Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey!

So I joined the forum a while ago and simply introduced myself. I was living in a student flat in Paris and wasn't able to start anything. The space was small and the place was well, not healthy at all (moist). I moved back in my parents' home and will soon (hopefully) find my own (healthy) place to live, with a small backyard or at least enough space to do stuff.

So, I decided I would start my first tiny aquaponics system in my bedroom for now . I've been thinking about it for several weeks and have been gathering stuff I found here and there. I looked at some of my previous ideas which mainly involved Guppies and Tilapias, my boyfriend had also suggested Betta fishes because he previously owned some and they do not require much space. That looks like a plan:

Getting some betta males each in a 10 to 15L tank, then get a bigger tank for the females (maybe 60L for two females + the youngs?). Then when I have the means I will buy a nice tank where I can put the female bettas with some other fishes such as Guppies. If the tank is big enough I may even be able to insert a male Betta to regulate the Guppy population if need be. This third tank will be big enough to start something real, with a pump and all (I was thinking anywhere between 120 and 200L should do the trick?).

When that system comes to be I think I will have a nice backyard and all, so I will invest in a big enough tank to finally get my Tilapias (I was thinking of one of those big white tanks but I still have a lot of time to think about it, it's probably not happening in 2016 because it may take a few months and I won't start during the autumn/winter).

One of my main objectives for the first two tanks would be to build a tiny indoor greenhouse where the fishes would be happy and in which I can add my young Venus Fly-Trap flowers (I will plant the seeds around March). Do you think it could do the trick? The tanks would help keep the greenhouse wet and the greenhouse would keep everything warm. I read I will also need some UV light for all of them so it would be nice to have them together in the same place. What do you think?

I'm not sure about the fish and their minimum temperature or your winter low temperatures. I suspect that you'll have to provide some additional heat for these fish, even with a small greenhouse. If you have to do too much in the way of heating it can get expensive.