How To Choose The Right Aquaponics Grow Bed

Your choice in an aquaponics grow bed is crucial to how well the rest of your aquaponics system is run. It’s essentially the foundation of your system, and the place where your fruits and vegetables are nurtured.

An aquaponics grow bed will take up the majority of the space but it’ll also provide you with the lion’s share of the food that your system produces.

Here are some tips to help you choose the right aquaponics grow bed.

Aquaponics Grow Bed & Fish Tank Relationship

In order to create a successful aquaponics system, you must understand the ideal ratios between the grow bed and the fish tank.

Having the perfect balance between the amount of fish waste, the biofilter’s performance and the plants that transfer the fish waste into its own food, is a recipe for a very effective system.

Here are some general rules of thumb as a result of many years of trial and error:

For beginners to aquaponics, you should start off with a simple 1:1 ratio of grow bed to fish tank. The total volume of your grow bed should be equal to the total volume of your fish tank. This will ensure that your fish tank has sufficient filtration.

Once you gain more experience and you’re ready for a larger system that has an even bigger fish tank, you can expand it to a 2:1 grow bed to fish tank ratio. This will enable more filtration in your system which is better for your fish’s long term health.

Rules For Your Aquaponics Grow Bed

The following rules are vital to abide by when looking for an aquaponics grow bed for your system. Failure to uphold these rules will lead to disaster.

The grow bed must be sturdy enough to withstand the weight of the aquaponics grow media (clay media = 450g per litre), water (1kg per litre) and plants. There’s also added force from the constant filling and draining of water and expansion of plant roots. Choose strong and thick material for your grow bed.

Choose material that is non-toxic and safe for food as your aquaponics grow bed will be the home for plants, bacteria and worms.

aquaponics grow bed

The material you choose must also not alter the pH levels of your system. Avoid materials such as metal because they can corrode very quickly which can lower your tanks pH and cause imbalance to your system.

Your grow bed should be deep enough for a wide variety of plants to be grown and to have adequate filtration. The industry standard is 30cm deep.

Make sure that your aquaponics grow bed is waterproof to ensure that no water escapes from your system. This is very important since there will be plumbing fittings that enter and exit the grow bed and fish tank, so everything must be watertight. This is where marine grade silicon and rubber gaskets come in handy.

Conclusion

There are many different types of aquaponics grow beds that you can integrate within your system, but a suitable one all depends on the type of aquaponics system you have, whether it’s a vertical, IBC (intermediate bulk containers) or closet system. Here are some aquaponics grow beds that may suit your needs.

Carefully plan how you want your system structured and apply the rules above. A well thought-out aquaponics system will be aesthetically pleasing, flexible and functional, therefore providing a better experience for yourself and others.

How To Use Aquaponics To Grow Vegetables Indoors

The great thing about aquaponics is that it’s very versatile. You can adjust an aquaponics system to suit your needs.

If you don’t have enough space in your garden or if you don’t have one at all, don’t worry because with aquaponics, you can grow vegetables indoors.

The best options are either in a basement, garage or a spare room. Alternatively, you can just keep it in a corner space in any room and since an aquaponics system is flexible, it won’t take up much space and won’t look out of place either. As a matter of fact, it makes a great talking point and feature in your home!

Things To Consider When Growing Vegetables Indoors

Before we get started, I suggest that you check out the Top 10 Benefits Of Having Aquaponics At Home article for you to understand all the benefits involved in having an aquaponics system.

The most basic aquaponics system is the flood and drain system which can easily be built within your home.

The most important things to consider when you grow vegetables indoors are:

Space

grow vegetables indoorsThis will main the main issue especially if you live in a small apartment. However, an aquarium based aquaponic system in a closet style setting is ideal for gardening in city apartments because they’re small, decorative and portable.

Location

Where will you put your aquaponics system in your home? If you decide to put it in a small room make sure that you leave the door or window open slightly to let air circulate.

Some grow lights will produce a lot of heat so make sure there’s enough space between your plants and the grow lights especially in small enclosed rooms.

Lighting

You probably won’t have enough window lighting indoors so you’ll have to supplement it with grow lights (or use it entirely). Make sure that you’re covering the blue and red spectrum your plants will absorb.

The following lights can be used:

T5 Fluorescent Lights: These are low power consumers and produce little heat. However, they’re not very flexible because they only reach through 45cm of plant canopy and their performance significantly drops after six months so the bulbs should be replaced.

High-Intensity Discharge (HID) Lights: These are intended for serious indoor growers and come in five different parts. The lighting produced are very effective and the bulbs last around a year. Needless to say, they’re very expensive and use a lot of power.

Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) Lights: These are one of the most recent lighting technologies. They produce no heat and have very little power consumption so the bulbs rarely need to be replaced. LED technology has advanced and gone cheaper within the past few years, but they’re still not as effective as other forms of grow lights yet.

Conclusion

When you grow vegetables indoors using aquaponics, it allows for all year round gardening simply because the environment is controlled. It may cost a bit more, but it saves you time from transporting the system during winter months compared to if your aquaponics system was based outside instead.

Top 7 Tips For Growing Aquaponic Plants

Very often, growing plants in an aquaponics system can be the same as growing it in soil, and just as much different at the same time.

You probably already know what plants need in order for them to thrive, but here are 7 insightful tips for growing aquaponic plants.

1) Broadcast Your Seeds

The most easiest way of starting seeds in any sort of environment is what’s known as broadcasting seeds. What this means is that you must scatter your seeds evenly over a growing surface.

When you do this technique in an aquaponics system using a media bed, the seeds will simply fall between the stones and as a result, many of them will reach the appropriate depth level to germinate.

The broadcasting technique works effectively for lettuce, radishes and carrots as well as other small seeds that are usually planted in early spring since they’ve adapted to the wetness.

2) Germinate Your Seeds In A Wet Paper Towel

aquaponic plants

Larger seeds such as those of beans, peas, melons and cucumbers tend to germinate quickly and sometimes planting them in grow beds are not that effective.

Since they’re longer-term plants, you should pay more attention to their positioning within the grow bed therefore it’s a good idea to start the seeds in a wet paper towel.

Once that’s done, seal them in a large ziplock bag and keep your eye on them everyday for signs of sprouting. When a good root of around 25mm or more appears, gently put the seeds in the media bed at a level where the root is able to become wet through your water cycles.

3) Buy Plant Starts

If you prefer not to deal with process of seed starting, then it’s absolutely fine to buy plants that have already been started. It’s very simple. All you have to do is to shake off the excess dirt when you take the plant out the pot.

You should try to take off as much dirt from the root system as possible by gently running the plant under little water. There may be bugs hidden within the plant so make sure that you check it thoroughly.

4) Space Your Plants Properly

A minimal root system is all that’s needed for each plant to supply everything it needs. This is because plants grown in an aquaponics system have everything they need at their root zone like water, oxygen and nutrients.

Their habitat is cooperative rather than competitive simply because resources are not insufficient. As a result, aquaponic plants don’t require as much space as plants grown in soil.

Many aquaponic gardeners place their plants twice as close together compared to soil based gardeners. However, you must be aware of what’s happening above the ground, not below it. You must take into consideration the right amount of space for air circulation (to control insects and diseases) and light penetration for your plants.

As your plants mature, you can always make adjustments if necessary by digging up and moving around the small root balls which is pretty easy to do.

5) Feed Plant Bugs To Fishes

Little bugs that like to eat plants can be very annoying, but they can be also be beneficial by turning them into fish food. Slugs, caterpillars and other insect larvae will make excellent meals for your fishes.

You just need to catch them before they do any more damage to your plants. You can also set up bug zappers and other traps to catch some free fish food!

6) Knock Off Bugs With Water Spray

Many harmful insects do the most damage when they’re at a non-mobile stage, therefore you have a good chance of controlling the population by spraying a stream of water to knock them off the plant. This is a very useful and easy first step to take when controlling a large infestation that has gone out of control.

You may want to repel insects by spraying organic solutions to the plant leaves so that it makes them less attractive to insects. Though you must be careful not to spray any into your fish tanks.

7) Setting Other Insects To Eat Or Kill Bugs

There are two ways that a beneficial insect can kill pests that are damaging your plants:

• Firstly, by eating it (predators)
• Secondly, by laying their eggs within the host which then kills it (parasitoids)

aquaponic plants

These beneficial insects are usually bigger than their prey, and include beetles, flies, spiders and wasps among others. A very common predator for pest control are ladybirds who love to eat aphids (tiny green plant lice).

A female ladybird will lay eggs near infested plants after a few days of feeding. The eggs then hatch into larvae after seven days, and begin feeding on soft-bodied pests, mites and insect eggs. After a month the larvae will pupate and turn into adults a week later, ready to fully feed.

Conclusion

Plants are the lifeline of your aquaponics system, so it’s vital that you take care of them. They filter water for your fish and provide food for you and your family. Losing plants cost time and money, so you must take the right measures in dealing with all the issues that come with aquaponic plants.

Don’t worry if you make mistakes on the way because it’s all part of the learning process. Once you go through the right steps you’ll have large, healthy and tasty plants.

How To Choose The Right Water Pump

A good quality water pump and also a suitable one is essential for an aquaponics system. It enables your system to be efficient when transferring water from the tank to the plants and back down again.

Aquaponics enthusiast Aron Stock has a good explanation of how to choose the right water pump. Read on or scroll down to the bottom to watch the full video.

How Many Watts Does It Use?

“There’s kind of two considerations. One is, you want to look at the electronic specs for your water pump. Basically what you’re looking for is the wattage. How many watts does it use?”

“You want to get a water pump that does the job with using the minimum, smallest amount of watts that you can find. The lower the watts, the less money it’s going to cost on your electricity bill because your water pump in most cases, unless you’re on a timer, but in the system I’m doing, the water pump is going to be running 24/7.”

“So it’s really important to get the smallest wattage that you can to use the least amount of electricity, it’s good for the environment and it’s good for your pockets so you’re not paying a bunch of money to the electric company Also, you have to consider how much the pump costs to buy.”

How Much Water Can Be Pumped?

Easy! DIY Aquaponics“The other consideration is how much water can you pump through the pump. One kind of rule of thumb you can go with is if you have a 100 liter set up, you want to be able to pump 100 liters per hour. But, when you get into the details of water pumps, you start looking at what is 100 liters per hour?”

“Well, the amount of water that can get pumped through a water pump changes for a lot of factors. The horizontal length of how far does the pump have to go, how much hose do you have…the longer the hose length, the less powerful your pump is going to be.”

“Also, even more so, the vertical height, how far does the water have to get pumped up. That really reduces the pumping capacity of your pump. Hopefully your pump company will have a graph which shows the maximum head, which is how high it could pump, and then it shows you a graph of how many liters per time [per minute or per hour] at different lengths and heights that the pump is able to produce.”

“You need to make sure that your pump is submersible because it will be pumping from underwater. You also need to make sure that it’s rated for pumping water and not some other fluids.”

“Active Aqua company, submersible pump 250. It can pump 250 gallons per hour. Now I’ve got 100 liters of water in my setup, which is about 30 gallons so obviously this is overkill.”

“However, if we look at the manual, we’ve got a graph here, and here is the 250, that’s my model and this is the grey line here (refer to the image on the right) so you can see the maximum head, maximum height it can go is about 6 feet.”

“Once you reach 6 feet in height [pumping the water up 6 feet], that’s where the pump seizes to work. So if you have to pump the water up 6 feet, you’re basically not going to get any water. If you go down to 5 and a half feet, you’re going to get a trickle of water. If you go down to 4 feet, you’re going to get about 30-40 gallons per hour. Now that’s OK for me because my setup needs the pump up about 3 feet. So with this pump, pumping up 3 feet, I’m going to get somewhere around 60GPH, and I only need pump 30GPH because I have a 30 gallon setup (100 liters).”

“So it’s better to have too much. You need a pump that can overdo it a little bit. Basically, if your pump is a little bit too strong, you can always use some kind of a valve to slow down the water flow or you can divert the extra water and help aerate your fish tank or something.”

“Make sure your pump is more than capable of doing the job. You don’t want to go overboard and get a humungous pump cos then you’re running too many watts and using up tonnes of electricity, but you want to get a pump that’s good enough, that’s definitely strong enough to handle what you need to do with leftover power to spare.”

Water Pump Overview

Hose Fittings

“Basically, the water gets suck in through these little grates, and there’s kind of a propeller type fan which is essentially blows the water up and out the top fitting. So this top fitting has screw threads, and it comes with some different fittings. They screw into the top, and there’s a couple different fittings for a skinnier hose or a fatter hose.”

Water Pump Venturi

“…One really cool aspect of this pump which I can hopefully utilize is that it comes with an attachment here that has a venturi…It’s a way to help aerate your water without using any aerator pumps or any electricity. It’s just a natural plumbing method of increasing the air intake into your water. Basically as the water goes through the pipe, it pulls air in through this air hose, so it mixes a little bit of air in with the water.”

Water Pump Regulator

“Most water pumps have some sort of way to regulate the water output that they can do and with my pump, this is one of them. Water gets sucked in through here because the fan (the propeller blades) is pulling the water in and pushing up.”

“I’ve got this guy here (the regulator fitting) and by twisting here, you can close the gate. So obviously if the doors open, more water can get pulled through, but if you need to lessen the amount of water, you just close it and the water only gets pulled through here (the grate openings on the pump).”

Water Pump Propeller & Filter

“When you take it apart, this is the actual pump. Inside here, that’s where the propeller blades spin to pull the water through. It’s got some suction cups (beneath the pump) so you can stick it to the bottom or the sides of your tank, and then you got your filter material.”

“It’s kind of some spaghetti foam so that none of your big fish solids are going to get stuck inside the propeller fan blades. Once a week or so, you’re going to have to clean this out. It’s going to get gunked up with fish poo.”

How To Choose The Right Grow Lights

You’re probably confused about which grow light to choose for your aquaponics system. It’s quite a detailed subject that can warrant its own book. For now, I’ll provide a brief explanation of what considerations need to be made when selecting a grow light.


When Are Grow Lights Needed?

The need for grow lighting all really depends on your circumstances in terms of:

• Climate – You might live in a country that doesn’t have much sun.
• Space – Perhaps you don’t have a garden where you can grow your plants outside.

If either of those apply to you, then you’ll likely have to resort to setting up your aquaponics systems somewhere indoors such as a spare room or garage. If that’s the case, that means your plants won’t be getting any direct natural sunlight, so a grow light is essential.

Grow Light Spectrum

So which grow light do you need? There are a few different types of them each with their own advantages and disadvantages, but to understand the purpose of a grow light, you need to take a look at its light spectrum. Here’s a graph detailing that.

Grow Light Spectrum

What does this colorful diagram mean?

• White Light – This is directly in the middle between 500 to 600nm. This represents the sun in what is known as solar light, and is what’s considered to be a full spectrum.
• Blue Light – Necessary for your plant’s green foliage stage.
• Red Light – Necessary for when your plants begin fruiting.
• Visible Light – This is what we as human beings can actually see, in what is also known as ‘PAR’ (Photosynthetic Active Radiation). PAR is the most important section on the light spectrum chart because this is what your plants will need.

It’s better to use a grow light that aims for the PAR light spectrum since you’re likely going to be growing a variety of different plants, as opposed to using blue or red spectrum bulbs that are suited for specific plants at certain stages of growth.

Grow Light Intensity & Efficiency

After you’ve got the light spectrum decided upon, you need to focus on the intensity or power of the grow light, which is measured in lumens. A lumen is also known as ‘foot candle’ which is basically how bright the light is when placed one foot away from the source (in this case, your plants).

1 Foot Candle

1 lumen = 1 foot-candle falling on one square foot of area.

You’ll need a grow light with a PAR spectrum combined with plenty of lumens shining down onto your plants in order to provide them with the light they need to grow properly.

The energy efficiency of a grow light is also important as the more efficient it is, the less power will be lost due to heat generation from the light fixture itself. This means that every ounce of power is directed at your plants in the right way. As a result, your electricity bill will also be cheaper which leads me to my next point.

Cost Of Grow Lights

You’ll want to spend your money wisely as grow lights can be expensive, and you also want to make sure that the light fixture you purchase has enough power for your plants to grow.

In terms of costs, you have to think about:

• Upfront Cost – How much does it cost to purchase the grow light?
• Maintenance Cost – How much does it cost for a bulb replacement when your existing bulb has reached the end of its life?
• Ongoing Cost – How much does it cost for you to run the light fixture? No matter what type of grow light you buy whether it’s LED, fluorescent or HID, you want to aim for around 25 watts per sq. foot otherwise it may not be powerful enough.

Once you’ve figured out these costs, you can have a bit more peace of mind knowing that you’re not breaking the bank with the lighting bill.

Why Use LED and Induction Grow Lights?

You already likely know about LED grow lights due to its popularity with growers. Induction grow lights are also gaining in popularity and although they are less known, they are just as effective as LEDs.

Here’s a break down of the differences between the two and talks about which one is better.

LED Grow Light

Many aquaponic gardeners favour LED grow light fixtures due to their efficiency. When you take a look at an LED light, you’ll notice that there are many small little bulbs (diodes) on it which caters to a different light spectrum for each one, making it very flexible in terms of design.

How much power does each little bulb need to give off in order to be efficient enough to have a good impact on your plants? Well, very high quality LED bulbs will usually have 3 watts per diode so you should aim for this if you want to cover a good area (most reputable LED grow light manufacturers will tell you how much area their products cover).

LED light fixtures do well to supplement other lighting which is what many aquaponics gardeners do, but a great quality product can also be used independently to grow plants effectively.

Induction Grow Light

This type of light fixture is still relatively new and hasn’t reached its full potential yet in terms of technology. It’s similar to fluorescent lights where it takes the form of a tube that has gasses passing through it but with better efficiency, much less heat and an increased lifespan.

The downside is that most induction fixtures have quite a bulky design, it’s still not as advanced as it can be therefore they tend to be quite expensive to run.

LED vs Induction Grow Lights

In a battle between these two light fixtures, which one wins? That depends on what your short and long term uses are for grow lighting.

Just to recap the above transcript, here are some pointers of both LED and induction grow lights:

• LED grow lights are flexible in design due to each bulb having a different spectrum.
• LED grow lights uses less electricity than induction grow lights.
• Induction grow lights are efficient and let off almost no heat.
• Induction grow lights are cheaper than LEDs.
• LED grow lights will work out cheaper over the long term.

Why Use Fluorescent Grow Lights?

Fluorescent grow lights are efficient and inexpensive, making them popular among growers. In this article, I explain the pros and cons of using fluorescents for growing your plants, the different types of fluorescents available.

Here are some of its plus points:

• They’re not expensive. As a matter of fact, they’re generally the cheapest type of grow light to buy.
• They’re very energy efficient which means less power wasted and cheaper energy bills.
• There is a little heat that ejects from the bulbs, therefore they can be placed closer to your plants for better lighting.

Compact Fluorescent Grow Lights

You’ve likely used this type of fluorescent light before simply because it’s so common for everyday light fixtures around the house. It’s a small and basic bulb that comes in a tube form (sometimes a swirling tube design). However, the ones that you use in your home for lamps wouldn’t be used for growing plants.

Compact Fluorescents

You would actually need specific compact fluorescents that have a full spectrum light designed to grow plants. They are larger in size, provide a lot more wattage than your basic household fluorescent and may or may not come with a reflector.

The good thing about compact fluorescent grow lights is that they can be hung horizontally with the aid of a reflector or just hang it vertically with your plants surrounding it.

Unfortunately, if you have a large area of plants that needs to be covered with light, these won’t really be suitable for that so you’ll need to opt for a T Bulb fluorescent grow light instead.

T Bulb Fluorescent Grow Lights

T5 Fluorescent Grow LightsFor lighting up a larger grow bed, you’ll need a T Bulb fluorescent which comes in the form of a long straight tube that is available in various sizes – T5, T8 and T12’s. A higher T-number equals a wider bulb diameter.

So which size should you go for? A smaller size is often better as it tends to be more flexible.

T5 – The small size of this bulb makes it ideal to fixate several of them onto either a 2 foot or 4 foot wide fixture, and they often provide the lumen output as the larger sizes.

The thing that you need to think about is the size of the area you’re covering. So if you’re plants cover a 4ft x 4ft grow bed, then you’ll need to get the same size light fixture to cover this area as fluorescents tend not to spread their lighting path outwards, only straight downwards.

The Downside Of Fluorescents

Just like with every other grow light, fluorescents have their downsides too. They include the following:

Frequent Replacement – Throughout your stages of plant growth, you’ll continuously be using the grow light. This means that there will be ‘wear and tear’ on it and generally, you’ll have to replace it every 6 to 9 months depending on how many hours a day you run it.

You’ll find that its effectiveness for growing plants will dwindle compared to when you first got the bulb (due to cathode decay), despite no changes in its physical appearance or visible light.

Don’t Cover a Big Area – When compared to other grow lights, fluorescents tend not to cover a widespread area relative to its size simply because they shine their light downwards onto a straight and narrow path rather than outwards.

Disposal Issues – When it comes time to get rid of your old fluorescent bulbs, be careful of how you dispose of it as they contain small amounts of mercury inside which is hazardous. However, all parts of a fluorescent bulb can be recycled.

What To Consider When Choosing Fish For Aquaponics

If you’re new to aquaponics and you’re still trying to figure out what fish to use for your system, and also what measures need to be in place to ensure the health of your fish and subsequently, your plants, then read this article where I simply break it down.

Location & Environment
The type of fish you have in your aquaponics system really depends on your location and environment. If you’re in a warmer climate such as Australia, then you have the option to have tropical fish and the commonly used tilapia without having to heat up the water.

If you’re in a cooler climate such as in the United Kingdom or Northern parts of the United States, then fish that are naturally suited to that type of weather such as the trout, will be more appropriate.

So it’s important to know:

The range of temperature that the fish is naturally suited and see if it fits your area.
Knowing and having the right feed to feed the fish.
Once you know those points, then you’ve pretty much got the first part out the way.

Feeding Your Fish
feeding-fish

There are a variety of different feed that you can feed your fish, and that depends on what type of fish you have and the scale of your aquaponics system.

If you have a large operation, perhaps for commercial purposes, then more often than not, you’ll likely have to use commercialized fish feed since they’re cheaper and more readily available.

In order to get different results from your system, you have to do a bit of testing such as using fish feed that vary in amounts of protein, then seeing which feed is the most effective at allowing your fish to produce more ammonia. As a result, there’ll be more nitrogen in your system for your plants to absorb.

Click Here To Check Out The Top 10 Best Fish Food

At the end of the day, you want to make sure that your plants are as healthy as possible. This means providing them with the nutrients that they need to grow properly, and in order to do that, your fish also needs to be healthy.

Temperature, Ammonia & Nitrate Levels
The three aforementioned elements you need to keep a watchful eye on as they directly affect the health of your fish.

Temperature – If you have fish in your system that are affected by temperature changes such as tropical fish, then you need to make sure that your water temperature stays within range of the fishes natural element. If it falls out of range, then your fish can potentially die as a result.
Ammonia and Nitrates – Fish produces ammonia after they feed and it’s then converted into nitrates by the biofilter for plants to feed off. However, too much ammonia in your system is very toxic to fish so ammonia levels must be kept low. In the case of nitrates, they dissolve pretty quickly once they meet the microbes in your aquaponics system especially at the stage of maturity.
Click Here To Check Out The Top 7 Best Water Test Kits

There are water test kits on the market which I highly recommend you to get, and they allow you to test the levels of ammonia and nitrates in your system. Without these test kits, you’ll have to resort to the eye test to see if you notice any strange fish behavior or abnormalities of your plants.

What Is The Right Stocking Density Of Fish?

Many beginners of aquaponic gardening often wonder how many fishes should be used to maintain an efficient aquaponics system.

There isn’t really a simple answer to this question because this is all relative to the size and type of your system, and your end goals. In this article, I will briefly explain the basis of stocking density of fish.

Recommendations

The recommended stocking density of fish in your aquaponics system can basically be narrowed down to two things – Do you have a large commercial system or a simple home based system?

If it’s the former, then it may be the case that you have other expensive equipment that would allow you to stock much more fish than the latter. This would usually be ½ lb of fish per gallon of water.

Aquaponic Fish

If your system is a lot simpler, then the general rule of thumb would be 1 inch per gallon of water. Other aquaponics gardeners prefer to use the rule of 1lb of fish per 8-10 gallons of water.

Based on those ratios, in order to get your water environment just the way you want it by altering nitrates, ammonia or pH levels, you have to feed your fish accordingly.

Now you may have read about how some aquaponics systems can get more fish per gallon of water, that’s generally reserved for more advanced and complex systems. For a simpler system, especially if you’re a beginning, you should keep it simple.

Just by reducing the stocking density of fish, less equipment such as air pumps is required to oxygenate your water tank. So essentially, this means lower costs on your behalf and a much easier system to operate and maintain. You don’t want to end up running into too many problems to solve.

You can also get a bit creative with the stocking density to see what suits your purpose the best. Either lower or increase the amount of fish and adjust oxygen levels accordingly. You don’t always have to stick to the guidelines as long as you’re not too out of bounds. At the end of the day, you want your fish to live in a comfortable environment.

Conclusion

So to conclude this article, tips for the correct stocking density of fish are:

1″ of fish per gallon of water or 1lb of fish (fully grown) per 8-10 gallons of water.

Stock at a ratio of less than the above figure since your fish should be expected to grow to 1lb.

Bear in mind that this ratio is for simple home aquaponic systems.

How a 13 Year Old Runs a Successful Aquaponics Business

Here’s a feel good story about a 13 year old girl who runs one of the 4 biggest aquaculture and aquaponics businesses in South Africa. It’s great to see someone so young have the drive and ambition to do incredible things.

As we all know, running a flourishing aquaponics system let alone a business can sometimes be difficult (though not complicated as suggested in the video), but aspiring biologist Rikalize Reinecke’s love for nature and sustainability has accelerated her learning curve.

Starting Out and Maintaining

Here’s how Rikalize Reinecke got started.

“What really inspired me was once I watched the movie Dolphin Tale. Something in my head just went off and it was like an alarmed that screamed “fish, fish, fish!.”

Of course, Rikalize still has to go to school but she still tends to her aquaponic fish everyday.

“In the morning before I go to school I usually pop in to see if everything’s fine. If there’s stuff I want the workers to do during the day, I write a list and leave it on the desk and they’ll do it…During the weekends, the routine is very different because then I’m working and I’m cleaning and I have to do the water quality tests.”

Since Rikalize cannot physically be at her business everyday, she has to delegate tasks to her employees just like any other business. The hardest part of running an aquaponics system is setting it all up but once it’s all up and running, maintaining the system is a formality which can simply be followed.

Rikalize’s aquaponics business had only been in operated for 18 months but it has already experienced such high growth which is amazing to see.

It’s slightly irrational to think that Rikalize created her aquaponics business all by herself. It’s likely she had help from her family and maybe other investors.

As well as being taught on how to operate the business (her father enrolled her in a week long aquaculture course), she may have been chosen to be the face of the business for marketing purposes. However, judging by the video, it’s quite clear that Rikalize is familiar with how the business works.

The Challenges of Running an Aquaponics System

Here are some of the challenges Rikalize faced.

“Some of the challenges I’m facing while running my farm is electricity. Electricity is very expensive so I’m trying to get off the grid by using solar.”

Cost of electricity is an issue for everyone that decides to start up an aquaponics system. At the end of the day, the whole idea of aquaponics is to help the environment, eat healthy and to save money while doing so.

This makes it even more important to buy an energy efficient grow light that’s controlled by a timer so it only turns on when necessary.

“Another challenge is temperature. The fishes optimum temperature is around 27 to 28 degrees.”

Plants and fish are the lifeline of an aquaponics system. They are synergistic  and you simply cannot have one without the other, so it’s vital that both are well looked other.

Since fish can be expensive and take more effort to nurture and grow, it’s especially important to maintain water temperature, ammonia levels, stocking density etc. Failure to do any of those will result in the fish dieing.

All in all, there are no serious challenges to overcome when running a home aquaponics system. It’s only if you decide to expand and operate on a commercial level, that’s when things get a bit more complicated as you’ve added a business aspect to it.

In any case, I hope Rikalize’s story has inspired you to create your own sustainable farming system in the form of aquaponics.

Top 5 Most Common Problems With Aquaponics

Everyone makes mistakes, and if you’re a beginner to aquaponics, then chances are that you’ll stumble across some of the more common problems with aquaponics.

Making a mistake in your aquaponics system can mean losing the plants and fish that you’ve nurtured for weeks, which is a disappointing feeling for anyone.

Learn about the 5 most common problems with aquaponics to avoid making the mistakes as other people.

1) Ignoring Bug Problems

One of the most common issues aquaponic gardeners have with their plants is the existence of harmful bugs which eat away at the plants. When you spot these critters, it’s best to take care of them before they spread and grow in numbers.

There are several ways that you can get rid of them:

• Feed Them To The Fish – You can turn a problem into a benefit by setting up bug traps and catch slugs, caterpillars and other insect larvae to feed to your fishes. They will enjoy the meal and it’ll also save you a bit of money on fish food!
• Knock Off With Water Spray – You can control a large infestation of bugs by spraying a stream of water at them. Also, adding organic solution to the spray can help to repel insects as they’ll become less attracted to the plants.
• Setting Predators – Beetles, flies, spiders and wasps are predators to bugs that harm your plants such as aphids. A common predator used for pest control is the ladybird which feeds on aphids.

2) Allowing The Tank Water To Get Too Hot

Certain aquaponic fish species can handle tropical temperatures while others cannot. It’s important to know the ideal temperatures for the type of fish you’re raising.

The most popular fish for aquaponic gardeners is the tilapia, which can handle very warm waters, but if waters get too hot especially when exposed to the sun during hot climates, there will be a lack of oxygen for the fishes.

3) Having Too Many Fish In The Tank

The size of your fish tank and the amount of fish you have in your aquaponics system will affect the efficiency of your system. Having a dense population of fish can result in:

• The bigger fish may feed on the smaller fish.
• Too much fish waste for the biofilter to effectively convert.
• The general rule of thumb for a media-based home aquaponics system is one fish for every 20 litres of water. Though professionally monitored commercial systems may stock more densely, beginners should stick to this rule.

4) Not Frequently Testing Ammonia

Ammonia is produced by the fishes respiratory system and is discharged through their gills. Ammonia is very toxic to fish and a build-up of it in the fish tank will eventually kill them (dead fish will also produce ammonia).

Because of this, the ammonia contained in the water in the fish tank must be diluted, removed or converted. To find out the concentrations of ammonia within the fish tank, the water must be tested at least once a week using test kits.

5) Restricting Access To Fish Tanks

This is something that even experienced aquaponic gardeners have done, and it can cause many problems. Although setting up your aquaponics grow bed directly above the fish tank will save space, it will also restrict access to the fish tanks.

This can result in the following problems:

• Restricted locations for fish tank and other plumbing components.
• Difficult to see what’s happening in the far corners of the fish tank.
• Difficult to remove and change waters if and when necessary.
• Difficult to catch fishes, especially if they move around the tank quickly.

Think and plan carefully on how you’re going to build your aquaponics system and make sure that everything is easily accessible to make a more efficient running system.

TaoTronics TT-GL20 LED Grow Light Review

Today more people are starting to take up gardening but not everyone has a garden or greenhouse to grow their plants in nor is there always enough sunlight throughout the year.

Many people in urban areas have taken to using LED grow lights to grow their plants in their basement or windowsill.

The TaoTronics TT-GL20 LED Grow Light is one of the most popular grow lights as it gives great results for such a low price. Many people have successfully grown herbs and vegetables with this light despite the season.

This article will look at how effective this grow light is in the growth of plants and what plants it is best used for.

Build Quality

Taotronics TT-GL20 LED Grow Light

In the LED grow light, there are 12 small light bulbs fitted in. Three of them are blue and the other 9 are red. They are quite small as the diameter of the grow light is 4.7 inch and the height of the entire light bulb including the fitting is 5.98 inch.

The grow light is not very big and as it is a standard E27 fitting, it can fit onto any standard lamp, even a desk lamp. It is a screw fixture so all you need to do is screw this on. Its weight is quite light as well at 9 ounces. Users have commented on how sturdy the grow light felt despite its weight.

Exterior is made with aircraft grade aluminum and designed as a heat-sink style with slits to maximize the release of heat. There are also tiny holes in the heat-sink. It looks like any other LED grow light but users have said it does not feel cheap and plastic like other LED grow lights do.

Power

The TaoTronics TT-GL20 LED Grow Light has a wattage power of 12 watts. Each of the 12 LED lights contain 1 watt each so light is evenly distributed to ensure good coverage for your plant.

The average lifespan of this grow light is around 50,000 hours due to its low power consumption. It also emits less heat than fluorescent lights so it’s more energy efficient. However, the brightness of the grow light will still be as bright as fluorescent lights due its high luminous efficiency.

Due to the design and material of the grow light, not much heat is generated even after being on for 24 hours so the bulb remains cool throughout. It is important to keep heat off plants as it can affect their growth and dry the soil.

Growing Effectiveness

The plants photosynthesis absorbs the lights given off by the LED bulbs. There are 4 peak wavelengths for photosynthesis which is 430, 460, 630 and 660 nanometers. The blue LED lights in this grow light hits between 400 – 470 nanometers and the wavelength of the red is between 610 – 720 nanometers which means light can be fully absorbed by the plants.

About the Blue & Red LED Lights

The blue LED light encourages growth of the leaves as the chlorophyll pigment absorbs the light to give the leaves their green color. With the blue LED lights, it helps the carotenoids to drive photosynthesis and also protect the chlorophyll pigments.

The red LED lights are best for leaves to bloom and for plants to grow as it ensures efficient and beneficial sources for photosynthesis. Plants that would be ideal for this LED light bulb would be fruits, vegetables, herbs or any indoor plants. This light can be used at any stage of the plant’s growth.

Taotronics TT-GL20 LED Grow Light

Plant Coverage Area

Many people have questioned the plant coverage given from this grow light. After trialing and testing this, users have found that it will cover up to 3 square feet (roughly 30cm) but if a plant is taller than 16 inches, the bottom of the plant will not absorb enough light. Users with short plants have said the lights work best for these.

It is recommended that the TaoTronics TT-GL20 LED Grow Light should be placed at a height of 1.6 to 5 feet above the plant. Those who have followed this found that their plants did not grow so well and have ended up with pale and stringy plants.

So instead, users have been putting the lights as close as possible to the tip of their plants as the grow light does not generate much heat. Doing this has helped the growth and health of their plants. However, some users have suggested keeping 3 inches between the lights and plants as a rule of thumb as the leaves will get damaged and photobleached if it is too close.

One user had also tested the effectiveness of the grow light compared to sunlight with the same plants. The result was the plants grew better under the grow light when it was on for 14 hours a day. This was still the case with six 3 inch pots but it would need to be rotated. Other users found it was more effective to use one grow light for 3 pots instead though.

Is This LED Grow Light Right For You?

Taotronics TT-GL20 LED Grow Light

Many garden enthusiasts are already using this grow light due to how effective it is. If you only have a few plants to grow, then using the TaoTronics TT-GL20 LED Grow Light would be ideal for you. With this grow light, you can control when the plants need light and how long to have the light on for. It’s also a cheap and effective way to successfully grow your plants so it’s good if you’re on a budget.

For people who grow plants in an aquaponic system, using this grow light would be ideal and beneficial to you if you’re looking to expand your system as you won’t have to wait until a particular season to do this. It saves time and will ensure the successful growth of your plants. However, for the best results, you will need more grow lights installed.

This grow light is also ideal for anyone growing herbs, fruit and vegetables as you won’t have to wait around for the right season for them to be ready. It can be used at any stage of the plants’ life so there is no need to start from the beginning.

Hydroponics VS Aquaponics – Which Is Better?

There has been many debates as to which method of gardening would come out on top in a battle of hydroponics vs aquaponics.

In this article, we’ll be looking at the main differences between the two and if aquaponics really is the best of both worlds of hydroponics and aquaculture.

What Is Hydroponics?

Hydroponics uses only water and chemical nutrients to cultivate plants, without the necessity of soil. It’s not only the main production method of much of the greenhouse tomato, basil and lettuce grown in North America, but it’s also popular among marijuana growers.

The advantages of using hydroponics to grow plants are:

• No soil is necessary.
• It’s stable and produces high yields.
• There is no damage from pesticides.
• The controlled system means that no nutrition pollution is released into the environment.
• Lower nutrient requirements due to control over nutrient levels.
• Lower water requirement as water stays in the system and can be reused.

The Differences Between Hydroponics & Aquaponics

Hydroponics and aquaponics share a few similarities. They both use nutrient-rich water that’s highly oxygenated to bathe the plants’ roots continuously, and in both systems, plants see better growth rates in comparison with those that are grown in soil.

Although aquaponics borrows many techniques from hydroponics such as their NFT (nutrient film technique) and DWC (deep-water culture), there are many significant differences where aquaponics improves upon.

Cost Of Chemical Nutrients – In a hydroponics system, chemical nutrients used to feed plants are expensive and costs are gradually rising due to over-mining and scarcity. In an aquaponics system, fish feed is used instead which is not only cheaper, but will provide you with bigger as well as support for plants.

Retain Nutrient Solution – Certain periods, water in hydroponic systems needs to be unloaded because of the build-up of salts and chemicals to the point where levels become toxic to plants. Where the waste water is disposed of needs to be carefully considered, but in an aquaponic system, there’s a natural balance of nitrogen and water is never replaced, only topped up due to evaporation.

Productivity – It has been shown in several studies and research that once the aquaponic biofilter is fully established (after a period of 6 months), an aquaponic gardener will generally see quicker and more efficient results in terms of plant growth compared to hydroponics.

Ease Of Maintenance – An aquaponic system is much easier to maintain since there’s no need to check the electrical conductivity once everyday as you would have to in a hydroponic system. The natural ecosystem in aquaponics means that elements have a tendency to balance each other out, and you would only need to check pH and ammonia levels once a week, and nitrate levels once a month.

Organic Growth – Hydroponics is made up of a sterile man-made environment while aquaponics is a replication of a natural ecosystem, thus making it completely organic. Hydroponic systems use costly nutrients made up of a mixture of chemicals and salts to feed plants, but in an aquaponic system, plant food is made from the conversion of solid fish waste by bacteria and composting worms. This natural process results in better plant growth and lower disease rates.

Conclusion

The modern concept of hydroponics has existed longer than aquaponics, but the practice of aquaponics can actually be traced back to ancient times. More and more people are beginning to realize the benefits and advantages that aquaponics has over other gardening systems.

There has been an increasing amount of institutes and gardeners around the world on every level of society that are adopting the aquaponics method, and it’s only a matter of time before this sustainable food system is standardized.

Top 7 Reasons To Build A Home Aquaponics System

Easy! DIY AquaponicsIf you’re not aware by now of all the great benefits that aquaponics will bring not only to your own life, but to the lives of others, then here are 10 reasons on why you should build a home aquaponics system.

1) Healthier & Tastier

With all the different chemicals that is put into our food nowadays, it’s very hard to believe that our food is healthy. We often hear about outbreaks of salmonella and other diseases because somewhere in the food production line, safety was compromised.

We cannot no longer trust what we’re eating. A viable solution is to grow our own fish and vegetables and by using aquaponics method, it’s cheaper, faster and easier. Everything is organic and as a result, your food ends up being much healthier and tasting much better.

2) Save Money On Grocery Bill

Produce is expensive especially if you buy organic food. Even then, you cannot completely trust the vegetables in grocery stores to be completely organic. You can save money on your weekly grocery bills if you use the right amount of space to grow your own produce.

Infact, people around the world who uses the aquaponics method have grown so much food that they’ve begun selling their produce. There’s an initiative created by the government of Barbados that encourages locals to build aquaponics systems and live on and sell their produce to tourists so they’re less reliant on imported foods.

3) Faster Growth

home aquaponics systemAn aquaponics system is very effective for growing plants in comparison to traditional gardening. Vegetables can grow up to twice as fast as if you were to grow them in soil, and you can yield 5 to 20 times more food in half the time.

To put things into more perspective, if you were growing lettuce in 10 square feet of space, you can grow just as much lettuce as someone would with 100 square feet of space.

4) Environmentally Friendly

The dwindling numbers of fishes in our earth’s oceans are a major concern. You’ll be conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources and aquatic animals. Fish waste provides an organic fertilizer for plants, and in return, waste water is filtered and recycled by the plants for the fishes.

Aquaponics is completely sustainable and you’ll have peace of mind knowing that. The entire process is natural, which is why it’s so effective.

5) Low-Cost Operation

The start-up costs can be very expensive (thousands of dollars) if you’re buying an pre-made aquaponics system, which is why I recommend building a home aquaponics system yourself for only a few hundred dollars. It’s very straightforward and costs much less.

Once your system is built, all you really need is stock fish, seeds and fish food. If your system is built with energy conservation in mind (which most home aquaponics are), then you’ll end up using up to 70% less energy than traditional gardening methods.

6) Simple To Operate (Automated)

Don’t worry about all the backbreaking work involved in conventional gardening because aquaponics is 95% automated. No weeding is involved because grow beds are placed up high where plant roots cannot spread and soil cultivation and fertilization is not necessary because no soil is needed.

All you need to do is to get the chemistry right for your fish and plants (such as maintaining water pH), feed your fishes and plant more seedlings at the end of every cycle. Mother nature will take care of everything else.

7) Happiness

home aquaponics systemYou cannot buy happiness, but it’s a well-known fact that healthier food equals happier people. Fresh and organic vegetables and fishes will have a positive effect on you physically and mentally.

Not to mention that you’ll get satisfaction out of building your own aquaponics system and being self-dependent on providing healthy food for yourself and your family, absolutely any time you want.

Conclusion

Of course there are cons to using aquaponics such as maintenance of wirings, housing, tank and plumbing. The components for an aquaponics system relies heavily on man-made technologies and can be prone to errors. If the pump stops working or the tubes get blocked, then this can result in the loss of your fishes.

However, the pros far outweigh the cons and you maintenance of the system is a necessity, just like with any other system. There are far less issues with aquaponics than with conventional gardening and hydroponics.

You can enjoy delicious fish and vegetables all year round unlike traditional aquaculture and if you even build your own greenhouse or biodome, you’ll have the perfect environment to relax and raise your plants and fishes.

Top 10 Best Fish Food

Fish needs the right nutrition for healthy growth and the more healthier they are, the better your plants will grow in aquaponics. Our list of the top 10 best fish food comprises of the bestselling and highest rated fish food on Amazon.

Purchasing fish food on Amazon will often save you a lot of money compared to local stores, especially when buying in larger sizes.

Here are the Top 10 Best Fish Food. You can find more information on each production below the tables.

• San Fran Bay
• Brine Shrimp Eggs
• Zoo Med
• LRG Dried Shrimp
• New Life
• Spectrum Pellets
• Tetra Freeze
• Dried Bloodworms
• Tetra Tetramin
• Tropical Flakes
• Tetra Freeze
• Dried JumboKrill
• Hikari Bio-Pure
• Dried Bloodworms
• Tetra
• Goldfish Flakes
• Tetra Tropical
• Flakes Plus
• Tetra
• Cichlid Flakes

Our User Rating – Our own opinion based on our product research on our own and other user’s testing and feedback. Click on one of the featured products and you’ll be brought to Amazon’s product page, where you’ll find genuine customer reviews which we recommend you to read.

Best Value / Top Rated – Products that we feel  stands out in a specific area such as value for money or reputation have been given one of our awards.

10) San Francisco Bay Brand Brine Shrimp Eggs Vial For Baby Fish & Reef Tanks
san-fran-bay-brineOur User Rating 4.2 Stars (4.2 / 5)

Brine Shrimp Eggs contain “high levels and lipid and essential unsaturated fatty acids required for biological processes”. They are designed for baby fish to help them grow faster and enhance their coloration.

They’re ideal for baby freshwater fishes, small saltwater fishes, saltwater invertebrates and corals. It’s sold in a vial of 6 grams.

9) Zoo Med Sun Dried Large Red Shrimp
zoo-med-shrimpOur User Rating 4.3 Stars (4.3 / 5)

These high quality, protein rich food are great for large aquatic turtles, large size freshwater fish, marine aquarium fish and invertebrates. After eating Zoo Med’s Sun Dried Large Red Shrimp, fish and turtles typically shows an increase in physical health and strength within just a few days. It can be part of a staple diet or just used as a supplement or treat. They are available in 0.5oz, 2.5oz and 5oz jars.

8) New Life Spectrum Marine Fish Formula 1mm Sinking Pellet Fish Food
new-life-spectrum-pelletsOur User Rating 4.5 Stars (4.5 / 5)

The Sinking Pellet Fish Food by New Life is versatile in its suitability, as its designed for all marine species, including herbivore, carnivore and omnivore. The pellets are derived from whole krill and herring, is easily digestible for your fish and will help boost their immune system.

It’s able to achieve these type of results from fish because it contains essential elements that are found in the natural environment of fish. The pellets sink immediately but slowly, and you will see that your fish will love the food no matter what type of species it is.

7) Tetra Bloodworms
tetra-bloodwormsOur User Rating 4.5 Stars (4.5 / 5)

Tetra Bloodworms are a nutritious supplement to Tetra Flake Foods and they’re suitable for small-medium sized Tropical and Marine fish. The bloodworms are frozen and dried, and when digested, provides fish with energy and conditioning.

However, it contains insect larvae which can cause allergic reactions such as wheezing, irritation of eyes or skin or running nose. If you suffer from asthma, have high fever or you’re allergic to insect larvae, you must not breath or touch the dust from the product. Use a pair of tweezers or chopsticks to grab them.

6) TetraMin Tropical Flakes
tetra-tetramin-flakesOur User Rating 4.6 Stars (4.6 / 5)

The TetraMin Tropical Flakes will not cloud your water and is a easily digestible fish food that promotes long life. It features the patented ProCare, a health enhancing blend that contains Omega 3 fatty acids (gives fish healthy fat needed for energy and growth), ingredients that boosts the fish’s immune system and a biotin supplement to bolster metabolism. It comes in container sizes from 0.42oz – 4.52lb.

5) Tetra JumboKrill
tetra-jumbokrillOur User Rating 4.7 Stars (4.7 / 5)

The Tetra JumboKrill are large, wholesome freeze-dried shrimps that is a supplement rich in protein, fat, roughage, and vitamin E, designed specifically for large tropical and marine fish.

It’s a fish food that’s high in carotenoids which helps to promote the development of a fish’s natural pink color to orange and red colors. It will make your fish look healthy and feel happy. It’s available in 0.87oz – 14oz vacuum sealed containers to ensure freshness.

4) Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze Dried Blood Worms
hikari-bloodwormsOur User Rating 4.7 Stars (4.7 / 5)

These Bio-Pure Freeze Dried Blood Worms by Hikari (high quality Japanese brand) are an excellent complement to your fish’s staple diet, or even as a daily treat. They’re multi-vitamin rich so that stress and stress related diseases are greatly reduced.

They will not cloud the water and they contain some of the lowest phosphate (causes algae blooms) levels in a dried fish food. You can get them in a container of two sizes (0.42oz and 1.76oz) that has a patented ratcheting dispenser top.

3) TetraFin Goldfish Flakes
tetra-goldfish-flakesOur User Rating 4.7 Stars (4.7 / 5)

This bestselling TetraFin Goldfish Flakes strengthens your fish’s resistance to stress and disease. It’s a nutritional balanced staple diet and easy for your fish to digest. It contains fish meal, brown rice, dried yeast, oatmeal and wheat gluten, among other healthy ingredients.

The majority of goldfish owners that have tested this product out have confirmed that their goldfish happily rush to eat this food, regardless of what size they are. It’s sold in different sizes ranging from 0.42oz – 4.52lb.

2) TetraMin PLUS Tropical Flakes
tetra-tetramin-flakesOur User Rating 4.8 Stars (4.8 / 5)

One of the best fish food is the TetraMin PLUS Tropical Flakes which is available in sizes ranging from 0.42oz – 7.06oz (200 grams). The flakes contain the aroma and flavor of real shrimp which naturally attracts aquarium fish. They will not compress or collapse, neither will they sink (unless your fish pulls it under water of course!) or cloud the water.

1) TetraCichlid Flakes
tetra-cichlid-flakesOur User Rating 4.8 Stars (4.8 / 5)

TetraCichlid Flakes are designed for top and mid-water feeding Cichlids such as Tilapias. This nutritionally balanced diet contains an easier to digest formula and a specific and customized blend of immunostimulants, vitamins, biotin, and Omega-3 fatty acids to strengthen fish’s resistance to diseases and stress.

Flakes will remain firm and will not collapse when fish strikes. It’s available in 1.58oz – 1.75lb containers, with the latter end saving you more money.