Is Aquaponics Really the Best Way?

[GaryD]

Hi,

As part of a lengthy dialogue on vermiponics on BYAP, APHQ member Mornings put the proposition.....

Nothing wrong with eating or growing fish. But are you certain that aquaponics is the best way to grow them?

BYAP contributor RupertofOz responded with.....

For backyard food production... absolutely.... although if I was on some land with a dam... I'd also stock a dam as a natural feed system...

What do you think?

Gary

[Dufflight]

I think if any of us had a dam, we would put fish in it.

On the best way to grow. I don't think there is a best way to grow food unless you are after a specific result. Eg more spuds etc.

I have always liked the use of fish water as a fert\tonic for the dirt garden. Growing plants in AP is a second to the fish. A dirt garden is great and the wicking beds perform well. If its self sufficiency I wound think a mix of every type of growing method would be best.

[arthoz]

Does this mean that having a pond to stock fish is also as good as using a fish tank? This is something that I should think about because I could save a lot of money by just digging a fish pond instead of buying a large tank. Although there might be new problems with the piping, logistics and pest control.

[Dufflight]

Depends on the size of the pond. My tank is 55000ltrs and requires a lot of GBs. But you can use a smaller pond hooked up to couple of GB's.

[kellenw]

I have a 12 acre dam/pond stocked with largemouth bass, bluegill, channel catfish, golden shiners, a few walleye and a few white bass. I can catch a meal in less than 5 minutes most days of the year. I love to fish, so this pond brings me a lot of enjoyment throughout the year.

I choose aquaponics and small scale aquaculture as alternatives/additions to my pond because of the amazing control I have over the system. I can also observe the fish in the system and intervene quickly if needed. If I change my mind on the type of fish I wish to raise, the number I want in the tank, the sex of the fish stocked in the tank, etc. I can quickly make the change. Try doing that in 12 surface acres of water with a max depth of 30 feet, and you'll begin to see the benefits of Aquaponics and small scale aquaculture systems!

[Ravnis]

A perspective:

Before discovering aquaponics, I had not had a personal successful garden that I had planted on my own. I had not kept aquarium fish for a long period of time. Since discovering aquaponics and making multiple mistakes, I have successfully raised/grown all kinds of lettuce and some vegetables. I was able to go from not raising fish to starting with 20 lbs of fish and selling 30 lbs of fish and still have 500+ fish in the tank and growing.

If I had started doing both endeavours separately as aquaculture and gardening, I know I would have dropped one. As aquaponics, I am able to do both well instead of one or the other poorly. Is it the end all growing technology, no I don't think so, some things grow better other ways. The synergy between the two technologies is what makes it work and makes it easier than doing one or the other by itself.

[GaryD]

Hi,

My tank is 55000ltrs and requires a lot of GBs.

I guess that depends on how you choose to integrate your fish and plants.

You could run that tank lightly stocked and use the water from it to irrigate wicking beds.....or you could run a very comprehensive growing system of plants, shrubs and trees. It comes down to how you design it.

That's the beauty of microponics......it allows for the integration of fish and plants in a much broader way than conventional aquaponics.

Gary

[Dufflight]

I still get away with a 9:1 ratio of water to media. When I install a lot more smaller tanks I will use the main tank as water storage with fish. I like the idea of more control over the fish. Or at least being able to catch one easier. With the use of ABF's(airlift bio filters) and using the FT water to enhance the dirt or wicken beds I think I should be able to triple the fish stocking to at least 1500+. Some of the dirt garden would need to help with fish food tho. So many choices. That's what I like in a diverse garden.


Edited again.

[GaryD]

Hi Dufflight,

I still get away with a 9:1 ratio of water to media.

And with a huge capacity like you've got the ratio thing is a non-issue. Your fish aren't under the same water quality pressures in a tank of that size to anything like the same extent as the much smaller tanks that most people use.

I always have a bit of chuckle when I hear of people who are told that they can't convert a swimming pool for use with aquaponics. That's really limited thinking.

I'd love to have your tank on my place. Like you, I'd be hooking smaller tanks up to that large body of water and running all manner of organisms in an integrated eco-system.

I'm with you.....lots of choices are good.

Gary

[arthoz]

Yes, lots of choices...sort of like one-size-fits-all...what a wonderful notion, somewhat changed all my views of aquaponics. And to think aquaponics is some form of a glorified environmental friendly hydroponics system is certainly wrong...the method of it's application could only be limited by one's imagination...to say the least.