Aquaponic Gardening: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Vegetables and Fish Together

After reading this book I can tell my husband he’s wrong when he starts mansplaining aquaponics to me

After getting this book for my brother-in-law last Christmas and shamelessly paging through before I gave it to him, I ordered a copy for myself shortly after the new year. I was (still am, really) a rookie in aquaponics, but I read this book cover to cover and found the vast majority of what I needed to design and set up a system in our apartment (50 gal fish tank/50 gal grow bed currently producing as much thyme, basil, and swiss chard as I can eat). The author makes a point to cover every design issue you need to consider, laid out in the order in which it should be considered. The book has a very methodical and logical layout that makes it relatively easy to put together a plan to build a system from scratch. (But you'll still have to do the leg work!)In a few cases, it would be nice to have a little more depth. For example, some fluorescent lights come in different 'color temperatures,' but the author doesn't get into blue vs. red spectrum until the section on HID lights, and then only briefly. My 'grow light' seems to have a different spectrum (and works better) than my 'daylight spectrum' T8 fixture, but I wouldn't have expected that from the book. Also, many different strains of tilapia are available with different traits, but the book doesn't go further than differentiating 'tilapia' from 'koi,' 'pacu,' etc. Most of the missing information is readily available on the web, so this shortcoming isn't a huge drawback. I should note here, however, that since I wanted to build a small-scale edible fish system, the hardest thing for me was locating a source that would sell me just five tilapia and didn't charge $80-100 for shipping. I finally found a local tropical fish (pet) store that was willing to order them specially.The author's personal experiences with aquaponics are helpful and make the book very readable. The "10 dumbest mistakes I've made in aquaponics" is a good list of things that novices like me should watch out for, and the "rules of thumb" at the end of every chapter are a great reference when designing your own system. I can't count the number of times I went back and looked at those guidelines, especially when cycling the system. In sum, this book is an excellent resource for anyone just getting started in aquaponics.

This book was recommended during a short talk I attended on the subject as a good place to start learning about aquaponics. It is all of that and more. The author is relatively thorough in scope and very detailed in presentation. What was I missing? I was looking for more advice/suggestions on types of fish--tilapia, catfish, goldfish and koi are not the only choices out there and none of those meet my needs. There is a really good section on things to consider when choosing your fish...even a cursory listing of some of the more specialized selections would have been a good addition.One area that seems to be missing in a number of books and is barely mentioned in this book is the large backyard, 12-month system that is gaining popularity. Many of the pictures in this book are indoor aquaria with a tank topper and a grow light. While the principles are the same, there are a few scale issues. All-in-all this is a really good book that I hope will be updated in the future to discuss more recent trends. If you know little or nothing about aquaponics, this book will give you enough of a taste to let you know whether you want nothing to do with it or you will be hooked and looking for more.

My son asked for this book at the holidays. He’s learned a lot and has been able to manage a small system in his own with plans for a bigger one.

I hate to say it, but so far the answer is no!! I was very inspired by this book and there is a lot of valuable info for anyone wanting to do aquaponics. One of the most valuable aspects in the long run is that there are links to many other online gurus in the book as well.I was totally inspired!! The idea that one can help out the planet and eat more nurtritious foods and save money all at the same time is a no=brainer - especially if it's not technically too difficult.However, I am living in a small island in the Caribbean. Great climate! I cannot imagine how much more difficult it is for people in North America to make this work with seasonal changes like winter! But today I experienced the failure of my overflow pipe and had to put my fish back into the pond by hand -exciting, but a real no-no! Of course, the type of monsoon rain we experience is not the norm either.Anyway, my point is - you have to be able to face reality! most things that are worthwhile in life are not idiotically simple. You have to be inspired enuf to keep going when the going gets tough. I am committed to staying the course and I still hope that it becomes as easy as the book made it seem.P.S. if you start small you may find it much easier to set up an Aquaponics system. I elected to start with a 900 gallon pond because I wanted an excuse to have a real fish pond. the flip side of this is that you can make a lot more mistakes and get away with it when you have a bigger pond with more surface area for the fish. Also, i chose Tilapia - a very adaptable fish, lucky me!