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Episode-2276- Back Yard Aquaculture for Beauty and Food Production

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Back Yard Protein that Looks After Itself

So we have been updating our new instagram project and have changed the channel name to @itsajacklife to make it more clear that most posts are by Dorothy about my life vs. by me.  And this AM she took this photo of me at teh Miyagi pond and captioned it,

Enjoying the Miyagi. It’s Tuesday morning time for a stand alone show. Jack has no idea what he will talk about today says the fish will tell him.

She was right and the fish said, “hey dummy talk about us”, so today that is what we are going to discuss.  While prior shows focused mostly on aquaponics and mentioned doing it as pure aquaculture, today we are going to focus on that side alone.  A few aquaponic components may be mentioned today but we are going to stick really to back yard ponds.

Few things on my property give me more enjoyment than my various garden ponds.  There is something peaceful about moving water and fish.  The bonus is if we want fish tacos tonight and didn’t take any out of the freezer, with 4 bread balls and 5 minutes I can have us 4 nice pan fish for cooking.

Aquaculture is function stacking in the best way.  You get a beautiful piece of landscaping, wildlife habitat and free food as a bonus.

Join Me Today to Discuss…

  • Why bother with aquaculture in the first place
  • The benefits
    • Beauty and relaxation
    • Simplicity – compared to aquaponics
    • Protein production – no guilt at harvest time
    • Low maintenance – you could automate almost everything
    • Vegetable production even without aquaponics
  • The types of ponds to consider
    • Gunnite or concrete in ground
    • EDPM in ground
    • Fabricated stock tanks or ponds
    • Framed lined ponds – can be above ground or partly in ground
    • Swimming pool conversions
  • Fish for your pond
    • Start with goldfish or koi, grow them out until they won’t get killed
    • Pan fish are really the best (perch, brim, bluegill, “perch”)
    • Catfish (bullhead and channels)
    • Bass and other predators are best in large ponds, really large
  • Feeding your fish
    • Commercial fish feed – better than you think
    • Minnows – grow your own
    • Black Solider Fly Larva
    • Duck Weed and Salvania
    • Insects – a few ideas
  • Dealing with winter
    • Get in the ground, the deeper the better
    • Insulate framed systems with soil
    • Consider solar heat – (some thoughts on making it work on air)
    • Wrap pipes and use heat tape
    • Use local fish
    • Stock tank heaters
  • Getting your fish
    • Hook and line
    • Traps and nets
    • Buying them
    • Breeding them
  • Final Thoughts

Resources for today’s show…

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Comments

Episode-2276- Back Yard Aquaculture for Beauty and Food Production — 6 Comments

  1. The pond looks awesome, just got the email going to download now.  Glad to have carved some time out (and a phone battery I trust) to listen again!

  2. Great show, I just wanted to add that David’s presentation on aquaponics at the 2016 TSP Fall Workshop is what completely sold me on Aquaponics.

    I’d never dreamed what he’s done in his back yard was ever possible. How he converted a pool to a backyard pond and the plants and animals he’s able raise would make a great show.

    I believe the video is still available to MSB members.

  3. Just a bit of knowledge for people, epdm liner is all that is required for a pond in most places. Rock pads are good if the soil underneath is rocky, between the liner and soil or has sharps in it, or under large rocks between the rock and liner.
    If you have ground pests like chipmonks, moles and other burrowing animals concrete cloth may be required so that they do not chew holes into the liner.

    As for puoring a concrete pond it is not recomended simply because all concrete ponds eventually crack and leak. Concrete with a liner is ok but as I said above isn’t really needed except in specific situations.
    Happy to answer questions.
    http://www.oakleaftree.com or on fb

  4. Just wanted to add that some (or maybe more than some) native fish can handle being frozen solid for a week or two over the winter.

    My limited evidence for this statement is that back in my fish nerd days (collecting and keeping native fish)  I had a blue spotted sunfish in a planted 10 gallon tank on a table on my front deck.  It survived the winters fine.  One winter I remember in particular the low was in the single digits here in central NC and the high for a week or two was below freezing. The whole tank was a solid block of ice for almost 2 weeks at a time both winters.  If the fish didn’t magically escape down to florida when I wasn’t looking then he was frozen solid.  Yet ..  there he was swimming around when the ice melted.

    Also..  I hardly ever fed the guy.  Mostly he was getting his food in the summer from the mosquitoes laying eggs in the water.  But this was only one 2″ fish in a planted 10 gallon tank left outside and never cleaned.

     

  5. Another option similar to the bug light feeder, I have seen some cool plans to use japanese beetle traps adding pvc pipe to drop them into the pond and I imagine you could do the same with hornet traps. Though grain of salt there is some good info that the traps attract more beetles than you would have otherwise.

  6. Loved this show. I plan on using and adapting it to my place in the midwest.

     

    Any thoughts on whether a plant raft could float over a pond without cutting off too much gas exchange?

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