Stutter, it still looks
beautiful and like it could easily compete with other more traditional grow methods.
The trout worked out for me, but I killed a lot of them. They are very picky when it comes to water quality. Even a short power outage leads to low O2 levels and dead fish. I'm thinking about talapia now just to make my life easier.
You answered those questions. Yes, trout are
very delicate (as are piranha and sharks, IME). The only fish that I'm familiar with raising that can handle cool temps, and conversely low O2 levels, are koi, aka carp. Blech. While I've not raised or handled tilapia, IIRC they're an African cichlid, from the river systems, and so appreciate warmer waters. They can be quite tasty, too!
Okay, so work up to trout, although I'm pretty sure I can find a way to keep O2 levels up to acceptable levels during a power outage of less than 24 hours; small fountain pump on a battery backup.
The biofilter and grow bed are two separate components of a living aquaponics system, so I see no reason to change that here. I need to research these components- could you give me a quick idea of what they do, as a place to start? By grow bed, do you mean the plants in the RDWC?
I've heard of a primitive but apparently effective form of aquaponics; in China, farmers release a certain variety of bass or similar into their rice paddies. The fish eat insects that attack the rice, the paddy is big enough to absorb and digest the fish waste, which then feeds the rice. The farmers get supplemental protein in the fish... if we can come anywhere near such a level of symbiosis with indoor technologies, I'd feel like a real advance will have been made.
Oh, Jesus, I don't know why I never thought of this. Many, if not most of the Central and South American fishes brought in for the aquarium hobby are actually
very good eating if fed properly. Oscars, damn near all the cichlids, pacu, and check this out, peacock bass! Pacu are fruit-eaters, which is why they've got such strong jaws. I can almost taste the cheek meat right now! (Think: pompano.) With oscars, you can definitely get some size out of them. Just feed them insects and the like, never goldfish or fish food, and they should be delicious.
I hear tang is good eating, too, but you'd need to be running a salt(ier) system. ;)