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Self Reliance #3 - Aquaponics

Paladine71

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1,483
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Tallmansville, WV
One of our main expenses in everyday life, and a serious concern for emergency situations, is food. With grocery prices constantly climbing as a result of inflation and the realization that canned foods will only last for so long, my wife and I have been planning to establish a Aquaponics system. That is a combination of two systems (aquaculture and hydroponics) that work together to produce food on a continual basis. We are aiming for a closed loop system where very little is needed from the outside to sustain the process. This video is from the National Geographic Doomsday Preppers show. While we don't agree with all of the things presented on that show, or all of the opinions of the preppers, this system is in wide usage in Australia and other places, demonstrating its viability. There are many options on fish, vegetables, livestock, fruit trees, etc. are really are up to the gardener/farmer. The amount of money that can be saved, and knowing what is in the food is very desirable to us.

[video=youtube;bB5EceQSY68]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB5EceQSY68[/video]

A great website that produces a periodical is Backyard Aquaponics: http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/
 

Flash

Well-Known Member
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195
Location
Michigan
Have considered this as part of my planning for some time now. It simply makes sense to me on a macro level. The details however become problematic for me personally as security becomes the issue. This seems like a good option for groups (perhaps families or small communes) where multiple resources are available to farm and protect. A one or 2 person operation would face more challenges in my view.
 

Paladine71

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Tallmansville, WV
Security would certainly be an issue if people knew about it. What would you do if you were facing starvation, and were watching your wife and children dying? I'm a fairly nice guy with a lot of reservation, but I couldn't guarantee my actions if my family were depending on me (that's just being realistic). Aquaponics would work best in a remote location if you had much size to it. I've seen some amazing gardens in small spaces, but secrecy would have to be very strict. You couldn't buy all of your supplies in the same places.

A great example of how much a small garden can produce is this family: http://urbanhomestead.org/about

This family of four produce over 6,000 lbs of produce annually on their 1/10 acre backyard garden in Pasadena. If that isn't inspiring, I don't know what is!!! I don't know if I'd need that much! Add some fish and a few livestock and you'd have quite a little farm capable of feeding you almost indefinitely. Of course, you'd need heirloom seeds and plenty of access to water and sunlight. You could compost for fertilizer, especially if you had access to a forest.

[video=youtube;eqCdYPOjJTw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqCdYPOjJTw[/video]
 
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Flash

Well-Known Member
Messages
195
Location
Michigan
I could be mistaken and I apologize if I am - however my understanding is that some "light" source is required. Either natural sun or lamps. Neither promote secrecy in my view. If hidden in a basement, then generators of some kind are required which means noise (although perhaps solar or wind might suffice). If in the yard, then camoflage netting would be helpful and that brings it own curiosity.

Seems to me that a well armed commune with sentries would be an ideal application for this - unless radiation fallout drove everything inside/underground.

For self reliance in a world with still functioning governments, this is a great opportunity for some to get experience with farming on a small scale. The knowledge of food quality would certainly be reassuring. In a doomsday bunker type scenario, I'm leaning more toward dry goods vacumn sealed.
 

Paladine71

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1,483
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Tallmansville, WV
Both scenarios shown in the videos have high solid walls to block the view of the neighbors, while allowing the sun in. That would be ideal for continuous food production. I agree, if you're building a bunker or intend to go underground to outlast a crisis, then freeze-dried or dehydrated food would be better. The problem with those food storage options is that they use a lot of water. Additionally, they run out, so you will need to find something to produce your own food later.
 

Paladine71

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1,483
Location
Tallmansville, WV
We plan on retiring in Montana when I leave the Army. Since it gets so cold up there and has a short growing season, we're looking at building an indoor conservatory aquaponics setup. That will include growing indoor dwarf fruit trees, even some citrus.

[video=youtube;vPDWDIIlY_0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPDWDIIlY_0[/video]
 
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