Aquarium Aquaponics How To Part 1 - How to Build an Aquaponic System

 Are you currently an aquarium fish keeper? If you are, did you know that you can literally have your fish tank reward you with fresh organic vegetables and herbs? It's called Aquaponics, and its the real deal! This new-age growing technique has spun off its hydroponic roots and incorporated natural nutrient producing fish to provide nourishment for growing garden plants. While gaining nourishment from the fish, the plants will filter the water better than any power/mechanical fish filter on the market. With so many benefits, you'll never look at fish keeping the same way!

 How to Build an Aquaponics System:

The great thing about using an aquaponic system is that they can be built and adapted to any size aquarium or reservoir. Aquaponics can also be utilized as an outdoor gardening technique, but I'll be covering only the small scale indoor aquarium setups. I'm also going to model this entire Aquaponics series around a 65 Gallon aquarium setup that I am currently working on.

Materials Needed:

1. Aquarium and Stand
2. Powerhead
3. Growing Container (Tupperware)
4. Misc. Tubing
5. Sharp Knife
6. Hydroton/Growing Medium
7. Net Cups
8. Lighting System

With these materials, I was able to build a Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) style Aquaponics system. Here's How:

1. The first step is to prepare your growing container (tupperware). Choose one that will easily fit and mount above your aquarium. Your container will preferably be dark in color, as light colored containers allow light penetration and eventually alage growth. If your container is clear, paint it black as I did.
2. Next on the list was to cut holes in the container lid for the net pots to sit. Make sure to cut the holes a little smaller than the largest part of the net cup so that it will sit supported on the lid. For my system, I made 14 holes allowing 2" between each plant.
3. When finished with the lid, you now have to make an intake hole and two exit holes. This is where the powerhead comes in. Since powerheads solely move water, find tubing that will clamp down onto the output of the powerhead. This tubing will now be fed into the hole cut in the container for intake water. Using the same size tubing, cut two exit holes and feed tubing through, guiding it back to the aquarium
4. At this point, all you have to do is fill the net pots up with hydroton grow some plants!

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