Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

this forum seems like a great place to get some info. I am very interested and would like to at some point have and aquaponic system. One concern of mine is the faily cold climate. How do people normally deal with this. A green house or do you just do it seasonally?

Thanks

Welcome Jake! There are many members on here with systems in cold climates, and many ways of approaching the problem. Some people have greenhouses, others have indoor or basement systems with supplementary lighting etc. If you look through the members' threads for people in similar climates to yourself, you might find some ideas that suit your particular situation.

Thanks, in the short time that I've been on the fourm, I have already learned alot.

hey im building one in mn right now so its pretty cool should be done in a few weeks heres my thread.
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=15039

looks cool thanks

Hey are you Jake the Snake?

I was occasonally called that in high school

Welcome Jake,

Some people also have their system outside in the warmer months and then move their fish into the basement in the cooler months. Might as well take advantage of the sun shining while you can

I was woundering if i could do it permanently outside. I could use a water heater to keep the water warm enough form freezing, and since I obviously woundn't be growing any plants, mabey I could put in trays of zebra musses into the tank to remove nutrients from the water. would this work?

I think it could be done but in your climate it would be tough. Here are some ideas

Insulate well and cover both fish tank and growbeds in Winter

Pick a spot out of the Wind but with full sun (it needs to be useable in Summer though)

Use solar energy to heat
Convert growbeds to solar water heaters in winter (small hoop tunnel over black plastic with water flowing
across it is one thought or maybe a pool heater inside small hoop tunnel or above fish tank on a South
facing wall)
Find a way to store and slowly release heat to the fish tank

Use short pipe runs so water won't freeze in the pipes. Probably best to have GB's part way on Fish Tank

Use warm water fish that won't eat much during the Winter so there will be less need to feed and less Ammonia and Nitrites. Bluegill and Catfish maybe?

Very low fish stocking levels in Winter.

Last idea is to build a solar style greenhouse similar to ZsaZsa's but then it would be inside

Might get really expensive paying to heat the water if you don't use solar.