Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Does anyone have links to statistics? My father and I live on a ranch and we are looking into aquaponics to become self sustaining, but he wants to see some numbers. He was a science teacher and likes concrete data, I guess.

I'm not sure about statistics, but there are plenty of pictures on here of successful members systems and bountiful harvests of fish and vegetables.

They say pictures tell a thousand words...

Define "self sustaining"....

Missed that bit Rupe. Hopefully it means he wants to get a feed of fish every now and again as well as a more regular harvest of fresh vegetables.

Hopefully he doesn't mean that it will produce feed for the fish, plus enough fish and vegetables for a family of 12 and never have to visit a shop again....

For starters, arbe, yes we want to get a feed of fish every now and again as well as a regular harvest of vegetables; we also hope to utilize our substantial square footage to exceed that (we live on a ranch).

I, myself am somewhat familiar with aquaponics due to my controlled ecosystem aquariums experience. Basically, If I understand the concepts correctly, one is raising edible fish in a large aquarium, and using the nitrates produced in the "nitrogen cycle" to fertilize crops of edible veggies, and fruits, in some circumstances. The only difference in that ecosystem and the one I am familiar with is that I used live aquatic plants decorating my aquarium to remove the nitrates, instead of crops of fruits and veggies.

Please inform me if I am wrong as aside from the external beds supporting the edible crops and the plumbing necessary to flood those beds, I see no difference.

pretty much sums it up..
plan on using a good quality commercial fish food and determine your goals..
the beds act as your mechanical/biological filter so you won't need to remove solids if you stock to the amount of growbeds you have (and add composting worms to the gb - red wiggler worms) lots of discussions on recommended ratios
good feed=good growth of fish and plants

I remember getting a bunch of different stats online about the cost effectiveness of aquaponics. The big draw card for me was some stat that stated fish for $6 a kilo. The main failure of these stats was that firstly they were inevitably optimistic (not taking into account fish losses/vegetable pests) or labor costs.

Honestly I find it cheaper to buy the fish (bear in mind you can get whole trout for approx 6 bucks a piece) or fingerlings for half that, plus food/water/electricity/time costs. But it ain't always about bottom line. I take pride in knowing my veggies are close to organic (blind faith in pellets integrity, but no use of pesticides) and love the growth process of the fish. As part of an integrated food system I would say don't bother costing up the aquaponics system, just build it & start. But don't expect it to feed you exclusively (not without a ton of work). Integrate BSF, worm farms for veggie waste/fish food, chickens/rabbits/quail and all of a sudden there are some serious amounts of food coming your way.

As Arbe says (and his presence/knowledge shown in the forums is substantial) the proof is in the pics. I can state for the record that this style of small scale farming works! I eat from my system almost everyday at this time of year. My system is now a year old and has taken until now to become fully functional (where plants outgrow there soil based counterparts, but the difference in grow is substancial). With careful plant selection it can substantially provide for your daily food intake.