If anyone is interested in touring several central Florida Aquaponics Gardens, please let me know as there is one such tour coming up on March 5th. Here is a link that might be useful: 2011 Central Florida Aquaponic Gardening Tour

First post. I live on the Space Coast and have a 1/2 acre property, and just bought the empty 3/4 acre lot next to me under an LLC I started in order to bypass the HOA's requirement to build within 12 months. (Want to keep it greenspace in a park-like setting) We have an existing Florida Pool enclosure that I am extending 26'x30' in a couple of months. That will house a turn-key large Aquaponics system bought from endlessfoodsystems.com. It will also have room for a 5'x5' granite top table behind my BBQ kitchen for eating. The Aquaponics system will include a 275gallon fish tank, powering 4 media beds, 6 raft beds, and two wicking beds. In addition to standard filtration of solids, I'll add BioChar to the filter exit that will also assist in removing the nasties. I'm a BIoChar fanatic as well and making my own with a Kon-Tiki cone kiln. Using it for multiple purposes in raised beds, worm bins, and for other uses as well. Fish will be around 50 Blue Tilapia (The only Tilapia allowed in Florida without a special license), and one Pleco catfish. (The Pleco keeps the bottom, sides, and pipes clean) Fish will be fed a combo of pellets and duckweed. It will take about 6 weeks for the systems water to "charge" before adding the fish. Water comes from our existing well and purified through a 500GPD Reverse Osmosis system. Pumps for air and water will be backed up by a 400W Solar system in the event of power failures...or grid down. Once in use, the maintenance of the system is minimal, requiring only a few hours a week, except for planting and harvesting. I'm somewhat surprised at the minimal posts on Aquaponics here, but like BioChar, I think that will logarythmically accelerate as more people learn the benefits, both environmentally, and nutritionally as time passes. My AP system will be based on this diagram: I hope to see more discussions of Aquaponics here soon, and will post my progress in a dedicated post as I get started on the project.Cheers!

Yea, perhaps not for everyone but I rather like the idea of my garden growing fish as well as veggies and being self watering and fertilizing. It does cost extra to set up and there is the electricity and fish food as ongoing costs but it definitely is a minimal labor food system once established. I have conventional gardens too but they tend to get neglected during the hot months and require hauling more compost than we can produce.

Yea, I know there are not many into AP here but every once in a while some one from Hydro will get tweaked to learn a bit more about AP and might come over. I know I eventually did once I found the BYAP forum which explained the nitrogen cycle so well. Before that, I didn't understand how it could possibly work. Since then, my last tub of hydroponic nutrient has sat unused on the shelf for over two years. But thank you for reminding me of DIY, I am a member there and had neglected to share with them. Here is a link that might be useful: BYAP forum (start with Basic Info first)