Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello guys I'm new into Aquaponics and I'm thinking into doing and Home small aquarium Im not sure exactly what I want to buy since I am new in this, but I would like to know around how much money Im going to have to spend in this? I read some stuff about the financial aspect of aquaponics home-aquaponics.net/the-financial-aspect-of-aquaponic-farming but I would like to know some of your personal opinion thanks

One of the advantages of a small system is that you can use readily available parts, which will reduce the costs. As you scale up, things get harder to find and more expensive. My setup cost me about $600, but I could have done an IBC setup for a lot less. The experience I have now helps me understand what I can do better next time around (double IBC CHOP, baby!)

What I'm saying is try to find stuff to use and post it here to get input. If you have a small aquarium, you can get a rubbermaid tote as a grow bed, a bag of hydroton, some PVC and maybe some scrap lumber and zip ties for support. This would build a really simple flood and drain or constant flood system with the hydroton being the most expensive part. There are a lot of hydroponics places around Phoenix that sell hydroton for about $1 per liter. You can find it online cheaper but the shipping will eat you alive.

What part of the valley are you in?

If cost is a concern, certainly there is a lot of opportunity to use recycled material to build your system. Not everything has to be new and off the shelf. That being said, I think the single most expensive component in my system was probably the pump itself.

The only comment I would add is that by using a larger water volume, your system tends to be inherently more stable, and therefore more tolerant to any abnormal situations that might crop up.

That being said, there a plenty of small systems running today. This thread has examples of small systems.

In many ways, aquaponics is all about (finding and maintaining) balance. And that applies equally to the size and design of any system.