It Just Keeps Growing...

In the last post, about if you didn’t believe in aquaponics, I showed you how an aquaponic system can make your plants grow faster than soil agriculture. Well I think the images are self explanatory.

Anyway, today I just want to show that it keeps growing. The water is still clean and the plants are doing very well; in fact, the first small melons are starting to show up. However, I must say that you should not grow melons on a 4 inch PVC pipe. This pipe is just too small for that. Melons like to grow an awful lot of roots, so they are going to clog the pipe eventually.

Other plants like watermelon, cucumber and tomatoes can take you to the same place. So, if you have this pipe already, just use fewer plants. However, these melons keep growing and the flow has not been interrupted, so there is nothing to worry about.

As you can see, there are a lot of flowers and some insects have taken care of the pollination. It’s a shame that there are not bees around here, but that is the life in the big city.

The nice thing about melons, is that they tutor themselves. Unlike tomatoes, you don’t need to use thread or other things; they have their own. In this case, I use galvanized wire to support the plant and it will keep growing “on the air”. At first, my intention was to let them grow downwards, but my dog made me forget about that.

Well, I think it will look nicer like that. Anyway, if you are going to start your aquaponic system, better to use something else. Tomatoes and peppers are my all time favorites for starters. There is a lot of information on the net about those, so it is easier to get all you need. That doesn’t mean you should forget about the others, but I find it good to have some “sure thing” plants so you don’t think this doesn’t work because you chose a rare species of… something.

After all, aquaponics is easy.

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If You Didn't Believe

Probably you have read something about aquaponics or hydroponics and thought that it was too good to be true. Well, getting as much as ten times the produce that you can get from soil with traditional agriculture sounds a little hard to believe. This is true, but depends on what you have.

In “watery” plants, like tomatoes, melons and things like that, you can get impressive results. With some others like lettuce and spinach, you can get a double yield. In any case, you will have a greater produce with aquaponics than the one you can get with soil culture. Hydroponics can give you something like that but fish are more fun.

Anyway, today I want to show you two pictures. Both are melons and both were sowed the same day. As you can plainly see, there is a great difference between the two. Of course I’m not neglecting the soil one; I water them daily and get weeds away (another advantage of aquaponics; no weeds to deal with). The garden is fertilized with vermicompost (humus made by worms) and I think I take good care of it. The idea is to get organic produce in the comfort of my own home.


No matter how good is your soil, aquaponic plants will normally do better. I can’t guarantee you anything, but you can expect to, at least, double your results. The best part is that they will be organic results. Unless you are feeding something rare to your fish, all the process is a natural one.

If you take the proper measures in your aquaponic installation, you can even have it certified as an organic facility. I haven’t gone that far… after all, it is a DIY system; however, I do get more than I need, although is not enough to sell… I don’t have too much space here.

Anyway, as you can see, aquaponics can give you fish, double (at least) the produce and everything will be organic. You can take care of your health and get very good prices in the market.

Give it a try. Aquaponics is not rocket science and if you were willing to take care of a garden, an aquaponic system will take all the hard work out. I'm a DIY kind of guy, but you can just buy a commercial system; there are a lot of them out there. Make up your mind, start eating healthy and give a little help to your planet!

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How Organic Is It?

Unlike hydroponics, where everything is done using artificial fertilizers, aquaponics is the other side of the coin. When done “the natural way”, aquaponics does not use any artificial means to get to its goal.

The organic trend has been climbing continuously for years and does not seem to be winding down. The thing is that, in today’s polluted environment, you don’t really know what you are eating. There are so many things that are use in agriculture to get greater yields that you can ask yourself how much of that tomato is really a tomato.

Aquaponics can also have artifical things when made commercially

Anyway, aquaponics can get very artificial too. Starting with the fish food, which is the fastest way to get your fish big, hormones to change gender, and a lot of other thing, “aquaponic” does not exactly mean “organic”

If you don’t make it yourself, that is. I know for sure what is in my tanks and how it is fed and taken care of. I can say that all my produce is organic because I know it for a fact. You can do the same.

Having an aquaponic system is easy and does not take too much time of your day. You have a lot of inexpensive equipment you can use to automate everything and keep your fish and your plants safe.

Aquaponics is a little more complicated than hydroponics, but it is not that different. You just have to learn a few other things to deal with the additional work, but its not big deal. If you already know hydroponics, you can catch up in a couple of days.

Who better than yourself to assure organic produce?

Aquaponics will take some time to get started, specially if you are starting from scratch, but once it is running, you will have plenty of organic produce (real organic produce) and an interesting hobby that you can scale up to cover not only your needs and those from your family, but even to start a home business. After all, who better that you to assure your neighbors that they are getting real organic stuff?

Cool, isn’t it?

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Algae For The Fish

One thing that every aquaculture or aquaponic guy can tell you is that algae will grow, no matter what you do. And this is to be expected; since the combination of fish waste and biological filtration gives you fertilized water, algae can bloom. Now, what if you use that algae to feed the fish? Wouldn’t that be cool? Well, it is. With the proper fish, you can have a complete sustainable aquaponic system.

This, however, is not exactly easy, at least not in the city. To grow enough algae, you will need more space, and space costs time and money. Of course it will depend on the amount of fish, but it is certainly possible if you use some tricks to help algae.

In this first image you can see that this half box is covered with algae. This kind of boxes (this one with milk cartons) can grow a good amount of algae, permit the flow of water and your fish have some places to hide.


In the detail below you can see the marks of the fish eating the algae. Of course, this will have to be a vegetarian fish like a carp of tilapia.


The problem with an aquaponic system is that you need a lot of algae to make fish grow (remember you needed space?). Feeding them commercial food will have them grow faster and bigger. Also, you have to consider that most of the fertilizer in the water will be used by your edible vegetables, so there will be not much left for algae.

However, if you apply your imagination, you can pull this out. As many other technique, aquaponics lets you bend the rules a bit to achieve different results. Testing is a crucial part of good aquaponics. Just make your homework; you don’t want to deal with dead fish.

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Another Simple System

In the “A Small Aquaponic System” post you saw how you can make aquaponics with a common fish tank and some other easy to find materials. However, there are not many fish that you can grow to edible size in a small fish tank, so maybe you will want some other options.

Fortunately, the fish tank aquaponic system can scale up with the same principle, just with a bigger pump and more plants. In this case, I used a 50 gallon tank that you can get cheaply in many places and some PVC pipes. The white tank has the disadvantage that it encourages algae growth, but I have Tilapia and those guys eat the algae, so no harm done. You can get the blue also. There are black ones, but most of those are used with some chemicals, so you better stay away from them.

The PVC pipes are easy to get and install in your wall. There a lot of other aquaponic ideas that work on this principle, but I will stick to the wall, since is the one I have installed. This system is just the small fish tank scaled up.

In one of these you can have 6 to 10 medium size fish without problem, if you take care of things properly. This is a pure hydroponic system that uses no substrate, so your biological filter must be at peak condition. For that amount of fish you can start with a bucket with a good substrate.

These plants are melons and some cabbage. This aquaponic system is easy to set up and costs like $100 US, probably less if you know where to buy. As you can see, it occupies very little space and is very easy to do.

PVC pipes and the tank can be cut with any cutting tool you have available, even with a hot knife. I prefer power tools, but it is your choice. Some of the places where you buy the tanks and piping will make the cuts for you. As with the other system, I used newspaper to isolate and cover the pipes, since heat is a problem around here.

Other than that, a power drill and your imagination are the basic tools. Remember to plan ahead a little, so you have everything within reach when you start. Aquaponics is easy, so give it a shot.

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Take Care Of Your Pump

Today, after pruning some plants, I noticed that one of pumps was not working. In aquaponics, this is a big deal. Although there are a lot of things required for an aquaponic system to work properly, the pump is one of the most important. The pump is the heart of every aquaponic installation, not only to clean the water for the fish, but also to water the plants (this depends on what system you have).

There are many ways to make an aquaponic system, but the easiest ones can be made with submergible pump. This things seem to go on forever, use little electricity and are small and cute. However, their main drawback is that they need some maintenance. Maintenance, you say? Aren’t these things maintenance free? Well, in their intended use, maybe. However, since those pumps will be submerged in fertilized water, things change. No matter what you do, there will be some algae that will develop in your pump. You see, these pumps where made to make a continuous flow on fountains and pools, where water is supposed to be “cured” with bleach or any other disinfectant.

In an aquaponic system, bacteria covers everything with slime (which is a good thing) but also encourages growth of algae. This is why you will have to clean your pump a little more often, but, unless you use some strange and sophisticated thing, it will only take you a couple of minutes.

Your aquaponic system can have a lot of different types and brands of pumps, but most of them are very similar. To clean your pump, just remember some things:

• Plan correctly. Try to do it early in the morning or when the sun is not shining so hard. You plants will not get their scheduled watering, so be careful.
• Use soft tools. Although you can scrape everything with some metallic cool tool, most of the pumps are made of plastic and you can break the seals

I clean mine once every month, although my aquaponic tank can keep going for more. It’s just my schedule. Since you will have different circumstances than me, you just will have to see. Wait for a month and take a look at your pump. Just be sure to monitor that before it clogs.

Your fish (and plants) will appreciate it. You have to keep checking, but that’s aquaponics for you.

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Crustacean Mating

While doing some work on the aquaponic tanks, I stumbled upon some “activity” by the crayfish. This is good news, not only because I will have some crayfish in a couple of months, but also because it says that the environment is not only good enough to survive, but also to thrive.

This is not so hard; you just need a good biological filter and you are good to go. The filter is external because this aquaponic system does not use substrate. The crayfish tank has been operating for a year by now. The image is a little blurry, but they are underwater and I couldn’t make too much moves without disturbing them.

Mating is a long process for crayfish, so I didn’t want to risk interrupting their business. Male crayfish have two special pair of articulations that are used to place a sperm package in the female, which will keep it viable for several weeks.

When the time comes, the female will fertilize the eggs with the sperm capsule. The eggs will be carried by the female until they hatch. The young crayfish will be born as a miniature adult and eventually will flee their home, since mommy can have a good lunch with them.

Rearing crayfish with aquaponics seems to be a simple thing, but I had never had baby crayfish, so I can’t say for sure. However, I’m confident that they will grow to feed my table. Anyway, it is worth mentioning that crowds don’t seem to embarrass these guys.

Some fish, like Tilapia, need to have a territory, fight for it and choose a female. They can get quite aggressive in that stage. Crayfish don’t seem to care about peeping toms, so they make things a los easier. Right now I have 12 crayfish in a 50 gallon tank, and the idea is to have more, but the little creek does not have many of them.

Fortunately, breeding in captivity raises the odds to have a lot of them available. Procambarus Clarkii crayfish have a short life span, but have a lot of younglings in the meantime, making them an excellent aquaponic guest. Just provide them with enough places to hide and they will be happy. Although you can make them with rocks and the like, I use PVC pipes. They are easy to cut, cheap and light, but that is up to you.

So, find some crayfish and see what you can do with them. They eat the same things like fish and are fun to watch at night.

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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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Something Important About Crayfish

Yesterday I wrote about my fishing trip and the new crayfish living in my tank. Well that was nice, but I forgot to mention an important fact about this guys and I also forgot to put my “countermeasures” in place last night. Well, I was a little tired… I hate getting old… Anyway, one of the crayfish “had a good one”.

One thing about crayfish is that they are very resourceful creatures that can escape from a lot tight places. If you add the ability to survive for short periods of time out of the water, then you have a little Houdini in your tank.

After the crayfish’s demise, I put in place a piece of wood to stop them from climbing. Well, not much for opportunity, but we humans tend to be like this. Anyway, if you have crayfish, they can climb your air hose and the cable for the pump. In a regular tank, you can just place a cover and that will be it, but here you need to have an entrance for the clean water that comes from the hydroponic part of your aquaponic system, so you will need a “do it yourself” solution, like making an additional hole to your tank’s cover.

This will depend a lot on your aquaponic system and it’s layout, but it shouldn’t be a problem. If you plan to have crayfish, you should be careful about this. By the way, the one I have is a Procambarus Clarikii, a nice little pest that has invaded almost everyplace where humans (again us…) has taken them.

Although is not exactly a problem in Florida, Illinois and Ohio, it has colonized a lot of territory in Europe, Africa and Asia, at the expense of indigenous crayfish. Not a pretty sight, but getting back to the ones you can rear, this “pesty” capability of the crayfish can be used to your advantage.

They grow and breed quickly, so you can have enough of them in a few months. In Louisiana, there is a millionaire industry with this crayfish, so you can take a part of it too. They are really delicious and you should not miss the chance to taste your own.

After all, if you feed them right and take the proper care, you can have your own source of a delicacy that can be quite expensive in a good restaurant.

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Catch Your Own Fish!

Nice, isn’t it? Maybe not as fancy as other places, but with a lot of crayfish. Reaching the place wasn’t easy, by the way, but if you want to get one of this guys without too mucho trouble, it’s best if you can reach a place where there is a little trouble involved. After all, most people will mind the bruises and itches you bet for getting into this kind of places.

Well, the point is that you can get local water creatures if you have a creek, lake, river or water nearby. Besides being a nice ride for a Sunday with the family, doing local fishing has a great advantage for your aquaponic adventures.

When you get local fauna, at least you know that the weather will not be a problem. Local critters are used to live in your own region, so you will not have a lot of trouble making a comfortable place for them. Trout is a very tasty fish but requires cold water. Unless you live in a cold place, you can only rear them on the winter.

Anyway, if you have a little time left, turn off the TV, get a couple of fishing nets and go fish something. After some bruises, insect bites and falling in the water (luckily, only once), you can get some fish that will grow healthy in your home. After all, living in the wild is, most of the time, a losing game for fish so they have a better chance with you.

In this case, I went to get some crayfish. These guys are fun to catch. You just need a fish net (I use two; makes it easier) and just watch closely. If you have a nearby creek like this one, a lot of crayfish should be living on the river banks, under the roots of plants or bunches of algae.

You can also use a trap, but these things have to be left in advance the night before. Of course you can always buy some on your local pet store, but where is the fun in that?


Anyway, having your aquaponic system is really easy and very cheap, if you are willing to do thing by yourself. Local fish can always be there to get you started, before you jump to more difficult (but tastier) creatures, so take advantage of that. Doing aquaponics is easy, just takes a little practice.

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It's Really That Easy?

Well, it is and it is not. Obviously, if you try something you have never done, you will have a little trouble, but not something to die for. Of course, death is a little involved if you are not careful with your fish, but if you can follow simple instructions and take the time to get the basics, everyone will be alright.

I mean, aquaponics is simply a little ecosystem contained in your backyard. If you understand what is involved, then it will be like having a garden. There’s a little of work involved, but with practice, everything gets easier.

When I started this aquaponic thing, I really was not very scared… after all, I found out about this with an aquaponic system that consisted in a plastic bucket and a couple of PVC tubes, so, how hard could it be?

A few weeks later I had my first aquaponic system with some fish, a couple of plants and clean water. Of course I had to do my homework, but it took only a couple of hours reading material. My tomatoes were not exactly a charm… I had hydroponic tomatoes that did much better, even when I was a newbie. So, why so much buzz about aquaponics? The thing is that maybe you can be a little disappointed with your first results, but that is to be expected. Aquaponics takes a little time to get everything going.

Don get me wrong, I love aquaponics. I think is the best thing I have learned since I discovered reading. I’m not trying to scare you; I just want to motivate you to get things right from the beginning.

If you are considering aquaponics as your new hobby, great news: there is a lot more information available now than when I started, several years ago. Buying a ready to go system can make things a little easier, but I have always been a DIY kind of guy. Besides, making your own system can teach you much more about aquaponics in a couple of weeks than several months of investigation.

You have to consider that many studies are considered gospel, even if they only apply on a certain region and time of year. I’m not saying that studies are wrong, it’s just that there are unique circumstances in your aquaponic installation that can make that study completely irrelevant, at least for you.

Anyway, if you want to do aquaponics, go ahead. Start as soon as possible. Take a couple of hour to read how to do it and then get busy. Having fish is much more fun than plants and, eventually, you can get tasty meat with almost no fat and a los of other cool properties.

By the way, everything will be as natural as you can get for a fair price; and, you will learn a lot of things. Aquaponics is not as easy as hydroponics, but it isn’t that hard. Besides, if you are still reading this, it means that you have what it gets, at least to get started.

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How Much Is Too Much?

Since fish can take a while to grow into an edible size, one question that people keep asking is “how much fish can I have in a single tank?” Well, this can be a tricky question and it depends on your acuaponic system.

Too many fish can lead to a lot of trouble if your are not careful

The first thing is stress. Having a lot of fish crowded in a single tank can be stressful for them and that can affect their growth and their health. This can cause your fish to stay small, even if they are well fed. This is a survival technique in a lot of species that compete for space.

As always, the biological filter (or any other filtering system you use) will have a lot more work to clean the additional ammonia generated by your fish and the pump will need to move more fluid than before. Did I already mention feces? The bottom of your tank will have to be cleaned more often, in case you don’t have a “pre-filter” to get rid of the sludge.

Even if everything you have in place is enough to handle all your fish and solids, there is the possibility of a pump or power failure, which can lead to a massive death. And getting rid of many death fish is not exactly fun.

With proper care, you can have a lot of fish in a single tank

So… with all this problems, why will somebody have more than a few fish? In aquaponics (well, is more an aquaculture thing), more is better. Having more fish in the same space can lead to a higher yield in fish and vegetables, since the fertilizer will be more than enough to grow more plants.

Also, having more fish crowded in a single tank disrupts reproductive behavior, which can be really troublesome with some species. Dealing with a horny fish roughing up everybody else is not easy, and having a lot of younglings competing for food can make things more complicated.

About the stress, well, living in the wild is a very stressful thing, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.

Well then, how much is too much? I will have 1 fish in every 3 gallons of water. That gives them space to be a little comfortable and will give you several fish per season. This is not a recommendation; is an option. You can always scale your filter up to deal with the additional ammonia and the aquaponic system to handle more plants.

As always, testing is a must. If you are a newbie, start with a few fish and let it grow slowly. After all, you are dealing with living creatures and, even if they don’t kick and scream, they are alive and feel pain. Don’t be so mean.

Of course, this is for home acuaponic systems. Commercial installations may need the additional fish to make some profit, so is a different point of view.

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DIY Aquaponics

The first time I heard about aquaponics, I really got excited. As an already competent hydroponics fan and fisherman, aquaponics seemed like the logical next step for me. It was a little scary though; plants do not complain a lot and we are used to cutting them, but fish... well watching a fish die is not exactly fun. Anyway, I started reading and getting acquainted with the technique. Since then, I have made a lot of experiments, good and bad, and learned enough to rear not only fish, but also a lot of other water creatures.

Aquaponics is the marriage between hydroponics and aquaculture, where one system complements the other (just like marriage! If you got a good one of course...). In a very simple way, fish create waste that can kill them, so, in aquaculture, a filtration system is needed to prevent this. However, the fish waste, once processed by the filter, is composed of nitrates that start to build up in the fish water. Eventually, this water needs to be diluted or replaced so the fish are not affected. Hydroponics, on the other hand, is based on fertilized water to feed the plants. I think you see the big picture. Fish produce fertilized water, which is fed to the plants that return clean water to the fish environment. Its almost like a little ecosystem that sustains itself and needs no intervention from us. Pretty cool, isn't it? If you do things right, the only input to the system will be the fish food, and, depending on what fish you have, maybe not even this.

Aquaponics has been used to produce fish and vegetables for a while now, although it still is way below hydroponics and aquaculture, in terms of metric tons of produce. Well, that is to be expected; specially if the commercial producers have to change all their infrastructure to adapt to the new ways. Anyway, for us DIY guys, having a small system in our house is not that hard, providing that we do our homework on the different subjects we have to dominate to make it right.

Building an aquaponics system in our house requires a little work from our part, specially if you don't have too much spare space, something really scarce in urban houses. Anyway, with a little imagination, you can do great things, even if you are a newbie.

So, since a lot of my friends kept asking the same things and I am a little lazy to reply every mail with the same answer, this blog should help us both. If you are thinking about having an aquaponics little system, I have good news: it's easier than you might think. You just need to know the basics and take the time for everything to settle in. There are a lot of ready to use systems out there, but most of them require certain space and light. Besides, they are more expensive than DIY solutions you can make yourself and aquaponics is not exactly rocket science.

So, welcome to my aquaponics blog and I will start with some posts about aquaponics, what you need to know and what I been up to the last couple of years.

Best regards

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