A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

First post: Crazy thoughful questions

If I start with 100 yellow perch fry in a 500 gallon tank (3:1 gallons of water to perch ratio) how many square feet of grow bed can I have? Ideally I would like to grow a combination of the following:

Lettuce

Peppers (green/red)

Potatoes

Carrots

Spinach

Mint

Basil

Peas

Celery

Tomatoes

Green beans

Broccoli

Garlic

Bok choy

Jalapenos

Also should my grow bed be a rectangle or can I have it be more of a square?

There will be a slight angle to it so water runs evenly across the entire bed.

Do I need to plant my garden in a specific order? Or will they all get the same amount of nutrition regardless?

Is there a ratio of fish to plants? Or fish to nutrient level?

Will 2 1/2 feet height fish tank be enough or should I be looking more at 4ft?

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Permalink Reply by Robert C. Wood on April 13, 2016 at 7:57pm

with the perch you will need at least 6-8 feet deep they prefer deeper water.

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Permalink Reply by Keith Knudson on April 20, 2016 at 10:20pm

If you start with 100 perch fry in 500 gallons you should be OK. It takes a while for the bacteria to build up. Get your water temperature up to 60 F and the bacteria count will go up a little quicker. Be ready to exchange same temperature water if your ammonia level goes over .5 ppm for more than a day.

Perch will do fine in 4 to 5 feet of water. Just remember they prefer darker water so be sure to shade where you can.

Tell me about your media in the plant beds and I can give you a figure on the amount of plant space needed.

Growing potatoes in aquaponics is fun. I just use a bag and pull it up as the plant grows and I continue to add soil. I use a dripper system that provides just enough to keep the soil moist.