Haven't seen a thread about this on all of twoplustwo, and I can't decide if that means I should start one, or I shouldn't start one.

So I'm starting one.


In a nutshell, aquaponics is the marriage of hydroponics and aquaculture (fish farming). You take your fish tank, you tie the tank in with pipes and hoses to your plant grow beds, and bing-bang-boom, you got yourself a balanced system. The fish eat and crap, the crap goes to the planted beds, natural bacteria within the beds convert wastes into nitrates, plants eat the nitrates, and clean water is returned to happy and delicious fish.

Aquaponics systems can be anything from a 10 gallon aquarium and a planted pot, to a multi-acre commercialized system. Most people choose something in between.

My home built system looks a lot like this one, minus the green stuff because I just finished it, and it's February:



I didn't take pictures during construction because I'm embarrassed by handyman abilities, but there is a manual that I referenced here:

http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/e...rel-ponics.pdf

It's very detailed. It takes a long time to print. It requires about 12 trips to Lowes unless you already know what all this **** is.

I'll take some pics and maybe some videos and try to keep this thread updated as long as I can maintain interest, and as long as there is interest in it.

Here's a small pictorial of what's possible:

I would be interested in seeing your progress

Well, I'm glad I pretended like someone asked that question.

There are several advantages.

1) Many species of plants simply grow better in this environment. I've seen estimates that some plants grow up to three times as fast in an aquaponics system. I've seen ridiculous reports of tomato plants that just wouldn't stop producing tomatoes. One report of a Venus Fly Trap that became sentient!

Not all plants thrive in such systems. Potatoes, carrots, and several others seem to not like all the fish water. Probably not worth planting beans, because it takes so many plants to make anything worth harvesting. I'll post a list later that gives some idea of most suitable plants.

2) No fertilizer or chemicals. Don't need fertilizer, you've got fish ****. Can't spray chemicals, it kills the fish. Pest control can be a problem, and it's a problem I'm likely to face. I'm not growing in a greenhouse, so I predict some epic battles between myself and the insect world.

3) Saves water. Don't have to water. The only water you lose is through evaporation and transpiration. Top up the tank every few days, and you're done.

4) You can grow more in a given area. Viable plants can really be packed in there. They allegedly produce more than dirt-dwelling plants, and faster maturation means you can get more plantings within a given season.

5) Grow boxes can be built at a comfortable height. I'm getting older and fatter, so sometimes when I bend over, my face turns red and I start to lose time. Grubbing in the dirt has lost its appeal.

6) No weeds. Well, VERY few weeds. I hate weeds. Aquaponics hates weeds. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.


That's the bulk of it for now, and again I disclaim that I don't have personal experience of the above. That's just what I've read. We'll see.

lol...wtf

Alright, so here is where I am right now.



Just realized it's time to repaint that building....

The bottom barrel is the fish tank. I have a dozen gold fish in there that I probably won't eat. There's a WP33 submersible pump sitting in that tank that continuously pumps fish waste water up through the green hose on the left up to the top tank. The top tank has a bell siphon that activates once the water reaches about a foot and a half. Once the siphon triggers, it rapidly releases water through the pipes shown hovering over the half-barrel grow beds in the middle, filling them up. The lowest two pipes on the grow beds drain water back into the fish tank. (The top two pipes on the grow beds are overflow precautions). And around and around we go.

My bell siphon is indicative of how I do things. I roughly learned how they were built, and I proceeded to build one without exact instructions, even though such instructions are readily available for free. I'm likely a masochist. After wasting lots of time and pipe, I finally got it to work relatively well.

Not quite a week ago I tossed some romaine lettuce seeds into the beds for the hell of it. I really didn't expect much because of the cool/cold weather and the newness of the system.



They decided to sprout anyway.

If anybody around here runs a restaurant, I've got an idea for you.

Get this: Black Soldier Flies, which exist naturally most everywhere in the United States, create larva that are veritable organic waste processors. Using an apparatus like this:



...BSF larvae can process up to 5 pounds of food scraps per day. They eat just about anything, be it meat or vegetable. They also emit some type of scent that drives away more bothersome flies. As long as they are not overfed, the odor from the kit is supposed to be pretty unnoticeable. For every 5 pounds of food these things eat, about 1 pound of grubs are created.

Here's more than you ever wanted to know about them: Black Soldier Fly thread

So here's why this is interesting. You set up an aquaponics system like I've described above. You set up the BSF kit above the fish tank, so that as the grubs mature, they attempt to crawl out in order to pupate into the fly. They fall in the tank, fish eat the grub, plants eat the waste, organic vegetables grow, free salad bar.

Beats the crap out of a stinking trash can, retail priced fish food, and frozen vegetables.

I really like this idea. Do you mind if I asked what it cost to build, time associated, total footprint, etc...?

Here's a video of BSF larvae taking care of 2 rainbow trout in about 24 hours (spoilered for the squeamish)




This thread just took a turn for the weird.

I suck at this stuff, and I didn't have any of the materials. I built it over about a three month period, an hour here, an hour there. Several trips to Lowes. I'd say that someone with a basic idea of plumping and carpentry could build it in two days, max.

The barrels (3) usually cost about $10 each, the plumping and lumber probably cost a hundred, and the rock cost me about $60 retail. The pump costs about $35. Buying everything retail should be around $250 or less. I could save a good bit of money if I had it to do over again.

Not exactly sure what you're asking by footprint. A ten foot square area would be more than enough, including working room. That's actually overkill.


Edit: note about the barrels. Used blue barrels are generally safe. Used black barrels probably housed some material that you don't want in your food system. Make sure you know what was in them before you buy them. My barrels had a low concentrated acid, which was fine to use after a good cleaning.

Very cool. Is there a way to alter PH levels without killing the fish? Sorry for all the questions, I have like 10 empty fish tanks laying around and this would be waaaaaaay better than my windowsill herb garden.

I haven't gotten far enough along yet to have to worry about my ph levels. In fact, my water test kit just arrived, and I haven't even opened the box.

There's a ton of information here:

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/fo...t=adjusting+ph

If that thread doesn't answer your question, there are tons more that should. it's a very good resource.

Intriguing. How much electricity does the pump use? Do you have a heater to keep the water from freezing in the pump/pipes/hoses?

Can you grow your weed in it?

My pump is rated at 35W, and it's really a bit large for my unit. I don't know the exact figures, but from what I've read, this pump shouldn't use more than $50/year of electricity. More efficient systems are possible, and the size of the pump could easily be reduced. For large systems, this is a concern and a researched topic.

Not yet. I'm going to try this au natural this spring through the fall. If things go well, I'll look into a green house and some climate controls. I'm fortunate to live in a pretty temperate climate, so I can get by for a while.

Interestingly enough, I've read about some good results and some not so good results in this....area. Several reports of bad results are from kit suppliers, so I wonder if there isn't a bit of a misinformation campaign on this topic. To be frank, I'm not certain either way, but it should work.

Interesting. I have subscribed to your newsletter.