10 Best Tips For Aquaponics Success

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Mercy McKinney
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1 10 Best Tips For Aquaponics Success Starting out in aquaponics for hobby or for business can be a daunting prospect. The idea of creating a controlled closed loop ecosystem can be a daunting one. Raising both healthy fish and plants is a prospect that not many are willing to humor. Thank god you are receiving this report then! With this report we give you concrete time tested advice and best practices that will ensure your dive into aquaponics will be an unparalleled success. With these ten best tips for aquaponics success you will get action steps that you must take in order to ensure the healthy long term viability of your aquaponics system. In addition, you will also get advice on what actions you must avoid taking so that you don t make the same mistakes we and others did when starting out. This is the biggest asset anyone getting onto aquaponics could ask for, is knowing what doesn t work. This industry is pretty new, especially at the hobby level so we are constantly learning new things about these systems but we have a clear understanding of what doesn't work. So without further ado, let s get to it! Ten Best Tips for Aquaponics Success: 1. Avoid duckweed 2. Be careful using tap water 3. Don't add too many fish 4. Plan your Pest Management Strategy 5. Test Your Water 6. Design your first system with industry standards 7. Use a ph neutral media 8. Do not use harmful additives 9. Ensure proper circulation 10. Always keep back up equipment

#1 Avoid Duckweed- The number one problem we see with new growers and with those interested in aquaponics is the use or the recommended use of duckweed.

2 #1 Avoid Duckweed- The number one problem we see with new growers and with those interested in aquaponics is the use or the recommended use of duckweed. I once was one who fell into this trap in my first system. Yes fish, specifically tilapia, will eat duckweed with gusto, and yes the duckweed will repopulate faster than the fish can eat it. It s this info that makes it very attractive as a fish feed to aquaponic growers. We ve even seen claims that duckweed is around 40% protein and that it is perfect diet for those trying to grow a high protein fish. Let s clear the facts on this note. Duckweed is 95% water. This can be confirmed by a simple google search. When dried, duckweed does contain somewhere between 35 40% protein. Most of those that are advocating duckweed are unaware that the 40% protein figure they claim is for dry duckweed. Your fish in aquaponics systems are not eating dry duckweed. Your fish are eating wet duckweed which as I stated at the beginning of this paragraph is 95% water. That means the protein content of duckweed is 35 40% of the remaining non water portion of wet duckweed. So wet duckweed (what your fish eat) is only about 2% protein. THIS is why fish eat it so ferociously, it is because they are starving. This is especially true of growers who try to rely solely on duckweed and don't provide any supplemental nutrition to their fish. Couple this with the fact that duckweed grows faster than your starving fish can eat it and you really have a problem. If uncontained, the growth is unstoppable. It gets out of the fish tank and into your pipes, grow beds, sump, pumps etc. The duckweed will sap your system of the vital nutrients you are trying so hard to create! It is unruly and can cause a major headache. If you are interested in growing food for your fish look into black soldier fly larvae. They provide more protein and won't clog your pipes and pumps like duckweed will.

#2 Careful using tap water in your system This is one of the biggest mistakes of first time growers in their aquaponics systems. Most of the cities in the US add chlorine and fluoride to their water.

3 #2 Careful using tap water in your system This is one of the biggest mistakes of first time growers in their aquaponics systems. Most of the cities in the US add chlorine and fluoride to their water. Specifically chlorine can be deadly to fish. If the only access to fresh water you have is through your tap you need to off gas the water before letting you fish come in contact with it. If you are setting up a brand new system you can do this by adding the water to the fish tank and letting it sit for hours with the aeration unit going. If you have a running system and need to add water to it, you need to off gas it before you add it to the system. If public utilities is your only access to water it would behoove you to keep a steady supply of off gassed water, just in case. This garden hose filter is a valuable addition to the aquapioneer s arsenal. It filters out chlorine, chloramine and other harmful chemicals in our water supply. We highly recommend having it on hand for filling up your system and for topping off the water level. Again, the link is here.

#3 Do not put too many fish in the tank - We learned this one the hard way. Those starting out tend to want to grow as many fish as possible as quickly as possible.

4 #3 Do not put too many fish in the tank - We learned this one the hard way. Those starting out tend to want to grow as many fish as possible as quickly as possible. The problem with this is that an overcrowd fish tank results in stunted growth and high nitrate levels, affecting the health of the fish. When starting out with a system for the first time, keep your stocking densities low. I d recommend one pound of fish for every five gallons of water in your fish tank. This is lower than the generally accepted densities but from our experience low densities do not hinder plant growth and over the lifetime of the system create a more stable environment. In addition it will save you money in feed which adds up over the lifetime of your system. Unless you are growing on a large commercial scale it is highly unlikely that the fish portion of your system will be profitable. As a small scale or hobby grower you should be looking to keep the fish side of the operation as low as possible to maximize your margins. Don t make the mistake of over stocking, you can always add fish later, it s a cruel waste to stock too densely and end up losing fish.

5 #4 Plan Your Pest Management Even if you are growing indoors you ll want to have a plan that you may never need than get caught with unwanted pests. If you are growing outside you definitely want to have a pest management plan. Pests are really the only threat to your plants health in aquaponics. A simple google search for organic pest management will bring up a variety of source material on how to manage pests easily. Choose methods that pertain to the crops you are growing and the region you are in. Some pests are native to certain regions and some are widespread. It is up to you to determine the actions you need for your gardens size and location. A primary tip for organic pest management is growing plants that repel pests. Most herbs like basil, rosemary, thyme and oregano are wonderful in the garden and in the kitchen and also help repel different pests. Another best practice for dealing with pests is the idea of the sacrificial plant. We use kale as our sacrificial plant in my backyard garden. The kale attracts all of the pests AWAY from the other plants. We plant 1 sacrificial kale in each of our 3 x4 grow beds. To deal with an actual infestation, most common pests are repelled by a simple mixture. Just add water, cayenne pepper and garlic together and spray it on the leaves (foliar application) of affected plants. This doesn t need to be complicated but have a plan of action ready for the common pests associated with the plants you are or intend to grow. Do the research: find out the main pests in your area and the main pests of your primary crops. Use techniques like sacrificial plants and pest repelling plants to reduce likelihood of infection Finally, make a foliar spray of water, cayenne pepper and garlic for AFTER an infection.

#5 Test Your Water (ph, temp, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia) The success of any aquaponics system lies in the water. The flip side of that coin is true as well, most failures lie in poor water.

7 #5 Test Your Water (ph, temp, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia) The success of any aquaponics system lies in the water. The flip side of that coin is true as well, most failures lie in poor water. Aquaponics is a living ecosystem and nutrient levels in your water fluctuate over the course of time. If certain levels fluctuate too far from where we want them then it can affect the health of our fish and plants in a bad way. The good news is that once a system is established it is very stable and takes minimal maintenance. There are 5 things you must monitoring in your aquaponics system. These are ph, temperature, nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia. If you re starting a system from new you will want to test for these daily. Once you see stable test results for a few weeks then you can cut back and just monitor temp daily and the rest once a week. Your ph should be between 6.8 and 7.0 ideally but any fluctuation more than.5 in either direction is a sign of something more serious. A ⅓ water change should be enough to get your ph back on track. If it is an ongoing problem then consider further actions like aquaponics safe ph up/down. In an established system your ammonia and nitrite levels should be zero and you should have a nitrate level under 80 ppm. You want nitrates present in the water because nitrates are the actual plant fertilizer that we are looking for. Anywhere from ppm nitrates means that the plants are getting all they need and there is a little bit extra but not so much extra that the fish are affected. If you see your nitrates getting up beyond 100 ppm, skip a feeding or two on your fish and the levels should drop back down.

#6 Use a Correct Design - Knowing what is correct and incorrect in system design is best learned through experience. Only time grows the ability to say you know what you are doing.

8 #6 Use a Correct Design - Knowing what is correct and incorrect in system design is best learned through experience. Only time grows the ability to say you know what you are doing. It is one thing to set up a system and have it be beautiful for the first few months. When that same system is working beautifully for a few years in a row, then you have something really impressive. In addition to experience, the best way is to build up your assumptions with industry best standard math based on already existing systems. So if you are looking to start your first system, look to the internet and those who have experience in aquaponics and utilize their designs for systems. There is no need to reinvent the wheel in this regard. When you do branch out to designing your own systems keep them simple. Do not overcomplicate your design and always design your system around one water pump. Take advantage of gravity to move water freely whenever you can. Adding more than one pump into the design almost never works out and only causes headaches down the road. We have used this DIY guide to great success and recommend it: za4elz0fb3ie57av4qfk.hop.clickbank.net/ Easy DIY Aquaponics $47 for the DIY guide.

#7 Use a ph Neutral Media - Another common mistake in aquaponics comes in choosing their media. The issue with almost all media is that they will affect your ph in some way, at least initially.

This quick initial raise can affect the health of plants and fish and for that reason we don t add either until a few days after the shale is added.

9 #7 Use a ph Neutral Media - Another common mistake in aquaponics comes in choosing their media. The issue with almost all media is that they will affect your ph in some way, at least initially. For instance, we use expanded shale in our systems. This expanded shale raises our ph, in our large systems it generally raises it.5 1pH. This quick initial raise can affect the health of plants and fish and for that reason we don t add either until a few days after the shale is added. Over the course of about 6 months the ph lowers slowly back to an acceptable range for both the plants and fish. We are willing to use the shale because we can get it locally and it is readily available in large quantities at a good discount. However, there are other suitable options for media that do not affect the ph. These include hydroton and lava rock. On the flip side one example of unacceptable media is limestone. Limestone affects the ph in an irreversible manner and will affect the health of both the fish and the plants. While it is attractive because of its availability and cheap price tag it is not suitable for aquaponics operations. To test to see if the media you picked affects ph, test the ph of your water, and then add water to a cupful of media and test the ph hours later. If it has changed significantly you can be certain that your media will affect the ph of your system.

#8 Do not use harmful additives - Aquaponic gardens are systems of relationship and balance. Generally speaking an excessively high or low ph will find equilibrium over time.

10 #8 Do not use harmful additives - Aquaponic gardens are systems of relationship and balance. Generally speaking an excessively high or low ph will find equilibrium over time. This is called returning to homeostasis. In #7 Choosing Your Media I mentioned how it took 6 months for our ph to drop due to the expanded shale media we use. Some people are impatient and resort to using chemical such as muriatic acid to lower their ph. Chemicals will lower your ph but they are untested in aquaponics and many of them may harm the health of your fish and plants. If you are considering chemicals, don't. It is that simple. The ph of your system will drop on its own over time due to nitrification and that gradual drop is much safer for your fish. In addition, fish and plants are more tolerant than we give them credit for you. We don't need to be that rash with the use of chemical alterations. The only option that I recommend is the use of vinegar. We are careful as too much will affect the health of the fish. Small sustained applications, however, will lower your ph over time. Use small amounts (like ⅓ cup for 250 gallons) and monitor the situation. Vinegar is a slow fix, be patient and keep the additions small. Some nutrients will need to be supplemented in aquaponics. The primary example is iron. There are many types of organic, aquaponics safe iron supplements that are useful for different ph ranges. Nutrient supplementation is a larger topic for another report.

11 Presented by FRESH Farm Aquaponics #9 Ensure Proper Circulation - Make sure your fish tank turns over once per hour. Another key component to maintaining good health in your system is consistent turnover of the fish tank. We make sure that the volume of our fish tank turns over at least once per hour. This comes down to proper pump selection and oversizing your plumbing to prevent clogging. In general it is better to oversize your pump as their efficiency does deteriorate over their lifespan. Oversizing your pump gives you more life out of your pump as well as ensuring you get proper circulation throughout your system. More turnover, the better. While we re on the topic of circulation, make sure that your plants are getting adequate air circulation too! Many of our plants baked in our greenhouses under the summer sun before we learned that poor air circulation was the main culprit. Remember, circulate circulate circulate! Water and air.

12 #10 Always Keep Back-up Equipment - The success of your aquaponics system comes down to the success of your equipment. In every aquaponics system there is typically a water pump, an air pump and water heaters. Each of these items is key to your system s health and therefor the success of your system. Because these different pieces of equipment are so critical, every successful aquaponic gardener has a backup of each of these pieces. Pumps and heaters do not last a lifetime and they can fail without any previous warning signs. You don t want to risk losing your fish because you didn't have a back up pump on hand. It is too risky to assume that your local aquarium or hydroponics store will have the materials you need. Plus, if your pump goes at midnight you will likely a nightmare on your hands before you can get to a store. To the new gardener, backups might seem like an unnecessary expense but every experienced gardener will tell you: take the expense on up front because if you aren t prepared it will cost you more in the long run. Worst case scenario for being prepared is that you never need to use your back ups.

13 There you have it. Ten sure fire tips to secure success for you in aquaponics. If you follow the advice in this article along with careful planning and monitoring then you will have a successful operation. You will ensure that the inputs into your aquaponic ecosystem are safe and healthy for both the plants and fish. This increases the garden s long term viability and stability. Now it s time to take this knowledge to the streets as they say. Take the dive, the water s warm in aquaponics and bubbling with potential. If you need a place to get started, visit ffaap.com. This is my personal website that offers great reviews on a wide range of aquaponic systems, kits, guide, plans and accessories. It s the perfect place to learn everything you need to know to get started as well as get everything you need. With that I ll give you one final BONUS TIP. This might just be the most important one of all: Just dive in. The biggest mistake possible to make in aquaponics is to not try it out if you find it interesting. It really is easy and so rewarding. With this guide you re already going to avoid making the common mistakes. So give it a try, the only way you ll know if it s something you want to do is try it out.

Aquaculture + Hydroponics = Aquaponics. Combining aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (raising vegetables without soil)

www.sustainlife.org Introduction to Aquaponics Water for the Small Homestead Aquaculture + Hydroponics = Aquaponics Combining aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (raising vegetables without soil)