# aquaponics garden shrimp/catfish



## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

well began this past weekend to construct my aquaponics garden; 
im using an old bath tub with a half barrell to hold plants in , in the tub i have 50 channell catfish, and using a fountain pump to run water to half barrel. i planted this barrell with 6 jalapeno plants, 
then i bought a 1750 gallon pool from walmart for 100.00 dollars in this i will try and grow freshwater shrimp. using more barrels on my deck with plants to recirculate the pool water and keep clean. so im taking pictures and will try to keep an update as the project unfolds. so far catfish are doing fine still waiting for weather to warm enough to get my shrimp shipped in to stock pool. im in southern virginia and its still a little cool for the shrimp but that should change anytime. 
so hope you'll check in and see how this goes.


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## hollym (Feb 18, 2005)

I sure will, I want to try this too! Is the bathtub less than three feet tall? I want to try tilapia, but can't afford a tub that deep. There is one at Dollar General for $30 that is around 2'. I'm tempted to try it and see what happens. I have a friend that says we can go and net tilapia fingerlings in a place that he fishes regularly. 

hollym


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## sylvar (Nov 2, 2004)

Do keep us updated on this. I have been looking at aquaponics setups for several years now, but I haven't taken the plunge yet. I am very interested to know how the shrimp work out for you.

BTW - where did you order your shrimp from?

Shane


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

the bath tub is an old tub so its fairly deep i would guess its at least holds 50 to 60 gallons of water, depth should not really mater as long as enough oxygen stays in the water i plan on letting fountain pump water to barrels continuously to allow water cleansing i place drain about an inch from bottom of barrel so should not drown the plants. 
i got the shrimp from texas 1000 shrimp including shipping 90.00
but i found a shrimp farm in n.carolina i may be able to purchase bigger shrimp from next time. im starting with post larve so will take awhile to get big. if im succesful i will try to get a heated building so i can start early and have bigger juveniles to stock with next season . this is mainly a begginers crash course at the moment. i will try to find somewhere to post pics soon.


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

well a bad day for the catfish yesterday i didnt change part of the water while trying to get the barrel garden up and running so i lost a few to waste build up i imagine, so i changed most of water this morning so hope that holds em till i get barrel with rock going tonight. i hope. im waiting for the silicone to seal on barrell drain. so very important lesson # 1 is to change part of the water daily if your filter is not running.
got the filter working on the shrimp pool this morning and replaced swimming pool filter with bio balls to help build good bacteria while waiting for the shrimp to arrive. think im going to add a few pond plants to both setups just for good measure to help with water filtration and ph.


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## sylvar (Nov 2, 2004)

How are you raising the shrimp in the pool? Are they just running around in there or are they in PVC racks? I have seen the racks, but I don't really understand how those are managed.


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

sylvar said:


> How are you raising the shrimp in the pool? Are they just running around in there or are they in PVC racks? I have seen the racks, but I don't really understand how those are managed.


yes this is right, i will be building floating rectangular pvc shelving with bird mesh tyed to each layer 2 inches apart. got the supplies yesterday to start building this weekend. you can find pictures of these cages on the texas aqauculture web sight. the bird mesh will be horizontal so it will give the shrimp places to hide while they molt.
i will post pictures as soon as i can get a host sight up and running.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Sounds fascinating. I've been wanting to try something of the sort. I love fresh catfish and shrimp but won't touch the stuff at the grocery store. I'm thinking of making tanks with concrete blocks and a pond liner.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Just another thought, why not use old deep freezes for tanks? They would be free, already have a drain and you could remove the lid and have an instant tank.


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

Cyngbaeld said:


> Just another thought, why not use old deep freezes for tanks? They would be free, already have a drain and you could remove the lid and have an instant tank.


thats a mighty good idea i would say . would only work for catfish though not enough room for shrimp. shrimp must eventually have more room as they are very territorial. im also considering some kind of concrete block pond like your talking about. ive been checking on the price of liners course there not cheap . for shrimp the idea pond size would be fairly big and probably 3 ft deep to allow lots of room for the pvc racks. im thinking of eventually having a well dug on my other 5 acre tract and building maybe 2 ponds to grow the shrimp . the well would supply my watering needs.


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## sylvar (Nov 2, 2004)

I am a little confused. Are the shrimp kept in the PVC racks, like cages? Or are the racks open to the rest of the pool? How many pounds do you estimate you can get from this system?

Thanks for the info!

Shane


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

sylvar said:


> I am a little confused. Are the shrimp kept in the PVC racks, like cages? Or are the racks open to the rest of the pool? How many pounds do you estimate you can get from this system?
> 
> Thanks for the info!
> 
> Shane


yes the racks will be open to rest of pool this is just shelving to allow the shrimp to have places to go because they are bottom feeders. http://county.ces.uga.edu/habersham/aqua/upstrom.htm this will explain the pvc substrate also this is where you can order shrimp.
as far as pounds of shrimp if all goes well would be in the 50 to 80 pound range but not sure how big i can raise them in this swimming pool.
the university of virginia raised them and had about a 48 % survival ratio so if can improve on that i would hope for 50 to 80 pounds.


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## sylvar (Nov 2, 2004)

I had seen that site before, I couldn't tell from their pics if the shrimp were caged or not. Nice info to have..

I think I have read about that UV study before, but weren't they stocking into a 4000 gallon pool? You would be doubling the population density if you stock into a 1750 gallon pool. 

Shane


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

sylvar said:


> I had seen that site before, I couldn't tell from their pics if the shrimp were caged or not. Nice info to have..
> 
> I think I have read about that UV study before, but weren't they stocking into a 4000 gallon pool? You would be doubling the population density if you stock into a 1750 gallon pool.
> 
> Shane


nope not caged just extra area to hide in .and you maybe right about the 4000 gallon but do not think they used the same method with the pvc netting. according to craig in texas this method should work of course as with anything bigger is probably better . but like i said if you get a 50 % survival its still alot of shrimps for the barbee


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## sylvar (Nov 2, 2004)

edrnrman said:


> but like i said if you get a 50 % survival its still alot of shrimps for the barbee


True enough! Keep us updated. I really want to know how this experiment turns out!

Good Luck!
Shane


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

well after an eventful weekend that started with a big thunderstorm on thursday night that ended with me having a broken well pipe. i started friday with a backhoe digging up my well pump pipe. so got that fixed and on sunday after looking at my lopsided walmart pool i decieded to go on and drain it and level it again since i had so much loose dirt from the pipe digging. and praise the lord i did it, i now have a totally level swimming pool after 4 attemps the week before. so the shrimp should be arriving tommorow but with the cool weather here in virginia im debating on waiting another week. the pool was only 64 yesterday morning when i drained it so that not to good for shrimp i think they go dormant at 65 degrees. so i will be doing some more checking on that to see what effect all the tempature shifts might do to them. anyway on thursday before the storm i got my garden barrel planted with jalopena peppers and running the water from the catfish pool to the barrel so catfish are doing great very clean water and they eating happily so that part of project is going good . now that pools level i'll be setting up 2 or 3 more barrels to run from shrimp pool to those garden barrels this week and building my pcv racks for the shrimp. so alls welll that ends well so far.


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

Well Going On 3 Weeks Now And The Catfish Seem To Be Doing Well. I Have 9 Jalepeno Pepper Plants Now In The Barrell And They Seem To Be Doing Well. Getting Excited Now The Shrimp Will Arrive On Tuesday The 6th. The Pool Has Turned Nice And Green And Is Full Of Small Insects So This Will Help Feed The Small Shrimp So The Should Have Plenty To Eat. Spent The Weeekend Building The First Pcv Rack ,spaced The Bird Mesh At 2 In Intervals. Also Will Be Looking For Some Milk Crates To Stack In The Middle Of Pool To Help Fill Out Any Dead Space And Give Them As Much Usable Area As Possible. Now Tonight Will Hopefully Get Tomatos And Basil Growing In 2nd Barrel To Be Fed From The Shrimp Pool. So Will Report Back In Soon With A Shrimp Report


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## hollym (Feb 18, 2005)

Wow your project sounds like it is really working well! I hope you will keep us posted, it is very interesting to read about. 

hollym


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

well the shrimp will arrive tommorow so i getting exciteed . the catfish are still doing well but i will say its very important at this point to change out at least half the water on a reqular basis. i dont think the plant roots that act like a biological filter have really kicked in so its important to check the waters ammonia levels so the fish dont die holding at lot of fish in small area creates ammonia problems. so definatly invest in a test kit if you try this project.


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## crashy (Dec 10, 2004)

hollym said:


> I sure will, I want to try this too! Is the bathtub less than three feet tall? I want to try tilapia, but can't afford a tub that deep. There is one at Dollar General for $30 that is around 2'. I'm tempted to try it and see what happens. I have a friend that says we can go and net tilapia fingerlings in a place that he fishes regularly.
> 
> hollym



Holly...have you tried freecycle? www.freecycle.org or craigs list? www.graigslist.org. Yahoo has free cycle too thats how I found it. Its in the group list.
I just got some fencing for free I just had to go get it. People are always remolding and getting rid of tubs check it out.
Sorry edrnrman, Didnt mean to hijack your thread......
I am attempting to build a pond too I put a maple log in the water just in case the chickens fall in they wont drown I hope. But the dang thing is starting to grow!! LOL


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

crashy said:


> Holly...have you tried freecycle? www.freecycle.org or craigs list? www.graigslist.org. Yahoo has free cycle too thats how I found it. Its in the group list.
> I just got some fencing for free I just had to go get it. People are always remolding and getting rid of tubs check it out.
> Sorry edrnrman, Didnt mean to hijack your thread......
> I am attempting to build a pond too I put a maple log in the water just in case the chickens fall in they wont drown I hope. But the dang thing is starting to grow!! LOL



not a problem i need to find a greenhouse so this will come in handy.


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

well the shrimp arrived yesterday and were in good shape i might have lost 20 or 30 in shipping but thats to be expected . the shrimp were about the size of your finger nail and seemed to take welll to there new smimming pool home. i know there were not as many dead bugs floating in the pool so it looks like they dined well will start them today with a little catfish food in very small amounts 2 times dailey. as far as the catfish they are still doing well and seem happy in thier home as well they will finally get sinking catfish food tonight as it finally arrived also .


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## crashy (Dec 10, 2004)

Cool......


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

well as usual i learn everything the hard way ,the shrimp did not make it thru the weekend either 1 of 2 things went wrong . 1 the walmart pool liner is treated with chemicals and even though its was filled and drained 4 times maybe still had toxins in water. or 2 upon draining pool yesterday it was discoverd the were probably 8000 tadpoles in the water so maybe they put off a toxin that killed them. so after all that drained the pool again an extracted the tadpoles hopefully that will do it . so i will get in a new batch of shrimp this week and hold them in another tank while add just a few at time to pool to see if this last drain and fill does it.now on to the catfish they have also not been doing well the ammonia level just spikes all the time so having to drain and add water almost daily . gonna look into a bigger tank for them today the bathtub just not big enough. so for now it appears raising catfish in a barrel is not the best idea.


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## crashy (Dec 10, 2004)

Crud...sorry bout the shrimpies. I guess its going to be a hit or miss deal. I was thinking about getting some cat tails for my lil pond wonder if that would help or hurt.


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## hollym (Feb 18, 2005)

Oh NO! I'm so sorry thing went south on you! I checked in today thinking that everything would be going gangbusters.

(Crashy, yes I like freecycle type boards, gave away chicks on one and ended up having a lady give ME chicken pens, back! Very nice, and I enjoyed meeting her and her dad, who loves messing around out back with his chickens, lol. Sounds like us, no? )

I wish I had a helpful suggestion, but was learning from your post more than I was able to share with you. Hang in there! 

hollym


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

well recieved newe batch of shrimp in thursday and all is well till last night when my barrel pump hose fell somehow pumped out bunch of water luckily not all the way out just half jeez so filling back up very slowly shrimp are doing well . they are some wild little buggers with water being still really clear you can see them really well at night with flash light.just hope they didnt eat too many of each other with not as much substrate in water . the shrimp this time arrived with only maybe 2 dead shrimp out of a 1000 so not bad at all so i may consider getting one more batch just to take in account for cannabalism but i need to still build more netting racks and figure my square footage out better. the catfish unfourtunatly did not work out water quality problems galore need much bigger tank for them to even out the water spikes so i think i may just add gold fish to bathtub or buy a rubbermaid 300 gallon stock tank and use for new batch of catfish . depends on when next shipment of catfish comes in so i can get fairly decent grow out. plus running all these water test and issues is lot to keep up with. so every one hang tight ed's not done yet im gonna grow shrimp one way or the other.


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## rzrubek (May 13, 2004)

For those wanting to raise talipia. A local high school here in mesa raise talipia in 55 gallon plastic barrels. They have a pump system and pump the water through large round containers full of gravel. They grow some plants in the gravel also. I don't know what the ratio of gravel to gallons of water needs to be. Talipia can tolerate water conditions that would kill catfish. edrnrman, I think for your catfish you just need more filtration area and more plants to use the nitrogen.


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## edrnrman (May 18, 2005)

rzrubek said:


> For those wanting to raise talipia. A local high school here in mesa raise talipia in 55 gallon plastic barrels. They have a pump system and pump the water through large round containers full of gravel. They grow some plants in the gravel also. I don't know what the ratio of gravel to gallons of water needs to be. Talipia can tolerate water conditions that would kill catfish. edrnrman, I think for your catfish you just need more filtration area and more plants to use the nitrogen.


yes this tis the conclusion i came too i may get 300 gallon tub for another batch of cats but at this point im more intersested in completing the shrimp process. so far this is going well i may add more barrells of gravel as this was my orignal plan i just got bogged down with the pool problems and diffrent stuff that has slowed me down. so i plan on expanding the system over the next few weeks.


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## bubbba (Jul 6, 2004)

Any updates?? What a interesting project

Peace


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## blu_redneck (Dec 26, 2007)

I was wondering what happened with this experiment? Did you get it off the ground? How was your shrimp harvest? Did the catfish make it? Got any pictures of the set up??????????????????????????????


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Don't hold your breath waiting for a reply from the OP. He last visited HT on 10/20/05.

Martin


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## HappyinETx (Apr 28, 2021)

edrnrman said:


> the bath tub is an old tub so its fairly deep i would guess its at least holds 50 to 60 gallons of water, depth should not really mater as long as enough oxygen stays in the water i plan on letting fountain pump water to barrels continuously to allow water cleansing i place drain about an inch from bottom of barrel so should not drown the plants.
> i got the shrimp from texas 1000 shrimp including shipping 90.00
> but i found a shrimp farm in n.carolina i may be able to purchase bigger shrimp from next time. im starting with post larve so will take awhile to get big. if im succesful i will try to get a heated building so i can start early and have bigger juveniles to stock with next season . this is mainly a begginers crash course at the moment. i will try to find somewhere to post pics soon.


Question- Shrimp are saltwater animals. How are you controlling the salinity?
Sounds like a great setup you're doing!


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Paquebot said:


> Don't hold your breath waiting for a reply from the OP. He last visited HT on 10/20/05.
> 
> Martin


And Martin's post was from 2014.....🤣


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

HappyinETx said:


> Question- Shrimp are saltwater animals. How are you controlling the salinity?
> Sounds like a great setup you're doing!


Read the first post. They stated they were raising *freshwater* shrimp. That means not salt water.


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