Apartment Living Aquaponics.

Living in an apartment and being interested in homesteading can be exceedingly frustrating.  You have no room to garden, let alone have livestock.  That being said it does force you to think, think, and think some-more.

Aquaponics is a relatively new idea where you farm both fish and plants in the same set up.  Typically you have a large tank where you raise fish for eating.  The water circulates through a bed of plants. The fish waste provides nitrogen for the plants and the plants help provide food for the fish.  It isn't a perfect system but you still need to add water and feed the fish, but it is very efficient   I can't wait to have a greenhouse where I can set up one.  I would love to grow citrus fruits in the winter and be able to harvest delicious tilapia.   However like I already said apartment living is not very conducive to it.

So I improvise!

Here is my 20 gallon fish tank, I keep a few tropical fish in here.  I pull about 5 gallons ever 2 weeks and pour it on my plants.  It gives the plants a nice little boost and recycles the water I would otherwise just waste.   Less water I have to pay for and the bonus. The cats get awesome "Kitty TV"

If you would like to learn more about aquaponics here is an excellent TED talk