DIY Aquaponics: A Video Roundup
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA 
on 05.30.08
From our original post on aquaponics to our coverage of Milwaukee’s proposed Urban Aquaculture Center, the community focused Growing Power farm or Backyard Aquaponics Magazine, the concept of integrating fish farming with hydroponics in a mutually beneficial relationship has certainly caught our imaginations. Digging around some more online we are finding a thriving global community experimenting with this stuff. The above video from Aquaponic gives an excellent step-by-step overview of a homemade system that integrates carp and goldfish with lettuce, tomatoes, marigolds and jalapenos, and you can also click below the fold for a few more examples. (So far many of the simple systems we have found seem to start out with goldfish because of their hardiness, but many folks are also experimenting with edible species, which would obviously raise the food value of such systems considerably.)
Aquaponics Australia
Bahnscott
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You know it would be nice if somebody gave a shout out to John Todd and the New Alchemy Institute who were doing integrated fish and vegetable farming back in the 1970s. John won the Buckminster Fuller award this year and continues his visionary work. Now he is imagining how to convert Appalachian black coal slurries into green ecological multipliers.
John got his first inspiration from his teacher, Marston Bates, who built an elaborate aquatic environment in his home. I was privileged once to hear John relate the tale.
What kind of siphon does he use?
it sounds like he says dull siphon.
He said "Bell Syphon." Check it out here (in the context of toilet tanks):
http://www.users.waitrose.com/~ttagrevatt/vlav/works_cisterns.html#bell
I just finished building my aquaponics system... just waiting a week for the water to de-chlorinate... His vids probably helped me out the most but check out this page on "BELL" or "DOSING" siphons it helped me understand the concept...
http://www.siphons.com/operation.html
once u do build it... is the true test... just gotta experiment Built my entire system for about $140 I'll have pics and vids up soon
I am looking for someone in the Albany - Plattsburgh NY area to help me by testing the Flout as a replacement for a bell siphon. Please contact me for details...
Someone is going to make a lot of money when they figure out how to make a hydroponics/aquaponics setup that looks like a vegetable landscaped water feature and fishpond rather than a scrap heap.
These setups are very impressive in their functionality, but for them to become mainstream they need to integrate into existing expectations of what people have in their back yards.
Having a computerized sensor that checks the PH, temperature and clarity of the water and some kind of automatic fish feeder would be good for many folks.