Hey. I read somewhere that fish excrement is a good organic plant food. Is this true?? I have a very large fish tank, with many african cichlids and catfish. I am wondering if this is true, how do I get the "poo" to change to food for my plants?? I have a method of cleaning my tank where i stir up the substrate and catch all the debris(poo and bits of fish food) with a fine net. How would i go about getiing that to the plant?? This is my first "organic" attempt. Lol Mostly jus because i have the tank full of fish, and they shit, a LOT. lol
[quote name='"bizzybombchron"']Hey. I read somewhere that fish excrement is a good organic plant food. Is this true?? I have a very large fish tank, with many african cichlids and catfish. I am wondering if this is true, how do I get the "poo" to change to food for my plants?? I have a method of cleaning my tank where i stir up the substrate and catch all the debris(poo and bits of fish food) with a fine net. How would i go about getiing that to the plant?? This is my first "organic" attempt. Lol Mostly jus because i have the tank full of fish, and they shit, a LOT. lol[/quote] The way I look at it, it cant hurt. Just top dress with the poo/food. Our friends the microbes will do the heavy lifting from there. IIRC cichlids require more alkaline tanks. I wouldn't use the water if its around 8-9 pH. Just poo only. This is purely a gut feeling about using the water.
I was also wondering if i could possibly reuse some aquarium gravel as growing medium?? Its obviously non toxic, and will have good aeration and drainage. It would be used in a DWC set up.
[quote name='"bizzybombchron"']I was also wondering if i could possibly reuse some aquarium gravel as growing medium?? Its obviously non toxic, and will have good aeration and drainage. It would be used in a DWC set up.[/quote] I've used hydrotron, but aquarium gravel I have no experience. DWC organic IMHO is like chasing the bigfoot. Unless you spend $$$ on chillers/ heaters, pH monitors. You will still need mix your own nutes for true organic hydro. I would rather build a quality soil, water with the shit I clean from the fish tank (with a little blue agave) and sit back and watch the magic. I have too much shit to do. Let the microbes do the work.
Its called aquaponics.. put a pump in a tank and have it flood a tray and recirculate back to the tank. you won't be able to flower cannabis with this...
I have many fish tanks. I have tried this before. As long as you dont concentrate it to much it will be fine in veg or first week or two of flower. Fish waste is a very high nitrogen! I like to put a few 3tbl of it concentrated into 5gal bucket with a few more things to make aact!
These guys drop a deuce and its like a cat! I scoop it drop in a gallon of water shake and poor. All they eat is night crawlers. EXCELLENT!
[quote name='"closethippie"']Its called aquaponics.. put a pump in a tank and have it flood a tray and recirculate back to the tank. you won't be able to flower cannabis with this...[/quote] IME, you can flower using aquaponics, but it won't be 100% organic.
Yes you can flower with aquaponics but you have to figure a way to add bloom nutes without killing the fish thus making it more work than the op wants I am sure... These bloom nutes can def be organic! That does not mean it is at all safe for the fish..
[quote name='"closethippie"'] Yes you can flower with aquaponics but you have to figure a way to add bloom nutes without killing the fish thus making it more work than the op wants I am sure... These bloom nutes can def be organic! That does not mean it is at all safe for the fish..[/quote] Exactally, the rub. When you add organic nutes pH shifts greatly. This has to be a balanced introduction. Fish will tolerate a certain amount of fluctuation but not constant fluctuation. Salts keep things stable. You have to balance the amount of toxins you introduce to the amount consumed by the plants. Too much or too little usually results in failure. You need to have your fert diagnoses shit in a bag. If your keeping a display tank your heart will drop with the stuff your going to do with the tank.
Or what about just doing a coco grow in a flood tray that floods once every few days.. Remove fish tank water & put it in the res then add whatever organiic bloom nutes you need, flood then do again a few days later.. That is how I would do aquaponics (or atlease how id try to..)
[quote name='"closethippie"'] Or what about just doing a coco grow in a flood tray that floods once every few days.. Remove fish tank water & put it in the res then add whatever organiic bloom nutes you need, flood then do again a few days later.. That is how I would do aquaponics (or atlease how id try to..)[/quote] That certainly sounds doable, but traditional aquaponic systems are designed to be recirculating. The plants remove the toxic materials and water is conserved. What your talking about is using fish tank water as you water supply. In that case why f@*ck around with pumps, pH, 2 res, electricity, and the hydro store if you don't have to. Get some smart pots, build a quality base soil, water with the fish tank, and let the microbes do the work. Did I mention better quality, it's cheaper, and microbes don't use electricity. I've come full circle (dirt, hydro, aquaponic, organic soil) and I'm here to stay.
stiky fisker that's a great argument I agree with you. Aquaponics though, is a field which is quite permeated by hydro growers, afaik by the way are you sure plants run-off is useful for the fish?
[quote name='"hope2toke"']stiky fisker that's a great argument I agree with you. Aquaponics though, is a field which is quite permeated by hydro growers, afaik by the way are you sure plants run-off is useful for the fish?[/quote] If your talking about run off from the plant in an enclosed system there is none or it minimal. That is the symbiotic (sp?) nature of the system. If your talking about recirculating water back into your tank after adding hydro chems or watering your smart pots then NO that is not healthy for your fish.
Yes I can agree.. and I do understand aquaponics as well as hydroponics well.. soil is the business I understand this! . My point of saying is to help the op with diifferent ideas on how to use the fish poo for nutes with cannabis and grow some flowers not to argue cost of growing soil vs hydro.. + 1 tiny $5 water pump on for 15 minutes every 3 days is nothing for electric and a "organic" bloom nute maybe $15..It would not really cost any more $ then buying ewc, kelp meal, seed meal ect.. for soil amendments. Sustainable organic gardening is the best always (imo) but you still need to buy things to set it up.. You could do this without a hydro store. Sounds to me he's got fish in question so there's 1 res so its either 1 more or a watering can. Its not a lot of work fill a res let the pump mix the other "stuff" in and water all of the plants at once then drain res. Don't get it wrong man soil is better but not cheaper to set up always...
[quote name='"closethippie"'] Yes I can agree.. and I do understand aquaponics as well as hydroponics well.. soil is the business I understand this! . My point of saying is to help the op with diifferent ideas on how to use the fish poo for nutes with cannabis and grow some flowers not to argue cost of growing soil vs hydro.. + 1 tiny $5 water pump on for 15 minutes every 3 days is nothing for electric and a "organic" bloom nute maybe $15..It would not really cost any more $ then buying ewc, kelp meal, seed meal ect.. for soil amendments. Sustainable organic gardening is the best always (imo) but you still need to buy things to set it up.. You could do this without a hydro store. Sounds to me he's got fish in question so there's 1 res so its either 1 more or a watering can. Its not a lot of work fill a res let the pump mix the other "stuff" in and water all of the plants at once then drain res. Don't get it wrong man soil is better but not cheaper to set up always...[/quote] Life is way too short and I'm too old to argue about this shit. This is an individual sport. My point was strictly from my view point and personal experience. Not bagging on anything your suggesting. I just don't get it.
i literally just posted this. i hope it doesn't seem arrogant to quote your own post but you should defenitly check in on this other thread cause they have the same questions.
I used to raise misquito guppies for that very purpose. They can handle, and actually thrive in some seriously funked out water, which makes them a good candidate for such a project. On a larger scale, tilapia have proven to be the kings of the poo water in aquaponics.