Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

how small of a system can you do and still have edible fish? i would love to do a one barrell system. But i know thats not feasible. Im looking at bluegill for fish. ive done a ton of reading and i am very new. i will be doing a one barrell system to prove to my wife that this will work. Please be gentle.
thanks Nick

G'day diver

Just do it to show yourself and your wife it does work

do it!
it can work!

make it happen

You could probably grow 2-3 bluegill in a single barrel system.

what would the masses use for a small system with edible fish

A 55 gallon barrel is probably as small as you should go for edible fish, anything smaller would probably stunt and stress them.

Also besides barrels and IBCs you can also use stock tanks that come in 100/150/300 gallon sizes (check your craigslist for deals as they do cost a bit).

Welcome, you saw my 10 gallon startup system. I now have a 200 gallon IBC tote with 20 make that 18 catfish. Can't tel you what a pain it is to rinse rock. I used Lava rock, clay pebbles and seemed to take forever. I was looking into Bluegill, but the fish person said they don't take well to pellets so I went with catfish. check your local conservation district office for fish sales or a contact to purcahse from. Anyways you might need 2 55 gal drums for you system, one tank one split in halt for the grow beds. I am learning a lot. - craigslist in champaign urbana has someone in Sidney giving 55 gal drums away, but he did not say what they were used for. My system is still very new to cycling no ammonia, no nitrates ph is around 8. I plan on posting pictures of my larger system soon.

The reason people do not really talk about how small you can go is because smaller is harder. It is more susceptible to temp, ph, ammonia, and nitrite swings. Having more water volume will be easier to maintain. If there is room for a barrel system, an IBC system might fit too. Of course if all you can fit is a single barrel system, by all means, do it.

the single barrel will be an indoor setup. i am woried about our summers and winters here on a outdoor system. i under stand the bigger the easyer when it comes to fish ive got a 130 gallon tank so the fish part of this isnt new to me its use the garden for a filter part that has a little worried

A single IBC system has only 1sq metre footprint and you could grow 6-8 fish out to maturity in one with a 300L growbed