Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi everyone,

I am new to this i understand how the basic system works, but i have a few questions,

firstly roughly how much fish waste would i need to grow a certain amount of veg etc? (so 5grams needed for 1 tomato?).

second, does using aquaponics increase food growth times (veg herbs etc not fish)

does it have a affect on whether the system is in doors or out doors (providing indoor is exposed to sun light)?

And finally apart from aquaponics and just hydroponics are there any other eco food growing systems that basically do the same thing but in a different manor?

Thanks i hope you can understand my question sorry if they are unclear, any help would be appreciated.

Angelo

There is Aeroponics, which is a bit similar.

Hi Angelo.

With growth time, in ideal conditions, and by ideal I mean conditions that are almost impossible to produce naturally (perfect loamy soil, perfect moisture content, PH, perfect watering times, nutrients in soil, etc), they'll grow equally in the ground/in an AP system. The problem is that ideal conditions are extremely hard to produce in the ground. In AP, it's far closer, the plants are never water stressed, nutrients are at hand, and things will grow quicker.

Plants need light to grow, putting them in a sunny window is usually never enough for productive plants, they might get 4 hours in the morning if you're lucky, but that's not enough. And artificial lighting is expensive to run, very expensive. Putting it outside is far easier.

Fish waste is a harder question, there is no calculation like that. The fish produce ammonia through their gills as they breathe (which is turned into nitrogen (nitrate), and through their poop (but the solids also contain the micronutrients that the plants require, which is best left to break down in the system). So we point people towards stocking guidelines, so 1 fish per 25L of media. But it's a rule of thumb, I've been stocked under that, and had great growth in my system. Just realise, overstocking will cause other problems as well.

There are other methods like wicking beds, pee ponics, fog ponics, earthen beds.

Hi again,

Thanks for the responses, i have a few more questions.

Im look to make a small indoor system i was wondering basically with planting/seeds (herbs greens leafy) general tips, such has planting and replants space between plant pots. how i could integrate duckweed into the system? how beneficial is it and where does it go? a separate tank?

sorry if this doesnt make much sense,

oh finally ive heard things to do with Ph and emonia? how to regulate it what ph am i looking for etc.

thanks very much

angelo