Building a backyard Micro Aquaponics System is easy AND economical with our Do-It-Yourself packages!
Why build a “Friendly” system? Because even if you buy a “kit” from someone, you STILL have to build the system. You have to install fish tanks, trench for plumbing, install air and water pumps, airstones, and troughs. Our “64” costs around $1,300 to build, or $3 per plant space, and our “128” costs around $1,600 to build, or $1.90 per plant space, including the cost for our Micro System plans; you source most items locally.
(Below) A nice Micro System 64 outdoors, in a backyard, with about 24 varieties of vegetables. Is that a banana tree? And a pineapple?
In addition, we supply the most excellent paid technical support for all of our products! Details on our Support page.
Click here to purchase the downloadable DIY manual and plan set for the Micro System 64 and 128, only $49.95
To learn more about what aquaponics does for you, just watch this short video:
What if I don’t live in Hawaii? Won’t I need to grow indoors, or need a greenhouse?
We answer both these questions below with free downloads: “Lighting For Aquaponics” discusses the pros and cons of growing indoors, and gives you some great information on all the types of lighting available and their costs.
“How To Get A Free Greenhouse” explains how our students consistently purchase good used greenhouses for pennies on the dollar, and even get them given to them for free! (One of our students was recently given a 3-year-old, 42,000 square foot greenhouse that originally cost $40/square foot for materials; yes, a $1.68 million greenhouse for simply disassembling it and removing it from the property).
Click here to download your free copy of “Lighting For Aquaponics”
Click here to download your free copy of “How To Get A Free Greenhouse”
And if you want to be able to ask more questions while you’re building and operating your Micro System, we offer Email and Phone support in the shopping cart when you checkout. See our Aquaponics Support page for more information on how we supply Technical Support.
Compare the cost of our systems to these well-advertised kit systems: Murray Hallam’s 85 square foot Backyard System costs $5,376, or $63.24 per square foot of grow bed area; a system from another well-known aquaponics consultant costs $6,895, or $95.76 per square foot; Aquaponics USA’s 50 square foot FFGS-50 costs $4,083, or $145.86 per square foot, these costs do NOT include shipping. Our aquaponics system designs are the most cost-effective on the planet!
We are now including a free downloaded “Aquaponics The EASY Way”, our small aquaponic systems manual, with each Micro System purchase so you can build productive tabletop aquaponics systems from 3 to 18 square feet in size in addition to the 64 and 128 square foot Micro Systems. These smaller tabletop systems are great for teaching, for student science projects, or to get started with aquaponics if you don’t have enough space yet for the 64 and 128. They are also a great system for growing vegetables indoors in the wintertime under artificial lighting if you only plan to run your outdoors Micro System during the warmer months. This is $129.90 worth of manuals for $49.95.
Our package shows you how to build AND operate a stable, durable, and productive 64 OR 128 square foot backyard aquaponics system in two weekends for around $1,300 (for the 64), or $1,600 (for the 128) worth of materials you can buy locally. These are average mainland prices; they’re about $200-300 higher in Hawaii. These prices do not include the child or sleeping Siamese cat (both priceless!). Here’s a picture of Rose and the cat with our Micro System 64, about four weeks after our first planting.
Click here to purchase the downloadable DIY manual and plan set for the Micro System 64 and 128, only $49.95
Rose with Micro System and cat, 4 weeks after planting.
The Micro System package includes most of the information on aquaponics our Commercial Aquaponics DIY package does, and is appropriate for someone with limited space or someone who wants to get their feet wet in aquaponics without spending a lot. It’s also perfect for schools because of its low cost. There are 408 growing spaces in an average Micro System 64 raft layout, allowing plenty of space for student projects. It can be put together by a couple of parents who are handy with tools on a weekend. The Micro System 64 is small enough to put indoors in very cold weather climates and light with artificial lighting (instructions included) for about $21 per month average electrical cost on the Mainland.
Click here to purchase the downloadable DIY manual and plan set for the Micro System 64 and 128, only $49.95
Our package includes a TON of information and pictures showing you how aquaponics systems work and how to operate them, based on our years of experience actually operating a commercial aquaponics farm; including a construction manual, an operations manual, eight sheets of CAD drawings, and a complete materials list. Most of these materials are procured locally, with a few items needing to be mail-ordered from Aquatic EcoSystems in Florida.
We took time from operating our aquaponics farm to build and test our Micro System and write the Micro System package. Why? There was no good Do-It-Myself aquaponics information available on the web tailored for someone who had some building skills and wanted to save a lot of money doing it themselves. We wrote this package to give the do-it-yourselfers a solid foundation to start their aquaponics experience on. As of March 2020, we’ve had literally hundreds of students build Micro Systems all around the world! Our son Jack just finished building his Micro System the week before he turned ten!
“Smilin” Jack and his Micro System
Our self-taught plans package includes a course manual, a construction manual with eight pages of CAD drawings and tons of pictures of a system under construction, a complete materials list, and a day-to-day operations manual. We’ve done our very best to make this easy to understand and duplicate what we’ve done. Jack built his Micro System when he was nine, it’s that easy.
Click here to see the Table of Contents and Introduction to the Backyard Micro System 64 and 128 Manual
Click here to see the materials list for the Backyard Micro System 64 and 128
Your package includes a course manual, computer-drawn construction plans, a construction manual with tons of pictures, and a day-to-day operations manual (these two manuals have recently been combined into one).
Do-It-Myself Aquaponics Training and Construction Package for Micro Systems
Our Do-It-Myself, self-taught course covers all aspects of building and operating a 64 square foot Micro Aquaponics System that can be run off-grid easily using alternate energy sources (of course it can be powered by just plugging it into your house electrical system also). This training package is designed for people who want to build their own small systems to check out aquaponics and get a useful amount of produce at the same time. Average materials and equipment cost for this system is around $1,300 for the 64, $1,600 for the 128, time to build is 16-32 hours; space required is 12 feet by 12 feet for the 64, and 12 feet by 20 feet for the 128.
The Micro System 64 uses 40 watts, and the 128 uses 48 watts, which is $3-4 of electricity per month ($12-15 in Hawaii); $2-4 of fish food per month ($4-6 in Hawaii); and $3-4 of seeds and potting media per month ($6-10 in Hawaii) for a monthly cost to operate of $8-12 ($22-35 in Hawaii). The 64 will produce 25-65 pounds of vegetables and 3-6 pounds of fish per month, depending on what varieties of vegetables you grow, how much attention you pay to them, and how much sunlight you get in your location; the production of the 128 is 50-130 pounds of vegetables and 6-12 pounds of fish per month. At average prices for the produce either system pays for itself in six to eight months.
Specifics covered are: site selection, system construction and operation, water quality and sources, vegetable and aquatic species qualities and selection, seeding and germination, organically approved pest control methods, troubleshooting and problem solving of common system problems. Your package includes a course manual, 10 sheets of computer-drawn construction plans, a construction manual with tons of pictures, and a day-to-day operations manual.
Lifetime Guarantee: We guarantee a full refund of the purchase price of your Micro System plans IF you have actually used them. If you have built and operated a system and are still not satisfied, we will refund your money in full.
 Rose with Micro System. |
Rose with Micro System and Siamese cat three weeks after planting. |
 Newly Built Micro System |
 Anyone Can Build One! |
 Family with Micro System. |
 Rose (4 years old) on the screw gun! |