Lifestyle
Home Improvement
Aquaponics
Aquaponic Gardening: Growing Fish and Vegetables Together
4.4 (867 ratings)
Course Ratings are calculated from individual students’ ratings and a variety of other signals, like age of rating and reliability, to ensure that they reflect course quality fairly and accurately.
5,846 students enrolled

Aquaponic Gardening: Growing Fish and Vegetables Together

Grow an entire dinner right in your backyard with aquaponics! Safe, healthy fish and organic vegetables with no weeds!
Bestseller
4.4 (867 ratings)
Course Ratings are calculated from individual students’ ratings and a variety of other signals, like age of rating and reliability, to ensure that they reflect course quality fairly and accurately.
5,846 students enrolled
Created by Sylvia Bernstein
Last updated 8/2015
English
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Aquaponic Gardening: Growing Fish and Vegetables Together
Price: $24.99
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This course includes
  • 5.5 hours on-demand video
  • 49 downloadable resources
  • Full lifetime access
  • Access on mobile and TV
  • Certificate of Completion
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What you'll learn
  • To teach new, inspired aquaponic gardeners in a way that is straightforward and unitimidating.
Requirements
  • Just a desire to grow your own food
Description

Welcome to Aquaponic Gardening and the fascinating marriage of hydroponics (growing plants without soil) and aquaculture (growing fish in captivity).  This course is based on my book, "Aquaponic Gardening: A Step by Step Guide to Growing Fish and Vegetables Together " and is designed to be easy to follow, comprehensive, and fun.  

Most of the lectures in this Aquaponic Tutorial are what is called a Video / Presentation Mashup at Udemy.  What that means is that you will see a video of myself or Alan (my husband and partner) talking and demonstrating on the left, and PowerPoint slides on the right with details to keep the concepts straight. But you don't need to do anything - the slides will just appear at the correct time! 

At the end of this aquaponic gardening course there is a series of articles and blog posts that I've written that I think are particularly relevant to new aquaponic gardeners who are smitten with this growing technique (and I hope that is you!) and want to dive deeper.  The first article is called the "Aquaponic Gardening Rules of Thumb" and it is a summary list of many of the concepts, principles and ratios that are elaborated on in the course.

The lectures end with some handy tracking sheets and a list of links to many of the products that are shown in the course.  Some other resources that will prove useful as you embark on your aquaponic journey are...

·  The Aquaponic Source - our company site and shopping site for all your aquaponic gardening needs

·  The Aquaponic Gardening Community - a thriving online community of gardeners just like you who help each other learn and grow

·  Aquaponic Gardening Book

·  Aquaponics Association - a wonderful resource for promoting aquaponics.  They also put on the annual Aquaponics Association Conference.

If you like this course please be sure and review it here and tell your friends!

Let's get growing!

Sylvia

Who this course is for:
  • Anyone who is interested in gardening, fish, or food
Featured review
Jayde Ann Gillan
Jayde Ann Gillan ( 5 courses, 1 review )
2 months ago
Loving this course so far! I knew I was interested in Aquaponics and still thought I'd have a tough time keeping interested through the course but I've only grown more interested throughout this course. The teachers speak concisely and give you the details you need to know very clearly. I recommend this course highly!
Course content
Expand all 60 lectures 06:31:33
+ – Getting Started
2 lectures 15:58

Information on how this course is going to work and a walk through the course outline.

Aquaponic Gardening Course Introduction
Preview 06:27

In this session we define what aquaponic gardening actually is, and what they benefits of this method for growing fish and plants together are both globally and locally.

What Is Aquaponics and Why Should You Care?
Preview 09:31
+ – The Plan
4 lectures 41:23

What to think about in the placement of your aquaponics system.  Includes detailed sections on special considerations for indoor and greenhouse growing.

System Location And Environment
12:35

Why you need to think about heating your aquaponics system (even if you are growing trout) and some thoughts on how to do it efficiently and effectively. 

Heating Air and Water
10:55

What are all the ways that you can grow using aquaponics?  What are the pros and cons of each of them?

System Types
09:19

From simple, single bed system designs to the design principles behind CHiFT PiST, CHOP, and CHOP2 media based systems

Media System Designs
08:34
+ – The Hardware
15 lectures 02:34:11

How to you select the best grow beds for your aquaponics system?  What materials can you use?  How big should they be?  How do you support them?

Grow Beds
07:53

What sort of criteria are there for excellent fish tanks?  What types of containers make good fish tanks?  Do you need to cover fish tanks?  How do you seal plumbing holes in the curved surfaces of a round fish tank?

Fish Tanks
09:25

When do we need sump tanks?  What considerations are important when sizing a sump tank?  How do you connect multiple sump tanks together?

Sump Tanks
06:25

How do the number of fish to the size of the fish tank to the size of the grow bed all interrelate?  This lesson summarizes several of the key points from the previous lectures

Ratio Summary
07:53

Why use PVC? What pipe options do you have with PVC? What fitting options are there?  How does the nomenclature in PVC work?

Plumbing Basics Part I
09:41

How do you efficiently cut and glue PVC?  Do you always need to glue pieces together?  When might you use a threaded fitting vs a slip fitting? What is a Union fitting?

Plumbing Basics Part 2
13:31

What types of pumps are there?  How do they work?  What can go wrong with a pump?  How do you clean and maintain them?

Pump Basics
08:12

What size pump do you need for your timer-based system?  How do the requirements differ when you are using siphons?  How does gravity, or "head height", affect this calculation?

Pump Sizing
11:19

What is the best way to get water into a grow bed?  What methods can I use to drain the grow bed?  If I choose a timer-based drain then how to I plumb my grow bed for that?

Grow Bed Plumbing - Using a Timer
09:29
Alan Bernstein explains all about Bell Siphons. What are the advantages of bell siphons? What are the parts of a bell siphon? How do they work? What can go wrong and how do you fix them?
Bell Siphons Part I
12:36

What are the 7 key elements in the design of your bell siphon that affect its performance?

Bell Siphons Part 2
10:53

What purpose does media serve in your system?  What criteria should you use for selecting grow media?  What are the pros and cons of the media types that are currently available?  

Grow Media
10:28

This is Part 1 of an updated version of our original grow lighting lecture shot in our Longmont, CO showroom

Grow Lights - Part 1
11:38

This is Part 2 of an updated version of our original grow lighting lecture shot in our Longmont, CO showroom

Grow Lights - Part 2
14:51

How pure does the water in an aquaponics system need to be?  How do you deal with chlorine and chloramine?  Is well water safe?  How do you measure dissolved oxygen?  What are the best ways to get oxygen into your system?  How much oxygen do you need?

Water and Oxygen
09:57
+ – The Software
8 lectures 01:08:36

What kind of fish work best in an aquaponics system?  How do I introduce new fish into my system?  How do I feed them?  What can go wrong?

Fish
14:59

Steve, The Fish Dude at The Aquaponic Source, shows a simple method for safely introducing fish to your aquaponics system.

Introducing Fish to your System
01:52

Yum!

How do you humanely harvest your fish? How do you prepare it for eating, including cutting off a fillet?  What is the best way to cook those fillets?

Harvesting and Filleting Fish
08:37
What types of plants can you grow, and what can't you grow? When and how do you introduce plants into your aquaponics system? What about additives to enhance growth? How does pH affect plants?
Plants
11:21
Pollination in Indoor Gardens
06:04

What is IPM, or Integrated Pest Management?  Are there ways that you can prevent insects from harming your plants in the first place?  How do you look for insects?  What are the "Horrible 4" of the insect world?  How do you identify them?

Insects Part 1
10:16

How to kill the little nasties!!

Insects Part 2
10:28

Why are worms important in an media based aquaponics system?  How do you introduce them to your grow beds?

Worms
04:59
+ – The Integrated System
8 lectures 59:00

What is "cycling"?  How does the cycling process work in aquaponics?

Cycling Part I
04:59

How to cycle your aquaponics system both using fish, and without fish ("Fishless Cycling").  Plus tips for speeding up the process.

Cycling Part 2
10:48

How do you test the water in your aquaponics system?  How often do you need to do it?

Water Testing Part I
08:10

Now that you know what levels you system is showing with the test kit, how do you interpret those numbers?

Water Testing Part 2
06:23

Updated Q1, 2014. What is pH and why is it so important in aquaponics. Then we go into carbonate hardness, and its impact on managing pH in your system. Then we go into measuring and adjusting carbonate hardness.

pH, Water Hardness and Carbonates Part 1
13:44

Updated Q1, 2014 - How to adjust pH up and Down

pH, Water Hardness and Carbonates Part 2
06:51

How to quickly check your system for problems and what to do when you find them.

Troubleshooting
06:12
Conclusion
01:53
+ – Diving Deeper...
19 lectures 00:00

Aquaponic Gardening Rules Of Thumb
5 pages
Aquaponics Course Online
2 pages
12 Ways Aquaponics Differs From Hydroponics
3 pages
Is Aquaponics Better Than Certified Organic
2 pages
Aquaponics , Safe Food , And Public Perception
3 pages
Aquaponics Fish Stocking Density
2 pages
Aquaponic Fish Care Facts
2 pages
Addicted To Aquaponics
3 pages
Aquaponics And The Wonderful Worm
3 pages
Aquaponic Worms FAQ
2 pages
Why Add a Sump Tank?
2 pages
Commercial Aquaponics 10 Things To Consider
4 pages
Top 10 Reasons Why Your Aquaponics System Isn't Cycling
2 pages
Pollination in an Aquaponics System
2 pages
Feed The World , Protect The Planet
2 pages
Fish As An Efficient Source Of Protein
2 pages
10 Things You Should Consider When Buying an Aquaponics System
2 pages
Aquaponics And Setting Unrealistic Expectations About Vegetable Production
1 page
Top 10 Stupidest Things I've Done In Aquaponics
2 pages
+ – Print and Use
2 lectures 00:00
A handy sheet for tracking the pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrates in your aquaponics system
Aquaponic Gardening Data Tracking Worksheet
1 page
A checklist for keeping track of daily, weekly and monthly maintenance tasks
Aquaponics System Maintenance Checklist
1 page
+ – Going Shopping
1 lecture 00:00
Aquaponic Gardening Product Reference
3 pages