Aquaponic Gardening

A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

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OFF GRID

doing it with your own power

Members: 219
Latest Activity: Feb 20, 2017

Discussion Forum

Compost Heating

Started by Kimberly Irene Lewis. Last reply by Jim Edmunds Feb 20, 2017. 7 Replies

Hi I am new and just researching my systems before I put them in. I plan on eventually having at least one large greenhouse full of aquaponics. I Live in Virginia and where as it doesn’t get too cold…Continue

Wind mills for aerators

Started by William Kohut. Last reply by Jim Fisk Jan 29, 2016. 8 Replies

Has anyone built a Windmill for aeration ? I am looking for plans to build a windmill and an aerator that runs off it.Continue

Failed on first attempt at off-grid. questions about voltage.

Started by Jeffrey Ihara. Last reply by Jeff S Sep 20, 2015. 29 Replies

So I bought a 45W photovoltaic kit from Harbor Freight which comes with its own charge controller ($139 on sale), a used deep cycle battery with 135 amp-hours, and a 1.6 amp DC pump that moves over…Continue

Going off grid with Solar in the new greenhouse

Started by Carla&Dave. Last reply by Carla&Dave Jun 25, 2015. 4 Replies

Pump power load on my SAP (Solar Aquaponics) system - rough calcs: I just put the system up last week, and just put in a kill-a-watt meter on Sunday.The meter is showing 200 watt hours in 24 hours…Continue

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Comment by Rick Stillwagon on May 18, 2012 at 4:20pm

Gotta check out this stove... Completely non-electric pellet stove. Will heat water, they will soon be adding cooking components, and there is a special deal right now...

Comment by Jon Parr on May 7, 2012 at 7:25pm
I've used wood and oak leaves both wet and dry, it is a very weak acid, probably dang near impossible to overdo. I've tested a the pH of a bucket of redwood sawdust filled with rainwater at 6.5, and I doubt any amount of wood in AP could ever get lower than that. (I'm ready to eat my words if somebody succeeds, though :) Be prepared for black water, as tannins are sure good at staining everything black. I dropped my 120 gallon tank from 8.2 to 7.4, and the visibility went from crystal clear to 2" using dried oak leaves in a 5 gallon paint strainer bag. The fish loved it, and the Crawdads found their way into the bag, playing in there like kids at chucky cheese, but I missed seeing all the activity.
Comment by Jason Eaton on May 7, 2012 at 4:25pm

I don't know to be honest. I doubt it has to be green but you will probably find different tannin levels in green versus dry. In either case you will have to take your specific wood and through it in a bucket overnight to get an idea of how to dose your particular system with your wood. I'm sure either case will work. Let us know what you find out if you try it. The ph drop that I saw was pretty substantial for a small amount of wood.

Best of luck.

Comment by NTS on May 7, 2012 at 2:40pm

I am going to give it a try, does it have to be green?

Comment by Jason Eaton on May 7, 2012 at 10:23am

A sustainable way of lowering ph. I did another experiment and took a green 3 inch oak branch and cut it into 1" slices on the chop saw. I put 6 of those into a 5 gallon bucket. After 4 hours it reduced the ph from 8.2 to 7.6. So this is definitely a way you could go, just need to get the dosage right. The tannin in the oak adds the acid very slowly leaching from the wood. I added 4 of these disks to my 400g system.

You will want to go slowly. Best of luck.

Comment by NTS on May 7, 2012 at 10:01am

I need to expierimenmt and find a way to lower my ph

Comment by Jason Eaton on May 5, 2012 at 10:43am

I tried an expieriment today. I put 1 dry quart of oak ash from the fire place into 5 gallons of water. After it settled ( 15 min ) the ph was over 8.8. If you need a buffer to keep ph up they oak ash works great. And if you burn wood all winter you will more then likely have plenty of it!

Comment by Jim Hall on April 13, 2012 at 3:53am
Off the grid and on my truck.
Recently I had the good fortune of getting well over 100 tilapia. Loaded in two plastic trash cans; a Haako 38 watt 38 liter air pump on board, plugged into a sear cigarette light inverter rated for 140 watts from Sears. The fish bubbled away home.
Then because their new home wasn't ready, the car inverter/air pump in two barrels were their home everywhere I went. Shopping and sitting outside Lowes, Marmac, Down to Eart. People wondered about the fish pond on wheels and were always surprised to here about it and even more interested in hearing tales from aquaponics.
Next a solar panel and maybe a small mobile aquaponics just for the conversation piece.... :D
Comment by Max In Missouri on April 10, 2012 at 11:20pm

Has anyone incorporated a Ram Pump (Rife pump) system or perhaps microhydro system into their designs... Gravity fed system supplemented with solar/wind power if needed? FYI, I have not designed one (yet) but wanted some Engineers advice if possible... tks

Comment by Bob Vento on April 9, 2012 at 8:14am
 

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