Free shipping on all orders over $50
7-15 days international
18 people viewing this product right now!
30-day free returns
Secure checkout
35883205
Aquaponics is a revolutionary system for growing plants by fertilizing them with the waste water from fish in a sustainable closed system. A combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, aquaponic gardening is an amazingly productive way to grow organic vegetables, greens, herbs, and fruits, while providing the added benefits of fresh fish as a safe, healthy source of protein. On a larger scale, it is a key solution to mitigating food insecurity, climate change, groundwater pollution, and the impacts of overfishing on our oceans."Aquaponic Gardening "is the definitive do-it-yourself home manual, focused on giving you all the tools you need to create your own aquaponic system and enjoy healthy, safe, fresh, and delicious food all year round. Starting with an overview of the theory, benefits, and potential of aquaponics, the book goes on to explain:System location considerations and hardware componentsThe living elements--fish, plants, bacteria, and wormsPutting it all together--starting and maintaining a healthy systemAquaponics systems are completely organic. They are four to six times more productive and use ninety percent less water than conventional gardens. Other advantages include no weeds, fewer pests, and no watering, fertilizing, bending, digging, or heavy lifting--in fact, there really is no downside! Anyone interested in taking the next step towards self-sufficiency will be fascinated by this practical, accessible, and well-illustrated guide.Sylvia Bernstein is the president and founder of The Aquaponic Source. An internationally recognized expert on aquaponic gardening, Sylvia speaks, writes, and blogs extensively about this revolutionary technique.
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.
We use cookies and other technologies to personalize your experience, perform marketing, and collect analytics. Learn more in our Privacy Policy.