I already have a pond/tank/swimming pool. Can I use it as part of a recirculating aquaponics system?
A recirculating aquaponics system is a complete system, just like a car is a complete system. A car works because it is complete and has all its parts. If you just have the front wheels of a car, it doesn’t do you any good. In the same way, only having a pond/tank/swimming pool doesn’t do you any good if you don’t understand how aquaponics systems work. You’ve only got part of the system. It is theoretically possible to use a pond as part of an aquaponics system. You will have some problems: the nitrifying bacteria that make a recirculating aquaponics system work are light-sensitive and may get killed off or severely inhibited by the light entering a pond, therefore you will need to shade your pond. You will probably need to mechanically aerate your pond to attain reasonable dissolved oxygen levels (DO). Harvesting fish out of a pond requires a seine net, a wetsuit and booties, and a much larger labor commitment than harvesting out of a tank or raceway. If your pond has flow-through wa
