, I had an idea!  Why not buy some cheap feeder fish from the local pet store?  So I called my local fish merchant at Reef Tropical Fish in Anahiem and they quoted me 5 large goldfish for a dollar, which was not a bad deal.  Unfortunately I had to work a little late Monday night and didn't want to drive all the way down there so settled on going to the local PetSmart where I paid 3 for a dollar.  Usually I try to be price conscious but factoring gas and time and the fact that I was beat tired, I settled this time.  PetSmart is now my new Monica Lewinsky lol.  The next day I went down to Reef Tropical Fish and it really wasn't that bad of a place.  Worth going to if you are in my area.

Reef Tropical Fish Yelp Review

Another interesting fact I learned was that cold water holds more oxygen.  Which is nice because the in ground pond is going to be very cold most of the time.  Also gold fish love cold water.  Tilapia unfortunately like warmer water but we shall see!

15 of PetSmarts finest!

Once again during my research phase I came across an interesting species of plant that grows well in ponds and that fish love to eat.  It's called Duckweed (Araceae Lemnoideae), and is supposed to be even more

nutritious then sea weed.  Going back to an old standby, Craigslist, I found a guy selling some in Long Beach by my work on Wednesday February 19th.  $3 for 2 sq inches of weed, Duckweed that is...So I told him what my plans were and he recommended a dime bag of his sweetest cheeba!  That was a Half Baked reference in case you missed it.  Not that I smoke pot but a dime bags worth of Duckweed does not get you much!  My biggest concern was that it would not like the cold water.

The container was about the size of my cup holder in the Lexo!

Released most of it into the pond.  I also kept some of it in another container just in case of emergency.

Now after letting the Duckweed settle for a day it was now time for the bread and butter of this pond.  The Tilapia!  Another fine fellow on Craigslist, in Fullerton by chance, was selling Tilapia fingerlings (fish the length of your finger or smaller I suppose) for $1 each!  Now that's cheaper then most fish at the store!  But I was still not confident that the pond was ready so I decided to bust out my old fish tank and hold them there until the water is fully conditioned.

Go CHARGERS!

25 Tilapia now in my tank. 

I plan on putting the biggest one in the pond this weekend and see how it does.  If it survives I will slowly add the rest!

Let's get Physical!

Up until now everything has been nonphysical.  So guess what?  Things are about to get physical!!!  Digging this hole was no joke but good thing I invited a few friends over that were willing to help.  To give a time frame reference, I started measuring things out on Thursday Feb 13th.  What could be more romantic then digging the day before Valentine's Day??

Step 1:  The Layout

Basically I measured out 4 feet from my concrete boundaries that separate the hedges from the grass area.  I then measured out a 4 feet by 8 feet area for the pond.  Borrowing some edge stones from my in ground garden.

Getting started

Yes it is normal for a grown man to own a trampoline!

Step 2:  Unexpected Find!

As I began digging the grass out I found that my yard had a large population of earth worms.  So I thought to myself what a blessing!  I've always been into vermicomposting as well.  Which is something I learned from my mom and her teaching science classes.  Basically vermicomposting is the process of having earthworms in a container, throwing some veggie table scraps in there, letting the worms eat it and collect their castings (fancy word for poop) for soil enrichment!  For more info please follow the link below.

Vermicompost Info Link

It was a slow process but essentially I would shake out the grass clumps in the wheelbarrow seen below, collect the worms, and threw both the worms and some of the grass into the worm farm container.

Step 3:  Invite Friends Over!

After 4 hours of sifting through worm infested soil, my friends showed up to help to dig.  Thank goodness because my back was already worn out from digging, and wheelbarrowing.  Took us all day Saturday and a little bit on Sunday but we finally got the hole to 2 1/2 ft deep.

Step 4:  Add Water

Prior to adding water it is very important to add the 6 mil plastic liner.  I ended up using 3 layers just in case a puncture occurs.  I would not want to risk losing all that water or the fish.  Also if a pump is added, it might burn out if the water drains and it is still running.

Stocking up on Supplies

So now that I've done my homework it was time to invest some of my hard earned money and put it to good use.  Naturally the first thing I did was look online for some good deals.  Ebay seemed the logical choice and they have the best prices, but being very excited about getting started I just couldn't wait.  So I did what most guys would do including our former President Bill Clinton, and I went out and found the closest most convenient thing I was looking for and blew my wad (of cash) inside =)

**Warning I do appreciate the occasional adult humor!**

In conducting my research on yelp for a groovy hydroponics store near my work in Long Beach I came across (giggity!!) Green Coast Hydroponics.  So yes Green Coast Hydroponics you are my Monica Lewinsky!

Green Coast Hydroponics Yelp Review

Lucky for me this store is pretty awesome.  Not that I've ever been into a hydroponics shop before, but I do like Home Depot and this place has the same feel.  There was also a very attractive stock girl who helped me out, not my type but I do appreciate good looking service.  Even though I was probably more knowledgeable about Kratky hydroponics then the staff...So in short, good prices, nice environment, helpful attractive staff, but do your own research online because the people I spoke to were not up to par.

So what I ended up getting was some Grodan Rockwool Miniblocks, some 2" Net Pots, and some Organic Non-GMO seeds.  For those that are wondering what Grodan Rockwool is I will tell you!  It is an organic product that is like cotton candy but made out of volcanic rock.  Some of the major selling points are that it sucks up liquid and stores it very efficiently, yet it is loosely packed enough to not impede root growth, and they aren't really that expensive!  Please read up on it if you are interested through the link below.  The website is very informative and explains exactly what you have to do to use their product effectively

Grodan Website Link

2 inch net pot

I also went to home depot and purchased a 10'X100' roll of 6 Mil plastic to line the bottom of the pond, and planter boxes with.  And that concludes this blog post because it's getting way to long already!



Researching the Aquaponics

After deciding what hydroponic system to use, I then found myself looking into aquaponics.  Aquaponics is an evolutionary step to hydroponics.  While hydroponics relies on plant food to feed your garden, by adding fish their excrements become the source of plant nutrients.  Which is cool to me because the organic plant foods are not very cost effective.  Whereas you can grow plants to feed the fish incorporated into the system, so it becomes very cost effective.  Not to mention the system that I am trying to create will be maintenance free so I can get away for a few weeks during the summer without having to worry about feeding fish or watering plants.  So...once again turning to YouTube I found an aquaponic system that really spoke to me.  Many of the systems people post work well I am sure but are not ascetically pleasing to me.  I mean yes I do want to have a garden, but I still entertain people in the backyard so I don't want an eyesore!

EYESORE!!!!

So I looked for something that would be interesting and still fit into the overall feel of the backyard.  And what I found was this as pictured below.  The "pond" is the white middle rectangle looking thing.  For some reason I've always liked strait lines, if you have been in my backyard you should know this lol.  But anyhow I also liked that there is a 4' walkway space between grow areas that is covered in wood chips and also the wood log border between the grass and wood chips.

YouTube Aquaponics Pond Idea for Fish and Shrimp

I was not sure if I should include his face on my blog so I whited it out.

Another angle of the pit.  It was supposed to be 4'x8'x4'(deep).  We only got to 2.5' deep before hitting hard clay so stopped.  Also was not sure if I could even dig 4' in my yard according to city regulations so it all worked out.  I think he dug deeper to include a shrimp area at the bottom of the tank.  With the idea that the shrimp will further process the fish excrement into pieces small enough to be absorbed by the plants.



Sneak peak to what it is suppose to look like inside the pond area!