Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

yes

I'd say a planted aquarium technically is aquaponics of a sort.

thanks for the replies

i have another question : will the aquatic plants compete with plants that im growing for nutrients? are fertilizers for aquatic plants and vegetable the same? will aquatic plant fertilizers affect vegetables?

in theory its basically the same but with naturally planted aquaria the fish load is far less than in ap.This may result in algae probs for aq plants as they must have light to grow.
the other issue would be the gravel bed which the aq plants grow in,gravel beds in ap can be a problem
aq plants fertilisers are no problem but would end up pricey with dosing ap system
chees
Byron

sorry but how could the gravel bed in fish tank be a problem for aquaponics?

it collects waist and is harder to maintain then then bare bottom.

I've heard of planted aquarium systems where the planted aquarium is actually a separate tank from the fish tank, something like that would be very much like aquaponics.

the thing about gravel in the bottom of an aquarium being a problem has mainly to do with maintenance. It is generally for display purposes and if fish poo builds up in it it can cause problems so gravel vacuuming is still a chore you have to do if you have gravel in the bottom of a heavily stocked fish tank.

As to if the aquatic plants will complete with the veggies for nutrients, well yes they could. See aquaponics is all about balance. If you don't have that many fish and your planted aquarium is heavily planted to the point where the nitrates never build up and you don't have to do water changes at all, you may well not have enough nutrients left over to grow much veggies. If you were to add a veggie grow bed to the system you would likely need to stock more fish or feed them more or higher protein feed or pull out the aquarium plants. If your planted aquarium system still requires fairly frequent regular water changes to keep nitrates down, then you probably have enough nutrients to grow some veggies.

like ap systems planted aquaria are also about balance,if too much waste builds up around the base of the plants the water quality deteriates and the plants can rot or get covered in algae.Also the gravel bed can build up anaerobic spots.
i feel that that the feeding levels of the two systems are on completely different scales.
But before this would be an issue i reckon the algae would trash the plants due to light and nutrient combination,as a rule we try to keep fish tank dark in ap to reduce algae growth.
i suppose i should qualify above statement that if the ap system was just a couple of basil plants on top of the fish tank in the living room then it would be ok
cheers
Byron

thanks everyone for ur replies!

i already have lightning fixtures, gravel and everything in the tank now and a driftwood soaking i guess i will just wait and see! if it doesnt work properly and start making algae i can still remove everything. would a UV clarifier help to keep the water clean in this case?

also, have anyone here ever tried making their own seaweed extract? i live near to the beach and i can go clean the beach and have tons of them easily! im just not sure how to make it because of the high salt content.