Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

A joy i will hopefully know one day

Question:

When properly set up and geared for maximum food production...how many pounds of fish and how many pounds of vegetables will you be able to produce every 6 months with a set up like that?

Hey Diego, I would expect it to be able to produce very heavily. 50kg of fish should be easy to produce in 6 months if the fingerlings are a reasonable size.. The plant side of things depends on how well you manage it I got over 30kg of tomatoes from one plant in 1 bed, so you should be able to get at least 120kg of tomatoes in 6 months from 4 beds..

And to follow up on that, any idea what it would it take to feed a family of 4.

As in, could you have a set up like that plus a planted garden - could you easily product 90% of your food needs?

The perfect diet consists of about 200g of bread, 200g of pasta/rice/potatoes/beans, 200g of other veggies, two pieces of fruit and 100g of meat or fish a day. For children you can roughly half that.

So two adults and two children, in 1 year would mean:
-200-250kg of bread
-200-250kg of potatoes/beans (if you want to supply most of your own food)
-200-250kg of veggies
-100-150kg of fish (if you want to supply most of your own food)
-2000-3000 pieces of fruit
Also:
-30kg of cheese
-30-50kg of butter
And:
-2000-3000l of water, milk or other drinks

You should be able to supply your own veggies, fish, beans and potatoes (soil-based).

The bread would be difficult, and just fish and no meat gets pretty boring after some time. Depending on your climate fruits could be difficult as well. Especially if you don't want to drink water all the time it would be nice if you could grow fruits yourself. You could get a cow or goat, they will produce enough milk for an entire family (and you could possibly make butter and cheese as well).

Great info, thanks Thomas..

If you find a good source of grain, you can grow grass (wheat, barley, oats) to feed the goat and pig and maybe a lamb or two. The grain can also be ground for your bread.

One pig will provide on going bacon, chops, etc. all year long (very efficiently and productive), and the goat will provide plenty of milk and cheese, Kefir, pastries, etc., lamb is always a nice change in meat (just not the most productive).

I am beginning to experiment with Amaranth as a grain to sprout, grow out, and grind. It is very nutritious and fast growing. The seeds are a great replacement for the more common flour meals, and the other animals eat the rest of the plant joyfully.

All that being said, in order to supply the food a bit more completely for your systems Joel (and to keep this on topic), you need to throw in a goat and a pig.

And a grain field, a potato field, and a couple of fruit trees. And a vermicomposting toilet unit to feed whatever you're growing in the soil, and also to feed whatever plants feeds the animals.

In the end you'll have to put as much nutrients back into your AP/goat&pig/soil system as you take out.

any update pics on the growth in this system?

Not at the moment skygazer, I'm hoping to go and see her sometime in the next few months, I'll get some pics when I do and update this thread..