Lendle

Is Aquaponics For You?If you have ever tried to keep tropical fish – or even the odd goldfish – you may be put off trying aquaponics due to the problems you’ve experienced. Perhaps you had a kitchen windowledge like a chemist’s shop, with medicines for various fishy ailments and potions for altering the acidity of the water, the alkalinity of the water, the nitrate content of the water, the wateriness of the water. It can seem that you can never get the water just right for the little creatures. Maybe you got fed up of waiting for the kids to keep their fervent promise to clean the aquarium every week - and ended up doing it yourself and having to clear a month’s worth of gunge out of the filters and off the glass every time. Who could blame you for thinking that aquaponics is going to be like that with a few lettuce thrown in?The good news – no, the great news – is that Aquaponics is different! It is as far removed from keeping an aquarium as keeping lions on a safari is from keeping a domesticated moggy in a small home. The domesticated cat will scratch your furniture (and possibly your legs), require regular de-fleaing and de-worming, need meals served twice a day in a special bowl from expensive little tins with gold edges and use a box filled with bought litter that you have to clean out frequently before it stinks the house out, etc. The lions? You just drive through their paddock in a LandRover once a day and bung half an unfortunate cow out the back for them to scrap over. The lions in the safari paddock look after themselves, pretty much. The domesticated cat wants to be waited on hand and paw. The aquaponics system is like a self-managing microclimate. It is a complete system on its own - a safari on its own if we continue the analogy!Personal Note From The AuthorI got interested in aquaponics as part of a self-sufficiency drive. I wanted to be healthier and organic food is very expensive; and I wanted to reduce my grocery bills (following a divorce). I'm very concerned by the amount of pesticides in store-bought foods and love the idea that I can grow beautiful vegetables and salads right outside my back door. They taste like food used to taste! This is a short eBook to give you a basic understanding of how aquaponics works and what equipment is involved. I've also covered some of the questions that newcomers to the hobby often have - questions that I had myself before I started.I wanted to reassure people that aquaponics isn't difficult and isn't overly expensive. I delayed getting my own system because I thought I wouldn't be able to cope with the plumbing aspects but it isn't complicated - it is actually rather like 'plug & play' on computers! I hope this little book goes some way to encouraging you to get started with aquaponics - or to inspire others to join in with this fun and cost-effective hobby.Thanks for stopping by!