I am currently setting up a backyard aquaponics system in Central Florida. It is a hybrid system with a 300 gallon fish tank and has 32 sq ft of media bed and 32 sq ft of DWC area. I have an aerator bar from my sump pump to the fish tank. I am concerned with power going out on the circuit and not knowing it for a day or so. How long can the fish take it without aeraton from the bar? Would a solar power aerator be sufficient as a back up to aerate even if it does not pump at night?
The more fish you have, the more aeration you need. I killed 95 fish in 24 hours due to no aeration - actually, they may have died in 2 hours, but I don't know..
Now, I pump both from grid and from solar with solar/batteries backup.
Even without solar, battery backup is a good thing. Some have suggested pumping from batteries, with inverter and with battery charger always attached. Then, when power goes off, pumping continues until batteries are dead.
Do a search and you should find enough discussion to give you food for thought.