Complete Idiot's Guide to Aquaponic Gardening - any ideas or photos?

[Meg Stout]

I'm under contract to write the Complete Idiot's Guide to Aquaponic Gardening for Penguin's DK Imprint.

I've got a table of contents and have the book 50 percent written. But I wanted to give a shout out for basic questions you had when you were starting that you wished someone had answered. Also, I have a few picture slots I'm looking to fill - and I'm willing to pay $5 per picture that I use. Thanks!

[Meg Stout]

It's been fun to experience the different "personalities" of the four major aquaponics forums. Since the other forums don't know me, I posted the TOC, so I'm including that here below:

______________

0. Introduction
(c)How I tumbled upon auaponics
..(d)ROKS Cheonan
..(d)Eyjafjallajökull
..(d)Deepwater Horizon
..(d)Moving upwards and outwards
..(d)To DIY or not to DIY
(c)Footprints
..(d) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
..(d)Water Footprint

Part I: Creating Your System

1. What is Your Vision?
(c)Creating Your Plan
..(d)Your Goal
..(d)Strengths and Constraints
..(d)Inside or Out?
..(d)DIY or Kit?
..(d)Plants and Fish
(c)Sample Home Systems
..(d)Vertical Window Garden
..(d)Pump in Fish Tank (PIFT)
..(d) Constant Height of Pond (CHOP)
..(d)Fog Auaponics
(c)Sample Microfarms
..(d)Urban Farming
..(d)A farm in the market
..(d)Catering to the Chef

2. Light
(c)What You Need to Know About Light
..(d)Light uantity: Lumens
..(d)Lumens and Lux
..(d)The Color of Light
..(d)Hours of Daylight
(c)Growing Outdoors
..(d)Looking toward the Sun
..(d)If you don't live at the euator.
..(d)Growing during short, winter days
..(d)Shading your plants
(c)Growing Indoors
..(d)Buying Lights
..(d)Fluorescents
..(d)High Intensity Discharge (HID) Bulbs and Ballasts
..(d)LEDs
..(d)Accessories

3. Water
(c)Properties of Water
..(d)Desperately Seeking Low Pressure
..(d)The Universal Solvent
..(d)Weight of Water
(c)Temperature and Water
..(d)Thermal Mass
..(d)Evaporation and Transpiration
..(d)Condensation
..(d)Dissolved Oxygen
(c)Fish and Water
(c)Plants and Water

4. Tanks and Tubes
(c)Fish Tanks
..(d)Food Grade
..(d)Auariums
..(d)Plastic Barrels
..(d)Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs)
..(d)Stock Tanks
..(d)Specialty Fiberglass and Plastic Tanks
..(d)Bathtubs
..(d)Liners and Sealants
(c)Growbeds
..(d)Depth
..(d)Width and Volume
..(d)Support
..(d)Drain
(c)Gutters and Towers
..(d)PVC Pipes
..(d)Hanging Planters
(c)Plumbing and Fittings
..(d)Bulkhead fittings and Standpipes
..(d)PVC
..(d)Irrigation Poly-tubing
..(d)Garden Hose
..(d)Vinyl Tubing
..(d)Corrugated Tubing
(c)DIY plans for Tanks and Grow beds
..(d)Excavating and lining a pond-tank
..(d)Building a wooden grow bed

5. Pumps, Sumps, and Standpipes
(c)Air Pumps
..(d)Capacity
..(d)Diffusers
..(d)Check Valves
..(d)Using Air to Pump Water
(c)Water Pumps
..(d)Capacity and Head
..(d)Filters
(c)Sumps and Replenishing Lost Water
..(d)A sump reservoir
..(d)Top up from rain barrel
(c)Solids Lifting Overflow in Fish Tanks
..(d)SLO I: The Soda Straw
..(d)SLO II: the bottom drain standpipe
..(d)SLO III: the side drain standpipe
(c)DIY plans for Standpipes and Overflows
..(d)PVC Media Guard
..(d)Inexpensive bulkhead fitting
..(d)PVC Standpipe
..(d)Solids-lifting overflow I
..(d)Solids-lifting overflow II

Part II: Growing options

6. Growing in Gravel: Using Media Beds
(c)Benefits and Challenges of Media Beds
..(d)Protection from light and solids
..(d)Flood and Drain
..(d)Worms
..(d)Plant Varieties
..(d)Mineralization
..(d)Supporting a rock-filled grow bed
..(d)System Clogging
..(d)pH Properties of your Media
(c)Media Options
..(d)Gravel
..(d)River Rock
..(d)Hydroton
..(d)Expended Shale
..(d)Volcanic Scoria
..(d)Summary of Media types
(c)Maintenance
..(d)Preventative Maintenance
..(d)End of life maintenance

7. Flood and Drain
(c)The Lungs of your system
..(d)Timers
..(d)Indexing Valve
..(d)Flush Valve
..(d)Loop Auto-Siphon
..(d)Bell Auto-Siphon
(c)Combining Flood and Drain Methods
(c)DIY Plans
..(d)Water Tower & Flush Valve
..(d)Loop Siphon
..(d)Bell Siphon I
..(d)Bell Siphon II

8. Growing Vertically
(c)Towers
(c)Stacked Planters
(c)Layered Beds
..(d)Design
..(d)Support
(c)Growing Up and Down
(c)Trellises and Arbors
..(d)Design
..(d)Supporting Fruit
(c)DIY Plans
..(d)Hanging water bottles
..(d)PVC Tower
..(d)EMT Trellis I
..(d)EMT Trellis II

9. Growing in Water
(c)Benefits and Challenges
..(d)Filtration
..(d)Net Pots and Media
..(d)Aeration
(c)Nutrient Film Techniue (NFT)
(c)Deep Water Culture
..(d)Rafts
..(d)Plant Configuration
..(d)What Grows Beneath
(c)Channel Systems
(c)Growing in Fog
(c)Other hydroponic growing methods
(c)Removing Fish Solids
..(d)Swirl Filters
..(d)Mechanical Filtration
..(d)Letting Gravity Help
(c)DIY Plans
..(d)Floating Raft
..(d)Net Pot Screen
..(d)Swirl Filter

Part III: Nutrients and plants

10. The Nitrogen Cycle
(c)Why Cycle Your System?
(c)Fish Poison: Ammonia and Ammonium
..(d)Non-sudsing Ammonia
..(d)Fish
..(d)Organic Matter
..(d)Worms
..(d)Seaweed Concentrate
(c)Oxygen-binder: Nitrite
..(d)Nitrosifyers
..(d)Effect of Nitrite on Fish
(c)Plant Fertilizer: Nitrate
..(d)Nitrifying Bacteria
..(d)Other Suggested Additives
..(d)Chelated iron
..(d)Norwegian Kelp Seaweed Extract
(c)Altering pH
..(d)Reducing pH
..(d)Increasing pH
(c)Measuring Your System
..(d)Testing your water chemistry
..(d)Measuring Dissolved Oxygen

11. Which Plants Grow Best?
(c)Using a Planting Guide
(c)Strictly Summer Plants
..(d)Tomatoes
..(d)Peppers
..(d)Melons
..(d)Eggplant
(c)Warm Weather Plants
..(d)Zucchini
..(d)Suash
..(d)Corn
(c)Cool Weather Plants
..(d)Leafy Greens
..(d)Beets
..(d)Carrots
(c)Cold Weather Plants
..(d)Cabbage
..(d)Pease
..(d)Maché
(c)Herbs
..(d)Basil
..(d)Chives
..(d)Rosemary
..(d)Parsley
..(d)Cilantro
(c)Ornamental Plants
..(d)Flowers
..(d)Auaponics in Landscape Design
(c)Floating Plants
..(d)Watercress
..(d)Duckweed

12. Starting and Propagating Plants
(c)Starting from Seed
..(d)Standard Methods
..(d)Direct Seeding
(c)Seedlings
..(d)Rinsing
..(d)Transplanting
(c)Cuttings
..(d)Cutting Correctly
..(d)Encouraging Root Growth
..(d)Transplanting
(c)Saving Seeds
..(d)What You Need
..(d)Storage and Viability

13. Fish-safe Pest Control
(c)What is a pest?
(c)Plants
..(d)Marigolds
..(d)Garlic
..(d)Peppermint
..(d)Lavender
(c)Good bugs
..(d)Lady Bugs
..(d)Lacewings
..(d)Praying Mantis
(c)Bacillus thuringiensis
(c)Sprays
..(d)Garlic fire spray
..(d)Molasses spray
(c)Teas
..(d)Chamomile tea
..(d)Compost tea
(c)Beer
(c)Worms

14. Optimizing Plant Yield
(c)Pruning
..(d)Rules of Thumb
..(d)Dead-heading
(c)Training Plants
..(d)Climbing Plants
..(d)Vining Plants
(c)Staggering Harvests
..(d)Extending Harvest
..(d)Multi-layer Gardening
..(d)Eating in Season
(c)pH
..(d)Effect on Nutrient Availability
..(d)Plants' effect on pH
..(d)Altering pH
(c)Treating Nutriient Deficiencies
..(d)Chelated Iron
..(d)Potassium
..(d)Calcium

Part 4: Fish and other Critters

15. Which Fish?
(c)Why Fresh Water Fish?
(c)All-purpose Ornamentals
..(d)Goldfish
..(d)Koi
(c)Al-purpose Pond Fish
..(d)Catfish
..(d)Minnows
..(d)Bluegills
..(d)Yellow Perch
..(d)Other Pond Fish
(c)Warm Water Fish
..(d)Tropical Auarium Fish
..(d)Tilapia
..(d)Pacu
(c)Australian Fish
..(d)Barramundi
..(d)Silver Perch
..(d)Jade Perch
..(d)Murray Cod
..(d)Sleepy Cod

16. Other Useful Creatures
(c)Purpose of Other Creatures
..(d)System Health
..(d)Pest Reduction
..(d)Food
(c)Composting Worms
..(d)Red Worms vs. Burrowing Worms
..(d)Population Control
..(d)Harvesting
(c)Black Soldier Flies
..(d)Larvae
..(d)Harvesting
..(d)BSF Compost Bins
..(d)Pest Control
(c)Crustaceans
..(d)Freshwater Shrimp
..(d)Gammarus
..(d)Crayfish
..(d)Marmorkrebs
(c)Gambusiia

17. Husbanding your Critters*
(c)The basics of fish life
..(d)The birds and the bees of fish
..(d)Feeding baby fish
..(d)Preventing fish from breeding
(c)When fish are sick
..(d)uarantine
..(d)Salt baths
..(d)Hydrogen Peroxide
..(d)Cleansing your system
(c)When fish die
..(d)Not dead.yet
..(d)Diagnosing the problem
..(d)What to do with the remains
(c)Eating your fish
..(d)Catching the fish
..(d)Dispatching the fish
..(d)Cleaning fish
..(d)Cooking fish

Part 5: Beyond the Basics

18. Greenhouses
(c)Greenhouse Pros and Cons
..(d)Greenhouse Effect
..(d)Energy Use
(c)Permanent Greenhouses
..(d)Features
..(d)Orangeries
..(d)Hobby Greenhouses
..(d)Geodesic Domes
(c)Hoop Houses
..(d)High Tunnels
..(d)Low Tunnels
..(d)Row Covers
..(d)EMT Hoop Houses
(c)Construction Considerations
..(d)Foundation
..(d)Forming Hoops
..(d)Changing Seasons
(c)DIY Plans
..(d)PVC Hoop House
..(d)EMT Hoop House I
..(d)EMT Hoop House II

19. Heating and Cooling
(c)Standard Heat Sources
..(d)Electric Water Heaters
..(d)Electric Space Heaters
..(d)Propane Heaters
(c)Solar Heaters
..(d)Water Heaters
..(d)Air Heaters
(c)Wood Stoves
(c)Rocket Mass Heaters
..(d)Design
..(d)Thermal Mass
(c)Thermal Mass
(c)Shade Cloth
(c)Subterranean Systems
(c)DIY Plans
..(d)Solar Water Heater
..(d)Solar Air Heater
..(d)Rocket Mass Furnace

20. Automation
(c)Why Automate?
(c)Measurement Systems
(c)Temperature
..(d)Environment Control
..(d)Fans
..(d)Vents
..(d)Food
(c)Feeders
..(d)Commercial
..(d)DIY
..(d)Temperature Controlled

21. Doing Without Services
(c)Reasons
..(d)Flexibility
..(d)Community Garden
..(d)Preparedness
(c)Maximize Passive Energy Harvesting
..(d)Insulation
..(d)Solar Gain
..(d)Wind Power
(c)Batteries
..(d)Calculating Power Reuired
..(d)Types of Batteries
..(d)Wiring and Switches
(c)Solar Panels
..(d)Considerations
..(d)Euipment Reuired
(c)Wind Turbine
..(d)Considerations
..(d)Euipment Reuired
..(d)Small-scale Options
(c)Wind-powered pump
(c)Water-powered pump
(c)DIY Plans
..(d)Greenhouse rainwater collection system
..(d)Wind-powered pump

22. Maintenance
(c)Daily
..(d)Feeding your Fish
..(d)Checking your Plants
(c)Weekly
(c)Monthly
..(d)Testing your water
..(d)Planning your next set of plants
..(d)Purchasing supplies
..(d)Scrubbing down your system
(c)Seasonal tasks
..(d)Winter tasks
..(d)Spring
..(d)Summer
(c)Fall
(c)Renewing your grow beds

23. Integrated Agriculture and Energy
(c)Integrated Systems Concept
..(d)Waste not
..(d)Adding chickens
..(d)Adding mushrooms
(c)Creating bio-fuel
..(d)Harvesting Methane
..(d)Salt water and bio-diesel
(c)Improving Water Stewardship
..(d)Rain Water Gardens
..(d)Grey Water Systems
(c)DIY Plans
..(d)Black Soldier Fly Compost System
..(d)Bio-digester
..(d)Bio-sand filter
..(d)Grey water system

24. DIY Plans
(c)Pump in Fish Tank
..(d)DIY Window farm
..(d)DIY Box Garden
..(d)DIY Barrel System
(c)Pump in Sump
..(d)DIY using Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC)
..(d)DIY using Stock Tanks
(c)Index to DIY Plans in this book

Glossary

Resources

[Chi Ma]

You can find ideas here. LOL :)

[Meg Stout]

Thanks!

Chi Ma said:

You can find ideas here. LOL

[RupertofOZ]

Have a look through my albums Meg... if anything takes your eye ... let me know and I'll email the hi-res....

[Chris Carr]

Not sure why all your q's where dropped but you may want to check that before sending it off to the publisher too 

[Meg Stout]

Thanks Rupert (or do you go by Rupe?) 

Chris, thanks for noticing the missing q's - I accidentally deleted them from the text file I was pasting into the forum when I was trying to get rid of extra carriage returns and stuff (I usually use qqq for my search and replace string, since it's never used in English, but was lazy and used qq, then made a typo and replaced all my q's with spaces instead of just my qq's). So no actual book text was harmed in the making of the list I posted here.

[Chris Carr]

I was only joking around anyway. Good that you didn't lose them in the master copy!