Aquaponic Phal experimenting... AND Greetings! - Orchid Board

jtmercutio · #1 01-12-2009, 02:03 AM

New to the orchid growing community... Decided to dabble with aquaponics, as I have always been fascinated with it. So... Howdy!

I have 2 phals I rescued from the local lowes, on a plastic-coated wire shelf, suspended over the water level. Have the 2 phals in net pots with grow rocks as the substrate. Have a pump that is on a timer to kick on for 15 minutes every 6 hours for watering.

For livestock in the tank, currently I have 2 goldfish, 2 Black moor goldfish (I think? lol) and a plecostumus.

I have a 400w metal halide light. Pic taken is, with the light off, (obviously lol).

If anyone has ever tried this and has any tips, or knows of anyone that has, please let me know... This is a first for me lol!!

ronaldhanko · #2 01-12-2009, 05:53 AM

I know nothing about aquaponics, but it looks interesting. What is the purpose of the fish?

let_it_grow · #3 01-12-2009, 11:02 AM

Does the poopie fish water circulate through the plants? I used to use the dirty water from my fish tanks to water my plants cause the nitrogen from the fish poop

motocowgirl04 · #4 01-12-2009, 11:52 AM

I know nothing of hydroponics..I was just going to warn you that when that bottom sucker gets bigger..sell it back to the pet store and get a smaller one because they will eat your goldfish!

Looks great by the way and best of luck to you!

let_it_grow · #5 01-12-2009, 01:03 PM

The pleco wont eat the fish lol... dont worry. It will get big after about 5+ years but the goldfish will get big too cause they are carp and thats what they do... eat and get big, but a pleco its almost required in a tank with no substrate, plants or filter (other than the plants)

priz_m · #6 01-12-2009, 04:05 PM

JT welcome to the OB!

Wow that is quite a project you have going on there! (at least to me

lol)

please keep us posted, I personally love phals and fish so it would be great to see how the 2 work together successfully

keep us posted!

motocowgirl04 · #7 01-12-2009, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by let_it_grow

The pleco wont eat the fish lol... dont worry. It will get big after about 5+ years but the goldfish will get big too cause they are carp and thats what they do... eat and get big, but a pleco its almost required in a tank with no substrate, plants or filter (other than the plants)

I am aware of the growth, however, I had this tragedy happen in my tank.

The pleco grew at a faster rate than my happy lil goldfish and one horrid day I was witness to the circle of life. Just a heads up! That is a fantastic set up by the way..get to watch the fishies and the flowers grow! I cant wait to see how it turns out! have a great day!

let_it_grow · #8 01-12-2009, 04:44 PM

WHAT?!?!?! Thats crazy. I have had plecos and fish all my life and i have never seen that. I have had massive plecos and small fish and never had a problem. Maybe the tank was too clean and he had to check for algae on the fish and got carried away lol

motocowgirl04 · #9 01-12-2009, 06:54 PM

Unfortunately, he was ginormous and the bugger had plenty of food..I am wondering if he was as attracted to shiny objects as I am!

isurus79 · #10 01-12-2009, 07:43 PM

Thats a pretty interesting idea! If you wanted, you could grow vegetables with their roots hanging into the water and then use the fish water as a source of fertilizer for the orchids. That way you could clean the fish water (through absorbtion of nutrients from the veggie roots) at the same time as growing some food. Just a thought! There is an aquaponics company here in Hawaii that has been trying to really spark a local industry here and they give lecture on the topic all time. Build a large aquaponic system seems to be a good source of info on the topic.