Demo Aquaponics Built For 2013 Maui Body and Soil Conferences at Home

(I previously thought I lost this post and published a shorter version. Well, blogger did save it and here it is.)

After working in short bursts, utilizing almost all left over material, with my brother Randy's help. I then proceeded to work from Midnight to 4:30am to finish my, I'm thinking hybrid, demo Aquarium Aquaponics to display at the 2013 Maui Body and Soil Farm-Health Conference held at the Maui Tropical Plantations, April 11th to 13th.

With just enough time to load the Aquarium Aquaponics and all the internet modem & router (mahalo AKAKU), two away radios, (Mahalo Vision Enterprises) and projection equipment with screen, squeeze in a shower and be on-site with all the other volunteers. I did manage to have it run successfully for 3 days and nights at the event.

I managed to get 10 Tilapia of various breeds and junior sized, so as not to eat my 10 various colored goldfish carp in the aquarium. Planted Taro, Royal Oak Lettuce, Beets, Stir Fry Greens, Chinese Cabbage "Won Bok", with yellow Marigold and violet Torenia for color.

The hybrid Aquarium Aquaponics was basically a planter I drilled 6 small weep holes in the bottom, a layer of Ricky Apana and Vince Mina's (IMO) Indigenous Micro Organism infused BioChar to hold water and then a bio-active layer of cider from my mature grow beds with plenty of worms populating it and an over all main overflow, in case holes plug or I the water flow was too much.

All run with a air driven water pump from a ECO AIR 2 air pump. Specs: 4.5 liters per minute, 1.7 pressure, 4 watts energy moving the water. Some tricky air/water pumping adapted from Glenn Martinez of Olomana Gardens and past State President of the Hawaii Farmers Union United, (he passed the baton to Vincent Mina as the new acting, then officially elected State President of HFUU and member of the Maui Farmers Union United.

The 2013 Maui Body and Soil Farm Health Conference was a big hit and my Aquarium Aquaponics is still running at home on top of my Jacuzzi Aquaponics system. Minus one Tilapia, travel shock I think and unfortunately all the goldfish koi. Apparently the Tilapia thought they were there for dinner, their dinner. At least the Tilapia had the courtesy to wait until after the event to feast.

As We Walk In The Darkness and Wonder Why We Cannot See

This post I started awhile ago in preparing for the 11th 2013 Maui Body and Soil Farm-Health Conference. Each year for the past 4 years of the 10 Maui Body and Soil Conferences I have helped Maui Aloha Aina Association, Vince and Irene Mina, Steve Wilson put on and met, listened and learned from such notable presenters like Jerry Brunetti, a self healed cancer victim, I have wondered why the emphasis continues to be around fixing our bodies with medicines, machines and some pretty wild science, all the while, ignoring the simple idea of growing and eating good food grown in good healthy conditions, such as healthy micro-biologically active soils and now Aquaponics.

So when the money runs out, the clinics can't keep up, science has no answers, drugs and treatments are financially beyond the vast majority of unhealthy people, we see the panic and fear that so many people have when they see not only the quality of life disappear, their financial futures gone and death staring them or loved ones in the face, we either remain in the darkness with our eyes closed or make the simple choice to grow and eat healthier foods as early in our life as we can.

So don't wonder why we can't see the answers, come out of the darkness, open our eyes and be the answers.

http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/03/cancer-clinics-are-turning-away-thousands-of-medicare-patients-blame-the-sequester/

Aquaponics all nighter for 2013 Maui Body and Soil.

Aquaponics . So the water used IMO BioChar base and mature cinder and water from my system. And is running. bit rough on a fish, but their hanging in there.
Lost my last back up reading glasses, so this is tough.

Maui Cooking

I just love using slow cookers. Prep my stuff and get on with my day. Add  ingredients as it's time and by the end of the day it's dinner.
Going to each months Maui Farmers Union United really helps me to realize how so many foods I normally wouldn't eat can be so tasty. It inspires me to try new things in my cooking.
This started out with a piece of pork, yes I eat meat, that was marinated in my usual dis & dat marinade. I have assortments of vinegars and oils I keep on hand. This one had a spicy vinegar with a sweet vinegar and a dash of rice vinegar.
With that I added a Maui Chili lime oil made in Haiku & sold in Makawao. Some peanut & sesame oil, Braggs and let soak a day.
Then cooked it in some chicken stock, normally I would have used Beef Bone Broth.
After a few hours on high in the slow cooker, I added white and red onion, potatoes, purple cauliflower and cooked another hour. By now the meats falling apart and I had eggplant from my neighbor. I had skinned it and let it soak with some salt in water for about a half hour. Rinsed it and let it cook for one more hour.
In the meantime, I cooked brown, Jasmine and Forbidden Rice together. It was good, but second day even better. Added some flax seed crackers to thicken it and I just like them and that was dinner again. Sometime some unsalted sunflower seeds go in.
Variations could have been okra, green onion, celery or taro leaf from my Aquaponics. It all works and I don't add salt or much else. The flavors work themselves out. Every pot seems like a new and different dish.

Aquaponics Story tonight on 60 Minutes

Per word by email from Murray Hallam;

" I have just had the drum that there will be an Aquaponics story on Australian 60 minutes this sunday night Channel 9.

This is significant as this is the first time here in Australia that a mainstream show (outside of gardening shows) has carried an Aquaponics story.

Take a look and see what 60 minutes has to say.

Murray Hallam Practical Aquaponics"

That's 6pm Hawaii time on KGMB-CBS. Channel 13.2 or 9, depending on how you pickup your channels.

Jim

Aquaponics just keeps on Producing

<p>Having converted my Jacuzzi, maybe three hundred gallons of water, it supports between fifty to seventy five Tilapia. Wish I was better at the names, but most are the all white ones, and I think two variety of the darker blue and or gray ones, three Chinese Catfish I was given and three Channel Catfish I bought about a year ago and were like two inches long. Besides most of the Tilapia being eating size, I should weigh them, but hate harassing them, the Chinese Catfish are still around ten to twelve inches long and I don't know how big they can get. The guy that gave me them has like five pounds and sells hundreds each week. The Channel Catfish are well over a foot long and look like baby sharks in there.<br>
Although Tilapia are top feeders and seem to take pleasure in how much water they can splash on me during feeding time. The Channel Catfish and Chines Catfish will top feed with the rest, although the Channel Catfish gobble a whole lot down. Sort of just skimming the food off the top and coming back for more. Tilapia, at least the bigger ones might take one pellet, maybe two and probably wait for them to soften up before swallowing them, then come back for more.<br>
Since I don't really separate them, at least not yet, I assume the juvenile are munching the babies when the Mom finally releases them. They raise them in their mouth until their old enough to supposedly survive.<br>
The mere fact that after a year I have huge ones and lots of smaller ones, some to small to eat the pellet foods and probably munch on Taro roots, Taro leaves I give them and graze on any algae, there must be babies surviving in all the hiding spots to survive.</p>
<p>In addition there are 23 pots of Taro, I raise them in cinder partially submerged, each pot may hold about five Taro plants, it's time to separate them again. I took out about four, one of which was too big and rubbing on the top of the green house. Moved them to regular soil and seeing how they do. Home Depot is getting $15 to $25 for ones these size potted up. I think I have at least three varieties. Not to up on my varieties. The State was pretty much right, the parasitic wasps and lady bugs eventually got the aphids on the Taro leaves under control. I did my best to work on the ants with boric acid and combinations of sweet and greasy mixtures. The ants fed on them both for the last few months and don't seem as prevalent, although my yard and house is still over run with them and potted plants in soil all have ants, some aphids and African snail. The fact that the Plumeria is dormant without leaves, but on it's was back might have been a factor. White flies and maybe aphids often over run the Plumeria.<br>
Beyond Taro I have Roma Tomatoes that where really taking off until recently a lot of new tips went limp and not looking to good. I keep all the old leaves out and yellowing ones and can't see any pest at all, yet some of the plant is doing well. And fruit keeps coming out. The Squash is all rooted in the cinder of the Aquaponics, but growing everywhere else, including my roof. Some Basil and Collards, Cabbage or something of that family that I can trim the leaves from and steam. I grew some last year and it was great.
Well, except for a half dozen orchids I transplanted into pots with soil BioChar and cinder that my neighbor had given me awhile ago: that's what's going on with my Jacuzzi Aquaponics.
Oh, also my neighbor's nephew Daryl gave him some fish. He had been doing Hydroponics since watching all my activity, but never got fish. The wife wasn't thrilled about food in fish poo. After he lost one he gave me a huge white Tilapia. So I rigged it in it's own mini aquarium Aquaponics with an air feed and a pump circulating the water through it's own taro