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DO NOT EAT [ farm raised ] TILAPIA

Off topic: In Canada all the animals are owned by the Crown. Hence you have to get a fishing/hunting license.

Audiohi, thank you for the advice. I would imagine that the system that you described didn't really need a bio-filter. What kind of medium was used in the bed? Any extra info is always appreciated.

As to seafood from China, I have personally spoken to a gentlemen of Chineese origin, who happens to own a multi-billion dollar factory which manufactures feed for fish and shrimp. As to my question regarding quality control, he replied that there was none, the feed was laden with heavy metals and intended to manufacture cheap seafood as food source for the lower income countries. He suggested that I should stick with wild NA fish, line caught to be exact.
 

1TWISTEDTRUCKER

Active member
Veteran
farmed shrimp from india/vietnam/thailand/china etc... stay far away from.. they are basically shit pits full of shrimp... expired anti-biotics are tossed in there to control disease... nasty stuff...

anyway its not just chinese produce u need to avoid... american is just as bad.. growth hormones, antibiotics, gm feed.... feel bad for u guys...

Aquaponics is The Answer to the Shit Pit Shrimp problem, as well.

In the AP System I am Currently starting,, I will Be using Fresh water Shrimp in The RDWC lettuce beds to break the detritus in to Macro Nutrients, which are useable to the roots, instead of clogging the roots, and eventually kill the plant.

Some folks use swirl/settle tanks to achieve the water Quality that is needed to run RDWC systems in AP systems.

I am of the opinion that less components is Fewer potential PROBLEMS, and if I can grow market size shrimp in 4 Months and eliminate Mechanical problems with Natural solutions,,, Well,,,sing Me UP, ALL Day EVERY Day.

Peace; 1TT
 

Yesca73

Member
I heard China was exporting honey to Canada and then Canada relabeling as there own . I always try to buy anything other than China .
 

audiohi

Well-known member
Veteran
You're absolutely right Dr! There is no additional filter in this system. The biofilter is the media bed with worms. The worms eat solids that accumulate in the stone. This bed has never needed additional solid removal! Just minimum bell siphon attention. There is a degassing tank though.

The media used was expanded shale, but you could use river stone, expanded clay, or others.


Subrob, hopefully I can present another way to think about aquaponically grown fish....

The fish aren't the filter in the system. Actually, filters are generally a very expensive and necessary part of an aquaponic setup! The smallest drum filters are $10,000+! There are other types of filters, such as bead filters, sand filters, media bed filters...

Poor solids removal is a guaranteed recipe for disaster.

Also, gases that have built up saturation in the water are removed in a degassing tank.

Finally, fish being sold for consumption are purged for three days or so prior to sale.

Trust me... if you're a real aquaponics farmer, your fish rule your life! It's a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week job. You'll have plenty of alarms at all hours... and will jump to give your fish what they need! You'll have back up equipment, back up power, back up liquid oxygen. They are well cared for! In a healthy, sustainable system, you are using them to provide the nutrients you need to grow organic vegetables. Not to filter your water. If they are unhappy, or worse, die.... everything suffers. Including your customers and your bank account!
 

Rob547

East Coast Grower
Veteran
Pretty disgusting for sure, surprising how few people are aware of well... all aforementioned points lol. I read essentially the same exact article on shrimp from Asia, raised in horrible fecal environments and god knows what. Such a huge amount of seafood comes from Asia and I bet 90% of people wouldn't even look at the package enough to know where shits from.
I get (used to get) packages of frozen shrimp from Costco, until I read that article and saw 'Imported from Indonesia" somewhere on the package which of course I never noticed. Still grosses me out thinking about it for too long :puke:
 

Tony Aroma

Let's Go - Two Smokes!
Veteran
The only way to grow heavy feeding crops in an aquaponic system would be by having a heavily stocked fish tank, so that the water contains enough nutrients to feed the plants before getting to the bio-filter and back to the fish.
It's been a while since I've had an aquarium, but if I remember correctly plants act AFTER the bio-filter. Bacteria convert ammonia into nitrite then nitrate. It's the nitrate that feeds the plants (and algae).
 

Marco61

Member
Also avoid eating rice from China. They irrigate their paddies with river water which is routinely used for industrial waste disposal. It contains a very large amount of arsenic and will most certainly harm you.
 

Chimera

Genetic Resource Management
Veteran
After reading your post yort, I feel I need to point out that it's not the Chinese that are forcing these products on us, it's American and Canadian companies that are outsourcing the production of these products to China, because they do it cheaper and most people don't care or even think about where their food comes from.

Our food production systems in North America are all fucked up, we're totally out of touch with what we eat. I know my friends in Spain and Italy really only want to eat products from their local farmers. There are very few foods that should be shipped across the country or even the world, the environmental costs of doing so are shameful, and it only supports big corporate food. Eat local, vine ripened or fresh/unfrozen foods/produce in season, it tastes better anyhow, and helps support your locale food production system.
 

Garhart

Member
I used to run trot lines for red fish off the coast of Texas when I was a kid. I remember finding seahorses when ever I would use a cast net for shrimp off the pier right out the back door. Can still remember my grandfather telling me to enjoy it while I could because it was all going to change due to the drilling that had started.
 
ahhhhh the gulf of Mexico blue and green prawns,finest shrimp in the world,but me thinks they all gone now,tiger shrimp are shit in comparison........
 

Neekz

Member
Yep, after the Melamine Milk, I wouldn't trust shite from them. I think they caught on to the Tilapia stigma, as Im seeing Swai being pushed more and more... Even wild caught Pacific fish are kinda funky now-adays. Check out the Vid on youtube by Vice on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the oceans loaded with microscopic pieces of plastic's, all non biodegradable, all leeching up the oceans toxic chems... I wouldn't blame the Chinese as a people though, as Im sure they wouldn't poison themselves without having to meet government set quotas/profit-margins... We don't need to boycott China, so much as we need to boycott Big-Brand companies, whom's main concern is profit. Id rather pay a premium to get it from the farmer then continue supporting our "Commercialized Government".
 

skullznroses

that aint nothing but 10 cent lovin
Veteran
Its in restaurants too... Thats the hard part only good restaurants worry about sourcing good seafood. The last kitchen I worked in was this pseudo fancy "local" eatery place (with owners from NJ lol). They made everything in house... starting with whatever the supplier brings on a truck. The owners where so naive to think their stuff was good, even though they were just putting lipstick on a pig so to speak.

I almost walked out when I saw the frozen shrimps they were feeding people on one of their "gourmet" nightly specials. Those disgusting little shrimp that taste like compost or trash. Oh yeah the powder garlic they used in lots of recipes was a big bag that clearly said "Product of China" on it. And we wonder where the family farm went... it went to Asia and never came back.

Thats why we say Grow Your Own so often I guess.
 

MagniKhan

Well-known member
Veteran
I try not to eat anything raised from that part of the world due to NO quality controls.

I don't either, more over, I don't let my pets eat (or play with) ANYTHING from China, EVER.

I wish more people understood that the Chinese are not our friends in anyway shape or form.
Matter of fact I don't think anything from Asia is safe with the exception of Japan, heck just today some 40+ children are dead in India form bad cooking oil....It came from a teachers husband's store.

MK:ying:
 
P

postal trout

Yesterday I went to the market to purchase a few dinner items. As i stroll by the over priced fish I notice that the prices were similar to living next to a port. Frozen food section consisted of odd ball brands and the veggie department had specified organics sections which imo charge alot for some weird looking veggies. The oranges were all beaten up and garlic was purple? Very interesting that the frmers market attracts equal amount of customers but the competitoon rises as walmart funnels in the crowd.
 

Cannfucious

Member
Dont eat the shitty tilapia junkfish anyways, it sucks! I'm sure the chinese version is worse.

Snapper, Mahi Mahi, Yellowfin Tuna, Wild Salmon is a much better choice of fins :good:
 
After reading your post yort, I feel I need to point out that it's not the Chinese that are forcing these products on us, it's American and Canadian companies that are outsourcing the production of these products to China, because they do it cheaper and most people don't care or even think about where their food comes from.

Our food production systems in North America are all fucked up, we're totally out of touch with what we eat. I know my friends in Spain and Italy really only want to eat products from their local farmers. There are very few foods that should be shipped across the country or even the world, the environmental costs of doing so are shameful, and it only supports big corporate food. Eat local, vine ripened or fresh/unfrozen foods/produce in season, it tastes better anyhow, and helps support your locale food production system.


WELP WHEN OUR MEDIA IS CONTROLED BY THE GOV AND OUR EDUCATION IS BEING DESTROYED ITS EASY TO DIVIDE AND CONTROL ONES THAT DONT NO ANY BETTER ..

GOOD TO SEE YA CHIMERA ..

SS ..
 

purple_man

Well-known member
Veteran
nice find bro!

if i remember right, in some chinese facilities they are working towards beneficial microorganisms... -> that sewage fed fish i guess... the idea would be: microbes reduce/syntesize the amonia and other waste into ingestible proteins similar to cows pre digestions tract.... and other denitri bacteria reduce the excrements of the fish (to more bacteria food -> more proteins) and create a kind of closed system???

blessss
 
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