I know the ship has sailed, but wouldn't something like "zoohydroponics" be more descriptive than just changing from Greek-rooted hydro to Latin-rooted aqua?
NYC Apartment Aquaponics
51–60 of 91 posts
Re: NYC Apartment Aquaponics
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep. I initially looked into it as a potential avenue for sustainably producing some of my own food, but the math absolutely did not make sense. Growing a bunch of potatoes in a barrel would be a lot more bang for your buck with that goal in mind. To really optimize costs and labor, though, as you say, you need a greenhouse and/or a big old field, just like always. There are no small-scale shortcuts. Not yet, anyway.…
Why are people obsessed with idea of "produce their own X"? When we learned to specialize, we have achieved low cost, scale and sophistication.
An inordinate amount of the benefits of specialization is sucked up by middlemen leaches and enshittification is very real in the physical world too.
A lot of "specialization" looks more like enforced helplessness where the world around you seems to be full of mysterious magic outside your one specialty and often your specialty is very many levels of abstraction away from anything obviously useful to an end user (i.e. some brand of navigating office bureaucracy).
Many things aren't actually all that hard to do yourself nor do they take up all that much time or energy. And there are many things which aren't actually possible to distribute to end users so what's possible by yourself is so much more than what's possible to sell.
Re: NYC Apartment Aquaponics
#53> in our one-bedroom NYC apartment ... Bigger tank = better If tank fails, you are liable for water damages and home insurance DOES NOT cover that. We were flodded by neighbours, the damage was $20.000 in cheap east europe commie block. Plus bigger tanks need structural support in floor (steel beams).
> home insurance DOES NOT cover that Citation needed. Very bold sweeping claim
It is most likely covered (in the US?) unless it was leaking from negligence or was specifically prohibited in the lease. Obviously, read your policy and your lease for details.
Source: https://www.thezebra.com/ask/renters-insurance-coverage-aqua...
Re: NYC Apartment Aquaponics
#54I love the idea of hydro/aquaponics and built a system as a student more than a decade ago. It’s a fun project. But as a form of agriculture it’s a spectacularly bad idea at home. This setup is about 1 square meter of NYC space, that’s about $18k. Meanwhile agricultural land goes for about $2/m2, or 9000x less. Then you spend $700 in parts to set up the 1 square meter, even if you put the system on cheap rural Kentuc…
In new york city, the value is managing your sanity
Re: NYC Apartment Aquaponics
#55Fun project! But with that tank uncovered like that and sitting in a closet look out for mildew and mold to grow in your closet.
Re: NYC Apartment Aquaponics
#56I love the idea of hydro/aquaponics and built a system as a student more than a decade ago. It’s a fun project. But as a form of agriculture it’s a spectacularly bad idea at home. This setup is about 1 square meter of NYC space, that’s about $18k. Meanwhile agricultural land goes for about $2/m2, or 9000x less. Then you spend $700 in parts to set up the 1 square meter, even if you put the system on cheap rural Kentuc…
Who cares?
When you buy a couch, are you thinking "will this couch offset the value of the square footage it occupies" or "will this couch be comfortable and match my décor?"
I'm glad someone is doing something fun in their home.
Re: NYC Apartment Aquaponics
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rack plan: HU 42: TOR switch. 41-40: management server (2U). 39: git server for `fish` (1U). 38: build server for `fish` (1U). 37-28: fish (10U). 27-24: plan9s. 23-14: plants. 13-5: plumbing. 4-1: UPS. Don't put your UPS under a fishtank, folks. It becomes an IPS when it gets wet.
> Don't put your UPS under a fishtank, folks You know, maybe I should reconsider having my UPS at the bottom of a rack that contains one server in the middle with liquid CPU cooling... Or just add a liquid sensor between them somewhere perhaps.
Eh, it's probably not that bad, especially if you have more stuff in between. How much liquid is in the server?
Contrary to popular belief, one drop of water on the case of an electronic rarely breaks it. You do need to get a substantial amount inside the electronic to break it.
I remember building a water sensor kit as a kid and going to the bathtub to try sensing water and my mom rushed in and stopped me because I was putting electronics near water.
Re: NYC Apartment Aquaponics
#58A few years ago, I read in a book that it is feasible and safe to manufacture colloidal silver at home using electrolysis. I was intrigued, because my father had conducted many similar projects with success, in the kitchen, in the garage, and in the backyard, as he worked for EH&S. The Dunning-Kruger swelled within me. I reviewed photographs of the home lab setups, and I evaluated ingredient/supply/equipment lists. I…
> If I were their landlord, I would dread finding someone running this kind of crap.
I'm not aware of any new york apartments I've lived in that forbade having pet fish or plants.
Re: NYC Apartment Aquaponics
#59I love the idea of hydro/aquaponics and built a system as a student more than a decade ago. It’s a fun project. But as a form of agriculture it’s a spectacularly bad idea at home. This setup is about 1 square meter of NYC space, that’s about $18k. Meanwhile agricultural land goes for about $2/m2, or 9000x less. Then you spend $700 in parts to set up the 1 square meter, even if you put the system on cheap rural Kentuc…
People seem to think you’re attacking the article. I read the article but know nothing about aquaponics otherwise, and I was wondering why we don’t see it used more. So I appreciate you sharing your knowledge on the subject.
Re: NYC Apartment Aquaponics
#60I recommend starting with deep water culture if you want to get into this sort of thing. Aquaponics is like hardcore mode. Shopping for fish so that you can grow plants is a really neat idea, but not where I would start if I didn't want to get frustrated in a hobby setting. DWC becomes very stable once you learn how to properly inoculate the plants with beneficial fungi. Just make sure you have a contingency for power outage. The only downside is that mature plants will die very quickly in this system if the air pump fails. A lot of what you buy can be re-used for the other kinds of systems.