Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Keep in mind that pure ammonia is really only useful in getting the nitrogen cycle up and running for fishless cycling.
Keep in mind that there is much more in fish food and fish waste than just ammonia so you would need to make sure to supply all the other necessary nutrients some how. All that ammonia will provide is nitrogen.

Now I've run Pee ponics and that seemed to provide for the plants very similarly to my regular aquaponics system. I had to add chelated iron in both systems and potassium seems to be limited in both situations so a pee ponics system could easily be run very similarly to aquaponics provided the yuck factor doesn't preclude it.

As to tilapia being a limiting factor in cold climates in winter. Well, I'm in Central Florida and I've decided that in a flood an drain system here, even in a greenhouse over winter, tilapia are not worth the trouble unless you already have some easy means of cheaply heating water. My plants actually did far better this past winter after I removed my greenhouse and grew seasonally appropriate plants and I'm growing native fish that can survive winters here (catfish and bluegill.)

Don't be so hung up on tilapia, the are not the only appropriate fish for aquaponics!!!!!!! Channel Catfish are really great for big systems where you can let them grow out large and if you are limited on space, bluegill seem to do fine in tanks that are smaller and say more appropriate to tilapia. And for those who insist they need tilapia so that they can breed their own stock, well I know people who have had bluegill breed in aquaponic swimming pools.

Yeah, I think I've decided to go with catfish instead of tilapia in my commercial system up here in the Frozen North. Problem is, I can't find any local suppliers right now. I can get them from the DNR, but only in the very early spring. If I buy them from down south, they won't have quite the cold tolerance that I want.