Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I just wanted to introduce myself and say what a great resource this forum is. I've been lurking for a while after stumbling upon Aquaponics in my search for information on hydroculture. My initial interest in becoming green fingered was to improve the air in my house, my research suggested that growing in water would reduce pest infestation and help with faster growth rates.

When I came across Aquaponics I was fascinated by the nature of the system and the whole idea of sustainable living. Unfortunately it seemed an impractical solution for someone with no outdoor space. Happily that is now changing as I am moving to a larger house in the next few weeks. It only has a small yard but this should be big enough for a reasonable sized system, maybe as large as 1000L.

I'm new to Aquaponics so I'll need to look at the various setups and immerse myself in research. As I develop my plans I'll post them for feedback.

The key factors I will need to take into account when developing my system are:

Season (All year round growing)
Volume (Significant proportion of the families needs - 4 people/2 cats)
Produce (Tomatoes, Onions, Cauliflower, Lettuce, Broccoli, Beetroot, Carrots, Potatoes, Strawberries, Various Herbs as well as a good turnover of indoor plants or flowers for hydroculture planting)
Closed System (I want this to be as self-sustaining as humanly possible, including energy needs, fish food, fish breeding etc)

I'm not sure that Aquaponics can meet these needs but that will be part of my research.

John

Looking forward to following your progress John and welcome to the forum! I guess that you know you will be asked to share your photos?
Rowena and Philip are in Wales, perhaps they will be able to give you some answers, they also run workshops. viewtopic.php?t=3528

Hi John,
Welcome!
Nice to have another UK AP enthusiast -there are a few around but not that many on the forum.
As Faye said - we do run workshops and our next two-day course is on the 12th and 13th March 2011.Details can be found on our website or you can pm with any questions.
If we cannot answer your questions -there will be someone on this forum with the knowledge and experience.
Rowena and Philip

Welcome to the forum from the deep south of Mississippi.

Thank you for the warm welcome.

WD once I'm further down the line I think it would be really useful to see what you guys are doing. I sat and went through your 24 page system thread - impressive.

For now I need to keep researching and focus on the objectives for the project. Having spent the past two days searching the web I have a general idea of the various methods and just need to ensure I can grow what I want, in the quantities I need, whilst overcoming the good old English weather.

The idea I have in my head at the moment involves a single 2000L fish reservoir and three 500L grow beds. At the moment I'm also considering losing one of the grow beds for a deep culture floating raft bed (sounds fun). I would also want to add a smaller water reservoir for duckweed.

I have very limited space and cannot move these indoors which means I need to control temperature, at least to the point of avoiding frost and freezing. I'm thinking cold water fish, Trout or Carp - and even considering Koi Carp for their resale value.

The fish reservoir will have to be above ground so insulation of the take with a wooden frame and insulation material will be a good start, maybe insulate all the PVC pipes.

If I create wooden growbed frames myself and line them I should also be able to insulate the bases and put some kind of square polytunnel on them which can be latched open for access.

If the insulation isn't enough to maintain a reasonable temperature then I might have to look at heat mats under the grow beds or slightly raising the water temp with a heater (I assume the heat provided will rise from the growbed and trap in the polytunnel).

All of this on a budget and as closed a system as possible.

I can highly recommend trout, as I reckon they are the most fun to keep. They are fast growing and taste wonderful smoked