Tish wrote:

On that note, has anyone on this forum tried aquaponics? I saw it on
Gardening Australia a few months ago, did a follow-up google, and it
seems very interesting (although the literature all posted such a rosy
picture that my "too good to be true" indicator flashed). I would
imagine it would work well once you had sorted out contamination
problems and the balance between the number of fish and the biomass of
veggies needed to clean the fish-water of fishpoo and wasted feed. I
also had ethical queries about what to feed the fish.

If you are a microbiologist, or happy to learn fast, then give it a go.

The problem with the home garden is that everything has to run perfectly
as you really have such a small tank. Put in too much of the wrong thing
and you can have a large stinking mass very quick.

Oh, and I hope you don't mind a large electricity bill because you need
to run a pump all the time, plus heaters and cooolers, or you need that
tank sunk well into the ground.

Most people do not appreciate the cooler side. Last december, cousin ad
collected a pile of yabbies to use as beeding stock and they were left
in a 200 litre tank in a small farm shed. At the end of one very hot
day, all he had were lots of semi-cooked yabbies.

Probably a good idea to just take up hydroponics and get that working
well first.

Alternatively, first try a reedbed like they use for cleaning septic
tanks overflow/outflow to keep your fish tank water clean.