Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Quote of the day

While reading through the AP (aquaponics) forums this morning I came across this from Vlad.  It made me laugh.  Vlad has a way of hitting the nail right on the head.  This was in response to a questionable ad  -

"...Well, OK maybe it's even a bit less hokey...somebody please just shoot me in the fucking head if I ever start rambling about how some overly priced, energy intensive AP system is going to feed some poor backwater village in the middle of the African desert...I mean it's nice for middle class white folks to have a 'feel good' hobby and all, but when folks use the very real and legitimate suffering and misfortune to tug at the heart-strings of Mr. and Mrs. Jones of Lakewood in order to sell them something...it kinda gets my goat. Sorry for the rant..."

Vlad and I are on the same page concerning AP.  Quoting Vlad again (sic) "Aquaponics is a romantic attraction".   

You may wonder where my allegiance lies. This is of course a blog about aquaponics.   I do like aquaponics, but it's not the only way to garden (Bioponics or Wicking beds may better suit your needs), and by no means is it cheap or as easy as some would have you believe.

A well managed AP system can out perform a soil based garden, but well managed is the crux of the matter and the term that requires definition.

In any case don't let the lure of technology lead you into grand ideas of easy profits and abundant crops of fish and vegetables.  It may not be rocket science, but it is a science that requires a fair amount of attention.


Friday, March 15, 2013

Automation

Comment by Iowa Aquaponics -
We've created a series of tutorials with some of these features using the Arduino and Google's cloud infrastructure.
Online Temperature and Humidity
Real-Time Graphing Online
Online Relay Control