It has been several months since my failure to rebuild by system in the place where my family temporarily relocated. Now I understand how critical it is to have good sunlight for the plants to thrive. I have been out of the aquaponic world for quite a while and I am desperate to have a new setup. I noticed that we now have more folks here in PH setting up more systems and some are even starting to build commercial setups, just in a matter of months of being out of the picture.
Here are some sites where one can read more about Aquaponics:
One of my main issues is the lack of space to put up a new system here in Malabon. Unlike in Pasig, where I had an entire backyard blessed with a good position to get sunlight. Until I find a place where I can build a new setup, I’ll have to stick to reading and envy my fellow countrymen get their hands dirty in Aquaponics. 🙂
While walking outside my mother’s house in Pasig after work, I happen to chance by seeing some “green stuff” near the swampy grass. I thought it it was just algae or some green liquid stuff disposed by the house nearby. I kept ignoring it until one day my curiosity took over and I looked closer. And guess what’s I’ve found… duckweed!
I’ve been trying to grow them ever since somebody gave me a handful to multiply, but this was the first time that I saw them in the wild. First time I would ever see them grow in that small village in the last 22 years of living there. How they got there, I had no idea.
Some people who are not familiar with duckweed might ask, what’s the big deal about it? In some places they are considered a nuisance and often associated with poor water quality (they basically thrive if the water is rich with nutrients). While this is true, duckweed is considered by some as a plant who might play a major part in the future of food production. In spite of being the smallest aquatic plant, it can contain up to 45% protein and is rich in amino acids which is an ideal food for fish in ponds and aquaponic systems. They multiply rapidly given the proper conditions (conditions that I am yet to fully understand).
So what did I do when I confirmed that it’s duckweed that I saw lying on the murky water in our neighborhood? I ran back home, took some plastic container and my phone camera! Imagine this being done while getting this what-the-hell-is-this-guy-doing kind of look from our neighbors. When I came back with my container, some old guy even tied up his dog on a tree a few feet away from where I found the duckweed, probably thinking I was up to something not very good. But in spite of having to dodge this dog and with his annoying barking, I managed to scoop my duckweed away and walk home smiling.
Project has finally started a few weeks ago. Added a nesting box inside the shelter. I currently have a “trio” of chickens for starters. My plan is 20-25 chickens for this backyard.
Well, almost complete. I still have to add more supporting wood to make it withstand future typhoons. We get that a lot yearly where I’m from. I spent around 800 pesos for the bamboo, which is a bit pricey since I could have just gotten it for free had I been more patient.
Chickens, being one of the cheapest source of protein (not to mention the eggs), have always been part of Filipino diet whether in the sprawling cities or far away
provinces. No surprise that it’s not unusual to see a household with a few chickens.
One day, I suddenly thought “why can’t I have some as well?” We have a small vacant lot with walls and gates already and my Aquaponics setup doesn’t really take much space.
Last week, I started drafting a plan for my project: a mini barn! My goal is simple, 1. Help cut down food cost by producing meat and eggs. 2. Learn the basics of organic chicken farming for larger ventures in the future. 3. To sell excess meat and eggs. Now, this, I’m totally sure if there would be something to call excess. But I’m going to try.
First thing I need would be a house for the chicken. To get me started, I bought 2 hens and a rooster just to motivate myself to pursue this project. With the help of my stepdad, I was able to begin setting up a simple chicken house. Most of the materials were just salvaged from a nearby construction site. The plastic roof are just recycled from my previous greenhouse that was destroyed by a typhoon several months ago.
I chose to go for native, free-range type of chickens since they peck for some of their food like plants and insects, and they’re much more resistant to diseases. I also like the idea of seeing chickens walking around, instead of white chickens confined in cages, being fed with antibiotics and all sorts of drugs.
If the info I got from the net is accurate, a hen would lay at least 40 eggs in a year under the natural method. Meaning, you let the hen do their thing with less intervention from humans. So if there are 20 hens and 4 roosters, I am to expect 800 eggs in a year or 66.67 eggs in a month. And I don’t think we’ll be eating that much eggs. Not bad for a chicken house made up of recycled materials. I know this will be a new journey for me, but I am going to welcome learning and new experiences.
A close-up look with the flower from the Onion plant. I never really expected it to survive after I planted it.
4th week of the growbed after the seeds were planted
After I started the first one 4 weeks ago, I am now setting up the 2nd and 3rd systems both at the same time. The 2nd one, made up of an old refrigerator and a 55-gallon plastic drum. The 3rd one cost me some money for we had to buy the new growbeds and the fish tank. For the stand, I just went to the construction site near or house and talked to one of the workers, and good thing they allowed me to buy their used coco-lumber for 8 pesos each. I opted to paint them black so they won’t look so old.
I should have planned what I wanted to grow. Now the leaves are all tangled.
I couldn’t wait to get home to finish the stand of the 3 new growbeds. I started slow with the carpentry but soon enough, I was working purely by instinct. I painted the wood black. When I thought I’ve done enough for the day, I punched in a hole for each of the growbed. And when I thought I was tired enough and needed rest, I made 3 stand pipes and 1 bell siphon. It really took a certain amount of self control to stop working with Aquaponics. I could go on and on non-stop. After 4 weeks in operation, I realized some of my mistakes with my first system:
1. Plants – I made this stupid thing by sprinkling seeds in the grow bed without considering how will they look like once they’ve grown. Now it’s a total chaos. I’ll make it a point to avoid this error with the 2 other systems.
2. Bell Siphon – If I invested more time and effort in creating a better bell siphon, I could have minimized the time spent worrying of the bedwil continue to flood and drain. But since I’m just in the experimenting stage, I guess it’s okay.
3. Transparent Growbed = Algae. Because of better exposure to sunlight, algae have been stealing nutrients that could have been for the plants. But I did this so I can observe what’s going on inside the bed and see the roots and water flow.
These experiences have made me more confident in continuing the goal of understanding Aquaponics better and create more successful systems. I hope to be able to use Aquaponics where it can be most beneficial. So here’s a quick update with the 1s mini system we started 4 weeks ago. Some changes have been made, such as the pipe running from the fish tank into the growbed and the tube used in the bell. I also made more reading about Aquaponics and reviewed other videos to better equip me with more knowledge with this passion.
This is the same Okra plant after 4 weeks. It has dominated the growbed ith it’s rapid growth. It has been the most aggressive of all the plants.
This is the same little corn seedling 4 weeks ago. Now, I'm not really sure how this one will go...
My playground. This is where I can be found most time of the day.
My work area from a different angle
This is the 3rd system that is still under construction. Can’t wait to start this one.
Aqualeafygreen 
