farminggreen: Presuming your use of the term "aquaculture" means growing fish for the table, unless you live in an area that never drops below freezing, I would have grave reservations about using aquarium heaters to raise water temps high enough to radiate sufficient heat to serve as space heaters, without heating the water to a degree that would kill the fish. Also, aquarium heaters are not really made to raise water temps much over 10 - 12 degrees above ambient air and why every Discus breeder I know has to use multiple heaters in their larger tanks, or risk having their 90 deg. loving fish keel over in winter, even with room temps in the 70s. I suppose it could be done, but you could end up spending far more on the heaters and electricity to run them than if you simply installed a space heater in your GH. So it's really a case of your expected air temps and the volume of warm but not hot enough to kill the fish water necessary to radiate enough heat to warm your GH. However, also keep in mind that regardless if baseboard, old fashoned cast iron stand ups, or underfloor- radiant heat circulates hot water or oil in a closed system. Fish need as much open surface as possible, which also accelerates both evaporation and heat loss. The cooler the ambient air in relation to the tank, the faster it will evaporate and require topping off, and the more wattage to maintain the optimum temp. for the health of the fish.

Geraldo,,,When you say it takes more fuel and chemicals to produce corn than what the corn is worth, obvously you are following the same investigative reporting procedures as your infamous TV counterpart. I grew up on a 160 acre dairy farm in Greenford,Ohio that was totally self sustaining. Currently I am hobby farming on a small 60 acres farm in Youngstown, Ohio. Lacking the initial startup capital to buy modern farm equipment, we opted to get some basics on the used machinery market, a 1960 Mineapolis Moline 36 drawbar horsepower tractor ($2000), a 1966 ford 20 drawbar horsepower tractor (2.7gal/hr), 3 bottom 16" moldboard plow ($300 new), a tandem 9 ft disc ($50) and a two row John Deere corn planter ($300). The large tractor burns 5gal/hr and plows 6 acres per hour( $.83/acre), discs 12 acres per hour ( $.41/acre). The small tractor plants the corn at 5 acres/hr ($.55/acre) We practice crop rotation by planting corn one year, then timothy and clover hay for two years. The legumes provide a very lucrative cash crop of hay, which we bale in small bales targeted to the individual horse owner market. Five acres of hay will provide enough cash income to provide all the fuel used by our equipment for the entire season. In addition, the legumes replace the nitrogen that is taken out of the soil by the corn thus we have no need of buying fertilizer. (Though the concept of crop rotation is almost abandoned in commercial large scale farming in exchange for no till planting, chemical fertilizers and herbicides, in truth George Washington Carver originated the idea of crop rotation for self sustaining farming before the civil war. While tinkering with my antiquated equipment and outdated farming techniques will in no wise rival the fuel efficiencies of our commermercial counterparts on the mega farms with 200 horsepower diesel tractors, I can still produce an average of 100 bushels to the acre. (100 bu x 56lbs/bu = 5600 pounds of corn.) I currently have contracts to supply corn for home heating fuel through a small co-op of 20 homeowner neighbors. Based upon this little experiment I am discussing with 4 or 5 local farmers who are interested in joining our co-op to have a market for what they do best, produce corn. As a sideline, we are now applying for a Federal Gasohol" permit, which will allow us to own and operate a "Still" to manufacture corn whiskey, which will be used as the primary fuel for all our current gas burning engines. Federal law requires that all the distilled alcohol must be labeled as automotive fuel only, but no doubt someone may get a bit fueled up on a saturday nite tooo.

You may have had old or stale tortillas, and even if you steam them, they will never be as pliable as when they were fresh. Always check the date on the package when you buy them. I have a tortilla shop close to my house, and so if I need very fresh tortillas, I can get them there. You can also make them yourself with a tortilla press, which I also have but have not used yet! I also bought the molds for making taco salad but have only used flour tortillas for that. I brush the tortillas with olive oil before putting them into the mold, and they taste almost as good as fried. I take them out of the mold and put them back in the oven upside down for a couple of minutes to get the bottom crisper. I love taco salad, and I prefer making it myself because I layer it differently from what I get at a restaurant. I put the lettuce on the bottom, and the restaurants often put the lettuce on top, or at least over the beans and meat (and rice, if that is used). In Texas, a layer of bean dip/spread goes on the bottom of the tortilla bowl, followed by the meat and then the salad part on top of that. I made bean dip last night so that I could make crisp tacos using the baking method here, which I will try tonight. Normally I make soft tacos, which is the Mexican way, but crisp tacos are more common in Texas, and that's what my mother would make. I'll have to harvest most of the cilantro in my back yard to make the tacos, but I'll try to leave some as well. It grew by itself anyway - I haven't planted any this season yet although I plan to this week-end. Lars

I did a taco bar for my daughter's graduation party - it went over well and most of the food could be prepped in advance. Here's a couple of recipes for meat fillings for you - both can be done in advance. Becky * Exported from MasterCook * Kathy's Carnitas Recipe By : Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast (3-4) -- cubed and trimmed of visible fat 1 can or bottle beer tequila (couple of turns around the pan) 5 garlic cloves 1 onion -- chunked 1 teaspoon ground cumin (1-2) 1 tablespoon brown sugar 2 limes (2-3) -- juiced cilantro springs chicken broth or boullion cubes Place meat, garlic and onions in large pot. Sprinkle with cumin and brown sugar. Add beer, tequila, lime juice. Add enough water to cover meat. Add one boullion cube for each cup of water. Or use chicken broth to cover meat. Simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Remove lid and increase heat to completely reduce liquid. Remove meat fron the pot and fry up in a large skillet. Source: "Kathy Boehm" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * Exported from MasterCook * Chicken Taco Filling Recipe By : Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 package taco seasoning mix (4 Tablespoons) 1 cup chicken broth 1 pound boned and skinned chicken breast halves Dissolve taco seasoning into chicken broth. Place chicken breasts in crockpot and pour chicken broth over. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. With two forks, shred the chicken meat into bite-sized pieces. Use in soft tacos, hard tacos, burritos, nachos, etc. To Freeze, place shredded meat into freezer bags with the juices. Press out all the air and seal. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -