Hello again!

Here is a quick update on my tomato plant, it is going crazy! I had to buy some bamboo supports for it because it finally fell due to it huge size! Luckily the stem didn't snap and all is good. The first tomato that came out is continually growing and is about three inches wide. I also have noticed new baby tomatoes that just came out last week. They are already getting big!

Here is my tomato plant. It is massive!
After two toppings it is still growing.

This is my first aquaponic tomato.

These two tomatoes just popped up
and are growing very fat!

I am also working on a "mirco green" project. It is a combination of different veggi seeds that sprout up and you eat them as baby greens or "micro greens." They are very tasty, but that will be in the next update!

Thanks for reading!

Quick Video

Please excuse the noise :)

New Fish!!!

I got some new fish last night! I am very happy with them. One of my fish contacts had to get rid of some of fish to make room for new ones. I was happy to come by and see if there was any that caught my eye. I ended up coming home with five little guys. I'm very excited about them.

Blue Dolphin mug shot. When they are older,
they will grow a big hump on their forehead.
This hump is to attract mates and is composed of fatty tissue. 

The first pair is Blue Dolphins (Cyrtocara moorii). I have been interested in them since I began keeping cichlids back in 2004. They are very peaceful fish that grow to big sizes, very cool. One of the distinguishing features of an adult Blue Dolphin is a large hump that grows on its head. The larger the hump, the older the fish. While it is mostly males with large humps, females can have them too.

The next pair and single, I'm not sure exactly what type they are yet but I think the single one is a female "Rusty Cichlid" but is def a type mbuna. This family of fish is pretty easy to identify. They look very similar.

Rusty Cichlid

Here are some more pics I took of all my fish

Aquaponic Growth Explosion

Hello viewers!

It has been a while since I have updated, my computer broke. But... now I am back and ready to update! I wish I could have shown the progress of my tomato plant, however I can show you how it is now! It is IMPRESSIVE! Everyone who sees it is astonished. Even if it is only been three days, they can see a big difference. My fish are also going great. They are growing and I actually had to sell a few because they were getting big and territorial.

Having African Cichlids makes my system different from other aquaponic systems. African Cichlids seem to have more personality and behavioral habits. They are fascinating to to watch once you know what they are doing. They can also change color or more like hues and color intensity depending on how they are feeling.

For example I have noticed that the dominant males tend to show off their colors for the females 15 or so minutes after they are fed. There are also relationships between certain fish that can be seen day after day. Some are scared of others, some are couples, and then some are friends or tend to stick together.

Enough chit chat :) here are some pics

Massive growth from the tomato plant.
Blueberry bush doing okay after transplant 

My first tomato plant!

Tomato plant after topping.

Blueberry bush after transpplant.

My blueberry bush is recovering from the transplant shock and it starting to grow... kinda. One of the first things I learned while reading Aquaponic Gardening was that blueberries do not do well in aquaponics. I should have read up on them before I bought them. The reason is they thrive in a more acidic soil / media.m My aquaponics has a PH bit other 7. I would guess 7.4 or so. While this is a tad higher than the suggested aquaponic PH level, my Cichlids come from Harder water so it is a compromise. I may have problems with low iron levels later on but i will fix that when the time comes... IF it ever comes!

As you can see, my ruccola isn't doing that well. I think if I want to continue with the DWC (Deep Water Culture) I will have to hook up some lights to it. I am toying with the idea of converting it to another flood and drain, media bed because my other one is just doing so well!

Arugula needs more light than the window provides.
I will need to add lighting if I wish to continue growing arugula
and other salad greens.

Fish looking for some grub

A group shot of my cichlids. From Left; Nimbochromis Venustus,
Placiachromis Milomo, Red Empress

Nimbochromis Venustus

Lastly, but very importantly... I would recomend everyone interested in Aquaponics to read Sylvia Bernstien's book,  Aquaponic Gardening: A Step by Step Guide to Growing Fish and Vegetables Together.

I am not all the way through it, but I have learned a decent amount already. I wish I had this book a few months back though. Instead of reading forum after forum, blogs and dozens of YouTube videos, you can just read this book instead. It has everything you need to know and in simple and easy to understand language. It is written in a way that you need a bit of your own creativity, but Aquapons (as we are called, I guess) tend to be creative and DIY folk, my kind of folk ;-) 

Until next update!

Felix

Growth Update

Howdy Folks,


My arugula plants are growing like crazy! I tried to take a picture of the roots growing, but my phone camera is not very good. It's a shame too. The roots are at least 5-8 cm on all of the net pots.

My heirloom tomato is still being a beast! Growing super fast. I hope that I will get some tomatoes form the plant but I am not sure if it will self pollinate or not. But I will find out :) From my reading most tomato plants will self pollinate because they have both male and female parts. Might be different from heirloom tomatoes though. I try to self pollinate the flowers by rubbing my finger on each flower and trying to act like a busy bee, spreading the pollen.

Here is what you came to see. Pics!

The roots are taking off!

The roots will grow and hang in the oxygenated rich water.

Lots of room for more net pots and more veggies!

Tomato plant loving its aquaponic home

Stay tuned for another update soon!

Plant Growth

Howdy Everyone :)

I got a quick update on my system. The Deep Water Culture (DWC) grow bed is doing great!. The arugula has gotten much bigger and is producing new leaves each day! My heirloom tomato plant is a CHAMP! It has been growing since day one in the expanded clay grow bed. That is much more than I can say about the herbs I bought and tried to transplant. Only a few rosemary branches survived. The dill and parsley did not like it, but I blame this on the plant. When I bought and washed it, the roots did not look too good but I decided to plant anyways.

Here are some pics, Enjoy!

Both grow beds doing well!

Welcome to FeelGood Aquaponics! Intro Post

Welcome to FeelGood Aquaponics

     My name is Felix Vogele. I am 23 years old and living in Helsingør, Denmark. I have long been interested in sustainability and alternative ways of thinking. The last few years I have been wanting to work more and more with plants, farming, and nature as a whole. The last few months I have been introduced to aquaponics.

     Aquaponics is a blend of two better known farming methods, aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (soil-less growing). The way aquaponics works is simple. The fish are raised in fish tanks, the fish poop, and then the waste is pumped to the grow area where it is used to fertilize crops and plants, the plants and grow medium filter the bacteria and then the then filter water returns back to the aquarium. Here is a picture to help explain 

     I very much wanted to try aquaponics for myself! I am starting in August at Roskilde Teknisk Skole here in Denmark as a Greenhouse Gardener. I am very much looking forward to it and am planning on using my education towards aquaponics. 

    I decided to build my own system. This is easier said than done. I live in a 70.5 m2 apartment. I already had a 250 liter aquarium and had to keep the place looking nice. 

     The design is simple but turned out to be kinda complicated with a few things. I used my existing 250 liter aquarium as my fish tank / sump tank. I built a low stand for my tank so I could build a "table" over it to hold the grow beds. I made it low enough so it can fit under the window and receive natural light pretty much all day.

     I choose two different styles of grow beds to try them out. The first is a flood and drain system with expanded clay as the grow substrate. I made a bell siphon as the draining mechanism. In this grow bed I have an heirloom tomato donated by my girlfriends's mother, rosemary, dill, and jut a bit of parley too. I have also thrown a few head lettuce and spring onion seeds in there just to see what will happen. 

     The second grow bed is a Deep Water Culture (DWC) grow bed. This means that the plants are floating on top on the water in little net pots. The water is filtered so no solids get intertwined with the roots. It drains through a standing drain pipe back into the aquarium. I am currently growing rucola in it but plan on growing many leafy greens when I get more net pots.

Finished!

First set of plants. 

 

Mixed African Cichlids

Another view of the cichlids.

  

     I should also add that these are my African Cichlids and I do not plan on eating them! They are my pets. :) I do plan on getting some Tilapia and somehow add another tank, but that is another post and project all together! I hope you enjoy the pictures. I will continue to update you on my aquaponic adventures!