Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all

I don't have an aquaponics set up yet as I only discovered the concept the other day but one thing that deters me is all the problems trying to stabilize the system.

Are all these problems only really with new systems or is this a juggling act I am signing up for for the rest of my life.

aman

Not sure what "stabilisation" issues you're referring to Aman... but if you set up your system within suggested guidelines from the outset... and stock accordingly... then aquaponics really is simple....

An aquaponics system will "mature" over the first 6-12 months... but there's nothing within the general concepts that really require any significant "juggling"...

That's the purpose of the forum.... ask your questions at the start.... follow the advice... and your aquaponics journey should be easy...

Thanks Ruppert

It just seems that most of the threads I have been reading consist of fluctuating water tests and dead fish and plants.

I will keep reading, maybe I will find some happier stories

aman

Probably... because they didn't setup their systems within suggested guidelines from the outset... and stock accordingly....

Sadly.. there's now so much stuff about aquaponics.. from so many sources... and a lot of it is either second rate.... or has succeeded, short term... more by good fortune... than good planning and/or knowledge....

Fire away with you're questions Aman... you've come to the best place in the world for the best information...

Thanks again Rupert

I have downloaded Barrel-ponics by Travis Hughey as a starting point for my experiments into AP

Would this be a good system for a novice to start with?

It seems quite straightforward to build and simple to maintain and I can build it for next to nothing which is also a bonus.

I want to start small so i don't get too overwhelmed and then once I get the hang of it build a bigger system.

The whole system will be housed in a geodesic dome that i will be building in the winter so I can have a bit more control over the temperature etc

I will start gathering all the materials over the next couple of months and I will have a lot more questions as I go along

Thanks

aman

Keep in mind there are many thousands of members. Because the community here is so helpful, a lot of posts kick in to anyone who says "Help. I've done something silly". But there are nowhere near as many posts saying "Yep, another 3 years where nothing went wrong." In fact, most of the people who feel like writing a post like that get distracted by what's on their stove, and never get around to it. And even if they did write such a post, the only answer would be something like "Uhu".

If you cycle your system properly, take notice of advice from all these helpful people, and are willing to walk all the way into you backyard to your system every now and again to eat something, the rest really takes care of itself.

With a very few exceptions, problems seem to stem from people not following the basic principles, trying to overstock their systems, or overfeeding their fish.

If you want to do it the easy way, don't overlook the people who provide this place, and just buy one of their systems. By all accounts, their stuff just works. http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/shop.html

If you want to tinker and make a home made version, just leave out the fish for 3 months.

Nothing will go wrong. Unless you have a 3 day power outage or your house gets hit by a meteorite. Even then there's a fair chance your system will be the last thing standing.

I know of a person who has never EVER kept a lettuce alive for long enough to eat it until -I-^D they got into aquaponics. Now they eat an organic salad more days than not, from around half a square meter of blue barrel.

My total time spent with the system in the last 3 days has been zero minutes and zero seconds. (Everything is fine regardless of me ignoring it) Any normal 3 days might see me spend perhaps an average of 60 seconds a day in harvest and fish feeding. And another 15 minutes drinking some really nice coffee from my new coffee machine, and sitting watching fish do their thing. Actually I like to watch my plants grow for a while as well, but that could just be me.

If you know a kid, ever have anything to do with one, or have ever been one, you'll also feel the additional advantage of a very difficult thing to quantify or name, but in some way is recognisable as being intrinsically worthwhile.

Get 2 buckets and some hose and make a test system. Then start clearing space for the next system.

i started with the barrelponics plans and slightly modified it.. had 4 growbeds (2 barrels) with flood tanks draining into a rubbermaid stock tank that i used for my ft.. i only had a couple of "hsm's" before adding any fish (drained my tank 2x)
other than that it wasn't really a problem, until i decided to move it indoors for the winter - a real pita but done, and not moving back outdoors!)
i check the system a couple times a day, and always want to tinker, but there's really nothing to do besides feed the fish and monitor water parameters

That probably doesnt sound right to anyone who isnt me.

By "kick in", I mean "contribute to", not assault

I need a translator.

Thanks guys

You are right of course. People are less inclined to come on the the forum to let everyone know that nothing of note happened again this week. I suppose it is like reading the press.

You have put my mind at rest.

I cannot really do too much towards realising my AP dreams at the moment due to other commitments and until those commitments are over my wife will feed me to the fish if I start another project. Although she is slowly coming round to the idea of AP.

September will see the end of my current projects so that gives me a few months of reading and learning and maybe building a small AP test rig with a few gold fish and some herbs

Thanks again guys. You have been a great help

Oh, I would love to buy a system from BYAP but there are to reasons why i can't. 1: I have very little money and 2: i live in the UK and shipping would cost a fortune.

aman

What are hsm's?

I know I will kick myself when you tell me

aman

holy sh!t moments..

no worries aman!

I would never have guessed that but I am gonna use that expression in the future

Thanks Keith

aman

Hi Aman

I am pretty new here on the forums also. I also downloaded the barrelponics ebook and was where I started. I am 19 days into mine and still waiting for it to cycle. Plants seem to be doing something, not sure what though lol They aren't dying, but not really growing either. They are getting buds, flowers and produce on them. Can't wait to see what they do when the system cycles.

There is a LOT to read on this forum, so get started and take notes.

Have fun

Cindy

Thanks Cindy

Do you have a link to your system so i can check it out

I love the barrel ponics concept. It really appeals to my inner Womble (wombles make good use out of bad rubbish)

I really want to start mine now but I will wait until I can focus fully on it and carry on reading the forum

aman

No pics. If you have the manual for barrelponics, you know exactly what it looks like. I followed to the "T". Check around the net and here for some pics. There are systems that are a lot simpler than the barrels. Don't misunderstand, the barrels are great and will teach you all the concepts. I found a spare blue barrel in the barn that the horses aren't playing with that I will use to enlarge this system when I get to that point cause next year I will have a whole greenhouse to the AP's. that is a 12x20 greenhouse. I am also trying to figure out how to go off grid with this greenhouse and the system. I would really like to continue this thru the winter, but have a lot of work to do to get to that point. And we can get pretty cold here in the desert.

When I do something worthy of posting on the forum, will get pics up. Till then,..........,,,read, read, read and learn