Tiny starter Aquaponics kit..

http://store.backtotheroots.com/AquaFarm_p/aquaponics.htm



Neat little setup if you are a farming dummy like me... interesting way to get started.

I've watched probably a hundred videos on YT about aquaponics by now. Here are two of my favorites if you are curious.

[youtube]VBspR2p0YYM[/youtube]

( skip to 5:20; this guy has his little greenhouse completely automated, hooked up to arduino and a junky laptop.. he can literally 'administer' his farm from home! )

[youtube]26xpMCXP9bw[/youtube]

Purdue university put out this video a while back. One of the best introductory videos on the topic that i've seen.

Good videos. I have watched them both, a couple of times each.

MY problem is, I can't get the plants past the early stage of germination, because they wilt and die.

IF I could buy started plants, I would have an impressive crop.

Still searching for info. No sense in starting the fish tank, until I know I have strong plants to put into the system.

My wife ordered me the Back to the Roots (through Kickstarter) system for Christmas - they are supposed to ship within the next month. I'll let you know how it goes.

There are new Instructables popping up almost every day on aquaponics system. Lots of interesting ideas popping up.

I have two aquaponics systems up and running. Definitely small scale, but they are a great intro to the concept. There is a definite need for aeration and a little bit of filtration.

Do either of you guys pump the water up and down, so the plant roots are not always covered, OR, are the roots not completely covered ?

I have taken out what few plants that did survive, and, the roots and stem that were in the water occasionally, were brown ??

I used a half 55 gallon barrel, on it's side, with small rocks as the medium. I had a small bowl buried in the rocks so the water level would not be too high. Pumped the water 2-3 times a day, and let it wash over the rocks above the roots, and drain back into the bowl-pump area.

Figured that was enough aeration. Had NO fish, so, dissolved some triple 15 chemical fertlizer and added it in small amounts as the water evaporated to keep things topped off.

NOW, I have 2 clothes washer machines that I have cut the dividers out, so we can get some fish and start over. Just so damn busy cutting weeds and grass, and spraying to keep it down, with all the rain we are getting. Had a small village lose several houses from flash floods and killed several people, or, washed them away, anyway

NEP, we need an update, son. :lol:

This is really amazing. Thanks for posting this as I'm not sure if I would have stumbled upon this myself, although I have brought up the idea of starting an indoor garden to my wife for the winter months....I might have to keep working on getting the other house projects done before she's onboard with that one. But this really has the wheels turning.

The system on the little aquariums keeps the water level constant in the grow bed, but the baskets sit high, so the roots do not stay submerged. Many of the larger systems I have seen use a timer on the pump system to let the roots dry out a bit to avoid root rot. There is another Kickstarter project called the Blue Green Box that uses a timer for this purpose. It is a system that sits on top of a 10 gallon aquarium.

Saw this in the health food store and instantly thought of this site, since there were a few inspritional threads already posted.

Any update on how the little project is moving along?

We are trying to get away from all the pesticide-chemical laden veggies. Also, even here, where stuff grows year round, prices keep going up. We are helping a member of the forum, that has a heart condition and he has gone into reading ALL labels on processed food. He has found propylene glycol in MOST of the food they were buying at the chemical dump, as an old friend of mine used to call the grocery stores. :lol:

YEP, that is anti freeze.

I have watched and studied Murray from Australia's videos and read regularly on his forum, and he states a 250 gallon system should be minimum. I know the ones in this thread are just playing around, but, Murray says, it's very difficult to run a small system, because the water quality can change so fast, the plants are greatly affected.

Ethlyene Glycol is standard antifreeze. Different from Propolyene Glycol. I'm not saying the Propolyene Glycol is good for you, it's just very different.

A bit like the difference between Sodium Chlroide (NaCl) and Hydrogen Chloride (HCl). One, you could drink a shot glass of and be fine. The other.... not so much.

EDIT: wanted to add that Propolyene Glycol is used in *some* antifreezes, but those suck and are not used often, less than 1%

Upon reading my own post, above, I should have written, it was found in nearly all COSMETICS, and some foods.

Do either of you guys pump the water up and down, so the plant roots are not always covered, OR, are the roots not completely covered ?

Click to expand...

Back when I used to grow medicinal herbs :wink: I used a large aquarium "air stone" to provide oxygen to the roots. That way I could have the roots completely submerged with just a small gap between the water and the top of the roots. Worked quite well and the roots were always a beautiful light blond.

That sounds like what I need to do, right off. I have water pumps, but, no air pumps at this time. Got to do some shopping. 8)

Read up about propylene glycol. There is food grade, and then there is the grade that is used things like antifreeze, which has contaminants from manufacture such as diethylene glycol ( bad stuff! ).

propylene glycol is used in foods, in athsma inhalers, in cigarettes, and all sorts of other stuff. It's got a long track record of safety.
What i would run like hell from is pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and GMOs.

I DID read up on it, and, edited my other post, accordingly. :lol:

The member I wrote about, has stopped buying anything with propylene glycol on the label, and has greatly improved his medical condition. His brother is effected in the same way with the hereditary condition and was scheduled for surgery. With him changing the products as well, he has improved his medical condition as well, and, has canceled the surgery.

In that same article, it was mentioned about glyphosate, which is the weed killer I have been spraying on my grass-weeds from under the tree farm. I thought I MIGHT have gotten a taste of that stuff, as I was spraying, so, I googles glyphosate, and that article lead to genetically modified food crops. glyphosate is one chemical mixture that the seeds are modded to not be affected, so, crops can be planted and the ground sprayed, all in one pass.

Anyway, without all y'alls eyes glazing over, glyphosate is being allowed in MUCH larger doses into the food chain, and, it accumulates in body tissue, and, especially bones, so, it starts shutting down imune systems in animals and PEOPLE.
Monsanto is the leading culprit in this changing of the regs, through the Govt agencies that make those rules on limits. They are simply changing the names of the studies and allowing MUCH MORE PPM allowed in the altered food chain.

It's getting scary to me, and, I grew up around farming and gardening. IT is also putting extreme pressure on Organic farming, and, shoving them into oblivion.

Y'all do a Google on toxicity of Glyphosate in humans, and see if I am off in what I wrote ??

Some people actually seem to have an allergy to propylene glycol. We have found this out in the ecigarette world, as it is used as a propellant to get the nicotine to absorb in the lungs. When a mixture of vegetable glycerin is used instead, their coughing fits, mucus discharges, etc dissapear and they no longer experience the same problems.

So yeah, it is one of those substances that should be stayed away from if you are sensitive.


As for glyphosate, the action of how it works is well known. It prevents a few key amino acids from forming in plants, those being tyrosine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine. These are precursors for dopamine, serotonin, and epinephrine - coincidentally, these are all mood boosting/regulating substances that your body needs.

http://digitaljournal.com/article/342259

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate#Biochemistry

It would only make sense that since we have glyphosate running through the water supplies now from contamination of the water system, that not only is this stuff reaching GMO plants and animals, but it is also reaching non-GMO plants and animals, hindering their ability to grow.

http://www.cornucopia.org/2013/06/weed-killer-glyphosate-found-in-human-urine-across-europe/

In Europe, glyphosate levels far above what is allowed in drinking water are coming out of peoples' urine, thus one could only assume that since we have dramatically more GMO usage here, that our water / food system is tainted as well, if not more.

Would it make sense to assume that a lot of the food that we eat is deficient in serotonin, dopamine, and epinephrine? serotonin is one of those chemicals that tells the gut that it's full and gives the person consuming it a feeling of satisfaction. Mental disorders are on the rise and obesity has been on the rise for a long time.

We have about a dozen former monsanto employees on the federal government payroll right now, so you can't expect our government to ever tell us the truth or work in our favor on this issue.. a lot of things are up for speculation.

neptronix said:

Some people actually seem to have an allergy to propylene glycol. We have found this out in the ecigarette world, as it is used as a propellant to get the nicotine to absorb in the lungs. When a mixture of vegetable glycerin is used instead, their coughing fits, mucus discharges, etc dissapear and they no longer experience the same problems.

So yeah, it is one of those substances that should be stayed away from if you are sensitive.


As for glyphosate, the action of how it works is well known. It prevents a few key amino acids from forming in plants, those being tyrosine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine. These are precursors for dopamine, serotonin, and epinephrine - coincidentally, these are all mood boosting/regulating substances that your body needs.

http://digitaljournal.com/article/342259

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate#Biochemistry

It would only make sense that since we have glyphosate running through the water supplies now from contamination of the water system, that not only is this stuff reaching GMO plants and animals, but it is also reaching non-GMO plants and animals, hindering their ability to grow.

http://www.cornucopia.org/2013/06/weed-killer-glyphosate-found-in-human-urine-across-europe/

In Europe, glyphosate levels far above what is allowed in drinking water are coming out of peoples' urine, thus one could only assume that since we have dramatically more GMO usage here, that our water / food system is tainted as well, if not more.

Would it make sense to assume that a lot of the food that we eat is deficient in serotonin, dopamine, and epinephrine? serotonin is one of those chemicals that tells the gut that it's full and gives the person consuming it a feeling of satisfaction. Mental disorders are on the rise and obesity has been on the rise for a long time.

We have about a dozen former monsanto employees on the federal government payroll right now, so you can't expect our government to ever tell us the truth or work in our favor on this issue.. a lot of things are up for speculation.

Click to expand...

Great post. Thanks for that

After several months with the tiny aquaponics kits, the findings are pretty predictable:

Lesson #1 - Grow bed flooding needs to be intermittent - not constant. Constantly flooded roots = root rot. So, your plant that shot up and thrived for a month will quickly drop dead.
Lesson #2 - You still need convenient access to the fish tank. You still get algae and other detritus that needs to be cleaned.
Lesson #3 - the fish still need supplememental aeration - apologies to the brave little guys who gave their lives for me to learn this one.
Lesson #4 - 3 gallons of water is not enough for a stable aquatic environment. See apology in Lesson #3.
Lesson #5 - LED grow lights are a game changer and encourage the plants to grow up straight rather than leaning toward the window light.

Good info. We have had fish (Tilapia) in an 8' long X 2' W X 30" deep, tank for nearly a month. They are doing well. I have pumps running the water into 4 grow beds, about 5' long X 10" deep X 22" wide, with plants hanging down through plywood bed covers. Water is pumped in, and then, automatically drains back at a preset levels, 24 hr per day. Might have the siphon levels too high, because the pots are showing water in them, just before the siphon kicks in and drains the beds. All the drains are raised above the water level, so, SOME aeration is achieved. Plants are doing OK, but, not great. Roots are not really light colored, yet, after over 3 weeks of adding the fish. No artificial lighting at this time.

Just received 5 air pumps that I need to get 2 set into the tank. Then, will try lights. This is all in a plastic covered green house, that we had to drape some shade cloth over, to keep from wilting the plants. It's the rainy season, so, not a great deal of sun, so, lights will probably help.

Need to get a few photos loaded into this thread, if anyone is interested.

both lack of oxygen, and high root zone temp (over 72-4f), and especially overwatering can cause root rot if you see wilting you may be watering too much...not good . a little h2o2 in the water supply may help the root rot, but might kill the fish.

Thanks. I will slow down the water and add the compressor, tomorrow. Water always feels cool to the touch. I will take readings, also.

Just fed the fish and noticed how dirty the plastic walls were. Took a wet rag and wiped them down, inside and out. Now, the morning sun comes in on the plants, before the clouds start shading the sun.

Timed the cycling of the water, from drain stops until drain starts is 20 minutes, right where I originally started them. Drain takes 7 minutes until shut off. According to youtube vids, that is in the ball park. Will take water temp readings after breakfast, and, during the day. Will rig up aeration,also. Any other suggestions, anyone ?

Need to make 2 dummy battery cells, for my camera, so I can run it using 2 cells of Lifepo4, at 6.4v nominal. Than take a few photos and post them, later today.

Definitely interested in seeing pics. I hope to build a larger system over the winter and really like seeing what others have built.

Building the LED lights will be my first project - I was amazed at the difference in the two systems, one near a sun-facing window and lit by a $10 LED bulb. The same plants grew twice as fast and much fuller under the LED.

Scoot440 said:

After several months with the tiny aquaponics kits, the findings are pretty predictable:

Lesson #1 - Grow bed flooding needs to be intermittent - not constant. Constantly flooded roots = root rot. So, your plant that shot up and thrived for a month will quickly drop dead.
Lesson #2 - You still need convenient access to the fish tank. You still get algae and other detritus that needs to be cleaned.
Lesson #3 - the fish still need supplememental aeration - apologies to the brave little guys who gave their lives for me to learn this one.
Lesson #4 - 3 gallons of water is not enough for a stable aquatic environment. See apology in Lesson #3.
Lesson #5 - LED grow lights are a game changer and encourage the plants to grow up straight rather than leaning toward the window light.

Click to expand...

LOL thanks for the laugh on lesson #3.

Here are photos. You can see the fish tank under the grow beds with the mesh wire that keeps the buggers from escaping. The system is run on 12V DC, and battery is kept up with a normal 120V AC charger, for now. By the end of the year or sooner, I hope to have the micro hydro generator running to charge batteries, both for the green house and for the house. Our electric is sporatic, so,I use the 12V battery, and, if the power is off for a couple hours, the system continues to function.



View attachment 4

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Since adding the fish 3+ weeks ago, the pants are doing much better. I don't think we have enough fish for the size of the system, so, we are just starting more seeds, as seen in a couple of the photos. The fish MUST be growing, judging by how much feed they clean up, when I throw pellets in the tank. I make sure they consume nearly every pellet before adding more. Don't want or need to waste feed.

We will need to separate the flowering plants from the non flowering, according to a couple of the better websites I read.PH needs to be different, so, in the center of the green house, I am going to add another tank with grow beds over it, the same as what is in the photos. Then, we can have 2 seperate systems. The 5 gallon bucket is the filter from the fish tank, that collects the crap from the fish, so it can be drained off and used n our outside hot pepper plants. Water is pumped up to the bucket, pushed up a center tube, and then there is a tapered pan that covers the tube, so the water has to rise up and over the taper to exit the bucket, back into the fish tank. Makes nearly all the stuff settle to the bottom. I have another drain that will extend outside the plastic wall, with a spigot, so t can be drained into a bucket and disposed of.

The last photo shows how dirty the plastic walls were, before I cleaned them is morning. Around 12:30 I had to drag the shade cloth backover the roof, because it was getting too warm inside. Also, the water temps don't get above 78° F. This IS the tropics, after all.

Any questions, just ask, same as any advice I would like to hear about. This is a first time project for us.