Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Greeting all

We are well behind you trailblazers in Oz and the States but hopefully we will bring this small island screaming in to 21st century sustainable food production. Our climate is obviously very different (even if half the country is in 'drought') and I think without greenhouses we are only ever going to be part-timers but I am totally converted to aquaponics with what I have seen already.

I have over thirty years experience of fish keeping and been growing my own vegetables for the last eight years but still regard myself a novice and am eager to learn. In fact I've been reading this and other sites almost non-stop for the past 5 days. It will be too late to achieve much for this summer but hopefully that will give me plenty of time to plan and prepare for next year. I will be doing this on a shoestring so the time will help financially. I'd like to create a viable and easily reproducible system within the reach of the people that will benefit from it the most, those on low or supported incomes.

Already have rainwater harvesting and worm farms under way. Will probably start with an indoor system with goldies or mirror carp (as they can pump out quite some gunk) and it will be a very useful education. Currently not many of the family eat fish (but hopefully that will change ) . I may try setting up an outdoor system to keep/grow on koi and a few carp for the plate, although perch and trout are tempting... Getting ahead of myself as usual but that is due to the vibe from this site and the infectious enthusiasm it exudes! So not a bad thing really.

So, I will read and read and read and read. Cogitate and contemplate. Then plan and re-plan again before I try killing any harmless fish and/or veg. From what I have seen so far you peeps will help as much as you can as you seem very tolerant of questions from newbies...

Always remember - there are no stupid questions, just stupid people.

Looking forward to the challenge and the journey.
Regards

Mark -

Welcome to the forum Mark. We aim to keep fish safe until the appropriate time and the deal with them in a way befitting incusion in a seafood cookery book, yeah! We lurve photos, before, during and after.

WOW .. nice goals there Mark
love it
and definately as Faye said PICS
I've just found this forum and already have changed the way I am planning to do things
I definitely know i post alot of pics as i do things permaculture wise:)
hehe
Have had friends ask why, and all I say is, I love what I am doing and IF my photos of what I am doing inspires just one person to get into permaculture then I am happy

Lol,One of my children asked my mum yesterday, "Do you think it is wierd that mum (Faye) takes photos of her food"? I had just taken a photo of the bread and butter custard that had come out of the oven. Oh it looked devine, and I was inspired to cook it after seeing someones photo the week before. But yep, my mum did think it strange and even stranger when I said I'd have it on the interenet by the afternoon. It wasn't as good as my dad makes it though, and the egg custard brought back memories of good old fashioned baked egg custard. You don't seem to get that now. I'll get out of here now and leave you get back to the topic at hand, aquaponics

Good morning Space wizard

Welcome to BYAP and we know you will get very good guidance on this site from experienced AP's around the world.

There are a quite a few Brits doing AP now,which is very refreshing but things are a bit slow here and the weather has a lot to do with it. To get going all through the year will require some sort of covered system and then you can extend harvesting time for both fish and plants.

Carp are a good option and they are less fiddly than trout. Ours have grown from fingerlings and next year we will be selling (and eating) mirror and common carp and in a year or two our perch will join the menu. Start small with AP just to get the feel of it. As you have wide experience you should avoid the pitfalls that a real newbie would encounter.

Good luck.

WD and OH.

Good to see you Mark....

Thanks for the welcome folks.

@Faye - Isn't aquaponics all about food really? So don't feel too guilty. (I think you can get therapy for the exhibitionism though. )

@Darren - It's a goal that may take some time but a worthwhile one I think. Would be nice to get grass-roots interest up and running before it becomes too trendy and the big businesses take it over. (Although there is nothing wrong with making a little money @EB @rupe et al )

@ WD and OH - Bore da. Thanks for the tips. I'm on the west coast of Cumbria so your experience could well be invaluable to try and stop me making silly mistakes. Nearly bought some ghost koi (koi x mirror carp for those that are not aware) yesterday as I know they are tough and good growers but I decided not to be too impetuous... How is the beautiful Ynys Mon? Many years since I've been across the Menai. Used to have a friend near Llanfachraeth but not been back since he died.

Is there a Euro and/or UK 'chapter'/mail list? I am aware that most ap truths are global but climate isn't and as we are surely trying to work with nature rather than against it, 'local' knowledge will be invaluable. The more information I can get my eyes on, the better!

Mark

hi and welcome
hopefully it wont be long before the interest in aquaponics starts in the uk
there are already a few sites in the uk that are selling systems so maybe you can get some ideas from their sites about pricing and such.