This… is not your normal New Year’s resolution post (or it is, maybe you have a lot of friends as crazy as me)—it’s about starting a project I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but unfortunately have very little experience in: Aquaponics! That means it’s a prime topic for learning, which includes failures and successes in equal importance.

My family and I love fish and are big eaters and catchers in all things seafood, and living on the south shore of Long Island where a fishing dock is 10 minutes away has been a wonderful boon in our culinary and gastric adventures. The only downside is that catching something is not always guaranteed, and there are time limits to when we can go.

Now that I’m settled and Moffitt’s landscape has more or less been established, this project that’s been in my heart has now entered the planning stage. I’ve always wanted a small pond in the backyard where I can raise a crop or two of fish a year, and send the kids out to catch some (and provide an interesting activity for guest to do) for dinner, whenever it strikes our fancy. Out of all the livestock projects I’ve done, this is the first one my husband (who, with increasing alarm and eventual resignation, watched as our lives became overrun with poultry) is kind of sort of excited about.

There are a few considerations that make this particular project a rather large undertaking:

1. The sun – the backyard is a south facing lot with zero shade currently as my trees are still small, so it gets full sun all the time. This makes it difficult for cold water fish like trout to survive.
2. Electric – the pond will need a pump and a filter which needs electric, and the area where I had plan to put the pond has none. If the outdoor outlet is not GFI (so an extension cord can work), then I’ll have to run electric out there which is… a job. Or I’ll have to have a solar water agitator, heavily plant, and fish that can do well in lower oxygenated water—but this means less fish that I can stock the pond with too.
3. Winter freezes – It’s cold here in the winter, so more tropical fish won’t be able to overwinter. This is okay because I didn’t plan to overwinter any anyway, instead harvesting and storing any we didn’t eat throughout the season in late fall.
4. Fingerlings are expensive. I was expecting them to be a few cents each, but it seems they are a couple dollars a piece once they’re over an inch long. I plan to start harvesting at 6 inches long, which makes this a pretty expensive endeavor as far as food goes if I can’t source them for cheaper.
5. Fish are sensitive in that if something is not right, the entire system crashes and that whole crop is gone.
6. No substrate, since it will just make things more difficult to clean.
7. Water changes, which would be very welcome as I plan to use the water I remove to water my garden. The wastewater would be beneficial by my garden.

Equipment I Will Need

• 300+ Gallon Stock Tank (Most likely rubbermaid—my friends who use them for livestock say they last for a long time. I feel like it’s still too small though, but they don’t make them in 500 gallon sizes.
• Wood or stone/brick surround for aesthetics as the pond will be above ground.
• Waterfall filter (friends who have done outdoor ponds say they love the ease of cleaning.)
• Electric (buried or extension cord?) Or solar panels if it’s planted enough that a filer isn’t necessary and just need a pump. There are solar pond filters but I am uncertain about their ability.
• Water tester for nitrates, ammonia, and pH.
• Shade cloth?
• Protection against predators.
• Something to allow animals to climb out if they fall in.
• Net/Skimmer.
• Water thermometer.
• Long hose to bring water for pond refill.

Fish I’m Considering:

• Trout – needs cold, moving water. Delicious and oily.
• Tilapia – very hardy but not my favorite fish to eat.
• Catfish – sensitive to water because of skin, no scales. Barbed, a pain if it sticks me or the kids, liability if it sticks guests.
• Perch – easy to grow and hardy, can handle very cold winters if I don’t harvest in time, but slow maturing.
• Dojo Loach – can surface breathe so if pump fails they won’t die of suffocation. Not cold hardy, expensive. Escape artists. Hardy and tolerant of wide range of water parameters. Not available commercially in the US.
• Prawns – needs hot weather/warm water. Sensitive to water parameters.
• Crawfish – hardy and tolerant of a wide range of water parameters, however they are aggressive and may not be kept at dense populations. Will need to be purged before consumption.
• Eel – lung breathers and escape artists, cold hardy and tolerant of a wide range of water parameters. Can’t purchase as babies as they are currently only wild collected. I could collect them myself and grow them out year over year but it would take a very long time.
• Swamp eel – Monopterus spp. I always thought the sautéed eel I really liked was baby anguilla spp. eels (like the American eel) but apparently they are an entirely different species of freshwater eel-like fish. They can be lung breathers and are reported to survive both hot and freezing conditions. I may consider these first. Where to source may be an issue but if I recall correctly I’ve seen them live at Asian markets.

Plants I’m Considering

• Watercress – Hardy to zone 3. Needs moving water.
• Water Spinach – Hardy to zone 8.
• Lotus – Hardy to zone 10. Needs still water.
• Water Chestnut – Hardy to zone 9
• Northern Wild Rice – Hardy minimum zone 4 (goes colder). Needs still water.
• Pickerelweed – Hardy to zone 3.
• Duck Potato/Arrowhead – Hardy to zone 4.

I will more than likely begin with plants first (potted), and after they have established for harvest, add fish. I’ll also have to find someone who has a pond and can give me a bit of their medium to jump start the cycling process. Ultimately what I’m hoping for is also have a small tea house next to it for some tranquil garden aesthetics, and be able to pull up some fish for an impromptu barbecue.