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Walapini style green house -

Well folks, my walapini is up and running. A far cry from the hole in the ground pics I posted earlier this summer. Whats in it? 1 -75gal fish tank, 1-75gal sump, 2 -45gal biofilters/growbeds, 1-2*4ft DWR, 2 - 2*6ft raised beds. 2-4ft -250w Sunblaster lamp arrays, 2- 250w MH lamps. 1 enormous wood heater. I double poly'd the single slope roof, and inflated with an old furnace fan until I realized last week that it was drawing 400 watts. Hmm, thinks I, how do I get something to do the same job on a lot less power? Well, I salvaged an 12v radiator fan from an abandoned car, hooked it up to a power supply and checked it out. It works! Next, I fashioned a mount to install the fan in a 12" duct, and hooked it all together. The duct run comes from my little workshop and finishes up as a 6" outlet to the poly. Total draw an the fan? 44watts! And it does an admirable job of inflating. How long will a motor last? Well I'm not sure, but they are readily replaceable at a cost of about $20.00. The wood heater sure puts out, and I have 40gal stripped water heater sitting on the top of it on one side, and a stack of fire brick on the other. The inside temps have never been less that 12 degrees than outside temps. Lights go on at 6am of at full daylight, on again at around 5pm and of at 8pm. Kale, radishes, chard, spinach and lettuce all doing well. Just waiting for that -20 - 30c weather to show up and tell me whether or not this can be a viable option for my location.

Cheers

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jeremiah Robinson on October 20, 2014 at 3:39pm

Nice big setup. Looks like a work in progress.

Why switch from the 1200 gallon tanks to ibcs?

Permalink Reply by Phil Slaton on October 20, 2014 at 4:18pm

I am raising 3 different strains of Tilapia that cannot be raised together. I don't want cross breeding, I want to maintain pure strains. Individual types of Tilapia. Males and Females have to be kept separate or they breed like Catholics without TVs.

Also, there in the back are 4-1,200 gallon tanks for the market size pure strain T. Hornorum to grow to market size. Folks can buy fingerlings, breeder colonies or adults.

Permalink Reply by Ian Cameron on October 25, 2014 at 12:18pm

Snowed last night for a while. At 5am went to check things out and here are some temp readings. Outside (OAT) 4C or 39F. Inside (IAT) 18.8C or 66F. No heat yet, but thinking to light the fire today. Plants looking happy and fish doing fine. Expecting a low of 0C tonight. That back wall seems to be doing its job.

Permalink Reply by Jeremiah Robinson on October 25, 2014 at 5:16pm

Wow. That delta-T is really fantastic. Wallapinis - at least yours - are more impressive than I'd thought. Your average single-wall poly hoop house would only achieve about half of that.

I'll be curious to know what the temperature is when it hits -17C (0F) or lower.

Jer...

Permalink Reply by Ian Cameron on October 26, 2014 at 10:12am

Me too! I believe that the intensity of the chill will be aggravated somewhat by humidity ie: the higher RH the colder it feels. I spent some years in the far north and experienced -60 or worse on many occasions. It always seemed colder in Vancouver at -5 and 80% RH than -60 and 20% RH. Regardless, with the wood heater, I think I can keep the RH between 40 and 50% by judicious watering measures. We'll see.

Permalink Reply by Jeremiah Robinson on October 26, 2014 at 11:19am

Cool. It would be pretty awesome if you kept regular measurements of outdoor temp, indoor temp, and RH. If you get some data together this winter and want to make your design more public in the spring I'd be happy to help.

Permalink Reply by Ian Cameron on October 26, 2014 at 1:57pm

Already started 3 weeks ago. Temps inside and out plus RH, lights on/off, fire etc. Started a spreadsheet to chart the progress. Have couple from Israel who stopped to see what the "dome" on the hillside was about. They were on a camping trip at Jasper and wandered off the highway to wind up here. Stayed over night. Great folks who are into healthy lifestyle so the aquaponics project really got their attention. Well, I'm never one to pass up on getting the message out, no matter who shows up at my door. Serendipity eh?