Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Here's a thread for a discussion about British aquaponics!

I had a look around and couldn't find one

I'm having trouble deciding on a fish for a very small scale aquaponics outdoors which is yet to be built with pond size at about:
2.40m by 1.50m and height about 1.20m (but variable depending on fish type)

It's probably too small for carp but how about pumpkinseed if I can get hold of any?

Any help will be much appreciated

PS. I'm situated in the North West

Hi there Aquacult - we're just down the road in Sale. There's a handful of us about - WelshDragon in Anglesey probably the most advanced in cold-water aquaponics the uK. We're just setting our system up - have to get the stands built for the growbeds and then we're just on to plumbing!

Welcome aquacult!

At present we have in various tanks: goldfish - small carp - rainbow trout.The trout are kept to their own tanks!
As Andrew-1 mentioned we are on Anglesey - so not that far away from you.
Quite a few of our visitors have set up or used existing ponds to run their AP systems and all have been very pleased they made the decision to have a go!
Feel free to ask questions - that is what this forum is for, and without all the friendly help and advice from the forumees would have made our progress very slow.
We have still made a few mistakes along the way but it has been a very exciting learning curve!
WD

NICE. That sounds amazin, is it alright if I pop in at some point and have alook at the project?! I'm currently unemployed so I might consider volunteering if that's possible? I'm already volunteering at lyme park so I might not have the time, I'll have to have a think about it

Ok that is something I HAVE to come and see at somepoint! Is that alright if I drop in some time?? Unfortunately I've not got a car (or money!) so wouldn't be able to make it any time soon but it would be a very helpful step in setting up my system and I'd love to meet other people who are as obsessed as I am at the minute!

No worries,

Feel free to pop in anytime - just PM me for contact details if you want to come down. No volunteering required :-)

in order to see the results of the poll, without clicking on 'View results' all the time, you have to vote, yet there's no option of 'I don't live in the UK, but am interested in worldly affairs'
BTW, I thought you guys were using metric now, what's this gallons rubbish?

I didn't spot the poll :-) um no idea how many gallons - I'll have to do the conversion.

3000 litres = 659 gallons or so. I'll add my vote.

Hi from manchester UK and i just clicked the poll,
thanks for paying an interest

For me the answer is zero. Not got an AP system setup. Being a ground floor flat with no garden in the centre of London, it's a bit difficult to do. However we do have requests in with Estate Agents in Wiltshire, Somerset, and Dorset for land of at least 2 acres suitable for a smallholding.

Oh, and in the meantime, I'm in discussions with Merton Council as to whether we can get some disused industrial land converted into AP allotments.

But on the whole, AP in the UK is starting to kick off. Good to see more people joining. But we still have a long way to go to beat the Aussies. (Kinda like cricket)

I should have news on my 30,000ltrs of tanks today so watch this space.................

I am moving from Oz to London at Xmas time (gonna freeze my ass off!) and will be in UK for three months to a year. ATM it looks like we might have found a place in central London that will have access to a courtyard and the owner is keen (enough) for me to set up an AP system there... however, there are a lot of things I don't know about attempting to grow trout in the freezing climate (I am presuming I will be able to build some sort of green house over the plants and tanks, but how more warmth might I need to provide?) etc etc etc.

Any info would be useful... thanks.


Scott

Hi Bunson
One thing is for sure with the current weather in the UK your ass ain't the only thing that will freeze off.

I am sure you will get lots of advice on what fish to try but it all depends if you want to just have a small unit in the courtyard or go for something more ambitious. As you will see on this thread we keep indigenous fish,carp,goldfish and trout and they are currently surviving with air temperatures at minus 9 C and water temps just above freezing. We only feed them every other day and then only a little. Most of the plants have died apart from the strong cabbages and the strong herbs like parsley,thyme,rosemary etc. AND we have to watch for ammonia spikes.
When you find out more about how you are going to set up your system then get in touch.

WD and OH.

We're keeping our trout alive in a slightly less sophisticated system, but with temps down to only -5. Still have Kale, Leeks, Pak Choi, onions, parsley, Broccoli, lambs lettuce.

If you're only going to be here for a year though I might be tempted to just have a good time - seems to take longer than a year to get everything bottomed out in an Aquaponics system.

Wow cool we need more like you in the UK even if it's only for a short stay, I run a small UK backyard system and as you can see from the web cams http://www.bobsbackyard.co.uk/webcam32/webcam4.html it still works even in the snow.
ok we do not get a lot of crops off the system it being outside, but a small green house would solve that problem. happy to share our finding's