Just five short weeks ago we heard about aquaponics from the simple purchase of lettuce from our health food store.  We decided to check out growing our own produce and jumped in head first.........The rest is history.

Our system is now ready for fish and plants. We are learning new things every day.  We started seeds outside in a make shift "cold frame" only to have left them in too long and they got leggy reaching for the sun.  Then we placed them in the yard only to discover the…

Sometimes we learn more from our systems when they are not exactly operating at their best than when they are running at their peak.  It is currently winter over here in South Africa, and for the first time in years, El Nino’s grip has been broken and we are seeing rain and cold fronts aplenty.  So much so that I decided to move my aquaculture-sourced tilapia into the larger greenhouse.  The mixed system is essentially running fishless, with a dab of ammonia every now and then.  It usually…

It has been a while since my catfish died and I think it is time for another try. I think this time I am going to try Bluegill. After gathering information from others I think they may be more fitted to my system. I hope to have some in the next day or so.

I took a look at my biofilter today and noticed there are many little snails zipping around eating stuff from the side of the barrel. I guess this is a good thing.

I ordered a new air pump and some air stones in hope to…

I have an aquaponics install that is currently "fishless" in that I am in the final phases of getting it to cycle ammonia into nitrogen.  After transplanting a bunch of sickly plants started during cold weather, I was encouraged when even sickly bean plants recovered and grew thick, deep emerald green leaves.

Soon, though, I noted the same spotty yellowy mottling was coming back.  I thought this was fungus and following the advice of a local hydroponic store sprayed a $14.00 fruit…

I finally got my fish. 30 Bluegill and 10 channel cats. They have been in the tank for 24 hours now with no apparent issues. The catfish started eating immediately after release and the Bluegill were eating after a few minutes. Both groups were very busy swimming and didn't seem to have a preference of water depth. 

Today the BG are still eating very well but the catfish have become reclusive. Did some water checks to make sure everything is in spec.

• PH…

Decided my initial design was too complicated and sprawling for a first go.  I've decided to just use the IBC and do flood/drain with a bell siphon.  I'm eliminating 1/3 of my GB space so will have to stock a little lighter and/or do water changes, but I am okay with this compromise and will a have a little wiggle room in the apartment for alterations/additions. I'm busy at work and will be for several months - I'm hoping this redesign means I'll actually be able to get the system up and…

So I left off in my previous post explaining basically how I got interested in aquaponics, to give you an idea of the time frame, that was last summer (July/August 2010).

Needless to say I read everything I could get my hands on, in this case everything I could find on the internet. I talked with my closet friends, my business associates, family and anyone who would stand still long enough to listen.

I really didn't have a clue what I was looking for, but I figured that at…

Hi group!

I feel very welcome here among the aquanauts.  This website is a fantastic resource!  Here is my little system.  Please let me know what you think.  Cheers!  Jeff  Pernell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOQVxbnTYNA

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Hi guys, 

These are my holding tanks and the beginnings of my aq project prior to moving.  Would love to set up dc, if anyone has any cost effective solar pumps/info lmk.  From here will move into the fish and veggies. Thinking Koi or tilapia for Texas. Would love trout, but don't think it is cold enough for them here. The tanks are 3'…

I've been hatching plans for my first aquaponic system over the past several weeks.  I am new to aquaponics, and very excited, as is my girlfriend, Molly! (she may turn up here from time to time).  We might be a little... overzealous: We have already covertly reinforced the living room floor in our not-quite-700-sq.ft. complex-apartment. We are officially invested!

We are currently fortunate enough to have my dad's backyard and garage to work in and are accumulating…

My adventure into Aquaponics begin purely by accident, let me explain. I was born and raised in the Islands of the Bahamas, and I am told my family roots go back to the arrival of the Eleutheran Adventurers in 1647.

As the youngest of my mothers' three boys we each got shipped off to a family member for the summer when we where growing up, and no matter where we went somebody had a farm, so every summer we all had to work the "farm". From childhood I detested doing this, it was hard…

Hello everyone,

My name is Dan and my wife Jamie and I are new to Aquaponics. We went to a recent local "Self Reliance Expo" looking for ideas on how to do a few things to offset food and power costs. What we found was Aquaponics. While Jamie started picking the brains of the folks at the Aquaponics booth I began looking at the system and how it works. The system was made from an IBC container that had been modified to grow fish and veggies. My thought was, "Now how cool is…

I have added a screen (made of 1" chicken wire and 1/2" PVC) above my tomato plants to create a canopy focused near my light. I am going to delicately weave the leaves of my tomato plants along the screen horizontally. I am trying to give the plants the maximum amount of light to their photosynthetic parts. Eventually I hope for the fruit to dangle below the screen for easy picking.

 …

Normally I love getting new visits but today I was just leaving the fish barn when suddenly I was startled by a guest. Actually I was a bit more than startled. A 3 foot long rat snake slithered through the door way as I was going out.

Perhaps I'm not as eco-friendly as I should be, but either him or me had to go!

Because I spent so much time building the place I felt it should be him. I tried to run him off but he wanted in. So after a few seconds of foot stomping,…