A Small Aquaponic System

Although aquaponics can be a big deal, with costly and efficient facilities, it can also be as simple as a tank and some PVC piping. You can have most of this in every hardware store, you don’t need any special tools and some can even deliver everything to you doorstep. You can’t say you don’t have time.


In this system, I am using a NFT hydroponic installation. In case you don’t know, NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) is a pure hydroponic system (no substrate) that submerges the plant roots on a continuous flow of nutrient solution. You can do this with the PCV 4’’ pipe. In this case, there is no need to use nutrient solutions, since the water is already fertilized.

Since there is no substrate, this aquaponic system must rely on an external biological filter that will clear the ammonia in the water and turn it into nitrates. There are other aquaponic systems that use substrate as a biological filter, but this is not the case.

The piping is wrapped with newspaper to prevent sunlight on the roots. Although you can use paint, newspaper is a fair insulator, You can use other materials, but newspaper is a cheap one to get things going. The sun can really get things hot inside the pipe. Although plants can thrive on warm water, fish may suffer from that.

There are certain fish like tilapia that can live comfortably in warm water, but that depends on what you have. Aquaponics has more variables than pure hydroponics, but that’s the fun part.

As you can see, it is an easy way to get started. The plants are just starting and those are melons, so they grow quite large. If you are using small plants like lettuce and spinach, you can stuff more plants in there. I cut this pipe so it will fit on the wall without messing with other aquaponic installations.

That’s the magic of DIY aquaponics, you can make your system fit your needs. If you live in the city, there are few aquaponic systems that allow you to make modifications so it will fit somewhere.

Also, this aquaponic system is dirt cheap, so make your fish pay for the food. Another advantage is that you will no longer use activated carbon or any other filter, since the plants and the biological filter will take care of business.

If you are not familiar with hydroponic system, try How To Hydroponics. Unlike other books that have a lot of theory, this one is a DIY little book that goes to the point and is almost half the price of a more elaborate work. Download it here.

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