Aquaponics?

This looks like a really interesting way to grow if you have some land to work with. Anybody ever grow with this technique?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics

I have. Love it. Takes 3-4 years to out preform hydro. I used koi. Never tried with cannabis. Also not running again until I have a stable situation.

Easier for me to learn but I already had a background in hydroponic concepts and ebb/flow specifically. I think the hardest part of people is learning the balance of fish and when to add plants. Like growing anything with experience it becomes second nature. I moved after it was set up for a year and had to get rid of the whole thing. Biggest problem is that it isn't something that is easy to move. I could only justify moving it if it wasn't so far and it was an aged system. There was a researcher in Washington who did experiments with aquaponics. He was a hydroponics researcher and went into the project to prove that it wasn't as efficient as directly feeding the plants in hydroponics. His research found that after 18 months the aquaponic system was yielding the same as his hydroponics and at the 4 year mark there was a 60% increase in yield. It's been a year since I was heavy into aquaponics so I can't for the life of me remember his name. I apologize. I just hope it can inspire you to look into it. When I own a house my backyard will be an aquaponic oasis ^_^

Oh and yes I built my own system. Same with hydro I wouldn't buy a prefabricated set up that was outrageously marked up.

I know you can find "Backyard Aquaponics" magazine on a torrent site if you want to check it out, support them as always if you approve haha Also a couple movies by that damn mustachio aussie whose name I can't remember either lol but he loooves his jade perch. I used Koi... mmmm delicious koi

That is incredible. They should be using that method in countries with food shortages to grow edible fish with produce.

RavenMochi said:

That is incredible. They should be using that method in countries with food shortages to grow edible fish with produce.

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China. Why do you think they are so powerful LOL.

Rice fields and Carp (Koi are mutated Carp ). They do this in Mexico too. I am a avid Carp angler and over the past 5 years some of the biggest fish in North America are comming from the wildest places. Carp were brought here to the USA by the European settlers, and now some of my contacts are taking trips to remote farms in the Mexican hills where 40-60 pound fish roam around like bream. Some places don't have the geography for that sort of thing to be done (naturally) though.

I could see how a setup like this would demand some stability. Tell me, whats the smallest scale that this could be done with, you figure? Obviously, the more room you have, the more effective the setup, but for instance, could such a setup be made with say a 10 gallon aquarium? And during the first 18 months, could you do some nute supplementation, or would that fuck everything up?

I noticed more people going to Tilapia now.

RavenMochi said:

I could see how a setup like this would demand some stability. Tell me, whats the smallest scale that this could be done with, you figure? Obviously, the more room you have, the more effective the setup, but for instance, could such a setup be made with say a 10 gallon aquarium? And during the first 18 months, could you do some nute supplementation, or would that fuck everything up?

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There was a grower on here a couple years back that introduced me to using the Igloo coolers as a res in DWC to keep cool waters, and he used a 30 gallon Igloo marine and used gold fish.

I shall do more research on this piece of fascination.
I'll post what I find. This needs to be expanded upon.

*gasps!*
This is what I was thinking of, something small and portable. I won't be able to start my grow for at least 2 months, but I'm going to have to add this, because when I start I'm going to be going crazy. Being that I'll be moving at most a year after I start, I want something portable that I can take with me for my first aquaponic setup.

And from what I'm reading hydro nutes can be used to supplement at all, as they'll just kill the fish.

I'm not a fan of Tilapia, I'd rather eat Koi haha

My set up had 30 gallons for the fish and I think that was a little small. The bigger the set up the more stable it gets because it buffers fluctuation.

So...in theory, if one could pull it off with a small unit, getting it to work with a bigger unit later would be relatively simpler with the experience thus gained, correct?

Padawanbater2 said:

The thing I'd be sketchy about would be raising the fish. I really wouldn't know where to start.. I'd have to read up on that first.

Also, from what I understand, aquaponics is essentially hydroponics raised above the fish tank, right? The water from the fish tank gets pumped up to the plant roots, the plant roots filter out the ammonia and convert it into nitrogen for the plants to use then the fresh water flows back down to the fish tank completing the cycle, so is there ever any draining or changing of water during the process? Is it difficult to keep the pH in balance?

Also, for an outdoor setup, you'd pretty much be restricted to what you can grow during the season, I'd have to look into that.. Have different crops for different times of the year..

Greenhouse for the colder months, I'm in southern California so it doesn't really get too cold, maybe mid 30's a few nights out of the winter, inside a greenhouse that would probably be 50's.. I wonder if that would be alright for fish to live in?

Also, do you add in any nutrients for the plants, or just use the water from the fish tank?

Imagine the weed you could grow using this technique!

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From what I'm reading you only add water to compensate for whats absorbed by the roots, and whats evaporated. And no to the nutrients, its just the water from the fish tank. The nutrients apparently would more then likely kill off the fish. To take it a step further, some people take the waste on the bottom of the tank when it builds up to high and raise worms in it, feed the worms to the fist, and use the casting for fertilizers for soil.

Seriously, I agree. I'm going to start with a small setup. Be hard to keep right, but it'll be portable for when I move. Maybe even copy and paste it. Several small tanks would be alot easier to move then 1 large one.

Yeah dont the plants get a lot of nitrogen from the fish shit?

Yep, apparently its extremely nitrogen rich, but if people are getting 60% more yield after its at its peak, then it would have to be more then just that. I'm having problems finding out what all it has. Still looking though ..