Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Because my pool has a lot of surface space I was thinking of floating some plants on the surface. This would help shade the fish. What are the best methods of doing this. I've seen styrofoam used, is that stuff safe in the water. I like the idea of plastic containors with a wick system to get to the plants.

your plants will last about 0.5 seconds - fish will eat the roots.

I tried it with styrofoam rafts - too difficult to get the roots away from the fish.

I use one of those brocolli box filled with a basic potting mix (stuff without all the good stuff) and punch a few holes in the bottom. It floats around, the roots are always moist without being submerged and the roots don't get eaten. I've got Water Chestnuts in there at the moment.

derekh do they like still water?

From what I've read, Water Chestnuts are a marsh dweller not a water plant. I do have some submerged in a bathtub and they survive and grow. I only get small ones at the moment so I'm still experimenting to find ideal conditions.

All my auto pot have root mats in the bottom. This stops them from getting to the smart valve. As long as the pots only touch the water(10mmish) and there roots are restricted to the pot.

nocky does that - seems to work.