Does anyone have an aquaponics system?

[carnivore]

A lot of "sweat equity" involved, and surprisingly little money!

 

[Syl in Tucson]

I hear you. My system is MUCH smaller and seems to take up a huge amount of time. I'm hoping to start reaping the benefits soon.

 

[carnivore]

I have a couple raised bed square foot gardens outside the greenhouse and some potted plants in the yard that need daily watering. Other than that, I feed the fish twice a day, and otherwise, just let it grow. All the work is in the initial setup. Unfortunately, I may be moving soon, and will have to tear it all down and move it. On the bright side, the new place is a much larger house on 2 acres, so I will have plenty of room for gardening and raising chickens, and maybe even a goat or 2.

 

[Syl in Tucson]

Very nice. Most of my headache involves figuring everything out. I finally learned the art of "just do it." It has a way of coming together thru trial and error.

 

[carnivore]

Don't over think it, it is actually pretty easy. All my grow beds are gravity feed off the fishtanks, and from the grow beds to the sump. There are 2 800gph submersible pumps in the sump tank, each one feeds one fish tank. I also have 2 air pumps (1 for each fish tank) hooked to 8" round air stones. This keeps everything well oxygenated. Pumping 800gph into each fish tank forces them to overflow into the grow beds.
You should check out the Tucson Aquaponics Society, they meet once a month at the U of A Agricultural center. Unfortunately, this months meeting was last Tuesday. You should also check out EcoGrow at St. Mary's and the freeway. These guys are very helpful and have any supplies you might need.

 

[Syl in Tucson]

My tilapia at Ecogrow. Very nice people. At this point I have 12 tilapia in a 55 gal stock tank. The water is pumped into my grow beds and filters thru the gravel and back into the tank. I can also use the hose to water the small garden bed on the ground. As a person with a certified brown thumb, I'm not doing too bad this year. I'm sure next year will prove to be more fruitful.
Living in town, my space is limited, but I hope to expand on what I'm up to.

 

[carnivore]

My problem is that I planted too much! In the pics above, see that nice center walkway? Impassable now due to wildly growing tomato plants. Will download some current pics tonight when I get to work

 

[carnivore]

OK, here's some more recent pics. Might have to invest in a machete!

 

[Syl in Tucson]

HOLY COW! And here I was..so proud of my veggie omelet this morning.
I think your tilapia have more living space than I do!
Good job !

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Looks great carnivore!