total newbie - Aquaponic Gardening2024-03-29T08:37:20Zhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/forum/topics/total-newbie?feed=yes&xn_auth=noHello Susan,
You can get sta…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2010-04-29:4778851:Comment:30642010-04-29T15:07:07.000ZRichard Wymanhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/RichardWyman
Hello Susan,<br />
<br />
You can get started for just a couple hundred dollars, or even less if you are good at scrounging parts. A larger community sized system could cost many thousands. A barrelponic system like Sylvia linked could easily be put together in a day with just two or three people while the larger one could take months.<br />
<br />
The system would be ready for plants almost immediately, though the best grow occurs months later, after the system matures a bit. It is safest to cycle the system without…
Hello Susan,<br />
<br />
You can get started for just a couple hundred dollars, or even less if you are good at scrounging parts. A larger community sized system could cost many thousands. A barrelponic system like Sylvia linked could easily be put together in a day with just two or three people while the larger one could take months.<br />
<br />
The system would be ready for plants almost immediately, though the best grow occurs months later, after the system matures a bit. It is safest to cycle the system without fish. Or you can put in goldfish or guppies or another inexpensive fish to grow the biofiltering bacteria you need.<br />
<br />
Some of us grow with fish we don't eat. Some have avoided killing so far, but most do process their own fish. If you can't do it yourself I am sure there are some fisherman around who would be happy to help.<br />
<br />
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Good luck, and welcome to the Aquaponic Community. Susan,
Welcome to our group.…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2010-04-29:4778851:Comment:30602010-04-29T11:20:54.000ZWilliam Shermanhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/WilliamSherman
Susan,<br />
<br />
Welcome to our group. Being a newbie myself, know first hand what you'll be facing. Sylvia and her group are great sources of information. After reviewing the recommended sites, throw your questions out there and I'm sure someone will reply.
Susan,<br />
<br />
Welcome to our group. Being a newbie myself, know first hand what you'll be facing. Sylvia and her group are great sources of information. After reviewing the recommended sites, throw your questions out there and I'm sure someone will reply. Susan, you are an adventurous…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2010-04-29:4778851:Comment:30542010-04-29T03:57:56.000ZSylvia Bernsteinhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/SylviaBernstein
Susan, you are an adventurous lady... I love it. I'll jump in with a few thoughts, and hopefully others in this auspicious group will do the same.<br />
<br />
Sorry to start by answering questions with questions but before I would start making recommendations I need to know more about the goals of your system. Is it to give the most educational experience possible for the least amount of money? Then you are going to want the most flexible system possible, with the most interesting water dynamics...so I…
Susan, you are an adventurous lady... I love it. I'll jump in with a few thoughts, and hopefully others in this auspicious group will do the same.<br />
<br />
Sorry to start by answering questions with questions but before I would start making recommendations I need to know more about the goals of your system. Is it to give the most educational experience possible for the least amount of money? Then you are going to want the most flexible system possible, with the most interesting water dynamics...so I would recommend a barrelponics setup. You can find a free PDF with extensive instructions by Travis Hughey at <a href="http://www.fastonline.org/content/view/15/29" target="_blank">http://www.fastonline.org/content/view/15/29</a>. If you are looking for something that will produce the most amount of food for the least amount of maintenance labor I would contact Nelson and Pade at <a href="http://www.aquaponics.com" target="_blank">www.aquaponics.com</a>. They are the experts in the University of the Virgin Islands deep water culture systems developed by Dr. James Rakocy. They conduct 2 day workshops almost monthly. And if are looking for more of a hybrid, urban farm, converted warehouse kind of system I'd go with the Growing Power model - <a href="http://www.growingpower.org/" target="_blank">http://www.growingpower.org/</a>. They also run regular workshops.<br />
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No matter what I'd recommend reading Rebecca Nelson's book Aquaponic Food Production as the best overview of aquaponics available today, in my opinion. Can be found at aquaponics.com<br />
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Hope this gives you a starting point!