OC Backyard Aquaponics Project

Good morning world. So in continuing to catch up to recent activities, after selecting the spot in my yard to experiment I started doing some research. It was mostly on YouTube I will admit, since I like to not only hear but see things in action. I found one guy in particular that I really enjoyed watching hpgardener. In a few of his videos he demonstrates a particular type of hydroponics known as the Kratky hydroponics method. Basically it is a self sufficient system that requires no maintenance after set up. All you do is build the box, put in the liquid plant food, insert plants and one month later you will have some amazing veggies. Also the cost is very low because it is made out of low grade lumber, some plastic and styrofoam.

Building New Boxes for Hydroponic Growing

I also found another cool system that could work in tandem with my boxes but although it is very spatially effiecient it is not as economically efficient. The Kratky boxes cost about $50 for 3 if you buy the material from the store. The towers would cost around $300 each!

The plans call for 10' long 4 inch PVC pipe which at the local lumber store are $20-25 each. Each system requires 7 strait pipes and also rounded pipe at the ends which are pricey as well. I am still interested but looking at craigslist everyday for people giving out free pipe....giggity...Also if I'm driving around and see some pipe laying around I would try to use it for this purpose. But I was thinking or building two of these tower systems for each fish pond I am going to dig so for now unless I find free pipe or win the powerball it's just not going to happen. There are other pipe methods out there but what I love about this one is that it is gravity fed. Meaning you just pump water to one place at the very top and it trickles down through the system without assistance. There are other systems where the pipes are level and it requires additional hardware to get the water from one level to another.

Once again nothing wrong with this A frame system, it just makes more sense in my mind to let nature aka gravity do the work. Less moving parts means less chance that things break or need repair.

Okay so to give some background on this. Growing up I've always been fascinated by fish. By high school I had 3 fish tanks in my room. Two salt water and one fresh. More recently I started gardening as a hobby mostly to relieve stress and also I just like to see things grow from seeds. Two years ago I was lucky enough to purchase my first house. Lucky for me it is on a huge lot for OC standards (10k sq ft) and at the end of a cul-de-sac (no nosey neighbors)! When I first moved in the back and side yard were nothing but dirt and weeds. So almost immediately I went to work on creating what is to me, the ultimate backyard. For the past month or so I have been researching hydroponics online, and came across the idea of aquaponics. Which is a full cycle system that incorporates both fish and gardening! I spent a lot of time learning the basics, and all the different methods available. Taking some ideas and inspiration from several places and patching them together. What I decided on was to dig out a pond area to house the fish in ground, and then putting Kratky style planters on top. I haven't figured out how to most efficiently place them yet, but I have time right?