DIY Aquaponics

A lovely new friend I met in the blog-o-sphere asked me yesterday how she could get started with Aquaponics. She cited cost as an issue that was stopping her from doing what I’ve done with my garden.  I felt like slapping my forehead.  The POINT of me sharing my garden with you was to encourage all of you to do the same thing but somehow I totally didn’t take into account that not everyone has access to the same supplies and money we do (thanks to the tax return, actually…). So I wanted to write up a post with several ideas of how to get your own garden started without putting in the same cost that you see on my blog.

This picture is from aquaponicswork.com.

To start with, lets talk fish containers.  I purchased an IBC that costs around $175, depending on the seller, condition, delivery,etc.  Other options are real fish tanks, storage totes, horse troughs (the heavy metal ones), pond liners and even a wooden frame with a heavy plastic liner inside of it.  If you manage to find one, old bath tubs would be great too!

This picture is from thesustainableleader.org.

Grow beds can be as simple as PVC pipes, storage totes, wooden box with plastic liner, or cut IBCs. You don’t even have to use rock as your grow medium.

This picture is from thesustainableleader.org.

You can get a piece of thick styrofoam, cut circles and slide baskets in to hold your plants.  This would then float on top of a water bed.  This cuts down significantly on cost as you don’t even have to worry about buying rock at all!

This picture is from aquaponicswork.com.

The plumbing is not as negotiable, you really do need to have PVC.  But its not usually all that expensive and often times you can find it on Craigslist or friends have leftover pieces hanging around. You do not have to use Tilapia.  Pretty much any fish will work (even shrimp!).  If you are trying to go as inexpensive as possible, go to a local pond and snag a few fish to toss into your tank.  If that isn’t an option, get feeder fish from your local pet store and use them.  I’ve seen people using koi, beta, and gold fish. As for plants, you can buy seed packets and start from scratch, you can replant the ends of vegetables (celery would do this well!) and you can even get trimmings off other plants in your yard. Aquaponics can be as simple as recycling old objects to as complicated as whole warehouse systems with rotating beds and grow lights.  You can put a tiny system on your kitchen counter, a small system in an extra bedroom, a moderate system in your basement, a huge system in your back yard!  You can choose to plant a simple herb garden for fresh herbs year round or you can plant a system that will feed your entire family or you can develop a system that will produce enough to participate at a local farmer’s market. A day dream that I’ve been working on lately is a website that will teach people more about aquaponics and point people in the direction of where to go to buy all the components for a great system.  I’ll let you all know when that site launches, its actually in the works and I can announce it formally in the next few months! Keep watching for it!

Update (June 1, 2015):  My Website is up and running with several good DIY guides!  You can find my site at www.aquaponicsresource.com.  Enjoy looking around at everything I created!

Prepping the IBCs

In our aquaponics system, we have chosen to use IBCs as our containers.  They are typically used to store large quantities of food oil, maple syrup, and other liquid goodies.  Once they are used they are resold and people use them for water storage, gardening, and many other awesome things.

So, when we decided to expand our aquaponics system we bought 4 more IBCs.  One of those we are keeping as a second fish tank and the other three got cut into grow beds.  They aren’t really all that difficult to cut, but you have to have a metal saw and a star screw bit in order to get them cut nicely. First off, you have to unscrew the top bars which hold the plastic into the metal framing. These are not common screw heads but they are not all that expensive to purchase.

Pulling out the plastic IBC isn’t mandatory but really makes cutting the metal bars quick and easy. After you get the top bars off, you can pull the plastic out and set it to the side.  Then you cut the vertical metal bars in between the horizontal framing.  It takes a bit of elbow grease but actually goes pretty quickly.  The beds won’t be exactly even, one side will be about 18 inches and the other side about 21 inches, but it makes very little difference in the actual system.

Once you have all the bars off, your IBC will look roughly like this and you’ll have to cut the plastic.  Use the frame as your guide and draw with a permanent marker around the IBC.

Use either a saw or a box knife to cut the plastic.  If you are using a box knife I would suggest you don a pair of gloves because you’ll be pushing on the knife pretty hard.  You’ll end up having a several-inch-wide piece of plastic to either be crafty with or dispose of.

And then you have a bunch of grow beds.  Like this!