Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello everybody, im zen and i am into aquaponics gardening. I have a few basic questions about my aquaponics project and could use some friendly advice. How about you let me know how your projects are working for you. Thanks.

First question: Does it matter how far you space out your holes (for media pots) when drilling into pvc? I assumed 3 in spacing between each 2in diameter hole, so every five inches? Does that work well for tomato plants? Or should you allow more space? I am utilizing gravity by running 4in diameter pvc from two 6ft 4×4s with 8 feet in between each. Very basic... Any advice?

Second question: I have two 65 gal barrels that i plan to fill with koi. How many should I use for each? I read that 10-15 are a good start? Each barrel will feed 80 plants. What is good fish/plant ratio?

@mochajujubee - Hi Zen, welcome to the forum. Please read the IBCofaquaponics as well as the often repeated rules of thumb linked below.

http://ibcofaquaponics.com/
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6646

Regards

If you're planning on growing tomatoes in the 4 inch diameter pipe you'll have problems with the roots plugging up the pipes. Lettuce, strawberries, and other plants with smaller root systems should do OK but not tomatoes. Adding a media bed will let you grow tomatoes. Another way to grow them would be using a self watering rain gutter garden with 5 gallon buckets. This thread has part of my system and includes a few pics of the self watering rain gutter garden I built http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=13622&p=348492&hilit=bucket#p348492.

If you search for Larry Hall and Self watering rain gutter garden you'll find lots of examples. I don't recommend the blue Lowes buckets they only lasted about 2 years before they became brittle, a white bucket might work better.