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Comment by Elizabeth on March 1, 2012 at 11:39am

Hi Chris,

I am currently planning to have my system outside on my deck, which is large,  but needs to be replaced this summer with waterproof aluminum decking.  So I am just in the planning stages where I can works out the bugs on paper with the help of more experienced aquaponicers.  I'm planning it this way because I live on a hill and don't have a lot of flat ground to work with.  There are also a lot of trees on my hill that hog the sun.  And I have deer, squirrels, birds, and tree rats that get into everything.  Eventually I want to build one of those window room atrium things over my deck so I can go out and grow things pretty much all year round.  Currently my plans are bigger than my  bank account, but I'm trying to identify as much as possible what my growth  trajectory will be, so I can design flexibility into my system from the get go.  It is not easy as I have not done aquaponics before so I can only project what problems I may have and how I will deal with them.  I also want my system not to look retarded or my husband will complain incessantly.  (I have chickens and I practically had to build Versailles palace for them to keep him happy.  It took three iterations and a lot of redwood.)

Here's a link to a beautiful aquaponics garden that I found on Youtube.  I was thinking about surrounding the fish tanks with cement board and mosaicing them with some cool tiles.  I do art with concrete and tile so I'm sure I can come up with something interesting that will look nice.

Amazing beautiful copper and stonework AP system on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDyDyt77Mwc&NR=1&feature=end...

Dr David Epstein, D.O., founder of Earth Solutions developed the Farm in a Box aquaponic gardens for homes and schools.

I also plan to use worms and have fish.  Talapia sounds good and I can heat the tanks in the winter if need be.  I was also interested in blue perch, which is supposed to be really high in Omega 3's, but I don't have a source for them yet.  I'd like to have at least two fish tanks so I can have different temperature fish year round.  That way if one is less productive because of temperature I will still have lots of food for the plants from the other one.  I plan to feed the fish skins to my chickens because in the past when I have done this they laid eggs with orange yolks - pretty cool.  And I thought that the lobster and shrimp would be fun for my kids. I saw blue fresh water lobster, although I guess they are really crayfish, but who cares.

I haven't sized anything yet but I thought I would just calculate the amount of water that I have to pump per unit time, factor in the height differential, then size the pump larger with a capacity of maybe 3x, keeping in mind future expansion of media beds.  I'd rather pay extra for a bigger pump and under work it, than have a failure and have everything die.  As an engineer I like to over design.  It's just my philosophy.  I also plan to have a back up pump in the sump tank with a separate power supply in the event of a pump failure.  The backup pump can be smaller, kind of like a limp-home spare tire.  This part will take some thought.

I also want vertical towers and duck weed.  As my house shades my deck in the afternoon I need to figure out where to place the towers so that don't shade the grow beds too.  This is one of the reasons I want a flexible design.  I may actually put some things on rollers so I can move them around as the seasons change and the sun pattern changes. This will probably mean flexible tubing between the beds as well, but that should not be a problem.

So much to think about - what fun!!

Elizabeth

Comment by Chris Schup on March 1, 2012 at 10:26am

Elizabeth, my hybrid system plan criteria are almost identical to yours and David’s, complete with vertical towers, duckweed, worms and full expansion potential, so I’m following this thread with interest. Will your system be indoor or outdoor? Are you interested at all in raising fish? David, have you had any feedback on the size of the sump in your diagram? Is it sized correctly for the system?

Comment by David Schwinghamer on March 1, 2012 at 10:07am

Well I guess just lettuce and spinach in the raft system. I have tried twice to grow duckweed with no luck, I think now im going to try to grow it inside in my small aquarium with fingerling tilapia. I havent thought about other things besides fish, I guess people have done it, use this community to its full potential, over 4000 members cant be wrong. Do a search for what you need.

Comment by David Schwinghamer on March 1, 2012 at 9:55am

Its outside but here in Phoenix, Az when its 110 degrees out I think Im going to cover my shade structure with plastic and run an evap to keep things cool. I dont have anything growing in it yet, still getting it complete. I will be growing grape vines and tomatoes and peppers first.

Comment by Elizabeth on March 1, 2012 at 9:51am

I was wondering about the arrangement of the media and raft beds.  What are you growing in your rafts?  I was thinking about duck weed and also maybe some lobster, shrimp, mussels, and clams.  Any suggestions?

Comment by Elizabeth on March 1, 2012 at 9:21am

Very impressive.  This is basically what I have in mind as well.  What are you growing in your grow bed 1 and grow bed 2?  Is this system inside or outside?

 

Elizabeth

Comment by David Schwinghamer on March 1, 2012 at 9:18am

The water beds are really gravel and the center gravel is water, oops.

Comment by David Schwinghamer on March 1, 2012 at 9:16am

Here is my system

Comment by David Schwinghamer on March 1, 2012 at 9:12am

Well according to Mr. Hallam using a sump tank is all you need as long as you have red wiggler worms in the media beds, they love the solids! I am currently doing a small aquaponics system in my house, one 55 gallon aquarium filled with tilapia feeding two small gravel filled growbeds. The only solid filtering Im using is two rough sewn sponges! Yes my outdoor system will be biigger but I think it will do fine. Its a great idea to google murray hallam to explain the chop 2 system.

Comment by Elizabeth on March 1, 2012 at 8:59am

Thanks, Dave.  Are you using any kind of a filter at all other than the media beds?  I saw someone using a swirl filter made from an upside down 5-gal water bottle.  It was pretty slick. Here is the info.

HD Aquaponics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY7Lf3xVitU

swirl filter and sand filter – good stuff

Ed Pozek

Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/HDAquaponics
Website: http://www.hdaquaponics.com
Forums: http://www.hdaquaponics.com/forums/

I also saw a guy, Rob Torcellini, who made a very clever system that was also fully automated and he could log onto his web site and monitor the stats remotely.  He was also using a valve that was actuated by water filling a small water bottle.  I had been wondering if anyone was using any kind of a flapper valve like in a toilet,  as it looks pretty fail safe.  Apparently so.  Here is his video as well.

Rob Torcellini

Greenhouse and in-home AP systems

Has water weighted flapper valves for draining

Complete computer controlled system

Great set up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBspR2p0YYM

Bigelow Brook Farm: www.bigelowbrook.com

Elizabeth

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