Got my aquaponics project started

[Dee Jay]

IMG_5122_640.JPG

This is my 6th or 7th year using Hydroponics to grow Heirloom tomatoes (and none of that funny stuff not that there is anything wrong with it) on one of our decks. I put the seedlings into the hydroton on June 3rd, and here is their status as of this morning. I specialize in Green Zebra tomatoes, which have by far the best flavor I have found, but are so fragile they will burst if you look at them funny. These plants will get 10' high by october, and yield a stunning amount of tomatoes.

I use the General Hydroponics waterfarm 8 with the recirculating system. Instead of using a water pump whose filters can clog, uses an aquarium air pump to drive water up a column, and spray it down over the hydroton. It uses a similar column to drive the recirculating system, which is a must-have for the Waterfarm 8. In addition, I have found that a single reservoir is not enough for 8 buckets - the plants at the end of the loop don't get enough nutrients - so this year I installed (2) reservoirs, each of which feeds (4) buckets.

-JD

PS - here are pics from 2010 (dozens of Rosso Bruno's erupting on the vine) and 2011 (leaf as big as my hand from a green zebra)

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=27921&start=75#p437304

Good stuff Oatnet, as always!

Glad to see you guys are interested in aquaponics. I didn't wanna have to join an aquaponics forum, that would be preaching to the choir. Once I get my system going I'll promote aquaponics to our next door neighbors, to our town's daycare and elementary school, and eventually the whole of Japan.

I'm sure you EV peeps can rock a badass system so share your tips and tricks!

Im thinking of getting one of murry hallams systems

Yeah, Murry Hallam's the guru!

And Will Allen..he got $500,000 from The Macarthur Foundation just for doing what makes A LOT OF SENSE and they called him genius.



If exercising good judgement and common sense is genius, then the rest must've really de-evolved.

My system will attempt to imitate a rainforest by showering from the top down.

This will:

-cool off the water for the fish during summer

-kick off bugs on leaves, natural pest control

-and give the plants some exercise. <-- my very own original idea. Really. I think wind and rain drops stimulate plants, giving them a little workout thus thriving for more nutrients! Think about it.

[Dee Jay]

Fish has been off our menu since Tepco's crime against the Japanese people. Eating ocean fish these days is just too risky. So it makes a lot of sense to start farming our own fish.

The Achilles Heel of this system, as you know, is electricity. I can see hacking a generator to mechanically run the pumps while generating power for the computer, sensors and feeding machines. Automation and computer monitoring is nice but you have to mentally prepare for when those things goes down.. A small home system is not so bad if you get a black out, you can either fire up the back-up genie or manually dump water with a bucket. But a full-on production system?

The worst case scenario is all your fish and veggies die, in which case you can simply sell them out or just give them away, just learn from that experience, move on and start all over again.

But the risk is really worth it if you can yield high quality fish and veggies in half the time of traditional farming with soil.

I would be proud to farm and sell high quality fish and veggies at a farmer's market. There really is nothing like fresh fish. I had a friend who went fishing just out off Tokyo bay and he came back with a good sized dolphin fish, but he fishes only for sport so he gave it to me. I fried it up that evening and wow, I had never eaten a day's catch before. I couldn't believe how good fresh fish was!

Also, my inlaws grow veggies at home. They send us their excess and other veggies that they bartered with their neighbors. Again, high quality stuff! Supermarket produce just do not compare.

[Glenn_M]

Dee Jay - mine is a commercial system, didn't go the DIY route, although I plan to extend the system.
Presently the 1000L tank is stocked with rainbow trout. Grow about 25 at a time. From fingerlings to plate size in about 8-9months.
Feed them a fish food I get from my supplier.

Recirc comes from a 55w submerged pump in the tank. Runs 15min on / 30min off continually.
Grow medium is the expanded clay balls. Only one growbed at the moment although the tank/fish will support a second.

I swear you can almost see the vegies growing. Green leafy stuff, brocoli, peppers, tomatoes etc all successfully grown. Going to try watermelons next summer!

Cheers,
Glenn

[Dee Jay]

Dee Jay - mine is a commercial system, didn't go the DIY route, although I plan to extend the system.
Presently the 1000L tank is stocked with rainbow trout. Grow about 25 at a time. From fingerlings to plate size in about 8-9months.
Feed them a fish food I get from my supplier.

Recirc comes from a 55w submerged pump in the tank. Runs 15min on / 30min off continually.
Grow medium is the expanded clay balls. Only one growbed at the moment although the tank/fish will support a second.

I swear you can almost see the vegies growing. Green leafy stuff, brocoli, peppers, tomatoes etc all successfully grown. Going to try watermelons next summer!

Cheers,
Glenn

yeah I noticed, your grow bed, tank, and frame are all uniform. It looks really NICE! What brand is it?

do you have an auto feeder or any computer monitoring?

are the clay balls reusable or does it degrade?

The dog incident is pretty funny! Hey how about an automatic forced pooping system: feed them on the dot, then sic the dog on em to scare-the-shit-of-them! Or a solar powered toy shark. only kidding! It would prolly stress them out and die

The beauty of aquaponics is you can start very small till you get the hang of it. My aquarium is just a starter, as well as entertainment for the kiddies. When I do expand to your level, I'll build a wooden box tank with pond liner, but also with a glass window (somehow) so the kids can do some visual fishing just for kicks, Heck, I might even charge the neighborhood kids for some fun and fish!

BTW, tilapia is banned in Japan, can you believe that? aquaponic farmers should be permitted to farm tilapia since we don't deal with oceans and rivers!

[Glenn_M]

yeah I noticed, your grow bed, tank, and frame are all uniform. It looks really NICE! What brand is it?

do you have an auto feeder or any computer monitoring?

are the clay balls reusable or does it degrade?

Got it from http://www.growfresh-aquaponics.com.au/ how just heppens to be less than 1km from my place. Dean, the owner, is an awesome guy. He even came to feed my fish when we went away at Christmas!
No auto feeder yet - but I am in the process of making one (old 12V cordless drill, battery, DC timer and an auger). Got to get all working before this Christmas. Computer monitoring? Nah - sounds too complicated. I test the water chemistry every now and again. When I change the water or put in new fish I monitor daily until the chemistry is stable then she just chugs along.

The balls are resusable but the do degrade as well. They are actually quite brittle and break up when moved a little. Once a year the system gets a clean when a new batch of fish are added. The growbed is washed and then topped up with balls - usually only one 25L bag is needed.

The dog is mental. My kids like to fish in the pond too. But then they get bored when fishing in the river as they have to wait more than 10sec for a bite.

Cheers,
Glenn

[amberwolf]

I am tempted to start a project like this, because I could use the veggies. But I suspect I will have worse problems than Glenn's, as my dogs are big enough to do whatever the heck they feel like with the fish or the plants. I would have better luck just planting in soil in plastic or glass containers to keep the water in (rather than let it just soak away into the rest of the soil). Problme is finding a way to keep the dogs out of it, but still let sunlight and air in.

[Dee Jay]

I am tempted to start a project like this, because I could use the veggies. But I suspect I will have worse problems than Glenn's, as my dogs are big enough to do whatever the heck they feel like with the fish or the plants. I would have better luck just planting in soil in plastic or glass containers to keep the water in (rather than let it just soak away into the rest of the soil). Problme is finding a way to keep the dogs out of it, but still let sunlight and air in.

AW, just snarl at yer dogs and tell them "I'll get my nutrition one way or another, the choice is yours" RUFF!

back in 'nam all charlie needs is a cold rice ball and some dog meat and he is good to go...

seriously, I hope you figure it out!

[Dee Jay]

check it out!

this what I have in mind..

EDIT: just worked on the back up power system.

not yet perfect but the more I draw it out the easier it is to see the faults and easier to prioritize the parts I need to buy

I'll add a solar panel charger eventually

[Dee Jay]

my dogs are big enough to do whatever the heck they feel like with the fish or the plants.

AW, you don't need a glass aquarium (tho it would be nice and relaxing to watch your fish), a wood box with pond liner and lockable lid would do. Just make sure to pump air into it, throw in a couple fish toys, and entertainment like dvd player and LCD screen and fish will be fine

For your own entertainment, hook up USB cam and light and check out your fish.

As for plants, raise the grow beds out of dog's reach.

Sometimes, thinking yourself into a box and then breaking out of it is what we need to do! works for me...

[Thud]

Just piping in to say thanks for this thread!

The wife & I both enjoy gardening but its been a few years since we tilled & planted anything (we had a 90+% loss to deer in the last 2 years we did it ) I should take some pictures of the guy up the road with an acre garden, totaly fenced in with 10' high chain link complete with roof...looks like a prison LOL!

This year I really missed the activity....I may set up an experimental system in the basment this winter & see how far I will scale it up whe it moves outdoors. Imagine a nice gazeebo/koi pond sitting area with a greenhouse attached...perfect way to spend an evening. Maybe a great excuse to build the geodesic dome I fancy for no particular reason.

[thepronghorn]

I have a little aquaponics setup with two goldfish and a tomato plant, but it isn't really working too well. The leaves keep on falling off, and it just keeps on growing taller but not any wider. I bought some aquarium fertilizer for it, but it's hard to tell if it's helping. Hoping the sun will come out, so I can get some tomatoes.

[amberwolf]

AW, you don't need a glass aquarium (tho it would be nice and relaxing to watch your fish), a wood box with pond liner and lockable lid would do. Just make sure to pump air into it, throw in a couple fish toys, and entertainment like dvd player and LCD screen and fish will be fine

Except that Nana can and will dig or chew thru whatever she feels like if she really wants something. It is one reason I have dog food in several separate storage areas--so that if the dogs ever do get into one of them, at least they can't destroy or eat all the food at once (cuz I keep a LOT of it around most of the time). (same thing applies to keeping pests of various kinds out of it).

Almost never does anything happen. They know better. But they are still dogs, and thus every so often temptation is greater than training, when I am gone long enough.... A closed and locked door is nothing to Nana.

DSC03876.JPG (56 KiB) Viewed 510 times

That was a year and a half ago, IIRC. Never happened before or since, but she's physically capable of it. Probably took her a minute or two to do that.

EDIT: I take that back--I forgot that she did it again a while later, when her and Bonnie were still being disagreeable, and Nana had to stay in that room for a bit. I put 1/2" or thicker plywood up on the walls and door, and metal server case lids screwed to the plywood. She peeled back the metal and dug thru the plywood, to get out again. I don't remember how long that took; I think i was not at home at the time. I can't find my pics of it.

(after that, Bonnie was put in the other bedroom and Nana given free reign of the house, which Bonnie didn't like but at least Nana didn't destroy any more doors).

As for plants, raise the grow beds out of dog's reach.

Two of them are St Bernards (well, one's a mix, with German Shepherd). There *is* no "out of reach".

[Dee Jay]

I found a fish feeder!

cheesy little plastic meat grinder we got as a gift

all I have to do is motorize it and activate it with arduino or another back up 12VDC timer

fish food will roll down to a series of solenoid doors to distribute the proper portion to different size fish tanks.

[Dee Jay]

UPDATE!

well here's my mini system!

sys.jpg (76.64 KiB) Viewed 477 times

I decided to use a plastic trash bin as a reservoir/sump, and trash bag as a liner for easy cleaning, all I'd have to do is drain the sump and replace the liner with a new one. When I do expand with more grow beds, I simply add more trash bin sumps, more fishes and/or tanks. The main goal is to have many little grow beds, as opposed to one big grow bed, as it allows repositioning to catch direct sunlight as the sun moves throughout the day.

I learned a lot about the importance of a well built bell siphon. The first trial worked really well (beginner's luck again) but I didn't know why it worked until I cut the drain pipe and bell to set the planter's water level lower. After that cut, the bell siphon just wouldn't work! It turned out that the tip of the drain pipe needs to be cut cleanly cos rough edges will create turbulence and water will not pour down evenly over the edges and you won't get the suction you need to suck down air that's trapped inside the bell. Also, you'll need to cut the drain pipe straight, which is difficult to do with a hack saw. My cut ended up slightly angled but it worked out since the wooden garden hutch's lid/roof that the tank and planter sits on is also angled, as you can see on the water's level at the left side of the tank.

I decided to simplify the overflow prevention system by using the same mechanism as a toilet tank..in just a few hours I built this:

diy.jpg (53.69 KiB) Viewed 477 times

The float cost $7. I could've made one with a plastic bottle but I wanted it to look good, and not too bulky, and the ball form factor is best for maximum buoyancy. The valve is a lid off a 35mm film can, and the clamp was a bicycle light handlebar clamp. Works really well, I AM VERY PROUD. Eventually, I'll upgrade to a real toilet tank mechanism if I find a used one, a new one is about 40 bucks.. my inlaws have a plumbing biz, they might have a used one in their warehouse.

So what happens to the water trapped in the grow bed when tank's valve is shut?

plug.jpg (66.99 KiB) Viewed 477 times

On the next timer cycle the pump will flood in more water and it'll be drained by a plastic bottle operated drain plug, just like this badass guy's system

drain2.png (87.05 KiB) Viewed 477 times

, and drain back into the sump, over and over until arduino alerts me with a failure report: tank pump error (er.. sum shit)

The tank will be filled with these wiggly little guys known in Japan as Doujou fish.

Snoop FishyFish

FishyFish.jpg (39.67 KiB) Viewed 477 times

Don't know what they're called in English but they look like miniature catfish. They're inexpensive and in some cases FREE to children at town festivals. We had a bunch from last summer's town festivals but most of them died in the first few months, we're down to the last 3. This one in the photo is the alpha fish, eats all the fish food and the rest feed on his poop, he's the biggest and the ultimo hombre, last man standing.

OH BTW, I found my pepper plant sprouts infested with aphids, feeding off tiny young leaves sprouting between branches. I brushed them off with a fine tip brush and hammered those suckers. They look just like them robots in the Matrix films. The sprouts will be fine, I'm glad I caught them early!

220px-Acyrthosiphon_pisum_(pea_aphid)-PLoS.jpg (14.77 KiB) Viewed 477 times

more later, so stay chooned!

[amberwolf]

I think they call them "loaches" around here. Some of them commonly eat snails and such, as well as waste from other fish. Dunno about that particular species.

[Dee Jay]

I think they call them "loaches" around here. Some of them commonly eat snails and such, as well as waste from other fish. Dunno about that particular species.

ah yeah, that's what they are, "loaches". Thanky...

...sucks about yer dogs.

Our previous landlord were an elderly couple and they had magnificent white Akita, he was a bear of a dog. A big guy and very intelligent. But he owned the couple, growled at them when he didn't agree. Then one night we heard heard him howling in pain, and the next day the couple informed us the he died of some sort of stomach virus. It was so sad.. Anyway, point is, you gotta show 'em who's boss at an early age, before it's too late.

[Dee Jay]

Once a year the system gets a clean when a new batch of fish are added

let's see your fishes, the biggest one you got

[amberwolf]

Anyway, point is, you gotta show 'em who's boss at an early age, before it's too late.

Oh, mine know well who is boss. Problem is when I'm not there, boss isn't there, and Nana takes charge (used to be Bonnie). Normaly nothing happens, but occasionally.... So I have to plan around that possibility, rather than risk "all" on complete loss from a single unusual but not completely improbable event.

I have been pondering...we sometimes get tanks that are cracked in shipping, and normally these are destroyed and tossed out. I am going to see if I can buy one of them cheap instead, and repair it. (and also we have a dollar-a-gallon sale going on right now thru the 21st)

We get 10, 20 (H and L), 29, 40, and 55 gallon tanks. Which size would probably be best for starting out? Most likely my first fish would be goldfish, small Comets perhaps, or maybe Rosy Minnows? (mostly because we have these for 15 cents each at work)

I have already salvaged an unused Eheim canister pump, meant for I think 30 gallons or so. It can be used with or without filter media, and it comes with a small bag of the clay bioballs and a one-use carbon pad.

Then I just have to decide which veggies I could most realistically grow with this setup, that I can't get for cheaper at the store, but that I could really use to supplement my food supply.

I would have to probably put this in the back "family room" so that I can have the plant tank either outside in the backyard on a raised platform, or in the window for morning sunlight. Perhaps fence off that area of the yard so the dogs won't go there (they DO obey fences).

[Dee Jay]

Anyway, point is, you gotta show 'em who's boss at an early age, before it's too late.

Oh, mine know well who is boss. Problem is when I'm not there, boss isn't there, and Nana takes charge (used to be Bonnie). Normaly nothing happens, but occasionally.... So I have to plan around that possibility, rather than risk "all" on complete loss from a single unusual but not completely improbable event.

I have been pondering...we sometimes get tanks that are cracked in shipping, and normally these are destroyed and tossed out. I am going to see if I can buy one of them cheap instead, and repair it. (and also we have a dollar-a-gallon sale going on right now thru the 21st)

We get 10, 20 (H and L), 29, 40, and 55 gallon tanks. Which size would probably be best for starting out? Most likely my first fish would be goldfish, small Comets perhaps, or maybe Rosy Minnows? (mostly because we have these for 15 cents each at work)

I have already salvaged an unused Eheim canister pump, meant for I think 30 gallons or so. It can be used with or without filter media, and it comes with a small bag of the clay bioballs and a one-use carbon pad.

Then I just have to decide which veggies I could most realistically grow with this setup, that I can't get for cheaper at the store, but that I could really use to supplement my food supply.

I would have to probably put this in the back "family room" so that I can have the plant tank either outside in the backyard on a raised platform, or in the window for morning sunlight. Perhaps fence off that area of the yard so the dogs won't go there (they DO obey fences).

good to know you're goin' for it! sounds like you have the resources to kick off this project..and your ebike building skills and tools will crossover to aquaponics. I found my glue gun to be particularly usefull as watertight sealant.. zip ties, electrical connectors, etc.. and the fact that plumbing has always been used as an analogy to electrical basics

tomatoes are always good to have, or anything that can be preserved or pickled. And don't forget that you can always sell, trade/barter, or give away the excess. I decided on jalapenos since it's not available at Japanese supermarkets like it is in California. anyway.. ya, tomatoes..especially if you cook spaghetting regularly. You might want to consider growing a moringa tree. moringa is highly nutritious, look it up! I ordered moringa seeds and 2 lbs of moringa leaf powder along with the arduino stuff.

my tank is 15 gallons. The first/last thing I ever grew anything were bean sprouts, in 3rd grade elementary school so I have a lot to learn. As a beginner, I say start small. learn. then expand. GROW! it's the natural order of life.

the roof is the best place for an aquaponics garden, unfortunately our building has 11 floors and we're on the 3rd..

[amberwolf]

The roof here is out, unless I want to cook the plants and boil the fish. I have a spot flat enough but it's just way too hot up there.


Not completely related to this, but I just found out that the city turns old garbage bins into composters, and sells them for $5.
http://phoenix.gov/publicworks/garbage/ ... sting.html
but i have to get them from one of the stations, both of which are pretty dang far away, especially for hauling something so large:
http://phoenix.gov/publicworks/garbage/ ... index.html
i'll have to call tomorrow to see if they have any avaialble, and how big they are. tehn i can work out a way to pick one or two up. Would be easier than using the methods I have been trying (with some success, but not a lot) for teh last half a year or more.

[Dee Jay]

FUN n FISH !

[Dee Jay]

absolutely brilliant
mine is gonna sprinkle from the top down and surrounded by a shower curtain to keep every drop inside the planter

bonemeal_pepper1.JPG (14.6 KiB) Viewed 593 times

my pepper sprouts had yellowy, crumpled leaves, and stayed the same height for a few weeks.. accoring to this page they were suffering from lack of bonemeal
http://www.ecoseeds.com/Pepper.growing.tips.html

so yesterday I transplanted them into bigger planter with fresh soil mixed with bonemeal and WOW, the sprouts stood up proudly, yellow tone gone and leaves are started to flatten, all in just several hours!

[Glenn_M]

Once a year the system gets a clean when a new batch of fish are added

let's see your fishes, the biggest one you got

Dunno about biggest, but felt like some trout for dinner so went fishing the the back yard
Caught these this arvo. Some for dinner and some for smoking me thinks.

Trout Dinner.JPG

(103.66 KiB) Downloaded 2 times

Cheers,
Glenn

[Dee Jay]

update time!

holla at my 'penos!

penos.jpg (98.92 KiB) Viewed 541 times

Just kidding, I bought two full grown plants at my hardware store thinking it was Jalapeno but my wife said it was a non-spicy species. WTF japanese really know how to fnck things up.. .. I'll have to destroy them when the jalapenos and cayenne start pollinating to avoid cross pollination.

Anyway, good news and bad...

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball,%20Dojo.htm
I read some great info on some sites on Dojo fish (Weather Loach) that says Weather Loaches are very tolerant to to ph and temp, so it encouraged me to search for sources of Dojo. I found a place that sold baby Dojo's for 10 yen each! So I bought all they had which was possibly 60 to 70 baby ones but I was charged only 500 yen since it's so hard to count every single one of them tiny wiggly things.. nice deal!

BabyDojo.jpg (87.02 KiB) Viewed 541 times

So I acclimated them and put them in the tank, transplanted the sprouts to the grow bed.. got the timers synced up to kick in every hour and 45 minutes to drain-fish-tank, to fill-grow-bed, to siphon-back-to-tank... I bought two really great timers that can be set by the hour-minute-second but missed the part about having only 14 on-off settings so I had to spread the settings out to 1hour 45 min intervals. The sprouts adapted well to the grow bed and the power draw of the timers, air pump, big water pump, and small water pump is a little less than 5 yen for 24 hours on weekdays, dunno yet what it'll cost on weekends. Everything was cycling great, fish were having a good time..

the bad news was they started dying one-buh-one and I don't know why, amonia spike maybe? Or stress from the water turbulence? Didn't cycle the water long enough?All of the above?.. But Snoop Fishy Fish was doing well so It's hard to pin point the culprits..

Brokeback.jpg (59.05 KiB) Viewed 541 times

I thought Brokeback and the nameless one were both gonna die soon but they too were thriving and growing.. and all three enjoyed the new comers but then Brokeback died too, and then finally Snoop died. I'm down to one last fish, the last of the new comers. Wouldn't doubt if it's dead by now.. it sucks to be an aquarium noob..

I especially miss Snoop, he was as active as a little puppy, and very quirky, and he was getting pretty big! He was really fun to watch, it's sad to see the OG's go..

I was emotionally bankrupt..but on the bright side, as a consolation prize, a little ladybug flew in last night to help with the aphids. Woke up this morning and found him still hard at work. Thanks, Steve!

SteveBug.jpg (76.97 KiB) Viewed 541 times

the tank and grow bed overflow system isn't functional yet, it's now only a matter of fabbing a wooden cover for the tank strong enough to withstand the force of the float/valve overflow system I made.

[Dee Jay]

Once a year the system gets a clean when a new batch of fish are added

let's see your fishes, the biggest one you got

Dunno about biggest, but felt like some trout for dinner so went fishing the the back yard
Caught these this arvo. Some for dinner and some for smoking me thinks.

Trout Dinner.JPG

Cheers,
Glenn

NICE! Thanks for the photo, it's very encouraging!