Sometimes I feel like I talk a lot about things I could do without ever truly following through, especially in regards to going back to school or doing something in regards to a career. This is another one of those posts.
Eric and I have been looking into Aquaponics as a way to be more self sufficient. We love the idea of growing our own food, because we like knowing where things come from, and the more we can do in that regard on a small scale, the better.
In regards to aquaponics, we'd be trying to set up a small, closed system at first. Because of Michigan winters we'd likely keep this all indoors to better control temperature and light. An aquaponics system is a hybrid of a hydroponics system and an aquaculture system. A merger of the two, it uses the wastewater from fish to fertilize plants. The plants in turn filter the water that then return to the fish.
Our system will be a recirculating system, so the water is contained and doesn't go back into the environment. At first we'll just be using goldfish so we can get the hang of growing the plants, and cycling the water appropriately. Once that's stable, we'll replace the goldfish with Tilapia!
And then we'll have fresh fish grown in our own basement. We could potentially sell the extra fish, since Tilapia breed ridiculously quickly and grow to maturity pretty fast as well. And we'll have fresh veggies through the year.
I hope it gets off the ground. I hope we find an interest in the community for purchasing the fish in order to turn this into a business. Firefly Ranch could incorporate as an aquaculture farm!
We're off to visit my parents tomorrow, so this won't be realized until the new year, but it is something that Eric wants to do. I think he was inspired by a small hydroponics aquarium I got from a kickstarter.
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