Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm so grateful to have found this forum.I have so many questions as I am just getting started in the world of aquaponics.I'm a pretty good gardener and have had a beautiful garden pond in the past but this is the first time I've ever tried to put the two together.I have a very large metal building here on my lake side country property that I am converting into the greenhouse and I am planning a (Chop/PISTsystem that can be converted to solar later however I am also an artist and the aesthetics of this system is very important to me.OH I also need this to be handicap acessable ..I'm just getting started with the design and wounder why waterfalls are not included in more design systems?

Hi.

Waterfalls are included in a few systems, particularly the systems which are biased more towards to being "water features" which provide food. Waterfalls can provide excellent aeration, but in order to drop water, you must first lift it higher and this can be an expensive inefficiency. In an old system configuration, I had a waterfall which could be bypassed (standard configuration) or brought online and lit at night, but when the waterfall was flowing, this doubled the head height and increased the work of the pump and reduced the system flow. Get the design right and a waterfall can be a great addition to your system.

Handicap accessible? If you're going to design a wheel-chair accessible system, don't just think about of the height of the system components from the ground but think about the reach of the person into those components and the plant selection (planting a climbing tomato into the middle of a GB can be problematic for the chaired gardener as they'll have troubles reaching to harvest the fruit. You might consider "supplementing" the design, perhaps with dutch-pots, wicking beds etc.

Thank you !! I have included Dutch pots in my system plans however I've yet to research wicking beds.ill do that asap..Once again I'm so very grateful for this wonderful resource.