Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello All!

I'm located about 2 hours SW of Chicago. I'm setting up a small system to experiment with in my basement but can expand as I have 1400 sq ft to play with. I just finished my research and can finally use my hard earned aquaculture permit. I've made my purchases and wanted to share with you how it will be set up. I welcome all criticisms and/or suggestions!

The parts:
100 gallon rubbermaid stock tank
16 square foot grow bed (6 inches deep) enclosed in 97% reflective mylar housing 4wx4dx7h (feet)
expanded clay
1200 gph magnetic drive pump with .75" tubing to run over grow beds
106 gph rena air pump for fish
1000 watt grow light system (air cooled)

[url]The Flora/Fauna[/url]
Tomato, pepper, mesclun, bush cucumber
150 rainbow trout fingerlings.

My Biggest Hurdle
Knowing how many fish to stock!

I've read that trout need water between 38 and 72 degrees Farenheit. This is good because my basement never gets above 65 and never below 40. My lighting system will be exhausted outside to prevent an increase in temperature. I've also read that trout need more oxygen that other fish in aquaculture, so I'm hoping the air pump will help. After reading many conflicting articles across the web, I've settled on 150 fingerlings to harvest at about .5 - .75 lbs. Thoughts?

I'm also having issues on sourcing trout feed in the states.

I'm very excited to start up the system, and look forward to "meeting" all of you!

Lisa

welcome to the fold.......

we all like pics.... looking forward to seeing how you set up your system...

jT

Sounds about right (fish density)... welcome aboard...