Background

This is a guide to a hit and miss, handy-man, swimming pool conversion to acquaponics set up. I thought I'd write this up so others thinking of doing the same thing could see what might work and what might not.

This project began around the middle of the 2010 calender year after my neighbour handed me one of 48 Barramundi he had harvested from his standardised acquaponics set up next door.

Not long after the government announced severe water restrictions, after a winter of virtually no rain, and keen vegetable growers like myself faced the prospect of having to pull up our gardens over the summer.

An aquaponics system seemed like a way to solve a number of issues - including what to do with your swimming pool when the kids have left home and it gets little use. How to water your vegetables in the face of severe water restrictions, and how to afford fish when the cost keeps skyrocketing.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Final Steps - December 2010

The final steps in the project have been to add landscaping around the edges of the pool which over time will add to its natural look. The pond itself is clear and has become a haven for local wildlife. Already it is full of tadpoles, buzzing with colourful dragonflies and the local bandicoots (Australian marsupial) are drinking at the edge of the pool. I have covered the river sand with a thin layer of finely crushed quartz (known locally as rainbow stone) and it's a very inviting environment. The plan is to still be able to wade in and cool off on those really hot summer days and I think this should be OK.



 
We also planted the in-pool grow bed with a selection of water lillys, water iris and native sedges. These have responded very happily to their new environment and we had the first lilly flower last week.


  In - pool grow bed with water lillies etc

The grow beds were planted about a week ago with a range of vegetables - lettuce, Chinese greens, capsicum, cucumber and rhubarb. The grow bed closest to the pond we have reserved for strawberries. We have put in a few native minnows to start with and plan to stock the pool with our first lot of fish and marron (local fresh water crayfish)  in the New Year.

Planted grow bed - strawberries
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1 comment:

  1. José AzevedoFebruary 5, 2013 at 3:43 AM

    Hi, Simon,

    Do you know of anyone who has converted an INDOOR swimming pool into an aquaculture facility?

    Help appreciated.

    José Azevedo
    Biology Dept., University of the Azores, Portugal

    ReplyDelete

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