Yes, aquaponics is very well suited to indoor spaces. Given a few dozen square feet of space in your spare room, an unused shed or even a vast warehouse, you can set up a full recirculating system with water tanks, grow tables and wide-spectrum lights specifically designed for plants. In fact, some advantages of indoor aquaponics include easy access to electricity and more direct control of both temperature and weather.
Lights are the most complex consideration when you’re setting up indoors. Reproducing sunlight isn’t a simple matter of shining a white light over your plant tables, since sunlight produces different spectrums at different times of day and in different seasons. Additionally, some plants prefer light with a strong blue spectrum while others prefer the red end, and so on. You’ll want to weigh the cost vs convenience of timers, specialty bulbs, and cooling systems in case the light generates more heat than your plants can tolerate, and even determine the spacing of your lights so that your entire crop gets even exposure. It’s a lot to consider, but recall that greenhouses and then hydroponics originally gained popularity in extreme latitudes where the natural growing season was quite short due to long nights and low temperatures. It’s always magical to see oases of golden light peeking out from a snowy bank.
