When starting an aquaponic system, producers have two options with their plant harvest schedule; batch production or staggered. It is unclear if either approach impacts water quality more than the other. An experiment was conducted to investigate the comparative productivity of batch and staggered cropping systems of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. Muir) cultured in a coupled aquaponic production. Six systems consisting of a 350-L fish tank, a deep-water culture hydroponic subsystem (1.33m2), and a 500-L sump were used. Treatments were randomly assigned to triplicate systems. Tilapia were initially stocked at a density of 19 kg/m3. To optimize productivity, a high planting density of 47 plants/m² was used in both cropping systems. One batch harvest and three consecutive staggered harvests were conducted for a 23-day growing period each. At each harvest, the fresh weights of the plants were recorded and a total of twelve plants (four plants at each harvest of the staggered systems) were dried to quantify the dry mass. Fish feed input was 59.3 g/day/m2 for batch culture and 61.3 g/day/m2 for staggered production. At the end of the 49-day trial, tilapia were group-weighed, and mean final biomass (g), final fish weight (g), survival (%), weight gain (g), feed conversion ratio, and specific growth rate (%/day) were determined. There were no significant differences in any of the fish growth indices between treatments (p>0.05). Lettuce fresh weights harvested from the batch systems (111.9± 21.9g) were significantly higher than the ones harvested from the staggered production (102.3± 23.9; p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the lettuce dry weights between the two systems (3.8± 3.8 and 3.4 ± 3.4g, respectively). No nutrient deficiency symptoms were observed in either culture system. After the second plant harvest, total ammonia-nitrogen and nitrate values (2.1, and 62.9 mg/L, respectively) significantly increased in the batch production system compared to the staggered treatment (0.3 and 49.2 mg/L, respectively) and this elevation remained until the end of the experiment. The results showed that cropping systems have varying impacts on plant and water quality dynamics, emphasizing the importance of aquaponic system management and optimal nutrient cycling. Based on the current results, both plant harvest schedules had similar results, but a staggered production technique would be an economically viable option in pilot-scale aquaponic systems, especially for crops with short production cycles such as lettuce.