What are the best resources for starting out in aquaponics?
Books, websites, stores, anything!
10 Answers
There are plenty of different ways to find a multitude of information when you research aquaponics, but the quality of the information is the key that you should be concerned about.
Personally I've jumped into the research in about every possible way you could imagine. I'll do my best to summarize each avenue I've taken along with the good and the bad of each.
You'll notice throughout that there are a few key players in the industry right now who do most of the talking, especially online. If you are looking for information on commercial operations you'll find that there isn't a lot out there. This is not due to a lack of people doing this commercially, they are just too busy running a business to be posting information online for the most part.
***WARNING**** - As you will quickly find out Aquaponics is a new and quickly growing industry. It has features which resonate with people from many different angles: sustainability, crop density, organic by default (although organic certification in aquaponics is an enormous topic that deserves its own answer). With that being said, you will find that there are MANY "experts" out there that have something they'd like to sell you. Whether it's their "proven" methodologies, their slick pre-built system with a hefty mark-up, or their $1k training course. The amount of people coming at you from every angle will make finding valid information somewhat treacherous at times. Be careful with who you follow and even more careful with who you write a check to.
Websites:
Finding information online on a daily basis is what I have been doing for the last 10+ years as a function of my current career. I am a programmer who's been doing web development for the last 6+ years and in that role you find that all of the information that you need is online. So forming relevant searches, judging the authenticity of the information and understanding how that applies to your scenario is a daily activity. Because of this, I find the web as my primary resource for researching any topic.
The Good - In a very quickly evolving industry like aquaponics, there are a lot of ideas finding their way to web quickly. It's an ideal location to find out what everyone is doing and who may be attempting to accomplish something similar you. Every day someone is publishing information on what they are doing with their solution and how it is working for them.
This is also the ideal location to find other routes of researching, whether it's book reviews, links to research papers or even contact information for someone that you would want to talk to further.
The Bad - Figuring out what information is valid and useful to you will be the most difficult part of searching online. The fact that you're using Quora is probably a good sign that you feel comfortable finding information online and judging it's authenticity, but you'll still want to be vigilant.
Also, opinions (like mine) are the primary form of currency on the web, so you'll want to take tidbits of information out of each of those opinions.
## Examples ## - Online can be separated into a lot of different subsets, so I'll do my best to summarize:
Forums: A multitude of opinions mixed in with plenty of good data. This is a great place to start and is ideal for hobbyist information especially.
The Aquaponic Gardening Community (http://community.theaqua
Backyard Aquaponics (http://www.backyardaquap
Blogs: A way to find information from a single source and follow their story
Neson & Pade (http://aquaponics.com/pa
Green Acre Aquaponics (http://greenacreaquaponi
The Aquaponics Source - Sylvia Bernstein (http://theaquaponicsourc
Videos: Another great way to learn with plenty of different people throwing information out there
Bright Agrotech (http://www.youtube.com/u
Nelson & Pade (http://www.youtube.com/u
Books:
There are a few books out there on aquaponics; however, due to it's relative recent surge in popularity a lot of the information that you will find in book form is on RAS (Recirculating Aquaculture Systems) and Hydroponics. Put the two together and you have aquaponics (for the most part).
The Good - They are usually more reliable for the information. They try to focus on facts more than opinions with data to back up the information for the most part.
They are handy to have as a reference depending on how you like to organize your information.
The Bad - In a fast paced industry, so they can become outdated quickly. The information that they present and best practices will remain true ongoing, but the most ideal implementations may have had several iterations since publication.
## Examples ## - These are the books that I have either read or am reading
Aquaponic Gardening (http://www.amazon.com/Aq
Aquaponic Food Production (http://www.amazon.com/Aq
Ball Redbook (http://www.amazon.com/Ba
Research Papers:
If you are looking for hard facts about specific topics this is the ideal location. To find them online look at using Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.co
The Good - The data is the most reliable source that you will find. Information is always becoming available as more and more universities are focusing on sustainable agriculture and even specifically aquaponics.
The Bad - You can dedicate a ton of time to finding information. Depending on why you're getting into this, it may be overkill.
Personal Contacts:
A great way to get information. Start finding individuals who are passionate about this subject (we are everywhere) and just start asking questions. As you can tell, we like to share! Or at least most of us do.
The Good - Getting to know people will help you decide what information you value and what you can disregard. Building those personal connections will help you to always have someone to bounce ideas off or learn about new developments from.
The Bad - Building personal contacts requires some initial knowledge in the field to know who is best to contact and to know the most relevant contacts you should be making.
## Examples ## - OK so maybe not an example, but a good place to start with this would be at the next Aquaponics Association Conference (most likely in September) in Milwuakee.
![]()
(picture from this last year's event)
The amount of passionate people is overwhelming. You'll leave completely exhausted but totally invigorated!
Training Course:
**Disclaimer** I haven't attended a course. So take this advice as you will....
There are more classes than I could list here. I also won't speculate (even though I have my opinions) on which courses would offer you the best information for the type of information you're interested in. Mike listed David of Evo Farms above and from everything I've learned about them and interactions I've had with them, they seem like reputable people with a respectable goal.
The Good - You have an opportunity to make personal contacts both with the professionals teaching the course, but also fellow enthusiasts at similar points in the process as you are.
The Bad - The people selling the conferences make their living out of convincing everyone that they have all the right answers and that their way of doing things is best. Most of them don't make their living off of practicing what they are selling, but only selling it. Take that for what it's worth to you.
So those are some avenues to start with and there are more developing every day. Take your time, learn everything you can and feel free to contact me for even more information if you like. I'm chris@freshwithedge.com or you can find me through my website (http://freshwithedge.com
Best of luck and enjoy the ride!
Personally I've jumped into the research in about every possible way you could imagine. I'll do my best to summarize each avenue I've taken along with the good and the bad of each.
You'll notice throughout that there are a few key players in the industry right now who do most of the talking, especially online. If you are looking for information on commercial operations you'll find that there isn't a lot out there. This is not due to a lack of people doing this commercially, they are just too busy running a business to be posting information online for the most part.
***WARNING**** - As you will quickly find out Aquaponics is a new and quickly growing industry. It has features which resonate with people from many different angles: sustainability, crop density, organic by default (although organic certification in aquaponics is an enormous topic that deserves its own answer). With that being said, you will find that there are MANY "experts" out there that have something they'd like to sell you. Whether it's their "proven" methodologies, their slick pre-built system with a hefty mark-up, or their $1k training course. The amount of people coming at you from every angle will make finding valid information somewhat treacherous at times. Be careful with who you follow and even more careful with who you write a check to.
Websites:
Finding information online on a daily basis is what I have been doing for the last 10+ years as a function of my current career. I am a programmer who's been doing web development for the last 6+ years and in that role you find that all of the information that you need is online. So forming relevant searches, judging the authenticity of the information and understanding how that applies to your scenario is a daily activity. Because of this, I find the web as my primary resource for researching any topic.
The Good - In a very quickly evolving industry like aquaponics, there are a lot of ideas finding their way to web quickly. It's an ideal location to find out what everyone is doing and who may be attempting to accomplish something similar you. Every day someone is publishing information on what they are doing with their solution and how it is working for them.
This is also the ideal location to find other routes of researching, whether it's book reviews, links to research papers or even contact information for someone that you would want to talk to further.
The Bad - Figuring out what information is valid and useful to you will be the most difficult part of searching online. The fact that you're using Quora is probably a good sign that you feel comfortable finding information online and judging it's authenticity, but you'll still want to be vigilant.
Also, opinions (like mine) are the primary form of currency on the web, so you'll want to take tidbits of information out of each of those opinions.
## Examples ## - Online can be separated into a lot of different subsets, so I'll do my best to summarize:
Forums: A multitude of opinions mixed in with plenty of good data. This is a great place to start and is ideal for hobbyist information especially.
The Aquaponic Gardening Community (http://community.theaqua
Backyard Aquaponics (http://www.backyardaquap
Blogs: A way to find information from a single source and follow their story
Neson & Pade (http://aquaponics.com/pa
Green Acre Aquaponics (http://greenacreaquaponi
The Aquaponics Source - Sylvia Bernstein (http://theaquaponicsourc
Videos: Another great way to learn with plenty of different people throwing information out there
Bright Agrotech (http://www.youtube.com/u
Nelson & Pade (http://www.youtube.com/u
Books:
There are a few books out there on aquaponics; however, due to it's relative recent surge in popularity a lot of the information that you will find in book form is on RAS (Recirculating Aquaculture Systems) and Hydroponics. Put the two together and you have aquaponics (for the most part).
The Good - They are usually more reliable for the information. They try to focus on facts more than opinions with data to back up the information for the most part.
They are handy to have as a reference depending on how you like to organize your information.
The Bad - In a fast paced industry, so they can become outdated quickly. The information that they present and best practices will remain true ongoing, but the most ideal implementations may have had several iterations since publication.
## Examples ## - These are the books that I have either read or am reading
Aquaponic Gardening (http://www.amazon.com/Aq
Aquaponic Food Production (http://www.amazon.com/Aq
Ball Redbook (http://www.amazon.com/Ba
Research Papers:
If you are looking for hard facts about specific topics this is the ideal location. To find them online look at using Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.co
The Good - The data is the most reliable source that you will find. Information is always becoming available as more and more universities are focusing on sustainable agriculture and even specifically aquaponics.
The Bad - You can dedicate a ton of time to finding information. Depending on why you're getting into this, it may be overkill.
Personal Contacts:
A great way to get information. Start finding individuals who are passionate about this subject (we are everywhere) and just start asking questions. As you can tell, we like to share! Or at least most of us do.
The Good - Getting to know people will help you decide what information you value and what you can disregard. Building those personal connections will help you to always have someone to bounce ideas off or learn about new developments from.
The Bad - Building personal contacts requires some initial knowledge in the field to know who is best to contact and to know the most relevant contacts you should be making.
## Examples ## - OK so maybe not an example, but a good place to start with this would be at the next Aquaponics Association Conference (most likely in September) in Milwuakee.
The amount of passionate people is overwhelming. You'll leave completely exhausted but totally invigorated!
Training Course:
**Disclaimer** I haven't attended a course. So take this advice as you will....
There are more classes than I could list here. I also won't speculate (even though I have my opinions) on which courses would offer you the best information for the type of information you're interested in. Mike listed David of Evo Farms above and from everything I've learned about them and interactions I've had with them, they seem like reputable people with a respectable goal.
The Good - You have an opportunity to make personal contacts both with the professionals teaching the course, but also fellow enthusiasts at similar points in the process as you are.
The Bad - The people selling the conferences make their living out of convincing everyone that they have all the right answers and that their way of doing things is best. Most of them don't make their living off of practicing what they are selling, but only selling it. Take that for what it's worth to you.
So those are some avenues to start with and there are more developing every day. Take your time, learn everything you can and feel free to contact me for even more information if you like. I'm chris@freshwithedge.com or you can find me through my website (http://freshwithedge.com
Best of luck and enjoy the ride!
There is some interest in aquaponics in Vancouver, but it's limited. We have made huge investments in many aspects of aquaculture in BC, including salmon fish farming, commercial oyster research, and how to move the industry away from open-water pen technology towards closed-pen on-land fish rearing. We have an extensive Marine Biology program at UBC, another program in Sustainable Development, Agriculture, and of course a lot of underground activity in home-based hydroponics (growing weed). But aquaponics is not really the focus of this activity.
![]()
There is one small commercial operation on Vancouver Island that I am aware of, but I don't know how successful they are.[1]
This site[2] has some good blog posts, vidoes and links to more information on getting started.
Here is a site which focuses on raising tilapea fingerlings which are then sold to fish farms for rearing and harvesting. [3] This last one makes it sound like a get-rich-quick scheme and if we've learned anything at all about fish farming here in BC it is that it's not easy to make money at it. There are a lot of risks, the fish die easily, getting permits is a huge hassle, a large upgront investment is required for equipment, and etc.
[1] Tilapia Farm, Courtenay, BC, Canada
[2] Vancouver, Canada's Aquaponics Online Resource: Aquaculture & Hydroponics To Grow Vegetables And Fish In A Clean, Eco-Friendly, Sustainable System
[3] Quick guide on how you too can produce your own tilapia fingerlings
There is one small commercial operation on Vancouver Island that I am aware of, but I don't know how successful they are.[1]
This site[2] has some good blog posts, vidoes and links to more information on getting started.
Here is a site which focuses on raising tilapea fingerlings which are then sold to fish farms for rearing and harvesting. [3] This last one makes it sound like a get-rich-quick scheme and if we've learned anything at all about fish farming here in BC it is that it's not easy to make money at it. There are a lot of risks, the fish die easily, getting permits is a huge hassle, a large upgront investment is required for equipment, and etc.
[1] Tilapia Farm, Courtenay, BC, Canada
[2] Vancouver, Canada's Aquaponics Online Resource: Aquaculture & Hydroponics To Grow Vegetables And Fish In A Clean, Eco-Friendly, Sustainable System
[3] Quick guide on how you too can produce your own tilapia fingerlings
In my opinion there is only one resource and that is reading books by Sylvia Bernstein. She is the premier expert on the topic.
I interviewed her on my show: #199: Mike interviews Sylvia Bernstein About Aquaponics
She is the author of the #1 best selling book on Aquaponics, Aquaponic Gardening: A Step by Step Guide to Raising Vegetables and Fish Together.
Sylvia also runs the Aquaponic Gardening Community, North America's #1
online community site for Aquaponics and she is a feature writer for
Maximum Yield Magazine.
Money, knowledge and space.
Followed by
Tanks, pumps, substrate and filters
You have to have some money to start an aquaponics set up of any substantial size.
You could try and beg, borrow - and find all of the materials but it will be difficult to find pumps, pipe fittings and lights for free!
Knowledge is a must. You have to know what you are doing - to some degree. At the core of this is your responsibility for the lives of other species. Some aquaponics fish, like Tilapia, are quite hardy but other are very sensitive to heat fluctuations, detritus and disease. You have to know how to run the system effectively in order to properly care for the animals and ultimately the wider productivity of the system.
In setting up a commercial aquaponics farm we found that obtaining space, a disused urban warehouse in the uk in our case, very difficult. Renting/buying buildings is expensive. Tenancy agreements are also difficult as some structural changes may need to be made.
If you have your own land/site on which you can build you are already off to a great start!
Good luck with your venture!
If you need any more information please don't hesitate to ask, we believe in free open source knowledge sharing to further the field of sustainable aquaponics.
Bristol Fish Project
Followed by
Tanks, pumps, substrate and filters
You have to have some money to start an aquaponics set up of any substantial size.
You could try and beg, borrow - and find all of the materials but it will be difficult to find pumps, pipe fittings and lights for free!
Knowledge is a must. You have to know what you are doing - to some degree. At the core of this is your responsibility for the lives of other species. Some aquaponics fish, like Tilapia, are quite hardy but other are very sensitive to heat fluctuations, detritus and disease. You have to know how to run the system effectively in order to properly care for the animals and ultimately the wider productivity of the system.
In setting up a commercial aquaponics farm we found that obtaining space, a disused urban warehouse in the uk in our case, very difficult. Renting/buying buildings is expensive. Tenancy agreements are also difficult as some structural changes may need to be made.
If you have your own land/site on which you can build you are already off to a great start!
Good luck with your venture!
If you need any more information please don't hesitate to ask, we believe in free open source knowledge sharing to further the field of sustainable aquaponics.
Bristol Fish Project
My wife Susanne and I operate the first USDA Organically-Certified aquaponics farm in the world (first certified in 2008). We have always taught others the methods we use to make money selling vegetables and fish, and charged the least that we can afford to do so. We have at least 15 profitable commercial aquaponics students we're aware of, who are running their own farms for a living (List Of Our Successful Students - Friendly Aquaponics), and many more that we haven't met yet. This is because most of the people who purchase our Commercial Aquaponics DIY package do it "according to the book" and get it right the first time.
(Below) Part of one of our Commercial Aquaponics Systems
![]()
The best resource we know of for starting aquaponics is our free E-Book "Aquaponics The EASY Way", which we published in 2014 based on our (then) 7 years of experience in profitable commercial aquaponics. It gives complete instructions for building small aquaponics systems of 3-1/2 to 18 square feet in size, from locally available materials that you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes, and PetCo or PetSmart. You can get this book at no charge from this webpage: (Free E-Book "Aquaponics The EASY Way" - Friendly Aquaponics).
We sold over 1,000 copies for $29.95 during the year we had it for sale on our website, then decided we needed to give it away to the emerging aquaponic community that had helped support us.
(Below) Cover of "Aquaponics The EASY Way"
![]()
The book shows how you can build the smallest system (3-1/2 square feet) for around $100; and the largest (18 square feet) for around $350. It includes complete materials lists for shopping, as well as a chapter that not only shows you the simple tools you need to build these systems, but also shows you how to use the tools, even if you've never used tools before!
Although we offer other, larger-scale DIY packages for sale, our purpose in offering this book for free is to help people get started in aquaponics affordably.
Thanks and Aloha from Hawaii, Tim..........
(Below) Part of one of our Commercial Aquaponics Systems
The best resource we know of for starting aquaponics is our free E-Book "Aquaponics The EASY Way", which we published in 2014 based on our (then) 7 years of experience in profitable commercial aquaponics. It gives complete instructions for building small aquaponics systems of 3-1/2 to 18 square feet in size, from locally available materials that you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes, and PetCo or PetSmart. You can get this book at no charge from this webpage: (Free E-Book "Aquaponics The EASY Way" - Friendly Aquaponics).
We sold over 1,000 copies for $29.95 during the year we had it for sale on our website, then decided we needed to give it away to the emerging aquaponic community that had helped support us.
(Below) Cover of "Aquaponics The EASY Way"
The book shows how you can build the smallest system (3-1/2 square feet) for around $100; and the largest (18 square feet) for around $350. It includes complete materials lists for shopping, as well as a chapter that not only shows you the simple tools you need to build these systems, but also shows you how to use the tools, even if you've never used tools before!
Although we offer other, larger-scale DIY packages for sale, our purpose in offering this book for free is to help people get started in aquaponics affordably.
Thanks and Aloha from Hawaii, Tim..........
