Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I am testing a small aquaponic system, although its too early for me to start as i do have sooo many obstacles because of my lack of knowledge.
I am testing it currently in my home yard (greenhouse) and I will move in to a larger size hopefully when the first one will operate successfully.
And here is the questions:
1, how can I know the amount of fish that I need per "Lettuce. like for an example if I have 1,000 lettuce seeds, how many fish do I need?
2, in my aquarium I got talapia fish, can I know what food should I give it? What’s the best food for the fishes of aquaponic system?
3,What is the best type of seeds can i use for the aquaponic?... "organic ones"
4,dose the fish needs filter and air or in the water circulation the fish
gets everything it needs?
5,What is the best way to maintain the aquaponic?
6,What is the best PH tester?
7,What are best water bumps to transfer water to plants and again to pool?
8,What is the best way to maintain the aquaponic?
9,What’s the best food for the fishes of aquaponic system?
10,What the best aquaponic system considering that we have a very hot weather
especially in summer?
11,What’s the fastest growing plants (organically)?

Welcome AD,
I'll take a few of the easy ones, leave the harder ones for the others!


This really depends on the size of the fish. If you are sizing a system, try to keep that in mind. What size are your fish?



Usually you want a high protein fish food. For tilapia you can feed them duckweed and other things as well. Try to avoid cheep food as it will cloud the water and cause other water issues.



You want to avoid seeds that are coated in stuff, because all the toxins on the seeds end up in the fish tank. In general, remember that anything you put in the system will make its way to the fish tank.



Definitely you need filtration and aeration. The grow beds can provide some filtration, depending on the way your system is setup. You definitely need air for the fish tank.



This depends on the particulars. Usually you'll want to check on the system every day until you get the feel for things. Then you can test the water less often and get into more of a habit.

This is the kit that I have, called the Masters freshwater test kit. It has tests for Ammonia, Nitrate, pH, and Nitrite. (http://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Pharmaceuticals-Aquarian-Freshwater-Master/dp/B001EUG8RO)

Let the discussion begin!

Please start by reading the Basic Info section and Useful Info section of the forum. There is much information there that may help you to answer your questions.

Most of your questions have more complicated answers than you might like since the answer will depend on many other things. For instance, the best pump is going to depend on the size and design of the system. The best seeds will depend on the climate, situation for growing, and what you want to grow. In your hot climate (as long as it stays warm year round) Tilapia are a good choice of fish. Lettuce is probably not a good choice of crops except in a cooler season if you have one.

If you are planning on a commercial size system, then you will want to do more research into raft systems. Here on the BYAP forum, most people have more experience with flood and drain media bed aquaponics which is a great low maintenance, easy way to do aquaponics on a backyard scale. The Flood and drain media beds take care of the bio-filtration, solids filtration and provide a place to grow plants. A raft system would require separate filtration and aeration.

Let me see if I can go through and answer some of your questions.


1, how can I know the amount of fish that I need per "Lettuce. like for an example if I have 1,000 lettuce seeds, how many fish do I need
That will depend on the method of growing you use. Raft systems use a different means of judging how many fish are needed per amount of plant space or how much plant space is needed per fish differently than media bassed systems. Raft systems generally remove solids from the system and therefore require more fish per plant and have more difficulty growing flowering/fruiting plants. Media based systems often leave the solids in the system to become more nutrients and therefore don't need as many fish per unit of growing space. However, the truth is most people don't try to count fish by plant. It is generally more about the amount of filtration needed per amount of fish. Now I don't know the numbers for raft systems so what I am going to tell you will be for media filled flood and drain grow beds. I would say for every 2 kg of fish you wish to grow, you should have at least 100 kg of grow bed.

2, in my aquarium I got talapia fish, can I know what food should I give it? What’s the best food for the fishes of aquaponic system?
For Aquaponics you want to feed high quality fish feed with an appropriate protein % for the type of fish you are growing. Most aquarium feeds and pond or koi feeds are not very good food for aquaponic fish or actually I should say they don't usually provide enough good nutrients for the plants. Which particular feed is best for you will depend on what you can get where you are. If you can get reasonable quantities of aquaculture fish feeds that is fresh in your area, then that would be the way to go. Fish feeds can go bad quickly so you don't really want to buy 40 kg of feed if the amount of fish you have would take two years to eat that much since fish feed should be used in six months if possible.


3,What is the best type of seeds can i use for the aquaponic?... "organic ones"
Whatever seeds you can get should work. It's probably best to avoid treated seeds but if you are interested in organic growing then you will probably avoid many of those anyway. Most plants can grow in aquaponics, it doesn't require special seeds. Choose seeds you can get that are for the kinds of plants you want to grow that will do well in your climate. The nature of aquaponics will probably expand the range of what will grow in your climate somewhat but only to a point without making it into a totally artificial environment.

4,dose the fish needs filter and air or in the water circulation the fish
gets everything it needs?
The fish do require aeration and filtration. If your method of growing doesn't provide that, then a separate method to provide that for the fish would be needed.

5,What is the best way to maintain the aquaponic?
By checking on things a few times a day when you feed the fish or harvest plants for dinner.

6,What is the best PH tester?
Most of us here use Freshwater aquarium test kits to test pH, high range pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. These are the kind that use test tubes and droppers and then match the colors to cards according to the directions with the test kit. These are generally far more accurate than test strips.

7,What are best water pumps to transfer water to plants and again to pool?
That will depend on the system design and size as well as on what is available to you.

8,What is the best way to maintain the aquaponic?
same as number 5

9,What’s the best food for the fishes of aquaponic system?
Same as number 2

10,What the best aquaponic system considering that we have a very hot weather
especially in summer?
Since you are talking about growing tilapia, you could probably do either a flood and drain media based system or a raft system, tilapia are hardy fish.

11,What’s the fastest growing plants (organically)?
For what purpose? Banana plants grow fast but take a very long time to produce fruit but they are good for using up lots of nutrients fast. Lettuce, radish, and turnips grow fast and produce food fairly fast but they are cool weather crops and might not do all that well when it is hot there. Bamboo can grow fast too but isn't really a primary food source for most people. There are many plants that grow fast and/or use up lots of nutrients and other plants that grow fast and provide food fast and yet others that grow and use up lots of nutrients but take longer to produce. Summer squash and zucchini might be a good choice for something that grows and produces food fairly fast.

As always TCL on the mark with all above.


I just noticed your average temps/month
and the sea water temp can reach 40c
There must be some nice fish there

I did look for the soil temps around Dubai but had not much luck.

I was wondering whether it would be useful to bury a large portion of water for mass (in a tank)
to help stabilize and maintain an average water temp for the fish.(soil temp permitting)
Also you will be wanting to deal with evaporation (out of the fish tanks).
Possibly, some rafts with plantings.

AD,
You forgot to add question #12: "What is the meaning of life??"

All the answers to your questions are in this (and other) forum. Just use the search function!
We are all still learning and sharing, you just have to learn to look in the right places.
Cheers IanK

Pst Ian, its 42,

.....and I thought I was being smart . . .
Cheers IanK

Thanks kwieland and TCLynx!
that was soo nice of you guys!

Thanks kwieland and TCLynx!
that was soo nice of you guys!