It starts

[Karen Matus]

I am just now begining in aquaponics.   I was intrigued after coming across the idea by accident on the internet (couldn't tell you exactly where on the net).   I've been both a gardener and into aquariums for a good part of my life, and I haven't been this excited about a hobby for quite some time, so I think this is good for me to try!   Also, as a former school teacher and present parent, I think this is an awesome way to learn about ecosystems and the balance it needs to have to work.  My daughter too, has been getting excited about the aquaponics idea (she's nine). :-)  I've been reading lots of material both on the internet and in books to get information before I actually set up my system.   I've aquired a 55 gallon fish tank (via craigslist), and I am going to set up in my basement with a grow light.   I have gravel for my grow bed media.   I'm looking for low cost materials to build my system.   I still need to get something for a grow bed that's at least 12 inches deep and will balance with the tank size wise in sq. footage. (any suggestions on something inexpensive but the right size?)  PVC shouldn't be difficult for me to aquire, and I might enlist the help of my father, who is a retired pipefitter, in setting up the lines.   I have a small grow light, and also regular florescents that I can get grow bulbs for.   The fish tank came with a stand, but I might use that instead as the grow bed stand, and have the tank on the floor.   I will probably start out with goldfish to get established, and start out growing lettuce and tomatoes, as these are regular staples we eat year round.   If the basement experiment works well for me, I might consider expanding to an outdoor aquaponics system, but I do live in a cold climate, so I would be interested to hear from people who have done this outdoors in cooler climates.  I live in Northern IL, very close to the WI border.   Winters get downright cold here!     I am curious if anyone else has tried raising Walleye in an aquaponics system, and what worked well for that?   I absolutely love Walleye!   I heard of a guy in the area who is raising Walleye in his garage with 330 gal. tanks, although he's not doing it as an aquaponics project.   He's doing it more of an aquaculture kind of thing.  I don't know him directly, just heard about him through a guy selling the 330 gal. IBC tote tanks.   Still, I'd like to learn what's required to raise Walleye, and see if I can apply it to aquaponics at some future point.  I might try trout or tilapia too.   Right now, I live in a rental house with a decent sized backyard, so I can't really set up anything permenant basis, such as shade buildings, a greenhouse, etc (though I'd LOVE to have a greenhouse!).   My parents live on a farm, and perhaps I could convince them to put up a greenhouse and devote a portion of it for this purpose?  (They've been on and off talking about a greenhouse for years).   I think I might be able to sell my dad on this idea.   He's been talking about getting a greenhouse ever since the Nuclear Crisis in Japan started, and how it would be a way to raise vegetables, etc. in a greenhouse, without having to worry about pollution getting into them, because it can be more self contained.   Anyway, my plans are to build a bell siphon in the grow bed (doesn't look too hard) and use a flood and drain system. 

what I have...

55 gallon tank

tank light

small grow light

florescent fixtures

tank stand (possibly might sub as my grow bed stand)

gravel

seeds

air pump

 

what I still need

grow bed containers

pvc piping

submersible pump

aerator stones

fish

plants

water test kit

air pump tubing

 

So I'm off to a start in collecting the necessary materials.

 

[Karen Matus]

Wow... that was a cool website!  Thanks for sharing that!   I was trying to look around for someplace in the area, and this looks like it will fit the bill for me, for a number of items I'm going to need!   I am wondering, what do you use for your grow media?  Are the Rockwool cubes your media?  I'm wondering if I should splurge for hydroton, if it's significantly lighter than the gravel, or if I should just do gravel?   I thought about using the under bed storage totes, but aren't those more shallow?   I was looking for something that had the 12 inch depth, and the most close one I can find that is also decent length and with were these 34 gal. heavy duty totes at Farm and Fleet for 8.99.   

[Eric Jensen]

Rockwool cubes are like the Jiffy post things in the netting, but there is now dirt.  THey are spun from lava.  You should go visit Big Grow Hydro in Lake In the Hills (http://biggrowhydro.net/).  They have some really cool hydroponics setups there, and tons of supplies, including various grow beds.

 

For my grow beds I use the under bed storage totes.

[Karen Matus]

Eric, sounds like a cool set up!   I'm planning to start out with a basement project, and go from there.

btw, what are rockwoll cubes?

 

[Eric Jensen]

greeting fellow Chicagoan/Illinoisan!!!  I have an indoor setup that's on wheels so I can easily move it around if needed.  You can checkout my setup here: aquaponics.ezjensen.com

 

I have new seedlings starting now as we speak.  I do need to get another sheet of rockwool cubes to start the rest of my herbs.

[Karen Matus]

Found possible grow beds at Farm and Fleet!  34 gal. totes for 8.99 each.  I'm thinking of getting 2-3 of them... but I want to look around a bit more first, before I buy, especially something new that I'm going to cut into anyway.