This low-cost vertical aquaponic system can grow leafy greens, herbs and raise fish for a small family year round, and it fits in a 5' by 3' space. Sean Brady, the aquaponics projects coordinator at the Center for Sustainable Aquaponics and Nourish the Planet in Loveland, Colo., showed us how to build a system from scrap he found around the greenhouse. We published a version of this how-to guide at engineeringforchange.org, and it's one of the good ones, so we'd like to share it with Instructables, too.



What it is

A vertical aquaponic system grows vegetables without soil in columns above a fish tank. By growing vertically, you can produce about twice the amount of plants as you can with a hydroponic system of the same area. One five-foot tower can produce more than 200 heads of lettuce per year. And it uses a small fraction of the water needed to grow crops in soil.



The system puts fish waste to work as fertilizer for crops. A small pump draws nutrient-rich water from the fish tank to the tops of the vertical columns. The water trickles down through the roots of the plants, gathering oxygen from the air as it falls back into the tank. It releases almost no waste and, because it's soil free, there's no need for fertilizer or most pesticides. Also, if you do it right, you won't have to clean the fish tank much.



You do have to replace lost water as needed, power the pump and feed the fish. Try raising crickets for fish food, or buy them flakes. It might not be too hard to power one of these pumps with a small solar panel or some other renewable energy. If anyone has an idea, please share.



This is how to build Sean Brady's low-cost vertical aquaponic system This build is for the simple design in the cover photo, and we're including pictures of other, fancier systems built with mostly the same materials to show what's possible. For credit, Brady took all of the photos. For more information on aquaponics, please see CSA's and NTP's sites.



Materials

You can use these or swap out anything for whatever you have on hand. Measurements are in feet and inches. Sorry, rest of the world.



*Pipes

15-20 ft. of 4-in. diameter PVC or ADS

Four 4-inch elbows

Four 4-inch T connectors

*Two 50-gallon drums

*15-20 ft. of pex tubing, or aquarium tubing

*Plastic cups

*Strips of cloth, such as burlap sack, cable ties or another fastener

*Scrap wood

*Two rolls of electrical tape

*Pumps

One water pump - the size depends on how much flow it would need. An aquarium pump is enough to keep the flow going.

One air pump (optional). The system can aerate itself but it can produce more if it has an air pump.



Tools

*Power drill or hand drill

*1-in hole saw

*3-in hole saw



Build time

About two hours.



Recommended plants and fish

Leafy vegetables, tomatoes and herbs do well in these systems. So do flowers. You can experiment to find which do well and fit your needs.

Tilapia and trout do well, they grow quickly and they're delicious.