Aquaponics for the Average Joe
- Rachel Pasteris
- May 18, 2020
- 2 min read
The concept of growing crops, while simultaneously growing fish that are the star of this agricultural show, might seem to be a tad daunting at first. However, for someone who wants to get into gardening, but does not have the land, or the space for it, needs to look no further! Aquaponics is mathematically proven to yield six times as many crops per square foot than traditional farming, and as a result, can provide more than enough food for someone looking to grow their own food, with just a small amount of space.
Below is a setup I made in my garage. It only took up about a yard, and cost a little under $100. I have two Panda Platy's named Yin and Yang, and two Bumblebee Platy's named Hornet and Wasp. These fish produce a lot of waste, which gets fed into the grow bed via a water pump. The waste is used as food for my plants, which happened to be Arugula, and the water would be cycled back into the tank, free of the waste consumed by the plants.
Within three weeks, I was able to grow and harvest 12 heads of Arugula, which is enough of the vegetable for almost two and a half people. I added the vegetable to sandwiches, salads, and smoothies, and the initial harvest lasted me for two weeks (considering the fact that I'm the only one in my household who eats arugula), and turned out to be very delicious.
So how did I manage to grow enough of a food for myself to last me two weeks with only a yard of space? It's simple! I followed the guides below, and I drew much inspiration from each of these different builds. I used what worked for me, and what was ideal in my situation, and so can you! There are a few principal materials-- a place to grow your food, an aquarium, an air pump, a water pump, and clay substrate. The rest is up to the individual. I built my setup with a ten gallon aquarium, a windowsill planter, and some scrap wood. Not rocket science by any means, and everything was set up in less than an hour. Below you'll find a handful of the projects I used to gather inspiration from. Please feel free to use this website to contact me with any questions you might have when it comes to embarking on building your very own aquaponics system.
Inspiration drawn from the following:
Happy growing!
Your Friend, Angel
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