A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Off Grid Aquaponics - Sierra Nevada Foothills

Hello everybody. I am very excited to find this great resource for aquaponics. We have 40 acres out near Grass Valley at 2400 ft and doing the self-sufficiency lifestyle out here. I just built my first aquaponics system and really excited bout the plants growth so far and the scientific curiosity of the whole thing.

One challenge for us is that we are off grid so my pump ( CHOP ) runs off two 6 volt Trojan batteries which get charged by the solar panels out side. So far I can run 24x7 w/o any issues bout only have about two days of charge to support the system when the sun goes away.

I've used a tote for the fish tank and used old watering troughs for the garden beds. The beds are on the ground so I use a sump tank to drain the beds and house the pump.

I got six large goldfish in there now but hope to move to Sacramento Perch when I'm comfortable with the whole thing.

I'm really excited about the system and look forward to keeping it going for a long time.

I have videos on YouTube of the whole operation and lots of other things on the farm here. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/user/EndOfTheRoadFamily

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Permalink Reply by Jason Eaton on May 27, 2012 at 8:42am

I am using the BZ Products mppt 500 ( 500 watts ). They go for just over $200 and work very well. Made in USA. Pretty good value for the performance you get.

http://www.bzproducts.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/MPPT5...

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Permalink Reply by Mikio McCulloch on April 19, 2014 at 1:32pm

i am working on my own solar system here in placerville, and am wondering what you all think about the possibility of creating an "airlift" pump that can move enough water and be used in lieu of an aerator and pump. I am having difficulty finding plans and numbers that correspond to my work-in-progress build.

The airlift would be in the sump tank (connected to an external tube to the air pump), aerate the water, and bring it up into the fish tank. I'm still working on mine but here is a pic of what i intend (based on wolfracer's build from diyaquaponics).

my goal would be minimal wattage used, and minimal upkeep- (the external air pump wont have the potential clogging issues of a normal submersible pump)