Aquaponics is a hobby I picked up a few years back after seeing a video on youtube. It was a simple 2 barrel system that had shown great growth over the season. I had most of the parts needed lying around and set to work the next day. My first system was made up of a 35 gallon trashcan, the bottom of a dishwasher, and some pcv fittings. The only pump I had was way overkill so I ran to the hardware store and bought a 210 GPH pond pump for around $40-$50. With the unit completed I began cycling the system. I had lettuce already started and planted that as my first crop. I filled the tank mostly full and then dumped a few gallons from my indoor aquarium into growbed to hopefully get things going. A few days later I went to the local pet store and bought 20 feeder comets. I uploaded a few videos to youtube and had pretty good success until the heat of summer hit. Everything started dieing and whithering away. That is when I found out the importance of shade cloth. To this day I still have the original fish from the first system. They come inside for the winter in to my indoor system, system #2, and moved back outside once the danger of freezing is over.
You can see videos of my first system here and an update to it here. I have many photos that I've never uploaded and may do a online album if there is interest. I'm currently Running a 55 gallon outdoor system with plans on trying to build a 300 gallon outdoor system in the near future.
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