Has anyone here done this indoors??

[John Wolff]

I am considering having my system indoors to avoid the cost of having a green house

and also having food year round.  Is there much odor with an AP system either from

the water or the fish. 

Thanks,

John

[Tom OBrien]

I have two small 150 gallon system in the basement and they have worked out pretty well. Not much odor and we've had success growing lettuce, cabbage, and peas. I picked 48" flourescent fixtures for lighting because they are cheap, but I think the less intense lighting and the relatively cool temperature does limit what we can grow.

We have goldfish in one tank, and had trout in the other one. I think 100-150 gallons may be too small for trout because I only has a few that topped 3/4 lb and fish growth was very uneven, but many people here grow them and you may have better luck than I did. They did taste good and they are fun to watch at feeding time.

[John Wolff]

Thanks so much everyone for the feedback it really helps.  Did not even consider the cost of lighting hopefully wont be too bad.  Will the lights need to stay on all night?  The room we will be using gets some daylight throughout the day which should also help keep the lighting cost down.  Time will tell.  We will be planting our seeds as soon as they arrive in the next couple of days and hopefully by the time we cycle our system for a week or so the plants will be ready to be planted.

[John Wolff]

Hi Scott,

It sounds like the system we want to build is very similar to yours except we are planning on having some 3 foot towers above our grow beds to grow leafy greens more efficiently.  Our plan is to have one 100ga FT, three 2' x 3' GBs (approx. 16ga) and four 3' towers.  We are planning on having the towers drain down into a gutter that flows right back into the tank.  The water will fill the GB's to the height of the siphon drain and repeat the process.  Am I missing anything?  Is that about how your system works?  Do you utilize a sump tank at all for this size of a system?  Is there anything else I should be aware of other than the lighting issue?

Thanks, John

Scott Mooney said:

Hi John,

My system is indoors, and the only odor came from a poor choice in feeding my catfish, I used fish scraps, not thinking about some of it being sucked up into the grow beds. Otherwise, noise is minimal, and no odor.

My system is very simple, and construction cost was minimal.  Lighting is greatest expense in the setup.  Temperature is a factor, so keeping it in an area that has heat will help you.

If the room is well-lit naturally, that can only help your ability to grow.

The grow beds are sufficient bio-filter for my tank, and I use an inexpensive pond pump to move water to the beds, and gravity & creative plumbing for the return. My tank is a 100g and there is a 250w heater to regulate water temp.  I have 3 beds that total 80g volume.

What were you planning to grow?  That could factor in your choices when building your system.

[Leo White Bear]

John-

  Indoor gardening does require a lighting system.  If you are growing with towers, you can also hang the lights vertically instead of horizontal to illuminate the towers.  Depending on the plants you are growing you need to keep in mind the density if the plant canopy.  Try to get enough illumination to reach at least 18-inches into the growth area.

[michael heery]

I am glad someone mentioned electricity  bills ,  

Mike Creuzer said:

The worst smell from my indoor AP is the basil! My wife says it smells like cat pee.

I am running nearly 300 gallons of water in my basement. I haven't had it do that "tropical fish store smell" thing yet. 

If you can smell a small system, something's not balanced.

The biggest issue I've seen with an indoor system is the cops parked out front for 6 months waiting for my lettuce to turn into something they can get a warrant on. I was tempted to plant some Okra, but thought better of it.

The lighting bills add up quickly. That's my biggest issue. At my current harvest rates, I'd be better off unplugging the lights and buying from the farmers market. But I am in this thing to learn more than to eat at the moment.

[Linda Logan]

I think you will need metal halide or sodium vapor or their equivalent.  The lights are on generally 16 hours.  My neighbor runs his from 6 am to 11pm.  You want to mimic daylight hours.  If you are planning to grow things other than greens, cabbage, etc you need lots of strong light for fruit set and development.  Light from a window won't be enough.  Light costs can really be high.  Also cycling can take up to 6 weeks.

John Wolff said:

Thanks so much everyone for the feedback it really helps.  Did not even consider the cost of lighting hopefully wont be too bad.  Will the lights need to stay on all night?  The room we will be using gets some daylight throughout the day which should also help keep the lighting cost down.  Time will tell.  We will be planting our seeds as soon as they arrive in the next couple of days and hopefully by the time we cycle our system for a week or so the plants will be ready to be planted.

[Scott Mooney]

Hi John,

It does not seem that you have missed anything.  I do not use a sump. My raw water pumps out of the FT which is on the floor beneath my GBs.  It pumps up through soft tubing to a PVC adapter attached to a tee.  Ball valves on each side of my tee control flow to my top two GBs, these are the shallow rectangles for my leafy crops.  They flood slightly above siphon level when the water is flowing (water reaches the media surface) Once the water level is high enough for the siphons activate, they drain from both beds into one pipe leading to my larger bed a level below (thus creating 2 filtration stages) before returning to the FT via drain from bell siphon in the large GB. A larger diameter "tip" to the drain pipe aids in the suction for the siphon, and adds water pressure on the return, to supply aeration to the FT.

Hope that makes it easier to visualize.  I can try to provide pics if needed. I have to stress that my setup is simple to almost downright crude.  It works, but there may be(and probably is) more effective designs out there. However it was inexpensive, and is working (so far). :)

-Scott

John Wolff said:

Hi Scott,

It sounds like the system we want to build is very similar to yours except we are planning on having some 3 foot towers above our grow beds to grow leafy greens more efficiently.  Our plan is to have one 100ga FT, three 2' x 3' GBs (approx. 16ga) and four 3' towers.  We are planning on having the towers drain down into a gutter that flows right back into the tank.  The water will fill the GB's to the height of the siphon drain and repeat the process.  Am I missing anything?  Is that about how your system works?  Do you utilize a sump tank at all for this size of a system?  Is there anything else I should be aware of other than the lighting issue?

Thanks, John

[John Wolff]

Hey Scott,

Some pics would be great!  You can send them direct to me if you want at [e-mail]

Thanks,

John

Scott Mooney said:

Hi John,

It does not seem that you have missed anything.  I do not use a sump. My raw water pumps out of the FT which is on the floor beneath my GBs.  It pumps up through soft tubing to a PVC adapter attached to a tee.  Ball valves on each side of my tee control flow to my top two GBs, these are the shallow rectangles for my leafy crops.  They flood slightly above siphon level when the water is flowing (water reaches the media surface) Once the water level is high enough for the siphons activate, they drain from both beds into one pipe leading to my larger bed a level below (thus creating 2 filtration stages) before returning to the FT via drain from bell siphon in the large GB. A larger diameter "tip" to the drain pipe aids in the suction for the siphon, and adds water pressure on the return, to supply aeration to the FT.

Hope that makes it easier to visualize.  I can try to provide pics if needed. I have to stress that my setup is simple to almost downright crude.  It works, but there may be(and probably is) more effective designs out there. However it was inexpensive, and is working (so far).

-Scott

John Wolff said:

Hi Scott,

It sounds like the system we want to build is very similar to yours except we are planning on having some 3 foot towers above our grow beds to grow leafy greens more efficiently.  Our plan is to have one 100ga FT, three 2' x 3' GBs (approx. 16ga) and four 3' towers.  We are planning on having the towers drain down into a gutter that flows right back into the tank.  The water will fill the GB's to the height of the siphon drain and repeat the process.  Am I missing anything?  Is that about how your system works?  Do you utilize a sump tank at all for this size of a system?  Is there anything else I should be aware of other than the lighting issue?

Thanks, John