Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I was wondering if anyone successfully set up an aquaponics system that needed zero additional resources after its establishment. What I mean to say is, the owner is pay nothing to maintain the operating status of the system.

• No purchasing of electric from the local power grid.
• No purchasing of plants from local nurseries.
• No purchasing of feed for the fish.
• No purchasing of fish from a nursery.

I'm looking for someone who has experience with this type of system. I am planning on setting up such a system, more then one actually, and I want to know if I am missing anything.



I plan to dig about a yard down into the soil, establish a concrete base and install electrical radiant heat into the cement floor. Then, I am going to cover the semi-basement level space with a steel garage to insulate the space for winter growth. Now combined with the entrenchment of the space; the electric radiant heating embedded in the cement; and the steel shed, I imagine a good healthy atmosphere can be maintained even in the winter years.

Now, to top all of that off, I plan to run solar lighting in the centre of the roof and install solar panels on either side of the solar lighting inputs. Given as most sump pumps as DC, there is no need to convert the power and because of the small voltage, I can use the solar panels to power the radiant heating and the pumps.

Lighting will not be an issue provided I have enough solar lighting in place on the roof.

Be interesting to follow this , personally dont think its possible but would be quite happy to be proven wrong . totally free food , would like that .

Not possible if you want to take plants or fish out of the system, you need to have a counter input somewhere to replace what you are removing. But good luck

breeding fish = extremely difficult

Not buying seedlings = doable

Good luck, its the way of the future for sure

For those that are lucky enough to grow fish species that happily breed in AP tanks, it could be possible, storing seed from veg to plant again the following year. Solar power?? what about in winter?

I've thought about it a fair bit and its fairly possible with the right equipment and conditions.

tilapia. self breeding
solar and wind generators with batteries
DC converter is a must for a good quality pump

grow lots of duckweed, soldier fly larve, worms etc and you would get darn close I reacon

I think you might want to do a bit of rethinking there with many points... See the thing is, there's no reason why you can't do all of those things you have mentioned, it is all possible, butt... Some of the things you have mentioned are extremely inefficient, like converting solar into electrical power then using the power to heat, etc...

You will spend a fortune building it, and get very, very little output.. But keep researching, check out zsazsa thread for a solar greenhouse.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=9276

I would have to say that it is possible but not in a single suburban backyard. Perhaps with a group (or a community) it could be done.

Being off the grid is an ideal that is not easy to achieve. Having energy efficient designs would be imperative. Using air-lift pumps are efficient for example. Electric radiant heat however, is not.

Electric radiant heat is not efficient to operate, and that in itself would probably preclude easily being off the grid in an area that has cold winters unless generators are used, or some huge number of solar panels. Even then, Heating and cooking with electricity is not done by folks that are "off the grid" due to the unsustainable amount of electricity required to run. Also, the light levels acheived using "solar lighting" (assuming LEDs light tubes, passive lighting), really would not be sufficiently intense for many types of plants. LED arrays are not cheap either, and quite a few would be required to suppliment the natural light in winter. The photo-period in the winter is too short to rely on the sun for growing most plants or electricity generation I would expect.

Given the reduced light in the winter in New Jersey, you would not get enough return on the solar to even come close to using radiant heating in the floor. Your best bet would be using something like a wood pellet furnace for heating the water.

Tilapia are probably the one of the better bets for fish in a self-contained system, as they can exist on plant based feed. They are however a warmer climate fish, and probably wouldn't thrive in that environment (if they are allowed in the state, as they are considered noxious typically). Carp can do ok with plant fodder too. Both of these fish, in the right conditions can breed easily as well. I believe however, that for carp to breed, they have to go through a period of colder temperatures too.

So, while it might be possible, the cost would be extreme.

Sounds suspiciously like you are setting up a grow-op.

Grow op? What's that, and why is it naughty?

I'm setting up a bunch of these systems to provide free food to the public in that area. I bought a bunch of empty lots around the city and I'm going to put off-grid aquaponics on all of these locations. If I produce enough of these, there will be no real reason in which to work, unless you want the finer things in life. If food is free, there will be no such thing as poverty, war, or any of the motivations for these types of things.

I think I will look into magnetic power generators for power. I can not stress enough the need for it to be off grid.

It's either capital costs or running costs, there is no free lunch. I.e. windmills and solar panels and batteries and regulators will probably cost more than just running an extension cord and paying a monthly electric bill. Same for tight and sturdy insulation to hold in stored solar heat, more good structure to save energy costs more money up front.

Earth ships !! I see a thread like this and I think earth ship........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9jdIm7grCY

Talk to your local natural energy shop, tell them how much power your requiring, and they will give the costings to solar or wind, which ever you prefer

I still want an earth ship

Earth ships are all very well, but that is a passive form of living. Unfortunately AP does not meet those requirements. Especially if you are planning on using a fish such as Tilapia.

You will need a lot of extra heat as input to the system. Now a wood fired boiler has been suggested. Nice idea... except how are you going to heat the water. You can't have metal in the system because it's toxic to the fish. I suppose you could create some form of solid mass thermal store and exchange system. But that is not very efficient at all. But might be worth a shot.

Then there is the pumping of the water. Insulation for the water (and plants if you want to stick them in an earth ship, it's going to have to be pretty well built). The actual location, weather patterns, water and sunlight availability etc will all have to be taken into consideration. All in all the costs for doing this just don't seem to add up. You might as well stick to conventional gardening.

AP is not a low energy growing medium. Fortunately it *IS* low enough that it can be sustained at a pretty reasonable cost.

I would love to be proved wrong in this as it's a worth while dream. But I fear it will remain a dream until extensive research has been made.

That's why I came on here. I needed the sceptic motivation... To all the sceptics, I recommend you check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2afuTvUzBQ ...and that's where you'll be thirty years from now.

As for me, I'm talking to a solar specialist now in my area to find out if solar is a good medium to power pumps and electric heating. Just because the initial cost could be high (though I doubt it), does not mean that it is not worth it. The whole reason behind aquaponics is that it pays for itself. I am merely advancing this technology to its inevitable end.

Also, I might add that if I were not in winter climate and somewhere with more light, then indeed it would be easy to set something of this nature up. I would not be surprised if people in this forum are already considering doing something of this nature. Let me know your progress...

As for research, I think the reason we are not living on the Moon or Mars yet is because we are so focused on forming enough "research" to make the general public believe in our point of view, as if the ordinary wage slave with the PH.D in pop culture could give a professional opinion about what you devoted your life to. Preposterous

Ahh.... like the perpetual motion machine, ignore the laws of physics and incorrect assumptions will be made.