Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I am interested in producing as much of my own food from my backyard as I can. I estimate we produce about 75% at the moment, but this varies season by season.

I doubt there is true self sufficiency anymore because we all rely on petrol, most of us rely on electricty and gas, and most of us buy milk, flour and salt. So I'm not being a purist here, I am talking about within the confines of modern Australian (or wherever) life, have you brought AP into your life as part of a more general push towards being self sufficient and sustainable?

I've never really thought about classing myself as self-sufficient or sustainable, but watching "The Good Life" as a child really struck a chord with me.

I prefer the taste and the cost of homegrown produce. I've kept chooks and ducks for 15 years now. We've tried veggie patches of various types and not been overly successful. Problems with termites, rain, no rain, wind, rubbish soil etc. We have a few fruit trees that supply us with some of our fruit, but again termites can beat us there too.

Aquaponics has meant that we can grow some of our veggies in a clean termite free environment.

When we moved out here to our 1.5 acre block that is the *huge* distance of half-an-hour from town many people would ask me how life on the farm was. They had no concept of it.

I think this is why I've always wanted a pig in the backyard, do you have one J? At the moment I'm only allowed to have chooks and fish

to answer your question Forest, yes! In the boundaries of moderna Australian society.

I am interested in AP as a source of wholesome, local, and more sustainable food, both vegetable and fish. I can't say that I think I'm more self-sufficient with the current set-up since it is not supplying a significant percentage of our food at this point. However, this might just be a prototype for something bigger. Hmmm.

Self sufficency is my main drive.

But to be honest, I also needed an inexpensive hobby to share with the family.

It is real fun to see my four year old insisting on being the one to feed the fish.

Inexpensive? AP? I am surprised at how much I have spent to get a system that will produce a significant part of our diet. However, now that I have found what works, it will be much easier and cheaper next time around.

yeaqh, mine cost around $4500 all up, but I haven't spent a cent on anything I can't eat for ages.

I think keeping costs low is a very important part of sustainablilty. What are your estimates of how low you could keep the cost setting up a system for a family of four that supplied most of their vegetables, some of the fruit and all of their fish?

Let's ask the question the other way Forest (no offence meant in any way)...

How much has it cost you so far and how much do you think it might produce for you..... judge by your current plantings and project...?

I'm guessing that you will produce almost enough for two....

Most people's productive systems seem to be around the $4000+ mark to feed around three +....

We're coming in just under $2000 for our system for two and I think that's too much. I wouldn't have done it another way but I'd like to think that even if a young family didn't have $2000 or $4000, they could still build a productive system. I wondered if it could be done around the $500 mark.

What is currently growing in the AP garden would only cover a fraction of what we would eat. We have two tomatoes, several large silverbeet and about 10 seedlings, two cabbages, some english spinach, kale, lettuce seedlings, celery, parsley, watercress, capsicums. We have to add another grow bed for follow up crops otherwise, if we were relying solely on the AP, we'd run out of vegies when this lot were through. You must remember though that we eat mostly vegetables.

It's still very much a learning process for me and I'm still finding out what I can grow, how to plant for optimal production and how to plant for continuing harvests. We have three times the variety in the soil garden and I will slowly trial most of those things in the AP as I learn more about the ins and outs of the system.

Has anyone estimated the cost's involved of raising your fish to dinner plate size..eg.buying fingerlings,food,power ect??
if so what are they??

Yeah Forest I hear ya.... Gary D was thinking of trying to do a setup for around $500 a while back.... raised doubts then as to whether or not it would be possible...

As I see it to supply enough growbed capaity to continuously feed 2+ people veges and fish then you need to have a tank/fish/growbed capacity at least as big as Joels systems... bigger than your current system

Just the tanks, pump(s), growbeds and plumbing required adds up to way way more than $500.... can't see you doing it for less than $2000 min.

And that's without the costs of fish/food etc

My plan was always to attain a greater level of self sufficiency.. I guess keeping the costs down can equate to how much work your willing to do yourself in both building and running your system. We have a couple of experts here at using scrounged materials to build systems, and these come in fairly cheaply..

I would think that a system could be built for almost nothing, if your a good enough scrounger...

New materials? I'm about to build a system for someone with 5 x 2m x 1m growbeds and a 3000L fish tank, she wants to feed her family of 5 from this and a smaller dirt garden area with root vegetables and a few other veggies.. The system is probably going to cost about 4-4.5 grand, maybe even more, but thats complete cost, and it's going to be using premade steel growbeds stand, backup air supply, a % of hydro clay, etc, etc...

Dont know about expert i just like to scrounge all this totald about $500