Reasonably stocked Aquaponics system.

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Beej1254

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Starting up an aquaponics system on my 55 gal tank was something I always wanted to try. However the videos and information I find in most places only showcase beyond reasonably stocked tanks with hundreds of pond/river/lake fish like tilapia or blue gill. One thing I don't want to do is make the fish suffer to grow food. I understand how the system works and I understand that most of these fish get eaten too but having multiple aquariums and caring for fish I only feel like you shouldn't make them live in sub par aquariums or tubs. It all kinda grosses me out to see aquaponics setup this way and I know that's kind of the point so the plants can feed off the nutrients in the water. If I were to setup an aquaponics system I would like to keep fish that I like and I wouldn't eat them.


I guess my question is has anyone setup an aquaponics system that is "clean" vs looking like this

ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1440394831.371580.jpg

to where it can function as a beautiful fish tank AND aquaponic system.
 
I am also interested in creating an aquaponic system that not only provides food but has a special aesthetic quality. If anyone has info on this, please post.


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Ok key to having a tank not look like that is don't overstock lol.
I would also stay away from species that create lots of waste for their size like Plecos.

For a planted aquarium of lower maintenance you want to start with a good substrate like fluorite. After that pick a light in the low to medium light range then pick plants suitable for light choice.




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Ok key to having a tank not look like that is don't overstock lol.
I would also stay away from species that create lots of waste for their size like Plecos.

For a planted aquarium of lower maintenance you want to start with a good substrate like fluorite. After that pick a light in the low to medium light range then pick plants suitable for light choice.




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Although great advice it sounds like you are giving us recommendations for a planted aquarium and not an aquaponics system. Aquaponics systems rely on the fish waste to produce edible plants outside of the aquarium in a grow bed which is then pumped back into the aquarium to complete a cycle. This way the plants feed off of the nitrates and clean the water for the fish. All commercial aquaponics systems I've seen use large fish in large quantities to the point where you get extremely overstocked systems powering plant growth. But it seems wrong and a low quality of life for the fish. I'd imagine on a much smaller scale you could produce a decent bunch of smaller plants or even just one of a certain kind without overstocking a tank too much.
 
Although great advice it sounds like you are giving us recommendations for a planted aquarium and not an aquaponics system. Aquaponics systems rely on the fish waste to produce edible plants outside of the aquarium in a grow bed which is then pumped back into the aquarium to complete a cycle. This way the plants feed off of the nitrates and clean the water for the fish. All commercial aquaponics systems I've seen use large fish in large quantities to the point where you get extremely overstocked systems powering plant growth. But it seems wrong and a low quality of life for the fish. I'd imagine on a much smaller scale you could produce a decent bunch of smaller plants or even just one of a certain kind without overstocking a tank too much.


My issue with such a system in a 55gallon would be the decrease in KH and increase in GH.

On my salt water system I use a sump 3/4 the size of my display tank to grow macro algae to keep nitrates 5ppm or below. But I still do small weekly Water changes to restore the lost the lost calcium and other minerals. And this tank is far from overstocked.

For freshwater stocking levels or slightly overstocked I would say you would need a similar arrangement in addition to the plants in the display tank to make a large dent in nitrate levels. In all of the low maintenance tanks I have seen they have all been well below fully stocked.


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Would doing the weekly water changes hurt the success of the eatable plants? We considered this and always just figures the maintence would still be this same only with the addition of the plants in the grow bed. Meaning we would still do the 30% water changes as usual.


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Would doing the weekly water changes hurt the success of the eatable plants? We considered this and always just figures the maintence would still be this same only with the addition of the plants in the grow bed. Meaning we would still do the 30% water changes as usual.


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No I believe that doing the normal water changes is essential to the life of the system. It's always important to do water changes to replenish the minerals and trace elements in the water.
 
the palnts and soild will hold alot of water. WC like in a traditional aquarium wont be as necessary, rather keeping the water topped off will. Topping off will replentish minerals.
If you do WC like in a normal aquarium, then you have no fish waste and nitrates for the plants!!
 
the palnts and soild will hold alot of water. WC like in a traditional aquarium wont be as necessary, rather keeping the water topped off will. Topping off will replentish minerals.
If you do WC like in a normal aquarium, then you have no fish waste and nitrates for the plants!!


My concern would be the plants removing kh during photosynthesis and leaving gh and each top off adding more gh. Then when you do do a water change the tank water will vary grossly from the tap water.




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I'd say when you do the water change, don't gravel vac it, just remove water from the water column, it will remove the gh from the water, but won't suck up as much of the fish waste from the substrate


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My concern would be the plants removing kh during photosynthesis and leaving gh and each top off adding more gh. Then when you do do a water change the tank water will vary grossly from the tap water.




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The water in an established, balanced system where plants and life co-exist is probably far healthier for them than what comes out of your tap. Healthy plants remove considerable amounts of most everything harmful in the water. You just need enough of them and to harvest of trim them regularly.

My beef with aquaponics systems is as already mentioned, overstocking and poor quality of life for the fish although I don't know enough about aquaponics systems to comment anymore so I will leave it there.


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My senior year in high school, me, my girlfriend, and my buddy did a aquaponics project for our greenhouse class. My teacher wanted us to do tilapia in a 300 gallon circular stock tub, but we wanted to do a little unorthodox aquaponics set up. We got a 100gal aquarium, stocked it with a couple blood parrots, two fire mouths, a pleco, upside down catfish, and a massive amount of neons. We wanted fish that produced enough waste, but still looked decent as a community. Plants grew just as well as they would've with the tilapia, and my teacher still has the tank for decoration today, almost a year later. Also, we did a 30% waterchange every two weeks, no gravel vac, and regular top offs.
 
Great topic to see here! I've wanted to do an herb aquaponic window side for a while now.
Not vacuuming the substrate seems logical. How much and type of substrate is best?
Are you OP talking about a flood and drain basin filled with lava rock medium? I do believe the deeper layers of the medium will maintain its BB between floods. Filtering and a snazzy looking tank could be achieved for sure. We've just got to select the right ratios of fish waste to plant and BB uptake and breakdown of waste.

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How about stirring up the substrate with your hand or other inferior tool before one of the daily floods?

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How's this for heavily stocked?


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I've been having success growing kale and basil in my 20 gal tall aquaponic system.
I found that adding smaller amounts of fertilizer and doing foliar sprays to apply micronutrients/macros is a better way to do it for a system on which you try to enjoy the fish.

I do one big water changes every 3-4 weeks and top off the tank with water and fertilizer weekly.

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What types of fertilizer after the pwc do you use?
Thanks Fel, any photos of your set up you could share?

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I've been adding potassium bicarbonate(my tapwater is around a kh of 2 so this adds buffer and potassium), chelated iron, Epsom salt, and some kelp extract.

When I first started the system there were lots of deficiencies, now they seem mostly under control (iron and then magnesium I believe). I also feed my fish 3 different forms of food a day as this helps bring in nutrients that maybe lacking in one type of food.

Also I have a sack of cooked and crushed egg shells by my pump to release calcium

I'll update the post I have for it when I get home

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f70/fels-planted-aquarium-aquaponic-combo-system-338232.html

^^The forum, I just updated it.

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