We had good luck getting things started on an aquaponics aquarium, but very little luck keeping them alive long term there. Basil did okay, but not most other things. And my wife was following all the advice from reputable places. Not sure what the issue was, but we gave up.
I’ve had issues with draining out the grow beds enough. If they aren’t drained well enough then the roots might rot or the plants might die from too much water.
If you have a single grow bed, it’s a lot easier. Then you mostly just have to worry about the siphon initiating and stopping at the right times. Which is something you can see and fix in less than an hour before there is plants.
Not sure what your situation was, but it’s best to start small and try to account for every variable.
I’m on year 3 of my setup, and I just added another 2 grow beds and a sand root zone in the sump.
I’m not seeing the one we had online anymore. It was small, maybe 6 gallons of so. Clear plexiglass on front and right side, gravel bottom. Little slots at the bottom left, under the gravel, let water go into a smaller area on the left side. There was a section above that, and another along the back, with plant baskets,. Water was pumped from lower left into upper left, which followed through the bottle of the plant baskets and made a little waterfall into the main tank at the back right. We just had a few guppies in it.
