Aquaponic Gardening: Discover the Dual Benefits of Raising Fish and Plants Together (Idiot's Guides)

Aquaponics is the hottest topic today in survivalist circles, and this book is the best of the best. I've built several systems from scratch, and previous to this gem, it took three other books plus a video to get all the pieces that are included here. Those steps include:1. Building the framework system, including possibly indoors (this book is one of the few that extensively covers indoor water and lighting).2. Cost saving alternatives so the entire system is under $200.3. Picking the right fish/vegetable combination.4. Figuring out how to prime and recycle (which most of the books either don't cover or cover too little, which can destroy your system).5. Longer term maintenance, reseeding and multiple harvests.A lot of the online hype about feeding a family of four full time with a small 10 foot square (even high vertical) system is, well, hype! The combination of hydroponics and fish farming and the claims that this is better than both is NOT hype-- the sybiosis involved does make these types of systems much easier and more efficient. I taught a class in this at a local college, and the campus built several demo systems that are still, 5 years later, producing extensive harvests year round.Most of the online buzz on this is about surviving food shortages, but some also say that you can grow food in these for far less than you can buy it at the supermarket. That is just a plain lie! IF food prices really do go through the roof, or per pack quantities do continue to shrink, this might be borderline true, but to be very honest, these really are a lot of work and do produce $2 tomatoes when you look at all your costs, especially if you go with indoor heating and lighting. On the other hand, you CAN control quality and quantity in ways you can't by shopping!Highly recommend this comprehensive book. A few of the other top picks are:--  Aquaponic Gardening: A Step-By-Step Guide to Raising Vegetables and Fish Together --  Building An Aquaponics System (The Backyard Prepper Series) (Volume 1) --  Aquaponic Food Product - Raising fish and plants for food and profit What about the "kit" systems vs. using your own components? That depends on how close you are to a Home Depot or Lowes! I don't recommend scrounging the yard for materials, but if you're close to a big box store, you can get the components, well detailed in this book, for far less than buying one of the commercial kits.Library Picks reviews only for the benefit of Amazon shoppers and has nothing to do with Amazon, the authors, manufacturers or publishers of the items we review. We always buy the items we review for the sake of objectivity, and although we search for gems, are not shy about trashing an item if it's a waste of time or money for Amazon shoppers. If the reviewer identifies herself, her job or her field, it is only as a point of reference to help you gauge the background and any biases.

In this book, Meg Stout provides an accessible step-by-step guide for those new to aquaponics. If you are just starting out or mildly interested in the subject, this book will help you understand the how-to basics of aquaculture and the science behind why these techniques work. For example, Stout explains everything you should take into account for each step of the way (lighting, tanks, location, indoor/outdoor, etc.).For a beginner's guide, this book provides the reader with an abundance of options. This guide is also particularly helpful in helping you determine what you should plant and how to plant it, along with the pros and cons of different techniques, plants, tanks, and settings. Unlike other beginner guides, Stout stresses the importance of long-term maintenance, and she explains techniques of how to elicit seeds for the next harvest, safely control different types of pests, use fish waste as fertilizer, and extend growing the season. Stout does not assume that all growers are alike and thus provides a wide variety of options to meet any new grower's needs. For instance, she addresses a variety of untypical situations, such as what growers should do when public electricity and water are unavailable.Below are the chapter topics (I wrote this up before seeing it is available by clicking the cover photo). I hope you find it helpful:Ch. 1. - What Is Your Vision?Ch. 2. - Giving Your Plants the Right LightCh. 3. - Water: Vital to All Forms of LifeCh. 4. - Fish Tanks, Grow Beds, and PlumbingCh. 5. - Making Water Move: Pumps and StandpipesCh. 6. - Growing in Gravel: Using Media BedsCh. 7. - Flooding and Draining a Media BedCh. 8. - Taking Advantage of Vertical SpaceCh. 9. - Growing in WaterCh. 10. - Making Fertilizer Out of Fish WasteCh. 11. - Which Plants Grow Best?Ch. 12. - Starting, Planting, and Propagating PlantsCh. 13. - Fish-Safe Pest ControlCh. 14. - Growing Abundant Amounts of Healthy ProduceCh. 15. - Adding Fish to Your Aquaponic GardenCh. 16. - Other Useful AnimalsCh. 17. - Taking Care of Your FishCh. 18. - Extend Your Growing Season with a GreenhousCh. 19. - Heating and Cooling Your GardenCh. 20. - Automating Your GardenCh. 21. - When You Can't Use Public ElectricityCh. 22. - Maintaining Your GardenCh. 23. - Integrated Aquaponic SystemsCh. 24. - Do-It-Yourself SystemsPlease note: if you are interested in going into more depth with Acquaculture, I recently received a copy of  Freshwater Aquaculture: A Handbook for Small Scale Fish Culture in North America  for review. The book is a reprint from the 1990s, so there are parts that are a bit dated if you want to be cutting edge, but it is extremely well illustrated and diagrammed,accessible to those new to aquaculture, and was long the definitive book on the topic.

This is a relatively thorough BASIC guide to Aquaponics but it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. It gives a good explanation of what aquaponics is and why someone would want to participate and good basic explanation of how things work. It then gets rather light on specifics such as all the different options there are for aquaria setups, garden containers, etc. However the greatest shortfall I found was (as I suspect it is intended to be) it is too general in scope. The issues faced by someone in Minnesota are not the same as someone in the southern coast. The choices of fish are very cursory--one of the significant advantages of aquaponics is the available protein provided by harvesting mature fish as well as vegetables. Lots of space spent on goldfish and koi. And the author really does not address large yard systems which are available widely.If you are looking for a primer as to what aquaponics is and why you would even consider learning more, this is an excellent book and a very inexpensive way to learn about an exciting area. If you are looking for a detailed guide to step-by-step lead you through deciding how big a tank and a plant field, what parts to buy, what fish to raise, how to handle problems of all year tanks when temperatures range from 15 to 100 degrees, this is not sufficiently detailed. Although I have not found that book either.

As I'm new to Aquaponics, I wanted a good text and lots of diagrams and pictures to gain understanding, which I expected from 'An Idiot's Guide', but there are no more than a handful of poor quality visual aids. It seems impossible to me to try to describe how to make a siphon without a diagram, but the author tries to do just that, amongst other complex explanations.I wouldn't recommend this book to a novice, especially if you're serious about building your own system, as you'll have more questions than answers at the end of it, and at over £11, it failed to meet my expectations.

Bought for the wife. She loves its . My garden is now full of Aquaponics

I read this whole book. There are some interesting topics you wouldn't expect like breeding soldier flyes as fish food, but the descriptions are very short. There are a lot of DIY plans in it, but WITHOUT any pictures. Sometimes you do not even know the exact function of the construct you're supposed to build or even what it will look like. I just can't recommand this book.

Arrived and was very good. not really what I wanted but that's okay cus its in my library now.

Well written book for aquaponic beginners, easily understood and descriptive. It could do with a few more diagrams and photos, but the resources links make up for that.