I will try to get some more detailed thoughts into my line of discussion around driving forces for aquaponic production.  I’m not sure if this was EXACTLY the section that I was asked to expand, but if it is, I hope this helps.

By now many people know that I think the world has gone mad and that in some way, I blame the marketing crowd for that.  Humanity has ended up on a treadmill of 24 hour production and income generation, but for all the wrong reasons.  When my parents…

For the photo competition, we were asked to select up to five different pictures from members that we believed represents the future of aquaponics.  This got my head going, and I eventually selected some pictures that represented the following trends:

• Small home aquarium units
• DIY home systems
• Home-based or smaller scale commercial systems
• A vertical system
• A hybrid design unit (not my own …

I have not read the basic aquaponic guidelines that I collected during my first research efforts in 2008 for some time, but I do recall the list of water sources ideal for AP systems as ranking rain water rather low.  When you have options, it could therefore be avoided, but when your options gets eroded, well then you have to give it a bash and see what happens.  We are still in the grip of a severe drought, with all indications that if it does not rain significantly soon, our dams will be…

In previous blogs, posts and discussions, I have often stated that I am a fan of mimicking nature, and of attempting to recreate the aquatic ecosystems I study in my AP set-ups.  I do not think that my thought patterns are likely to go mainstream any time soon, but I am happy to share my experiences with people on this forum.

First up, I want to put my views into context.  As an ecologist with a keen interest in aquaculture, as well as a fish keeper for the last 25 odd years,…

For the last couple of contributions, especially around commercial aquaponics and the formation of aquaponic associations / professional bodies, I suddenly found myself a little bit on the antagonistic side of the debate.  Now even though I may have never been the world’s greatest optimist (a pessimist is right most of the time, and is pleasantly surprised at being wrong, after all), I think there is much more to my train of thought than…