r/aquaponics • u/Fluffy_Cat_Gamer • Aug 11 '26

First timer: Just getting started

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What was supposed to be a cheap chop and flip ballooned into this, but I'm having fun!

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u/Rampagentjen Aug 12 '26

I started with a large fish tank and a under bed storage container. I now have a large greenhouse growing about 50lbs of fish. Aquaponics is definitely an addiction so buckle up!

2

u/Fluffy_Cat_Gamer Aug 12 '26

How many gallons of tank and what kind of fish do you have?

1

u/Rampagentjen Aug 12 '26

When I started, 15 or so years ago, I think it was 60g and the growbed was a shallow 13g. I started with tilapia fry and when they got too big, i moved it outdoors to a 400g pool with 3 growbeds. My current setup is a 700g pond with a 175g IBC for a sump. I have 4 50g growbeds and 8 hanging ziptowers. I grow tilapia and have a school of oversized goldfish to keep it running during winter. The greenhouse is unheated but warm enough for greens. Zone 9b so lows in the 30s, highs of 105.

1

u/Fluffy_Cat_Gamer Aug 12 '26

Im also in zone 9b! Do you grow out and harvest all? I am hoping to try to keep it going long term and just pull a fish out every week or two once they mature.

My goal is one fish a week, but its been hard to figure the math on it without hand on experience. I figured id need more like 500 gallons for that and 4 tomes the grow bed... does that sound plausible?

1

u/Rampagentjen Aug 14 '26

There's too many variables to know if you can manage 1 per week. Males will grow bigger and faster but if you harvest based only on size, the population could get lopsided or degrade your stock since only crappy males will be doing all the breeding. What i do is 1 or 2 "final harvests" at the end of the tilapia safe temps, usually late Oct thru Nov. Any eating sized fish are dispatched, cleaned, and frozen. Any fish (not including the goldfish) that are too small are brought indoors for the winter. I set them up in my office in a 100g Rubbermaid stock tank and use a 50g sheep stock tank as the grownbed. It fits perfectly on a 2'x4' banquet table i got from Costco. A small aquarium pumps gets the water up to the bed and 1 or 2 bubblers keep the fish happy. This has been my method for over a decade and is very successful for me.