Aquaponics

I started growing a big bang last year using an aquaponic setup .I had two 5 gallon buckets one with the plant and underneath the other bucket with guppies .she grew fine during veg but at week 4 the water pump clogged and sadly she dried out.only after this happened I learned that the fish would of not supplied the right nutrients for flowering and there is nothing you can add that would feed the planr but will not kill the fish so i would of had to switch the setup to hydroponics.Am I correct about this? Has anyone flowered a plant all the way through using aquaponics?

I've seen plenty grow in aquaponics, and your definitely wrong the fish give off nitrogen which the plants love. the more fish you have the more nitrogen, what it sounds like to me is that the couple guppies you had wasn't enough nutes. all you needed was more poop bro. and your pump clogging up doesnt sound to good either. anyways good luck with your future aquagrows if you plan on doing any.

Mikebacon said:

I've seen plenty grow in aquaponics, and your definitely wrong the fish give off nitrogen which the plants love. the more fish you have the more nitrogen, what it sounds like to me is that the couple guppies you had wasn't enough nutes. all you needed was more poop bro. and your pump clogging up doesnt sound to good either. anyways good luck with your future aquagrows if you plan on doing any.

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I know that the fish waste is full of nitrogen ,what I'm asking is what about potassium and phosphorus during flowering?

i would also like to know. there isnt much out there as far as first hand aqua experience goes.

Wish more people did Aquaponics, its a really cool concept.

I would love to do an aquaponics grow but I would only use if for vegetables and whatnot, I feel like my special herbs need more loving than what fish poop has to offer.

The issue that everyone is having is the fish choice. In a true aquaponic setup, they are using a large fish that they plan on harvesting for sale, such as tilapia or catfish NOT guppies or goldfish. A few guppies arent gonig to produce the 2500ppms or so that mature plant is going to require.

BBbubblegum said:

The issue that everyone is having is the fish choice. In a true aquaponic setup, they are using a large fish that they plan on harvesting for sale, such as tilapia or catfish NOT guppies or goldfish. A few guppies arent gonig to produce the 2500ppms or so that mature plant is going to require.

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2500ppm? damn i never could get my solution that high, at 1400 i feel like they will start to burn.

This cat has it down.
[video=youtube;jq0_7XZxdKc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq0_7XZxdKc[/video]

Thats a pretty sick setup. But I would really really like to see a cannabis aquaponic grow with flowering plants.

Found this guy [video]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wPorVO5SDOM[/video]

BBbubblegum said:

The issue that everyone is having is the fish choice. In a true aquaponic setup, they are using a large fish that they plan on harvesting for sale, such as tilapia or catfish NOT guppies or goldfish. A few guppies arent gonig to produce the 2500ppms or so that mature plant is going to require.

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Ok so more fish waste creates higher ppm that's common sense. But it is really mostly nitrogen, what about phosphorus and potassium wich the plant needs to produce flowers?

I think the whole aquaponic thing is cool ,that's why I experimented with it. I just don't think you can successfully grow a plant all the way through using only fishwaste.fish waste is full of nitrogen which is great for plant growth, but not nearly enough potassium and phosphorous for flowering. I think that you will have much better results watering a plant with fish waste and adding the rest of the nutrients for flowering.

I think that in the future Aquaponics will be a viable option for the production of medical Marijuana. The UV extension program has done amazing research in this field. The same can be said of Nelson and Pade in Montello Wisconsin. Nelson and Pade sell commercial grow systems that are designed for growing greens. Growing leafy vegetables is way different from growing pot with big yields. Also on youtube is Nate Storey from Bright Agrotech. He has a PhD in agriculture and has over 70 videos just on aquaponics. Last but not least is Growing power in Milwaukee.

Here's a link to Nate's channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/BrightAgrotechLLC/videos

The guy featured in the a for mentioned video has it down better than almost any one I've seen. He needs more light, and maybe a ScrOG to get some better yields but other than that he's doing it! The hard case for aquaponics in medical grows comes down to time, money and work Vs. return on investment. The additional work involved getting the system up and running properly is hardly worth it when compared to mixing chemicals to achieve consistent results. I also think that if a "dosing" tank were to be setup in-line with aquaponics to generate worm or other organics teas then it might be possible to get the desired result. As time and "plant allotment" become more available, I can certainly see this as an interesting hobby/experimental grow. I just can't justify diverting the medical grow plants, floor space, lights or time away from the limited amount available to me or my perpetual grow....

I can tell you this from my first hand experience from visits to Nelson and Pade and Growing Power in Milwaukee. The vegetables they grow in aquaponics taste better than any I've ever tasted. It only stands to reason pot could provide similar results.......Now that I think of it...Look up wicking bed aquaponics. It's a passive hydro that uses capillary action with a top soil and gravel substrate similar to a Watson wick.....Anyway keep us posted! Very interesting!

2500 seams high when you hear it, but aquaponics is organic. I don't think you can never burn a plant with the organics found in these systems. Also I'm sure that by the nature of filtration that some of that will most certainly be inorganic and organic solids (aka. fish shit)..

My biggest questions would be in regards to keeping the fish alive in water of that condition, and by that I'm referring to the additional P and K that would be needed. Anything that is added must be fish compatible. How the hell would you get the P-K that high in a that kind of system. I read once upon a time about "poor man's douplo drops (SP?) in an aquarium forum. Someone had a recipe for making some concoction for exotic vegetation in a fresh water aquarium that require chemicals to induce a blooming. I'm not saying that it's unreachable, I'm saying I've never seen it in any of the 10 or 12 aquaponic systems I've seen in person.


Someone is going to figure this out, of that I don't question.
You put a problem, stoners, weed and a bunch of left over grow parts in the same room and some wild shit is going to happen!
Has there been a contest like the solo cup grow off for aquaponics?

You can peek here, not specifically about cannabis but you get the idea.
http://www.farmxchange.org/fish-friendly-fertilizers/

If the plant is performing well during veg in an aquaponic setup I'm guessing some of those fish safe additives would work well for the weed. At my local hydro store they have several Aquaponic setups going and they also sell fish safe nutrients, can't remember the brand but it didn't look like any on that link so I'm guessing there are a lot of alternatives being added to the market.