A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners
Larry Rooney's Discussions
Indoor Lighting
Started this discussion. Last reply by dano Sep 19, 2010. 1 Reply 0 Likes
I just started playing around with a tiny indoor artificial light setup with a 20 gal FT and 17 gal GB in an ebb and flow system on a timer and a pump about two and a half months ago. The GB drains…Continue
Grow lights
Started Aug 26, 2010 0 Replies 0 Likes
I am new to this forum and to AP. I started experimenting with AP about two months ago with a small investment just to get the idea. I decided to brighten up my dreary windowless room by installing…Continue
Larry Rooney's Page
Profile Information
- How did you find us?
- If you found us through a search engine, what search words were you using?
- Are you an aquaponic gardener already?
- Yes, but small and just experimenting inside an apartment.
- If so, what type of system? (pick all that apply)
- I have a basic ebb and flow system with a 20 gallon fish tank and a 17 gallon grow bed with 2 cm crushed granite. The 1 1/2 " overflow goes directly back into the fish tank through a home made flower pot filter to catch any solids that might try getting back. I made a completely cheapo setup with plastic storage containers and live bearing tropical fish (platies, swordtails, guppies, mollies) and have been running the setup for about two months now.
I have no window in this crummy little room so I am experimenting with grow lights without digging deeply into my pockets for now. I need advice on this. I plan on moving somewhere where I have some more space to at least try to attain an amount of self-sufficiency in my food supply and know what I'm eating. I was wild about keeping tropical fresh water fish when I was a kid and am having amazing success with the fish in this system. They eat continually all day even when they are not being fed because they are always hunting and pecking. They have already overcrowded the tank with babies but the cycling of the water and the fact that I have a very well planted aquarium keeps the water pristine and moving like a river. I even have a filter that shoots a current across the tank and the fish just love it. A simple water pump on a timer was cycling the water into the grow bed for 15 minutes every hour. It usually takes about 13 minutes for the GB to drain completely through two small holes at the bottom of the over flow pipe. I am now experimenting with other timing. My grow lights are a big problem. Until I have sufficient light to make them happy I cannot experiment well with the ebb and flow timing.
- Please tell us something else about yourself.
- I am a Canadian and now am living again in Canada but I lived and worked in six countries outside of Canada for more than half my adult life (65 now). Probably the reason I am back in Canada in Quebec ( I was born far to the west) is because I was hit again by lighting ten years ago in the Dominican Republic and my son took me back to Montreal where he was going to school and his wife and her sister had opened another store. Usually they lived on the island of st. Barths. They went back and I stayed here for now.
© 2024 Created by Sylvia Bernstein.
Powered by
Comment Wall (2 comments)
You need to be a member of Aquaponic Gardening to add comments!
Join Aquaponic Gardening
Yes, this site is full of wonderful people with a diverse array of experiences and experience levels. Very friendly bunch - no question is too basic. Glad to have you with us.
Sylvia
Thanks for joining the Aquaponic Gardening community! I hope you find it a fun place to explore aquaponics. There is a real blend of experienced and new aquapons in this community, so please don’t hesitate to join in. Always thrilled to have experienced growers join us – please post some photos of your system!
A great place to start is to read the How to Use This Site link on the upper right corner, “Start Here” section of the Main page.
Thanks again for joining us, and I look forward to getting to know you.
Sylvia