A further extension of the Aquaponics system is to breed worms to feed the fish.
A kilo of composting worms sells for around $50. Apart from some containers to grow them in, this is about your first and last cost. I hate polystyrene with a vengeance, but heaps of poly vege containers are normally available from your local store for free, and if they've already been made and used, its not all that environmentally bad to use them again. Worms need aeration, and the best poly containers I have found for worms are the ones for beans. These have plenty of aeration holes and slots, and are keyed so that they stack well.
When fed a decent diet the worms will double their number and/or weight every two months. For maximum growth I have found that horse poo gives the best results, followed by (singly or in combination) cow, sheep, dog and cat poo, vege scraps, shredded newspaper and cardboard, coffee grounds, smashed egg shell, and even the contents of the vacuum cleaner bag. Avoid onion, citrus and meat.
There's a huge amount of advice on the web for worm farms and I won't attempt to duplicate that here.
However, assume 10kg of composting worms. On average these will produce a 160gm increase/day, available for fish food. Multiply this by whatever requirement you have for feed, and not only will it be substantially cheaper that purchased feed, there will be a considerable reduction in your landfill contribution. Chuck all your organic household waste into the worm farm.
Buy two kilos of worms and you'll have 16kg in 7 months. I've tried these with my 200 Silver Perch (35-50mm) and its a feeding frenzy. For the trial I tossed the worms into the blender for a brief burst, but as the SP grow this won't be necessary.
I suspect that there should be some par-boiled greens also to balance the diet.
Read some data on composting worms and learn that they have an incredible capacity to eliminate pathogens and toxins.
I'd like to hear from anyone who has tried this addition to the system.
I'm also aware that some large-scale Aquaponic systems collect dead animals (e.g roadkill) and suspend these in nets above the ponds. The carcasses become fly-blown, and mature maggots drop off into the waiting mouths of the fish. Might sound gruesome, but many Asian cultures have used mixes of domestic poultry, pigs, cattle and pond cultivation of fish for 4000 years, with no apparent ill-effects. This can be extended of course to the similar use of human waste. I'm not necessarily suggesting that you rig up a dunny seat over your fish tank, unless your marriage is already on the rocks, but just maybe we're seeing the sort of peanut intolerance, attention deficit disorders, return of TB and related problems because we're tending to sanitise ourselves to the extent that our immune systems aren't developing as they once did. And because few kids get dirty anymore, that exacerbates the problem. And we're told that commercial chicken doesn't have hormones, but (along with beef) its laced with antibiotics.
And remember, the average box of veges delivered to your local Woolies or Coles has travelled over 1000km, often passing the area where the food was originally grown twice. Airfreighted strawberries from California, and frozen potato chips from Belgium (I joke not) are indications of consumerism gone mad.
Legislation won't change this. But when water charges reflect the real cost of having it available at the tap, and when power prices become 3 times their current level, and when petrol and diesel rise to $4/litre, the dollar will drive the changes.
Finally, a word about biofuels. Firstly the word defines all current fuels. Coal and oil are derived from plants, albeit a long time ago. Secondly, for the UK as an example, to replicate its current liquid fuel needs from plants would need 25 million hectares of arable land. Unfortunately the UK only has 5.5 million ha of farm land, and all that is used to grow stuff called food for human and animal consumption.
In brief, the upshot of the so-called biofuel revolution is that it is often more profitable to grow crops for conversion to fuel than for food. Take this to the next level. Multinationals will become increasingly involved, as is beginning to happen with increasing acreages of GM modified rape seed in the UK and the Continent. First result is that less acreage will be available for food production, and less water will be available. So food prices will rise, as has happned already in Mexico as an example as more and more maize is being converted into fuel for Hummers and less into tortillas.
And there's a more terrifying phase. Palm oil is hugely productive on a hectare basis and its conversion into fuel is relatively simple and cost-effective. Already we see increased forest destruction in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brazil to plant more palm oil. The demand for so-called Biofuel could result in the greatest destruction in natural forests that has occured since the last Ice Age. All so that Mum can drive her Range Rover to take the kids to pre-school, and ****** the planet and the starving billions.
Max H
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Originally Posted by Murray
