Greenhouse in Florida

[Jonathan Ferguson]

The first system that I built is running outside in open air I have started planning on making a larger system with a 110 gallon stock tank for the fish tank and thought about putting the system in a 10 x 12 greenhouse, but I am afraid that it will get too hot in the summer and trying to cool it will be too expensive.

 

My plan B is to put it in a 10 x 12 building with plastic clear roofing panels for the roof and screen material like you would put on a screened in room.  The roof panels say they allow 90 percent light transmission,  I know the screen will block some light as well, but will there still be enough light in order for the plants to grow?

 

The reason I want to do this is to have some control over insect.  Does this sound like it will work?  Is there a need to have a greenhouse in FL?  What are the benefits of having a greenhouse in FL?

 

Any help or suggestions would be great.

 

Thanks,

Jonathan

[TCLynx]

I personally think you are likely to experience worse pest problems in a greenhouse here in Florida.  Certain pests are far worse inside greenhouses since you don't have as much help from beneficial insects inside a greenhouse and once an infestation gets going, you are stuck with dealing with it on your own.  And most sprays are not acceptable in aquaponics.

However, I would recommend at least 300 gallons of fish tank to make your system more temperature stable where ever you put it, outside or greenhouse. 

I used to have a greenhouse over my big system and I remember horrible pest infestations in the winter when I was trying to regain some heat to keep the tilapia happy and during the summer I simply took the sides off so it was nothing more than a roof and I did far better when it was all open.  Then I had to remove the greenhouse completely and the plants have done even better, I don't bother with tilapia anymore.

I'm in Inland Central Florida Northwest of Orlando to give you an idea of my climate.

[Jonathan Ferguson]

Well there sure would be a cost savings if I did not do the greenhouse so that will be considered.  If I did the new system with 300 gallon fish tank wouldnt I have to have 300 gallons of grow bed?  I dont have that much room if so.  That is why I was going with 110 gallon fish tank so I could use less space. 

 

What type of fish do you have in your system?  I have gold fish now and was thinking about using goldfish again or maybe koi.

TCLynx said:

I personally think you are likely to experience worse pest problems in a greenhouse here in Florida.  Certain pests are far worse inside greenhouses since you don't have as much help from beneficial insects inside a greenhouse and once an infestation gets going, you are stuck with dealing with it on your own.  And most sprays are not acceptable in aquaponics.

However, I would recommend at least 300 gallons of fish tank to make your system more temperature stable where ever you put it, outside or greenhouse. 

I used to have a greenhouse over my big system and I remember horrible pest infestations in the winter when I was trying to regain some heat to keep the tilapia happy and during the summer I simply took the sides off so it was nothing more than a roof and I did far better when it was all open.  Then I had to remove the greenhouse completely and the plants have done even better, I don't bother with tilapia anymore.

I'm in Inland Central Florida Northwest of Orlando to give you an idea of my climate.

[TCLynx]

Well there is that.  If you have a 300 gallon fish tank and you don't have space to hook up 300 gallons of grow beds then you could simply stock less fish.  Or I suppose you might do a low density raft system that would have say 100 gallons of fish tank and a couple hundred gallons of raft bed which would help keep temperatures more stable than flood and drain media beds.

[Jonathan Ferguson]

If I where to stock less fish in the 300 gallon tank wouldn't there be less nutrients in the water due to the dilution factor?

TCLynx said:

Well there is that.  If you have a 300 gallon fish tank and you don't have space to hook up 300 gallons of grow beds then you could simply stock less fish.  Or I suppose you might do a low density raft system that would have say 100 gallons of fish tank and a couple hundred gallons of raft bed which would help keep temperatures more stable than flood and drain media beds.

[RupertofOZ]

Well yes, and no....

 

Yes less fish and less feed... will result in less wastes.... but if you have less grow bed area, and hence less palnts... then the need for nutrients is also lowered... (and as TCL said, you need to stock to your available filtration capacity anyway (grow bed volume)...

As well you need to remember that nutrients are always being replenished by the fish... and always supplied to the plants...

The number of fish needed to provide nutrients for plant growth is often greatly over-estimated...

[TCLynx]

As Rupe Says.

Doesn't take much fish to grow plants.

Biggest danger with having a bigger fish tank than grow beds is that people tend to stock to the fish tank size and if there isn't enough filtration for that then you wind up in danger of killing the fish as they grow and eat more than the filtration capacity can handle.  If you can resist the temptation to put in more fish, then more water just means more stability as long as you are not way too out of balance.  (as in a 50 gallon grow bed is not going to do well filtering 10,000 gallons of swimming pool even if there is only two fish in it.)