Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Looks like Home Depot is going to start selling AP systems pretty soon. The Wall Street Journal of all places had a story:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124520179044721607.html

They'll be selling systems from Earth Solutions:
http://www.earthsolutions.com/Farm-in-B ... c_214.html

(sorry if someone posted this already. A search didn't turn it up and I'm waaaaaaay behind )

Looks like a positive development for AP in general. I'm going to be giving them a call tomorrow as they are about 7 minutes down the road from me.

It's good that there is more interest in Aquaponics. I just hope the instructions that are supposed to come with those systems are really good. There is more to aquaponics than simply putting together the parts and adding water, fish and fish food.

People need to be careful to let the systems cycle properly. Tons of people going out and buying these systems and then killing their fish will not help so much.

Yes. this publicity is a double edged sword. Short term, any publicity is good publicity, but the failure to run the systems properly may give AP a bad rep.

Had a look at the earthsolutions site and on their bigger system the gravel beds have a sprinkler effect happening. Will grow algae beautifully all over the gravel if they don't angle those holes down. Given that this photo is on the system makers own site, it casts doubt on their AP abilities ...............

Had a look at the site.... and what can I say... well frankly... nothing positive...

Quite a coup for them to get a major chain like Home Depot to list the product...

But frankly, in terms of public awareness and advancment of aquaponics... I think this will be an unmitigated disaster...

To me ... they smack of another "lets jump on a popular thing and make money" type of attitude...

The site shows that aquaponics is not their main line of business and has only recently become a line of their business...

The systems show little, or no practical understanding of aquaponic systems... and frankly really poor results....

The fish tanks look either empty or drained down when the pump is on, the vegetable growth is almost non-existant, design implementation wrong... and frankly I think the photos have been "dummied up" by turning the pump/water on....

I think he's taken concepts of squre foot gardening and read something about aquaponics... and thrown it together...

Another "get rich quick" merchant IMO... who will do nothing but harm to the development of aquaponics within the public domain..

I dont thinks its a good thing at all when a money hungy corp gets involved. They will always sell the cheapest product, offer no support. This could ruin the AP idea with the masses Further it kills the profit in the business for people who need to make more in order to offer service and compensate for low sales volume.

$250 for a 10 gal FT system is hardly the cheapest price

It could spawn a new service industry

These systems seem on the order of the little aerogarden hydroponics thing you can have on your kitchen counter to grow herbs. Yea, it can kinda work but it is likely to get packed away after the first crop.

Actually, the aquarium ones are actually kinda a neat idea to allow some on to keep an aquarium without having to change water so much. Then again, people who like to keep aquariums are likely to know enough to build an even better system on their own since ya really want to keep the water level in a nice display aquarium pretty constant so a sump would be in order.

What is sad about these, looking at them, it really looks like pond liner in wood frames and then a pump, a timer, some plumbing parts and a fish tank. I don't think most of these packages are really pre-built but more like kits.

On the San Antonio description:



Wonder what's unique enough for it to be patented?

If the legs holding up the beds are really just wood then they look exceedingly flimsy.

Their Farm in a Box - Phoenix the biggest one that sells for $2495 and has a 200 gallon fish tank only has a 4 foot by 2.5 foot gravel bed. I'm guessing that will only give perhaps 70 gallons of gravel if it is a foot deep and filled to the brim and flooded pretty close to the top.

If growing fish out to say 1 lb each for eating, one should not grow more than about 16 fish in that system without adding a considerable amount of solids filtration and perhaps some extra bio-filtration as well.
It would be far cheaper to build a barrel ponics system and add a better fish tank than the sideways barrel fish tank. A barrel ponics system will easily support at least 12 adult tilapia just fine if you have a better fish tank for them than the barrel. I know because I currently have 12 adult tilapia living in what was originally supposed to be the duckweed tank attached to my barrel system. They have been breeding very well and I've been harvesting babies out of that system regularly. I have estimated that if one buys $15 barrels and all new stuff from lowes and bagged river rock to build a barrel ponics system, it will cost under $300 and you will have left over pipe and stuff. Spend a little extra on a better container for the fish tank or use the barrel fish tank as a "sump" and hook up another container as the better fish tank and you have a really nice system for a dozen fish.

These Earth Solutions systems definitely don't have enough filtration to handle more than say, aquarium stocking densities.

I agree that the legs and supports on their systems look pretty whimpy for what they are supposed to do.

I think the patented part of their ebb and flow system is some sort of trickle valve they mention. If it is actually patented or not I don't know. It appears that they are "Three - Ebb and Flow Trickle Valves™" Trade marked which is not the same as patented.

Patented bullshit and flim-flam.... next they'll be claiming to have invented "Aquaponics"...

The water distribution in one of the systems... is the piece of hose that's attached to the pump... stuck up through the growbed drain... and pouring water out like a hose tapped to a stick... FFS...

Now for those who really want to buy a kit system here in the USA, I would recommend this site
http://www.aquaponicsusa.com/Aquaponics_-_Aquaponics_America_-_Aquaponics_Canada_-_Aquaponics_USA.html
before those earth solutions systems. However, I think people would be far better off doing some research and building their own before either of those options.

Unless you live within say an hour or two drive of the company providing the kits, the customer service isn't gonna be of much use once you actually have fish and plants in. I think it is far better to know more about what you are doing than to have some fancy looking kit. Now over there is OZ you guys have Joel and Rupert and a few others in certain areas that can come out and help. Here in Central FL, if some one wants to spend an arm and a leg, they could buy kits from Aquatic Eco or Morningstar but those are floating raft systems that require solids removal/cleaning but at least Aquatic Eco and Morningstar might be able to provide some support.
Buying from a big box store.......... Where is the support gonna come from there? Heck, when I go into those stores, I spend almost as much time providing assistance to the other customers and the staff as I do finding things for myself.

Sigh...........

Maybe one day soon... they'll be a seller of aquaponics kits endorsed by BYAP in America...