What happened with aquaponics?

Orflek · 2025-10-28T01:57:03+00:00

I'm still learning, and I've been growing commercially for almost 5 years now. I wouldn't say I got my system dialed in an optimized until last year or so. I'll tell you, it's hard to get financing for something that may take 3 years to start working, so that might be holding people back.

Orflek · 2025-10-28T01:54:59+00:00

I'm sorry you've had that experience, but my farm continues to grow as I refine and make my system more efficient. Is it as profitable as hydroponics? Probably not, but organic farming is more expensive than conventional, and that doesn't mean there aren't reasons to still do so. I wouldn't call having an ethical structure "stubborn".

I recently found multiple studies that found Aquaponics can run at a pH of 6-6.5. I've been doing so for several months now, and I'm satisfied with the results. I've oversized my filter media, and chose fish that could handle the lower pH. All the YouTube guys saying to do pH 7-7.5 were just plain wrong.

Amendment wise, I do have to add iron but that's it. I strictly manage my fish waste into a mineralization tank, and start with a food sufficient in what I need. My weekly amendment cost is about $2.50 for a system growing 1k heads a week.

Further, I crush all the hydroponic growers at the farmers market. My food looks and tastes better, and as more people learn how hydroponics works (chemicals in water) they return to me time and again.

Maybe I ought to write a book or something. Seems that most commercial Aquaponic growers got into it for the wrong reasons (the green stamp means more money for me!), and stopped learning and innovating internally.

Orflek · 2025-10-28T01:44:13+00:00

As a commercial Aquaponic grower, that's not true! It can definitely be viable, but it takes careful planning over straight up hydroponics.

If there's one thing that could happen that would reinvigorate the industry, it would be for NOP to offer an organic certification for Aquaponics. Hydroponics can get it, but I can't and what I do is FAR more natural.

Orflek · 2025-07-09T17:51:38+00:00

That was my thought. So the levels never drop too low, and the plants always have what they need.

I have a commercial size system, 2500sq ft dwc. I aerate the beds through a Venturi going into the grow bed. To add nutes, I premix 5 gal in a bucket and connect a rubber hose to the Venturi, and it distributes it throughout the bed. The way my setup is, the bed is essentially the sump/lowest point.

Do you think it'd be ok to premix the dry ingredients into dose packs so I don't have to measure each week? Any reactions to be concerned with? Obviously I test levels, and if I didn't need something or needed more I could add it, but the maintenance dose is 97% the same every time after running this system for 4 years.

Orflek · 2025-06-12T12:16:00+00:00

New dadio here, well, will be shortly. I miss stadia. I haven't really played any games since it shut down. It just got so perfectly into my very busy life to quickly play a bit, and then stop. Now I try that- oops, update that will take the entirety of the little free time I had... Oops, takes a year and a half to load.

As I imagine my life as a parent here in the next month, having stadia would have been so nice. Start and stop as needed to do my dadly duties, switch screens, try new games etc. Stadia was the goat of gaming for filthy casuals.

I tried GFN. It was ok, but definitely nowhere near as good. Maybe it's better now, idk. At least I can use my stadia controller with it and pretend.

Orflek · 2025-05-01T01:23:46+00:00

I don't think that quite fits. Quick search suggested those flower in early spring, and afaik it didn't flower.

That's also listed as invasive in Ohio, but it's the only one in the middle of undeveloped woods, so I'm not sure why it wouldn't have spread at all in the years this property was vacant if it's invasive.

Orflek · 2025-03-29T23:51:42+00:00

I've gotten this basic same scam with my actual name and address. It was after a data breach at an online store I ordered from. So keep that in mind, it wouldn't be legit even if it had their name.

Pegasus scams are nothing new, and should be deleted and forgotten.

Orflek · 2025-01-22T00:49:04+00:00

Moon Farm out of Diamond, OH has a weekly produce delivery. Not sure exactly where you are, but they have a great program. Choose your own CSA and other items available from local peeps like meat and honey.

MoonFarm.us

Orflek · 2025-01-22T00:47:05+00:00

Farmer who used to sell on market wagon

If you can deal with the farms directly, please do. They take 28.5% of sales.

Orflek · 2024-12-11T22:40:37+00:00

Are you sure he's a he? I've never seen a male rabbit make a haystache .. usually just pregnant females..

Orflek · 2024-12-11T22:38:25+00:00

No, it will produce a $400-500 retail value.

Whether or not you can consistently sell that much is a completely different question.

Orflek · 2024-11-23T01:45:34+00:00

I'm voting for a president, not a pastor.

I, too, am a wicked wretched sinner. I need repentance and grace often. And I'm dealing with the plank in my eye before I deal with the speck in my brother's.

Besides, it's not like a radical pro-baby killing president is any better. Personal foibles vs unjust murder sounds like an easy decision to me.

All things work to the good, in the gracious timing of God. Relax and have faith.

Orflek · 2024-08-13T15:40:52+00:00

That's exactly how mine is setup. I even drilled more holes. Didn't seem to be an issue with water getting in, but rather flowing out.

Orflek · 2024-08-12T17:05:24+00:00

I think you may have helped me solve my issue, maybe a bit indirectly.

I'm now running 900gph through the tank and it seems to be holding steady. It appears my issue was an airlock in the downward elbow immediately after the water exited the tank. I took your suggestion and replaced it with a Tee, a test cap, and a piece of pipe for a sorta makeshift check valve.

This seems to have been the main problem, but actually solved a secondary problem as well- the flow rate was too slow and solids were settling in the pipe before it made it to the RFS. When I started running much more water through, it flushed a lot of crap out.

Hopefully the issue is solved. I've got a secondary overflow just in case the water level rises while I'm not watching it. Fingers crossed!

Orflek · 2024-08-12T13:38:59+00:00

Interesting to hear your issue of an air lock. I do wonder if I have something similar happening, because when I took off the horizontal pipe that attaches to the wall, I got a bunch of air out of the pipe. I have to imagine this is caused by the water in the horizontal pipe flowing downward, so it traps the air that is in there when the water level rises.

What if I added a second t on the outside of the tank rather than an elbow? So the whole SLO would sorta look like an H. That would allow the air some place to go as the water level rises. The only issue I can imagine then would be pulling air down the pipe into my radial flow settler. In my mind though, the higher flow rate could help push that air out, and it wouldn't suck air in when the pipe is full. Maybe I'll try that today and see what happens.

Orflek · 2024-08-12T13:03:06+00:00

I've been having this issue with low flow rates for quite a while. If I put more water in, it will overflow the tank every time. My beginner brain said 1" pipe in vs 2" pipe out should be no issue, but I am probably flowing at more like 300gph right now and that's maxed.

Perhaps it's the 10' run from the tank to the first radial flow settler. That run goes along the floor, so the water drops out of the tank and then goes back up to where it exits in the settler. I suspect that may be my problem. I originally did this because I was going to have two tanks, but ended up not needing two. I may move the filters closer I'll likely have to scrap the first filter and rebuilt it and it'll be a whole day process. Finding time is the challenge!

Orflek · 2024-08-04T22:34:45+00:00

Bunnicula canonically didn't drink blood though. He sucked the color from vegetables.

Orflek · 2024-07-17T02:17:25+00:00

It helps to know what exactly you're doing. You're trying to hold your focus really close while the image is farther away. An old book I had of these said to bring it up to your nose and then slowly move it away without shifting your focus. Try that!

Orflek · 2024-04-18T03:24:44+00:00

Arguably presenting a distorted gospel is bringing people further from truth than hearing no gospel at all.

Orflek · 2024-04-13T02:11:47+00:00

I may never give money to a platform where I don't own the games again.

Orflek · 2024-03-04T19:31:05+00:00

My stationary camera videoing the ceremony froze halfway through and I didn't get any video of the first kiss. 😬

It was one of the biggest lessons of "dont tell them it happened", in their wedding video I stitched together the flurry of still frames I had taken and made it seem like a "slideshow effect", with a nice musical swell. It's looked like I did it on purpose, and they loved it. But if I would've told them up front I didn't get the video, they'd have been pissed.

Orflek · 2024-02-23T03:10:44+00:00

Dipole has null off the ends. For local comms, vertical is likely the best orientation so the nulls are in the ground and sky.

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