Seasonal maintenance for gravel media in growbeds

[Garrett Blair]

I'm still in the planning phase of my AP system. I plan to have an attached greenhouse with good southern exposure, I live in a area where trout should be ideal (lakes reigion of NH). I havent built the greenhouse yet, so I'll be fortunate enough bury and insulate my FT or sump tank (still planning). I'm on the hunt for a local intert 3/4" round inert gravel......

My question is this, if I choose to keep my trout in the tank over winter, but choose not to heat my greenhouse to the point where I'll be able to grow veggies, will I need to do anything with the growbeds to prepare for spring planting?  What are the fishes needs during the winter months? I want to include worms in my grow beds, if I can keep the beds above freezing, will the worms survive (and in hand provide the filtering the fish need to survive? Or would I be better off just harvesting the trout, and re-cycling the whole system in the spring?

 

Sorry for the mish-mash of questions, Thanks for any feedback.

Garrett

[Bob Campbell]

Here's another source for twinwall that may be less expensive

http://www.interstateplastics.com/Clear-Polycarbonate-Twinwall-Shee...

Jon I too have thought about doing what you are doing, but I was concerned about the light lost to three layers.  Do you feel that there will be sufficient light transmision?

Jon Parr said:

...

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/16mm-polycarbonate-clear...

Now, another way, and much cheaper, is to cover with a two layers of 6 mil poly film, and inflate the airspace in between with a little blower. This is fantastic insulation, and gives the film a balloon type of rigidity so it doesn't flap like a luffing sail in the wind. I am building a GH right now, and my present thoughts are to go with single wall, corrugated poly-carbonate on the top surface of the rafters, and double inflated film on the underside of the rafters, giving me the durability of PC and the insulation of the double film. It's a bit more work than going with the triple wall panels above, but I'm hoping it will perform better and be cheaper.

[Jon Parr]

Yes, Bob, light is cut down, but not too bad. Clear PC is 92%, as is each layer of 6 mil poly film, netting 78% transmission. Most of the year, shade cloth is already a necessity, and I plan on boosting with artificial light for the narrow band of the year that you would worry about the few percent less light. Condensation and thermal benefits would far outweigh the tiny loss of light, IMO.

[Garrett Blair]

Hi Jon,

 

Just got your post, I've been doing as much research as I can, and the more I dig, the less interested I get in attaching a GH to my house and expect to run it year round, Its the moisture issue, I'd be better off keeping the system separate from the house, as much as I wanted to take full advantage of the greenhouse environment/ warm air/ excellent air quality. I'd be better off, using it seasonally.  Looks like I'm back to the drawing board.  Right now I have an IBC, I think my plan is to use an old cheap gazebo frame that is sitting on my parents deck, wrapping the thing with screen and poly, and just give it a shot. I'd like to build a 4x8 GB so that I can get the max. stocking density out the IBC. I'm leaning toward insulating the IBC tank, and trying tilapia to see how it goes. This is still all very new to me, but I cant seem to stop thinking about it,

I can picure a sweet bioshelter sitting in my backyard someday, but after I've had time to work out all the details, for now, i just need to get up and running... thanks for all your input, its been very valuble.  I'll keep you posted with what I end up with. I've attached a couple pics of where my dream attached greenhouse will be someday, it will probably look different by the time it is up, but she will be mine....someday :)

[Jon Parr]

Is the 090 pic your place now? That's really beautiful. Your plan sounds old to me, and I'd love to see your progress and help where I may. Exciting.

[Garrett Blair]

It is, we found a company in Washington state that sold us the roof, we designed the the house to fit the roof, its been a long process, but very rewarding,  I saw you have an event coming up, if I were on the west coast, I'd be there, hope you have a good turnout, thanks again Jon.

www.woodenpanelyurt.blogspot.com
 
Jon Parr said:

Is the 090 pic your place now? That's really beautiful. Your plan sounds old to me, and I'd love to see your progress and help where I may. Exciting.

[Rob Nash]

yes, the archea can be introduced at system start up, it could only help.   FTR- i have an out door system that is just insulated and covered with the gravel growbeds running on a timer every 30 mins, with the heater set at 65, all is well. ...now, this is in Texas and we have only had 4 nights drop down to 30 degrees. so you will have to spend more on electric to heat in the north.

[Garrett Blair]

I wish I could say the same about our temps, this has been a fairly mild winter, but a few weeks ago we dipped down to -5 and did get above the single digits for a couple days........I need to design a sweet greenhouse, or commit to shutting down the system seasonally......time and money will tell. This spring I'll fire up the IBC system and see how it goes, I look forward to keeping in touch, thanks again for the feedback.
 
Rob Nash said:

yes, the archea can be introduced at system start up, it could only help.   FTR- i have an out door system that is just insulated and covered with the gravel growbeds running on a timer every 30 mins, with the heater set at 65, all is well. ...now, this is in Texas and we have only had 4 nights drop down to 30 degrees. so you will have to spend more on electric to heat in the north.

[Judy Christianson]

I'm new here also. I've had aquariums in the past, though. I would really be concerned about the ammonia levels in the tank.

I'm in NW IN. Because of the cold and high winds in our area, I'm planning on a pit greenhouse, with a rocket stove incorporated for the winters. I cut my own wood, so that is cost-effective.

[Garrett Blair]

Hey Jon,

Hope you're doing well, I had another question I wanted to throw your way.....I'm still planning a real simple IBC system I was going to build a 32 sq/ft GB to allow the higher stocking density, but I decided to just do the 2/3 FT, 1/3 GB on top, and stock the fish accordingly. I want one more grow year to plan a larger system. I'd like to eventually be in the 750-1000 gallon FT size system. but its not going to happen this year.

  

I'm curious, If I was to add a swirl fiter after the GB, would that allow me to stock some extra fish, or is it the media filtering that is really necessary to filter the water? I'm leaning towards using the archea that Rob recommends, and it seems like they would help with the amonia levels, I plan on worms in the GB too. I'd like to add a small raft bed too, but I dont know if that aids in the filtration enough.....

I saw a youtube video of some guys using the swirl fiter to collect the extra fish waste to be used in their soil garden fertilizing. I like the idea.....I'm sure that theres a science to diluting the concentrated waste before it would go into the soil beds, so that might not happen this season, but if it would aid in the filtration to the point that I could stock a few more fish, I'd entertain the idea.  What are your thoughts? 

 

Thanks, Garrett