Sandgardening

Sandgardening is a slightly different method of Aquaponics. Instead of gravel it uses sand as the grow medium with the following claimed benefits:

• significant reduction in mechanical filtration capability
• significant reduction in soil organism populations  and activity
• reduced aeration of media bacteria and plant root zone
• reduced nutrient utilization and system stability
• significant reduction in fish survival, feed rate and growth
• increased capital costs with reduced fish and plant yields
• increased operating cost per unit of production

It can also grow vegetables that don’t like to grow in the gravel, such as potatoes or onions. These will grow in the sand. Check out this video below for more. Note also that some plants are grown in Wicking bags on top of the aquaponics sand bed:

Have a more detailed look at one website pioneering the sandgardening method.

Here’s a very detailed video on the sand bed method.