New members & new to aquaponics, Saying Hi to all

[4B-Aquaponics]

4B-Aquaponics (Dolores & Chris) are happy to have started up a small aquaponics set up to learn more about this wonderful relationship between man, fish, bacteria & plants. We have been reading lots about the subject & would like to thank you all for sharing your triumphs as well as your lessons learned the hard way. We have always had plants & fish but didn't join the 2 till now. With 100 hybrid Tilapia ($75) (thanks Darrin), some test pond fish (free) (growing in pond), 200 red wiggler worms ($20)(composting & fish food), 3 types of lettuce ($6), 2 plastic bbls ($20), 3 rubbermaid grow beds ($18), & a diy vortex filter for solids from a garage sale plastic carboy for wine making ($1), an old stereo cabinet (free) & pvc piping ($50) all came together to form our first aquaponics system. We thought we would start with well developed pond H20 & a few pond fish to start the system would be quick & handy. Lettuce will be nice for salads & should still do well with a young aquaponics system. We started the seeds in a $4.00 tabletop greenhouse box & in 1 month they were ready to go into the grow baskets filled with fibre grow medium. (had to filter the system of all the small fibres from the medium, not happy) Other than the fibre in the H20, the system startup has gone well. Even got the wife to donate 2 living room lamps which I converted to portable grow lights ($9) . The Tilapia are growing quickly in a aquarium & in a few days when we are happy with the system we will import them into the tanks.
Darrin was nice enough to supply a small bag of Duckweed with the fish so have it growing in the aquarium as well. So far so good, all looks like we will be able to have treats of worms & duckweed in a short while for the fish. So far we have under $200 into the project & have used up a bit of junk around the house and are feeling pretty good with ourselves. Have pics of system build, plants & fish. Thanks again & will keep you updated.