Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello, everyone. Its nice to finally join the community. I've been reading this and other aquaponics sites for about two years now, have read the IBCs of Aquaponics, and in general have done a lot of research before deciding to jump in and get started.

Living in the Pacific Northwest, USA, we dont have the kind of climate suitable for year-round outdoor growing, so we've decided to start small with an indoor system. My wife surprised me this morning with the funds to finally get going.

I'm starting with a 100 gallon acrylic aquarium sitting on a 36 inch raised cabinet. The plan, so far anyway, is to cycle the water through to an adjacent heavy utility cabinet with four shelves, each holding a grow bed with suspended LED grow lights, down to a sump catch at the bottom for return to the fish tank. That's the general plan for now at least. We'll probably begin the system with just goldfish for now, but being indoors where we can control the water temperature easier, we goal is to graduate to talapia eventually.

I found the aquarium used on Craigslist, and will be going out to look at it (and hopefully pick it up) in two days, after which my adventure will officially start.

Excited to be here and to meet you all!

A.W.
Oregon, USA

Welcome A.W.! I guess the grass is always greener, because sometimes I wish I had the climate for trout! Some vegetables do just fine in the cold, so they can pair well with trout growing. An indoor system is cool too, you have more control over your growing conditions, at the cost of more power consumption due to the grow lights. I have far off plans to build a nursery system by my patio glass door.