Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello,

I have recently been turned onto Aquaponics by some contacts that are looking to use these techniques to supply local markets and restaurants with high quality and delicious food.

I am in the information seeking mode:

What are you doing that works?
What doesn't work for you?
How can I create these systems quickly and efficiently?
What plants work best with which fish?
Which fish grow the strongest with which plants?
How can we grow food for the fish that in turn help other plants?
How to get a proper bacterial balance for the water?


Of course, I'll be finding this elsewhere here, but drop me a line if you like the kinds of questions I ask...or don't like them.

This forum should be a wealth of knowledge for me.

I'm stoked.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You will find most of the answers within this forum but Id suggest doing some major reading of systems and threads as your questions would take about a week to answer.

Good luck and happy reading.

thanks for the reminder, but I will make this clear:

I know this is the introductions forum.

thanks, Charlie!

Concerning growing fish food in the system, you can't get something from nothing, there needs to be an input. A lot of folks will grow duckweed and such, but you would probably want to maximize vegetable production. The stuff you can sell is what you want to grow. The fish feed is your input. There is nothing wrong with trying to reuse parts of the plants that don't sell as fish feed, but you will still need the bulk of the feed to come from an external source. Biopods are popular for reusing scraps to become fish food.

Concerning growing on a commercial level, we are waiting on seeing a setup that can sustain itself on the profits from selling it's produce alone. Most make their money by selling workshops. You will need to make sure that you can find a niche. That would mean growing plants that have a high selling price. That would also mean working without a middle man, as they will always try to find the lowest prices, and want high volume. The volumes that make economical sense are attainable with hydroponics, but have yet to be attained with Aquaponics. The thread that I have been watching is Howeling Moose Gardens. Everyone here wants to see Karen be successful. I believe she will be, but I'm sure she will tell you that it has been difficult.