Vertical Grow Pots for Aquaponics

[B. Pearcy]

I spent the day at our CSA farm potluck with meet and greet.  It's 6 acres of hydroponics and 2 acres of organic in-ground produce (and more being added every year). 

I spent some time with one of the designers who is responsibile for maintaining the hydroponics hardware.  We discussed teaming a basic four-tower system with a 300 gallon fish tank.  He suggested using gravity to return the water from the stacks to the fish tank.  He also suggested sinking the fish tank at least part way (50% or so) underground to avoid neededing a second pump.  I still don't see how you would get the water from the fish tank with enough velocity to pump it to the top of a tower without using an intermediate tank like the trash can normally used in these basic hydro systems as an intermediate tank.

He did caution me that he has not ever built such a system, but will give it some more thought and agrees that it's definitely possible to use gravity with the stacks.  To me it seems like the stacks would need to be higher to make the gravity design work.

I am not a skilled do-it-yourself designer, but except for channeling the water back from the stacks into the fish tank, I sounds like I could make this work. I think Vertigro has a channeling system to re-use the water after it circulates through the towers, but I plan to use a competitor's vertical stacks so I am not sure it will be interchangeable.  The guy at the CSA believes the channeling might need to be "home engineered", which certainly my biggest weakness. I generally prefer to "plug and go" or to pay someone else to do it for me.

Another weak link we discussed is the need for another filter bed between the stacks and the fish tank.  Unfortunately, based on my limited knowledge that sounds like a requirement for a separate pump.

My dad is visiting in a few weeks.  Maybe I can put him to work brainstorming this for me too (lol).

I'd appreciate any thoughts or suggestions you might have and any links or pictures you'd like to share.

 

Brian

 

[M Cosmo]

I would suggest you come on the tour next week or at least come and see my Vertigro vertical system. I have used the Vertigro collections system and it has problems. You can see lots of pictures of my current design on my photo albums. I have experimented with lots of media and flow and collection systems. I don't know who your designer is but this is what I am doing  now.

[Ron Thompson]

Michael Cosmo and I are using vertigro but we are both recycling. We started off using the vertigo recycling buckets but neither of us were crazy about them. Michael plumbed in larger pipe using bulkhead gaskets. Then we both went to a hanging system. Michaels are over a float bed and mine over a gravel bed. That has proved to be a much better solution. I still have four stacks on the vertigro system but only because I have not found a gravel bed to match my other one. 

The photo to the left shows the Vertigro recycling pot. Water drips in the flows out through holes in the support pipe down through the bottom of the pipe to a T-connector and back to the fish pond via gravity.

The middle picture is the hanging stacks over a gravel bed. You can see a stack on a recycling buck in the background right.

 

Finally the bottom photo is the stack over the gravel bed. Had to see due to growth, but still gives you some idea.

[Sahib Punjabi]

Just Beautiful!

 

Thanks for sharing Ron :-)

 

God bless

[B. Pearcy]

I appreciate the pictures. That helps a lot. How does the filtered water get back to the fish tank? Are you using a second pump?

 

 

[Ron Thompson]

My yard is sloped so I get gravity feed back to the fish tank (which is around 50' away, I ran 1" pvc underground back to it).

The water is filtered by the media in the pots and the gravel bed.

[B. Pearcy]

Thanks Ron. That is the piece I was missing. I appreciate it.

[B. Pearcy]

Thanks for reminding me about the tour. I hadn't yet decided for 100%, but your reminder clinched it for me. I look forward to meeting everyone on Saturday.

M Cosmo said:

I would suggest you come on the tour next week or at least come and see my Vertigro vertical system. I have used the Vertigro collections system and it has problems. You can see lots of pictures of my current design on my photo albums. I have experimented with lots of media and flow and collection systems. I don't know who your designer is but this is what I am doing  now.

[TCLynx]

My system doesn't have vertigrow but I do have towers so you will get to see how I'm getting water circulated.

I believe Sahib also has vertical elements which will give you ideas of how to collect water from them as well.