Beginner's Guide to Aquaponics

Name: Beginner's Guide to Aquaponics
Availability: InStock
Author: Seth Connell
ISBN: 9781647394509

Step-by-Step Systems for Plants and Fish

By Seth Connell

Our review

Pages154

LanguageEnglish

FormatKindle editionalso in Kindle

A starter guide from Callisto, the American publisher known for its practical handbooks. Seth Connell boils aquaponics down to the essentials in a hundred and fifty pages: water balance, the choice of fish and plants, build plans and budget estimates.

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Overview Our review The author Specifications

Overview

Callisto publishes practical handbooks pitched at the American general reader, and this one is no exception: a hundred and fifty-six pages, a linear progression, and checklists at every stage. It is the shortest format in our library, and that is a deliberate choice.

The book covers the chemical balance of the water, the choice of fish and plants, and the assembly of a system, with species matching tables and dimensioned plans. Two things set it apart from the usual beginner guides: a cost estimate with rough timescales, which lets you draw up a budget before you buy anything, and a troubleshooting section covering the problems that come up most often during the build and in daily running.

Key takeaways

An aquaponic system uses a fraction of the water, the space and the labour of a conventional vegetable garden.
The chemical balance of the water comes down to only a few parameters, and the book reduces them to a list you can keep up with day to day.
Costing the build and the time before you start keeps you from abandoning it halfway.
Fish and plant pairings are not all equal: tables set out the combinations that work.
Most of the failures beginners run into have a known cause and a simple diagnosis.

The editorial verdict

4.2/5

The quickest read among our English-language titles, and the best finished thanks to Callisto's editorial work. If your aim is to build a first home system in a few weeks without spending a winter reading, it does exactly that job, budget included. If you want to understand the subject in depth or set up a production farm, a hundred and fifty-six pages will not be enough and you should look at Aquaponic Gardening or The Aquaponic Farmer.

The Univers-Aquaponie team

Independent editorial review. This page contains an affiliate link: if you buy through our link, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Pros

+Properly published, with real work put into the layout
+Cost and time estimates, rare in a beginner's guide
+A troubleshooting section for the most common problems
+Short format: readable in an evening or two

Cons

−Available in English only
−A hundred and fifty-six pages: at times it skims too fast
−US price ranges, which need converting
−Nothing on commercial production or on regulation

About the author

Seth Connell is the author of this title in the practical guide series from the American publisher Callisto. No biography is published by the publisher or on his author page, and we would rather point that out than fill the gap ourselves.

Did you know?

Callisto is an American publisher specialising in short practical handbooks. This is one of the few aquaponics titles in our library to have gone through a full editorial process rather than being self-published.

Specifications

AuthorSeth Connell

PublisherCallisto

Publication dateSeptember 2020

Pages154

Reading time≈ 3 h

FormatKindle edition

Other available formatsKindle