Aquaponics information wanted

Hey everyone! Im coming here to get some information on aquaponics, im currently running a dwc tote, and in the past i was big into the aquarium hobby, i loved keeping monster/preditory fish such as oscars, piranha, arrowana, black ghost knife fish etc. So i know keeping them happy and healthy isnt an issue for me, but what im mostly curious about is if it would be possible to make the fish tank a part of an actual RDWC system? If that even makes any sense? I know this probably seems like a ridiculous question, but id like to make this work if possible, just because i like to build things and make systems that work from the random ideas that pop into my ADHD controlled mind lol

There are all sorts of aquaponic systems. I think what we traditionally consider RDWC is just DWC in the aquaponic world. They don’t seem to utilize a chiller- I have mixed feelings about this. Didnt look far enough into it to see if it never has a chiller or just not the systems I saw.

Here’s a handy guide, for some ideas about configuration.

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Never chiller- depends on the type of fish, most people grow semitropical fish like tilapia so want to heat the water. I’m looking at growing trout so could use a chiller for the summer.

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Yummy , keep us posted on that :metal:

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Tilapia are chosen because you could eat the protein if you want. But koi and tilapia are in a class alone for the amount of waste they produce. The other big cichlids don’t play well. 10-12 tilapia in a 100gallon tank would out crap a big Oscar. That many goldfish or tilapia if you feed them everyday will get the ppm over 1000ppm quickly. The filters only convert ammonia to nitrate. The ammonia burns their gills and kills them in trace amounts. The nitrate makes most fish sick (hence water changes) at about 200-500ppm.

Goldfish and tilapia are also in a class of their own for taking shit water with a smile. Of course excluding the catfishes. But most of them eat once a week big meal then chill a few days. If you are pushing nutrients into plants goldfish and tilapia are what you want to get.

Go with pool (aka feeders) comets instead of kio. Kio are closer to wild carp and want to be 12” in a year. Pool comets are selected for size above all else and will stay smaller. They take 2-3 years to get 12” and usually stay close to that size. Koi keep on growing and can get 4-5feet long in a few years. You need a big tank or pond. And they cost a lot too.

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This is good info, i wasnt thinking last night when i made this post about how much a fish pooping matters in aquaponics, lol i could definitely get down with a big feeder tank, im good at keeping feeders, i had a 50 gallon full of them in the past for piranha food, i want to upgrade my tent to a 5x8 or 5x10 (currently have a 5x5) i imagine having a 6 foot 120-150 gallon planted tank supplimented with CO2, ill happily stock it up with feeder goldfish, with probably another 50-80 gallons of water in the sump, against the back wall of my tent, feeding into my rdwc as the main reservoir, then from the rdwc into the sump and back up into the tank, does this sound feasible?