Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all, this is where I'll putting updates for an aquaponics system in a garage ("garageponics"). It should be built this weekend and should have a 200 litre (52.8344 US gal/ 43.9938 Imperial gallon) fishtank stocked with 3 goldfish but 5 fish altogether - 1 to 3 oranda's and maybe some other goldfish and 2 Hong Kong plecs, one 60 L (15.8503 US gal/ 13.1981) growbed, and then some lettuce grown on floating rafts on the fish tank itself. I am a little limited for space but there is a window, and will have a growlight powered by either a wind turbine or free solar panels.

The plants will probably be:

*4 strawberry plants (from shop-potted plants)
*A couple of red and green ("bell") pepper plants (from seeds)
*A cucumber plant or two (from shop-potted plants)
*5-6 lettuce plants (so I have a constant supply and are grown from seeds)
*Coriander (from shop-potted plants)
*Oregano (from shop-potted plants)
*Basil (from shop-potted plants)
*Rosemary (cuttings)

Do u think 3 goldfish and 2 Hong Kong Plecs is enough? I've done my calculations on 30 US gallons for the first goldfish, then plus 10 for the other two. However, because this is aquaponics I assume the goldfish only need half the space or so. So I could have 6 adult goldfish?

Sounds interesting. I've read of people who have successfully done aquaponics in basements. Are you able to have more growbed(s)? Even with a log stocking density, only 60L will not be enough (I think). Even though you're just trying to do the minimum stocking density to get the veggies to grow, I would err on the side of caution and at least double the grow bed volumes. A 1:1 to 2:1 growbed to fishtank ratio is the rule of thumb.

I have the same problem though. I'm going to struggle to get enough growbed volume for my system. I'm located somewhere in western Anglia so if you know of a good source of cheap fibreglass growbeds in quantity, let me know! Where are you getting the free solar panels btw?

Let me clarify that I don't actually know about the 2:1 and 1:1 thing, I'm just repeating what I've heard. Here is a discussion:
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15382&hilit=poll&start=60

Someone there said to use a kg's of biomass to litres of GB ratio, but they didn't say WHAT that ratio should be! I hope this leads you in the right direction. Bookmark your findings as I'll have to do some stocking calculations in the coming weeks.

I'm not sure about the free solar panels but I have some friends who r going to recommend me to the solar panel companies.

PS in the growbed I will have peppers, strawberries and cucumbers growing vertically, so I can fit more plants in. Also, I will have more space because the lettuces will be growing on a floating raft system on the fish tank itself.

I've heard fish would eat the roots but michiganGardener on youtube said he didn't have a problem with that.

Is he MIGardener? Because that's where I got the idea of growing on top of the fish tank itself and his seem fine.

Yah that's the guy. I would have said that it would be a potential problem waiting to happen. Your call. Post results.

general rule of thumb is 1 fish to every 25litres of wet gravel so your looking about 3 fish max hope that helps


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Quite a few species of fish will nibble at the root systems,goldfish,koi,tilapia to name a few..

For the free solar panels, this website is pretty good: http://ashadegreener.co.uk/

I don't know any fibreglass growbeds but I'm using the Cement Mixing Trays from homebase, £18.49 each. Made from plastic and is 60 L (6" deep).

PS I wouldn't go for the Solar panels if u're going to move in the next few years, or even considering it, because they can apparently be a pain to sort out when moving (it's a contract with the company that provided them so the new owners of the home may not want it).

Anyone know where I can get a powerful rechargeable battery? It would be probably quite large and that continues to get charged during the day by a small wind turbine and then releases the power to run the pump and light through the whole day (day and night).

Hi AquaDavid
There is a good thread on this site about off grid power options Katali. Try Googling Alpha Batteries.
E bay UK has “ water troughs” 40l and 90l. (Multitubs) I have just ordered one of the 40l 71*30*30 £14 delivered to trial.
If you are going to use batteries plan on buying two.
Titus

Thanks