Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hey there...just joined the forum. i am new to this...actually, i am just in the research phase of developing my own aquaponic system in the basement of my home. i will need advice on literally every aspect of this. for now, i am just enjoying all the research. i do have a fair amount of experience keeping fish but am very excited to combine this with gardening...and growing fish and veggies for the table.

i will save all my questions for future threads. for now, just wanted to say hello.

Hi and welcome! Enjoy your research, and be sure to start a member's thread - with lots of pics - when you are ready :-)


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is your basement heated? i just harvested 50 fish from my basement system, and put 100 fillets in the freezer.. i'm not growing any fruiting veggies, but i've had success with quite a few leafy greens
my biggest problem is a low ceiling, i use half totes for growbeds, because i wanted lots of filtration.. i use 32 watt t8 "shop lights" - 2 bulb fixtures were about 12 bucks at wally world
i'm using an 8' intex pool for the ft, it's served well for 3 + years now, but my next big project is to build a rectangular ft to better utilize the space i have
good luck, take lots of pic's and research.. download the "IBCofAquaponics" pdf from the top of this page

Welcome and enjoy.

my basement is not heated. the temp in the summer probably is max about 70 F and in the winter it probably gets down to 40F. I am going to end up buying parts of the system piece by piece. im thinking the fish tank part would be 100-150 gallons, but I am still not sure. As for species, I am thinking about fish that exist locally...perhaps bluegills or yellow perch. From what I have read, those are popular fish to use in an aquaponics system. I am not sure of the tank requirements to raise them, though, if 100-150 gallons would be sufficient.