Greenhouse insulation and fish

[Kimberly Irene Lewis]

I am just starting out and plan on starting small and working my way up to commercial. I am in Virginia which does not get as cold as some places but we still have winter. Fist do you have recommendations about flooring in a greenhouse to conserve heat in the winter. I have my eye on a used  cold frame (rounded top and covered with plastic) that is for sale down the street. I wave plenty of wood to heat a greenhouse and a water tank.  Also would it be better to use Catfish than Tilapia since catfish can handle a greater change in water temperature than Tilapia? At this point all i have is a couple iBC totes and a bunch of barrels. My head is so full I can't sleep.

[TCLynx]

Yes catfish would be better than tilapia.

Do some extra research into greenhouse insulation and heating, also make sure you research ventilation since a simple hoop house/cold frame doesn't usually come with much support for automated vents and fans.

[Leo White Bear]

I concure with TC, catfish would be, IMHO, the better way to go.  They are relativley fast growers and can handle the temperature swings better than tilapia.  We are planning to build a green house that has a double sheeting of plastic.  We will be using a rocket mass heater for heating the GH.  By the way, I live in Central Wisconsin so our winters are quite cold.  Ventilation will be our main challenge, but the end walls are to be made of marine plywood and insulation so there will be a support structure in place.  Your head is so full you can't sleep, welcome to the club.

[Kimberly Irene Lewis]

I think I'm going to start with feeder goldfish so If I kill some it wont be so bad. Plus they are cheep. i have 6 months to get my greenhouse together. You can always put ventilation in the ends with fans for summer or take the plastic of and put shade clothe over your tanks.

[Jim Fisk]

Hi Kimberly, Sounds like you caught the bug. Welcome.

We designed and built our GH with AP in mind and I will post an end view I threw together for you. It could be any length (ours is 24' for now) and the depth (S to N) is 20'. So here is an end view for what it's worth and we consider it large enough to feed 2 families and we heat the air and water with a woodstove of our own design:

And a flow chart that I just made for a customer:

Let us know how you progress and join our IBC group if you haven't already.

[Kimberly Irene Lewis]

Yay! thank you! Any more input on what fish would work best in Virginia? I'll Join the IBC group! Also who recommends rafts and why and who recommends grow media and why. does anyone use tiger shrimp to clean the roots on the plants on the rafts? I'm full of questions I have been watching about 100 video's

Kim

[Leo White Bear]

I, personally am not all that intereted in the tilapia, it seems everyone in Wisconsin is raising them.  Not to say they are wrong as most of them are commercial systems and I do understand that tilapia are a portion of their sales.  Being a "backyard" aquaponicist with a 16-unit IBC system I'm building for a heated barn I much prefer native fish.  I will be am growing yellow perch, catfish, bass, bullheads, crayfish, bluegills and other panfish.  These are the fish that are consumed by most of the people around here sooooooo.

  I do have two different systems in my yard; grow bed or medium based unit and a NFT or nutrient film technique system.   Both have their pros and cons.  I grow herbs in the NFT system and tomatoes, cucks, melons and squash in the media bed.  IMHO, it depends on what you want to grow, dictates which style of system you prefer.

[TCLynx]

Media beds seem to me to be the easiest grow bed method for a backyard type system.  They are robust, provide ample filtration and don't require supplemental aeration for the grow beds and don't require you to figure out your plant spacing as part of actually building the system, they don't require starting seeds separately and then transplanting them  (unless you want to) and can grow pretty much anything (though root crops might not be as pretty when grown in crushed granite.)

I like rafts for commercial systems in sub tropical to tropical locations since they make it easier to sell living lettuce than most of the other methods but they do require lots of supplemental aeration and extra filtration unless the system is kept perfectly balanced at low density.

Verticals and NFT are only really appropriate where the climate will be well controlled.  And most (except for Zipgrow towers) require additional good filtration.  The Zipgrow towers have plenty of filtration but they still work best as the major growing element in a climate controlled environment.  (The plants grow great in the Zipgrows, the problem is in my climate and outdoor growing situation, the towers actually cause the water temperature to swing too much between day and night during a large portion of my growing season here and the fish don't seem to eat as well when the water temp is swinging 10+ degrees F between day and night and therefore there are not as much nutrients available to the plants so I think I need to limit the amount of towers on any one system to keep the temperature swings within reason since I am not willing to heat and chill my system.)

[Jim Fisk]

Wow, our internet is back up!!! Seems some idiot thought there was copper wire in fiber-optic cable and spent the night in the mtns. pulling up cable and knocked out our cell tower, land phones and internet for our entire town. Nice. Hope they catch them.

Anyhow, great thread. And Kimberly don't forget to click on our avatars and go thru all our pics and vids right here on our forum. Tons of great examples and other threads as well. I think TC and Leo have answered most of your questions and I always learn something from these guys and gals every time they post as well.

I will be staying with Trout and Catfish as they suit my ambient temps best and perhaps yours. Our valley in the mtns. is unlike anything around us so it can be very local conditions that dictate what will be easiest. This valley grows cranberries naturally which is unheard of in this area (anywhere S of NJ). Elevation can make a big difference. We are at 3000 ft..

As far as raft versus media: I would start with media and then play with raft beds when you are ready. Like TC said they require a bit more equipment and knowledge but like anything else, once the media beds are old hat you will be ready to try other methods I'm sure based upon your enthusiasm. We are building our first real raft bed 4' x 12' right now but I am using the same deck covered platform I built for the media IBCs so I can switch to media if I don't like the results. I find it fun to try everything eventually. Plan enough room for expansion. In our case we can keep adding in 8' x 20' sections as long as we want (well within reason, about another 100'). Draw up a plan and expect it to change as you go. Above all else have fun and eat healthy

[Kimberly Irene Lewis]

You guys ROCK. Just thinking everything out  a head of time. We  Decided on rocket mass heater. If You have not noticed from the post Dave Jersey Is my husband. I work on live things and he works on mechanical things. together we make a good pair.