Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi every one. I started researching aquaponic over a year ago. I'm amazed at the concept. I've watched hundreds of virus I bet on YouTube. Before I wanted to practice with my fish tank but just have never done it due to the poor lighting in my house. I started my new job over six months ago and I noticed that we almost always have the.... IBC drums(I'm new so I'm not sure if that is the correct term for them). Everytime I saw them just sitting there I would always tell myself how much I would love to get my hands on a few of the. Well I was talking to my supervisor the other day and he told me that they were free to whoever wanted to haul them off. As soon as I heard this my mind started racing. My dream of operating a aquaponic system has suddenly sparked a fire in me. Now that I know I can get the containers for free, I can start buying tools for I have absolutely no power tools. I'm not wanting to rush into it this year..... I mean if I can get all the pieces of the puzzle together within the next two months then yeah I'll pull the trigger but I don't think it will be that easy for a novice like me. I have big plans with aquaponics. I own a commercial building that use to be a restaurant and I live in the apartment above it. I have absolutely no plans on ever opening a restaurant but the price for the building was just too good to pass up. I have this vision of turning the downstairs into a greenhouse/produce store. I live in a small town where everyone has small gardens. I think if I was to introduce aquaponics to everyone I think it would catch like wild fire. I want to be the first one to open people's eyes to it. I'm looking forward to learning from everyone and I'm so stoked a found an aquaponic forum. This is exactly what I needed!

Welcome! What a fantastic opportunity! Sounds like a great plan.

I would like to suggest that you build a small system (tote grow bed over a fish tank) to experiment and learn. You should be able to do this for less than $100 all told. You will be glad you did. Small systems are the best place to make the mistakes and learn without a lot of fear.

When you have questions ask away and good luck!

Thanks for responding back.

I do have a bottom part of a ferret cage that would make a good bed. I also have a 20 gallon tank. The only good window in my house that actually get a decent amount of sunlight only gets the sun at the end of the day.... I'm thinking a nice herb garden.

Yeah. That works. Anything to get the water flowing. After that you will chase issue after issue and that is the only way to learn.

You can usually find a old heat lamp shade at the thrift store then home depot sells a few different bulbs ranging from $4 to about $10 that will provide good supplemental light to your herbs.

I'm sure I could Google this but do you happen to have the knowledge of knowing which herbs can really make a room smell amazing? I know mint plants produce a really nice smell. Anything else that you may have experienced with?