Buyer's Handbook
Aquaponics equipment, bought for the fish first.
A pump, an air supply, a heater, and a way to read the water. This handbook explains what each piece does, which numbers on the box matter, and how to keep the fish breathing when the power goes out.
Reviewed October 2026. We re-check this guide quarterly.
By Dan Whelan, founder of New World Survival
Researched from government agencies, university extension services, and other published sources. See our sources
Start here
The lettuce can wait. The fish cannot.
A summer storm takes the power at nine in the evening. Upstairs, the house goes quiet and warm. In the garage, the grow bed stops filling, and nothing much happens to the lettuce for hours. In the fish tank, the bubbles stop too, and warm water does not hold much oxygen to begin with.
That is the whole buying lesson of aquaponics in one evening. Most of the equipment serves the plants, but the pieces that keep fish alive deserve the most thought: air, warmth, and a way to read the water you cannot see into. This handbook starts there, and it is written for anyone setting up a first system or filling a gap in one they already run. Our aquaponics practice guide covers how to run the system itself.
Before you buy
Six questions about your own setup
Answer these before you look at a single product. They decide what size, how much backup, and how much spending makes sense far more than any brand does.
How many gallons of fish water?
Pump flow, air supply, and heater size all follow from this one number. Count the fish tank, the sump if there is one, and the water standing in the grow beds.
Where will it sit?
A heated living room, a garage that swings with the seasons, or a patio. Water weighs a little over 8 pounds a gallon, so a 50-gallon tank holds more than 400 pounds of water before anything else.[14] Floors and shelves need to carry that.
Is there a GFCI-protected outlet nearby?
Every pump and heater in this guide plugs in beside open water. If the outlet near the system is not ground-fault protected, that comes before any pump. Portable GFCI units exist for outlets that are not.[5]
How long are outages where you live, and who responds?
Backup air should cover the longest outage you can reasonably expect, at night, in warm weather. If you travel, someone else needs to know where the backup is and how to start it.
Which fish, and are they legal where you live?
The fish decide the water temperature, and so the heater. Rules vary by state and even by region: Florida, for one, allows blue and Nile tilapia without a permit in most of the state but requires one in its Northwest region.[19] Check with your state wildlife agency before buying equipment sized for a fish you may not be allowed to keep.
What is your budget band, and what does it buy?
The core equipment for a small system costs less than people expect: most single pumps, air pumps, and heaters list under $35. Our aquaponics food guide puts a basic media-bed setup at about $400 to $700 including tanks and beds. The full price ladder is in the what to buy section.
How it works
Four jobs, one loop of water
An aquaponic system is a fish tank and a plant bed sharing the same water. Fish waste becomes ammonia, bacteria living in the bed turn it into nitrate through nitrification, and the plants take up the nitrate and send cleaner water back to the fish. The grow bed doubles as the biofilter, which is why it matters what you fill it with.
The equipment does four jobs. A water pump moves water from the fish to the plants; most home systems use a submersible pond pump.[1] An air pump pushes air through stones in the water so the fish, roots, and bacteria have oxygen. A heater holds the temperature your fish need. And a test kit or meter tells you what clear water hides.
Everything else is containers and plumbing. Oklahoma State University Extension's guidance is to use inert, non-toxic, food-safe materials, to avoid unlined metals, uncoated concrete, and some recycled plastics, and notes that PVC and CPVC pipe are common and safe to use.[1] Used bulk containers should be ones that held food-grade material and have been thoroughly washed.[2]
The distinction that matters most
Moving water is not the same as air
Buy the water pump and the air pump as two separate machines, and give the air its own backup. A water pump that splashes into the tank adds some oxygen, but it is the first thing to stop when the power does, and it was never sized to be the fish's only air supply.
The water pump
Feeds the plants. Moves the whole system's water through the beds and back.
- Oklahoma State recommends a flow that can cycle the entire system in about an hour.[1]
- Its flow drops as the lift height rises, so the number on the box is a ceiling, not a promise.
- If it stops for an evening, plants are usually fine. The water stops moving through the biofilter, though, and that matters to the fish next.
The air pump
Keeps the fish breathing. Pushes air through stones so oxygen dissolves into the water.
- Oklahoma State calls supplemental aeration with air diffusers necessary, and puts ideal dissolved oxygen for fish, plants, and microbes above 5 ppm.[2]
- As water warms, it holds less oxygen, so summer nights are the hardest test.[2]
- Bubbles look reassuring but do not measure oxygen. A test or meter does.
What this means for your first purchase
Oklahoma State's advice is to consider putting the aeration on a separate or backup power supply, so the fish have oxygen even when the power fails.[1] In practice that means one everyday air pump plus one air source that runs on its own battery, bought on the same day. Battery and backup air pumps list for about $14 to $55, and they are the piece people most often skip.
The numbers
The figures on the box, and the targets in the water
Equipment is sold by flow, watts, and outlets. Fish live by temperature, oxygen, and chemistry. The useful skill is translating one into the other.
The water targets below come from New Mexico State University's aquaponics water-quality guide, revised in 2026. They are starting points for a warm-water system; your fish species sets the final numbers.
| Reading | Target | The equipment that controls or reads it |
|---|---|---|
| Dissolved oxygen | 5 ppm or higher[4] | Air pump and stones; read with a drop kit or meter |
| Water temperature | 65 to 85°F for warm-water fish such as goldfish, catfish, and tilapia[4] | Heater; read with a thermometer in the water, not the room |
| pH | 6.4 to 7.4, which all three living parts tolerate[4] | Test kit or pH meter |
| Total ammonia | Under 1 ppm[4] | Test kit; most ammonia kits read total ammonia |
| Nitrite | Under 1 ppm[4] | Test kit |
| Nitrate | 5 to 150 ppm; above 150 can mean too few plants for the fish[4] | Test kit |
Pump flow at your height
Aim to move the whole system's water about once an hour.[1] Measure the height from the pump to where the water comes out, which Oklahoma State calls the head pressure, and read the maker's flow chart at that height. A 50-gallon system wants roughly 50 gallons an hour delivered, not 50 printed on the box.
Air: outlets and stones
Air pumps are sold by output and number of outlets. For raft beds, Oklahoma State suggests one air stone for every 10 square feet of bed, plus aeration in the fish tank itself.[2] More outlets than you need today leaves room to add a stone later.
Heater watts and the room
Heaters are rated by tank size, and that rating assumes a room only so much cooler than the water. Fluval rates its 50-watt P50 for tanks up to 15 gallons and says that if the set temperature is not reached, more heating power is needed.[6] A winter garage asks far more of a heater than a living room.
Backup runtime, in plain arithmetic
Read the watts printed on the air pump. Multiply by the hours of outage you want to cover, and add a cushion. That figure in watt-hours is what a battery, a UPS, or a portable power station must hold for the air alone. A 100-watt heater draws many times what a small air pump does,[20] so in a cold garage the heater, not the air, decides the size of the backup. Our guide to measuring power use shows how to read real draw with a plug-in meter.
Reading the box
What the labels actually mean
Aquarium and pond gear has one certification worth looking for and a lot of marketing words. Here is how to sort them.
Testing lab mark
A registered mark from a nationally recognized testing laboratory means the lab tested the product and certified it against one or more product safety standards. OSHA keeps the list of recognized labs and their marks.[16] For anything that plugs in beside water, look for one.
Max GPH
Gallons per hour with no lift at all. Real flow at your bed height is lower, sometimes much lower. Look for a flow chart or a stated maximum lift height.
AC/DC or battery backup
An air pump that runs on wall power and switches itself to an internal or attached battery when the power stops. Check the stated runtime and how the battery charges, then test the switch before you rely on it.
Shatterproof or guarded heater
Heaters can break. CPSC recalled one heater line in 2011 because a wiring problem could make it overheat and shatter.[7] Oklahoma State also advises protecting in-tank heaters so fish cannot damage them.[2]
Master test kit
A box of liquid tests, usually for pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, read against color charts. New Mexico State says aquarium test kits are adequate for most backyard systems.[4] Reagents carry expiration dates; check them before trusting a reading.
ATC on an oxygen meter
Automatic temperature compensation. Oxygen readings depend on temperature and salinity, and USGS corrects for both in its own method.[18] A meter without it leaves the correction to you.
Food grade
The words that matter on tanks, totes, and liners. The Southern Regional Aquaculture Center warns that plasticizers in vinyl are toxic to fish, so vinyl liners must be washed thoroughly before use.[3]
Chloramine remover
If your city uses chloramine, letting water stand will not clear it; it can take weeks to dissipate. Use a water conditioner or carbon filter whose label says it removes chloramine.[12][1] Your water utility can tell you which it uses.
"Self-cleaning" or "maintenance free"
Usually on desktop kits. Fish still need feeding, testing, and partial cleaning, and the plants cannot clean water they are too few to use. Read these words as a mood, not a spec.
The equipment
Eight kinds of gear, four of them essential
A water pump, an air pump, a backup air source, and a test kit come first for every system. A heater depends on your fish and your room. The rest earn their place later.
Submersible water pump
Essential: the circulation
Usually a submersible pond or fountain pump sitting at the lowest point of the system. Size it for your height, add a valve to tune the flow, and keep the intake screened so roots and debris do not choke it. Oklahoma State's advice is not to cut costs on the pump.[1]
Aquarium air pump
Essential: the everyday oxygen
A small diaphragm pump, tubing, and air stones. Marina's instructions put the pump on a shelf at least 12 inches above the water line, not directly over the tank, and strongly recommend a check valve in the airline so water cannot siphon back into the pump during a power failure.[21] Quiet matters if it lives indoors.
Battery backup air pump
Essential: the outage plan
Three forms: a battery-only pump you switch on by hand, an AC/DC pump that switches itself to battery when the power stops, or a regular air pump plugged into a UPS or portable power station. The automatic kind matters most when no one is home at night.
Aquarium heater
Depends on fish and room
A traditional aquarium heater suits a small tank; Oklahoma State notes that larger tanks need other methods, and suggests a second heater as a backup in case one fails.[1] Two smaller heaters split the risk of one sticking on or off.
Water test kit
Essential: the eyes
Liquid master kits, dip strips, or digital testers for pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. New Mexico State recommends daily testing while a new system starts up and weekly once it is balanced, with pH checked daily because it tends to drift down.[4] Add a plain thermometer.
Dissolved oxygen meter
Later, as the fish grow
A drop test kit is the low-cost start. Membrane-type meters need field calibration and a clean, bubble-free sensor;[18] the U.S. Geological Survey's current field method uses optical sensors.[17] Most first systems with light stocking can wait on a meter.
Starter kits
A way to learn, not a plan
Desktop kits put a few plants over a small tank; aquarium-top gardens sit on a standard tank. They teach the loop on a small scale. None of them knows your outage length, your room temperature, or your local fish rules, so budget a backup air source and a test kit beside any kit.
Grow media and plumbing
Buy plainly, no roundup needed
Gravel and expanded clay work best, about ½ to ¾ inch so it cannot wash into the drains; soil, wood chips, and peat do not work.[1] River rock should test free of limestone.[2]
What fails and why
How the gear lets you down
Rarely all at once. Most failures are slow, or they happen to the one piece nobody duplicated.
Flow that fades
Roots, slime, and debris slowly narrow intakes and pipes, and pump impellers wear. Mark how long the bed takes to fill when everything is new, and check against it. A slower fill is the early warning.
One of everything
A single air pump, a single heater, and no spare parts make a system that fails the first time any one of them does. Oklahoma State's advice to double up heaters applies to air as well.[1]
Readings you cannot trust
Expired reagents, a dirty test tube, or an uncalibrated meter give confident wrong numbers. Date the box when you open it and calibrate meters as the maker says.
Heaters that stick
A thermostat that sticks on cooks the tank; one that sticks off chills it. Keep a separate thermometer in the water and look at it daily, and never run a heater out of water.[6]
Kits sold as a whole system
USDA's audit program for commercial aquaponic farms only audits operations where plants are not housed in the same tank as the fish.[11] A household is not held to that standard, but the reasoning carries over: keep leaves you will eat out of fish water.
A backup no one tested
A battery pump with flat batteries or an auto-switch that has never switched is not a backup yet. Unplug the system on a calm afternoon, watch what happens, and time it.
What this equipment cannot do
It cannot make water and electricity safe together on its own. Plug pumps and heaters into a GFCI-protected outlet. CPSC explains that a GFCI cuts power before a fatal shock can occur, recommends protection where electrical equipment is near water, and says to test every GFCI at least once a month and after a power failure.[5] Fluval's heater instructions add a drip loop in the cord, unplugging all equipment before your hands go in the water, and letting a heater cool for at least 30 minutes before lifting it out of the water.[6] A drip loop is the dip in a cord below the outlet, so water runs off instead of along it to the plug.[21] Heaters do fail: CPSC has recalled models that could overheat and shatter, and others that were not grounded well enough and posed a shock risk.[7][8]
It cannot keep fish breathing without power. During a power outage, the backup air source is the plan. If a generator is part of it, CDC says never to run one inside a home, garage, or carport, and to keep it outside at least 20 feet from doors, windows, and vents.[10] A garage aquaponics system is never a reason to run one closer.
It cannot make fish water clean enough to touch food. CDC lists Salmonella, Mycobacterium, Aeromonas, and other germs that pet fish and their water can spread. Its advice: wash your hands with soap and running water after handling fish, equipment, or tank water; clean equipment in a bathtub, laundry sink, or outside instead of the kitchen sink; wear gloves if you have cuts; and do not let children under 5 clean or handle aquarium items.[9] USDA's commercial standard requires procedures that keep the edible part of the crop from touching system water during harvest.[11]
It does not treat sick fish. FDA says most fish medicines sold in pet stores have not been evaluated by FDA for safety or effectiveness.[15] In a system that grows food, check the water first and call an aquatic veterinarian before adding anything.
It does not guard open water. CPSC warns that it takes only a few inches of water for a young child to drown.[13] Cover tanks and sumps where small children can reach them, in a way that still lets air in and lets you inspect.
What to buy
Now that you know what to look for
Below is the honest price ladder and the checks we hold every piece against. Our published comparisons appear on this page as each one is finished.
Affiliate disclosure: New World Survival earns a small commission on qualifying Amazon purchases at no cost to you. This helps us cover operating costs and keep building new content. We only recommend gear we would put in our own kit. Commission never decides a recommendation.
| Equipment | Typical listings | What the extra money buys |
|---|---|---|
| Submersible water pump | About $9 to $32, from 80 to 800 gallons per hour[20] | More flow at your lift height, a flow dial, quieter running. |
| Aquarium air pump | About $10 to $30[20] | More outlets, more air at depth, sturdier housings. |
| Battery or backup air pump | About $14 to $55; automatic AC/DC switching sits near the top[20] | Switching on its own when the power stops, rechargeable cells, longer runtime. |
| Aquarium heater, 100 watt | About $12 to $24[20] | An external controller and display, shatter-resistant housings. |
| Water test kits | Strips about $10 to $23; liquid master kits about $36 to $38[20] | Separate liquid tests for each reading, more tests per box. |
| Dissolved oxygen | Drop test kits about $16; digital meters about $70 to $76; established instrument brands about $270 to $330[20] | Temperature compensation, replaceable probes, maker calibration support. |
| Starter kits | Small desktop units about $37 to $60; aquarium-top gardens about $218 to $350[20] | Larger beds and sturdier parts. Neither size includes your backup air. |
Prices are typical Amazon listings, checked October 25, 2026. Sales and retailers vary.
Safe beside water
- A testing lab mark on anything that plugs in
- A GFCI-protected outlet
- A guarded or shatter-resistant heater
Sized honestly
- Pump flow read at your height
- Heater rated for your coldest room
- Air outlets to spare
Ready for outages
- Air on its own battery
- Runtime that covers a long night
- Tested before you need it
Honest claims
- Flow charts, not just max GPH
- Reagent dates on the box
- No "maintenance free" promises
After you buy
Putting the system to work
The gear is the easy half. These guides carry the skills that keep fish and plants healthy, and the power planning that keeps them breathing.
Aquaponics for beginners
Cycling without fish, daily rounds, failure drills, and the safety and legal limits, from first visit to working year.
Read the guideAquaponics as a food source
Media beds, rafts, and channels compared, choosing fish, and the weekly testing rhythm.
Read the guidePower outage action plan
What to do in the first hour and the first day without power, so the fish fit into a plan for the whole house.
Read the guideFood safety
Safe handling for fresh greens and fish once they leave the system.
Read the guidePortable power station handbook
How to size a quiet battery that can run an air pump, and a heater if you need one, through a long outage.
Read the handbookAll comparisons
Every comparison, in one place
Each comparison we publish for aquaponics equipment, from water pumps and backup air to heaters, test kits, and starter kits, is listed here as it is finished.
Where this comes from
Sources
- Underwood, J., and B. Dunn. "Aquaponics." Oklahoma State University Extension, HLA-6721. February 2017. Accessed October 25, 2026. extension.okstate.edu
- Mullins, C., B. Nerrie, T. D. Sink, and M. Beem. "Principles of Small-Scale Aquaponics." Oklahoma State University Extension, SRAC-5007. March 2017. Accessed October 25, 2026. extension.okstate.edu
- Beem, M., J. E. Rakocy, M. P. Masser, and T. M. Losordo. "Recirculating Aquaculture Tank Production Systems: Aquaponics, Integrating Fish and Plant Culture." Southern Regional Aquaculture Center Publication 454, via Oklahoma State University Extension. February 2017. Accessed October 25, 2026. extension.okstate.edu
- Sallenave, R. "Important Water Quality Parameters in Aquaponics Systems." New Mexico State University, Circular 680. Revised June 2026. Accessed October 25, 2026. pubs.nmsu.edu
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. "What Is a GFCI?" Fact sheet. Accessed October 25, 2026. cpsc.gov
- Rolf C. Hagen. Fluval P Series submersible aquarium heater (P10, P25, P50) instructions. Accessed October 25, 2026. Fluval heater manual (PDF)
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. "Aquarium Heaters Recalled by United Pet Group Due to Fire and Laceration Hazards." April 21, 2011. Accessed October 25, 2026. cpsc.gov
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. "PetSmart Recalls Top Fin Plastic Aquarium Heaters." August 1, 2014. Accessed October 25, 2026. cpsc.gov
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Fish." Healthy Pets. Reviewed April 15, 2024. Accessed October 25, 2026. cdc.gov
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Avoiding Carbon Monoxide Poisoning." Natural Disasters PSA toolkit. Reviewed August 26, 2026. Accessed October 25, 2026. cdc.gov
- USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. "Aquaponic Operation Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)." Accessed October 25, 2026. ams.usda.gov
- Tampa Bay Water. "Monochloramine Information for Fish Owners." Updated June 2, 2022. Accessed October 25, 2026. tampabaywater.org
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. "In-Home Danger: CPSC Warns of Children Drowning in Bathtubs, Bath Seats and Buckets." September 27, 2012. Accessed October 25, 2026. cpsc.gov
- U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School. "Water Density." Fresh water at about 62.4 pounds per cubic foot, a little over 8.3 pounds per gallon. Accessed October 25, 2026. usgs.gov
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "Aquaculture and Aquaculture Drugs Basics." Content current as of September 11, 2020. Accessed October 25, 2026. fda.gov
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) Program." Accessed October 25, 2026. osha.gov
- U.S. Geological Survey. "Chapter A6.2. Dissolved Oxygen." Techniques and Methods 9-A6.2. 2020. Accessed October 25, 2026. pubs.usgs.gov
- U.S. Geological Survey. "NFM 6.2.1-Amp: Dissolved-oxygen concentration, field measurement by amperometric method." National Environmental Methods Index. Accessed October 25, 2026. nemi.gov
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Aquaponics Licenses and Permits." Accessed October 25, 2026. myfwc.com
- Amazon.com. Search listings for submersible pumps, aquarium air pumps, battery air pumps, 100-watt aquarium heaters, aquarium test kits, dissolved oxygen meters, and aquaponics kits, non-sponsored results. Checked October 25, 2026.
- Rolf C. Hagen. Marina aquarium air pump (50 to 300 series) use and care instructions. Accessed October 25, 2026. Marina air pump manual (PDF)
Stay current
We re-check this guide every quarter as prices and products change. The Weekly Readiness Brief is a quiet way to hear when it updates.