Aquaponics System in Costa Rica

[survivalgardener]

Here's an aquaponics system that runs off of only 75 watts.  It contains 2 fish tanks, one has 20 catfish and another has around 60 Tilapia. It's pretty awesome for propgating plants from cuttings and allows us to grow tons of spinach, herbs and other edibles.

It's been running for almost a year, but we just got all the kinks worked out.  Custom system...custom problems. We have a lot of wind here and debris was getting into the tanks and then the growbeds. We added sedimentation tanks that really helped out. The cool side thing is, they produce great fish poo sludge to pour into our dirt gardens.  No more need to fertilizer.  I'll post a video later on http://survivalgardener.com how I made them.

Here's a video tour of the system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UkKhFm1paE

[surfivor]

Can you get much fish spearfishing ? Are you in the southern part of costa rica ?

 I surfed around domincal, tamarindo, nicoya on a couple of trips

[TexasGirl]

Cool.

I found that putting the freshwater prawns in with the fish took care of the fish poo sludge problem.  They just need some protection, such as a wire mesh grate a couple of inches off the bottom.

~TG

[surfivor]

 How easy is it to homestead in Costa Rica ? Cost of land, taxes, being an American, etc ?

 I have heard from several people that if you get squatters on your land when you are not there, then you are not allowed by law to kick them off. I think living in the tropics would be cool, but I am uncertain about living there permanently and traveling back and forth seems expensive and has complex issues ..

 I might be interested in working on a permaculture farm of some kind for several months some day in Costa Rica, especially if it was kind of close to some good surfing areas.

[survivalgardener]

I'm in NW Guanacaste.  It's about an hour north of Tamarindo.  If you have access to a boat you can do lots of big fish just 10-20 minutes out. 

Spearfishing off the coast, I get Parrotfish, grouper and triggerfish.  They nothing big but enough to make a dinner.

Can you get much fish spearfishing ? Are you in the southern part of costa rica ?

 I surfed around domincal, tamarindo, nicoya on a couple of trips

[survivalgardener]

Well, the tropics has one huge advantage......year round growing.  (This is one of the point of my site http://survivalgardener.com, growing perennial crops that produce year after year. Building a survival garden!) 
Squatter's rights are in the laws but they aren't a big issue. (unless maybe you have 100's of acres there)
You can have a caretaker or a property manager if you're not there.  But why focus on having a garden, farm and all that if you're not going to be there.  Get a condo and live by the beach for months a year, rent it out when you're not.  If you want to stay more permanent, then look for you chunk of land to develope and grow on.

Taxes are 1/4 of 1% of the registered tax value of the home.  So for 100,000 it's $250.  Land is about the same as the US, but you can get cool things like ocean views, waterfalls etc for a much less.
Central America isn't for everyone, but I love it. 

How easy is it to homestead in Costa Rica ? Cost of land, taxes, being an American, etc ?

 I have heard from several people that if you get squatters on your land when you are not there, then you are not allowed by law to kick them off. I think living in the tropics would be cool, but I am uncertain about living there permanently and traveling back and forth seems expensive and has complex issues ..

 I might be interested in working on a permaculture farm of some kind for several months some day in Costa Rica, especially if it was kind of close to some good surfing areas.

[surfivor]

 Hi,

 I'm going to check out some of your videos and such on your site, I skimmed through your perennial plant database yesterday ..

 There was a guy on TSP podcast from Argentina who said America has the most freedom and you can get into trouble in these other countries including Costa Rica. I am not sure exactly what he meant and I have a fairly positive impression of CR, but I am not knowledgeable on all things down there.

 Anyway, I am not sure what hiring a property manager would cost or if he slipped up and didn't do his job right if that could be a problem ..
 
 I camped at witches rock for a night up near where you are, you may have heard of it. It is a famous surf break featured in the movie endless summer, but it was pretty flat when I was there.

  Do you have AC or can you get by with electric fans to stay cool ?

 Jack had said that the temperate regions have many advantages for certain crops, I had never heard of that argument before and again I am not too knowledgable .. However, I would think sweet potatoes could be easy to grow in CR and they seem like an ideal survival crop you can fall back on ..

 I am glad you are on here, I will have to try to learn more on CR and I have thought about what it would be like to live down there. The surfing is great, but I imagine if I lived there for 2 or 3 years, surfing great waves all the time might start to lose it's novelty .. so I would have to explore other options and I still need to do productive things such as gardening and all that. So for me it's not just about the surfing

 Have you tried to grow pink oyster mushrooms ? These seem to be a tropical mushroom that grow extremely fast in hot weather.

[nkawtg]

I'd love to do some aquaponics, but it's illegal to privately grow fish for consumption in Nevada.

[survivalgardener]

WAIT WHAT?  Can't raise fish to eat? That's Crazy.  I might want to take a stand against that law.  If you're allowed to raise large Koi, does it become illegal if they're eaten?

I'd love to do some aquaponics, but it's illegal to privately grow fish for consumption in Nevada.

[nkawtg]

I'm still checking, but that may only matter where Tilapia are concerned.

[survivalgardener]

One thing I'd love to track down or change to if I could is barramundi. they are very high in omega-3 fatty acids as opposed to tilapia which are very high in omega 6. also I think that the fillets are better.

I'm still checking, but that may only matter where Tilapia are concerned.

[surfivor]

 Well, that is the kind of world we live in:


http://lakewaytilapia.com/Tilapia_Legal_In_My_State.php
 
"It is a crime to raise any tilapia as food in Alaska. You can raise them as ornamental pets without a permit, but if you eat your pet tilapia, you are guilty of a misdemeanor. This information comes directly from Bob Piorkowski, Ph. D. of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game."

http://www.tilapia-farming.com/2013/02/03/nevada-tilapia-culture/

http://www.tilapiafarmingathome.com/pages/legalissues.aspx

===================


 As far as costa rica, I was wondering if I had a bunch of sweet potatoes and other crops if people might harvest them if I was away from home for extended periods ?

[survivalgardener]

I'm sure they'd be fine. 

Well, that is the kind of world we live in:


http://lakewaytilapia.com/Tilapia_Legal_In_My_State.php
 
"It is a crime to raise any tilapia as food in Alaska. You can raise them as ornamental pets without a permit, but if you eat your pet tilapia, you are guilty of a misdemeanor. This information comes directly from Bob Piorkowski, Ph. D. of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game."

http://www.tilapia-farming.com/2013/02/03/nevada-tilapia-culture/

http://www.tilapiafarmingathome.com/pages/legalissues.aspx

===================


 As far as costa rica, I was wondering if I had a bunch of sweet potatoes and other crops if people might harvest them if I was away from home for extended periods ?

[TexasGirl]

Why would anyone want to (try and) raise Tilapia in Alaska?  They are a tropical fish.

Generally the colder water fish have healthier fats.

Aquaponics will work with whatever fish suits your climate, although plants, greenhouse, and Tilapia all like 70 to 90 degree water.

~TG

[surfivor]

 I forget if huggle kulture works well in the tropics or if the wood breaks down to fast or if it matters or not ?

 I googled for "the downside of costa rica". It seems like it is not easy to get citizenship. You need to have a source of income or prove that you are starting a business from what I read and you can not appear to be a hippy in any way. Opening a bank account might not be easy either. It reminds me of all the complaints immigrants make about how hard it is to come to the USA, well it seems it is not very easy to go anywhere. It's not based on any kind of fairness but simple economics ..

[survivalgardener]

Many expats people are perpetural tourists here.  You just cross the border every 90 days and return.  I don't really want to talk about expat life and Costa Rica.
Any more comments on the aquaponics system or growing food?

[survivalgardener]

This is a video the radial flow filters we built to manage our solids accumulation.  They were the final tweak to the system that made it run like a charm.

http://survivalgardener.com/2015/03/radial-flow-solids-filter-aquaponics-poop-solution/

They work like this.

[survivalgardener]

I redid the video.  It much a better system explanation and quick Aquaponics primer.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u7ND9cLybU

[I.L.W.]

Awesome design. Mine is more... industrial looking. Now I'm thinking of using more natural materials to tie it into the garden. Very well thought out, thanks for sharing.

[survivalgardener]

Thanks!   I'm building a small one for a FL elementary school in January.    Can't wait to show the kids.