Product searches and recommendations

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Are you trying to figure out what pump type you should get?  A special part for a siphon?  AC/DC aerator? Something to use for a grow bed?  Post your questions here and get help from other members.  

[Earl ward]

you can purchase them at most farm suppy stores tractor supply, farm and fleet. also I think you can special order them at Menards lumber and I think home depot, lowes and yes the black stock tanks. if you use gravel you need to support the bottom of the tank. I use lava pebbles lighter then gravel and much less expensive than Hydroton. I have had no problem with termites in the 2x12 llumber with plywood. I used treated lumber and painted the whole bed before putting in the liner and media.

Sylvia Bernstein said:

Don't the Rubbermaid bins collapse from the weight of the gravel / hydroton and water flooding and draining? Or are these the heavy duty black stock tanks? Richard, what did those cost to ship? And where did you find them?

[M Cosmo]

How about recommending an Air pump that is very quiet and will handle 1200 gallons of tanks. I put a full description and request on the florida group.
Let me know what you use and if it quiet and reliable.

[William Sherman]

If anyone is looking for an inexpensive pump, I believe I stumbled on to a great deal. I found a "fountain pump" at Harbor Freight. Here is the description:258 GPH, 6.4' lift, removable filter for easy cleaning, comes with a number of adapters, plus it has standard pipe threads on both the inlet and discharge sides. The unit is 110 v. and only draws 20 watts.; plus it has a 19.5' power cord. The Item # is 47117 and when not on sale, sells for $24.99; but is currently on sale at $15.99. This is a great buy just to have around for filling or emptying tanks.

[TCLynx]

Those little harbor freight pumps are pretty good for what they are. I've used them for aquarium size system with good results. They won't cut it for larger systems though, they get gunked up too easy. Even on the aquarium system, they need regular cleaning.

[TCLynx]

I use a whitewater TL66 It is a diaphram air pump. It is quiet. however it is only good for about 800 gallons of fish tank that is between 2 and 3 foot deep. The next size up would probably take care of 1200 gallons depending on the depth of the tank.

[bill garrels]

Thanks for directing me to Way to Grow in Gunbarrel. Levi helped me with my overflow valves. They have all the cool things like a 45 second to 8 hour timers for your pumps.

Name: Way To Grow
Street: 6395 Gunpark Drive
Boulder, co 80301-3390
Phone: [phone]

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Annika, for what it is worth we trialed Sure to Grow media when I was at AeroGrow and weren't very impressed (as a sidenote they had the MOST persistent sales people we ever encountered). Didn't seem to do a great job with water / oxygen balance in the media and got covered in algae very quickly. I'm a big Rapid Rooter fan myself. I think it does the best job of any "plug" type seed starter out there.

Annika Palmquist said:

I'm wondering if anyone here has used Sure to Grow media either for starts, rooting, or media for an ebb-flow system? I've been trying pargro sheets of 98 for germination but I really hate handling rockwool. I stumbled across the website for Sure To Grow media, which is filled to the brim with praises for their own genius. :P

There are some nice claims for it being inert, pH neutral, sterile, and not leaching BPA. It's not biodegradable but it can be recycled. It won't irritate skin or lungs. It holds 82% water and 18% gas at saturation. It has very little wicking/capillary action so you have to flood your plants to the level of the roots or they'll dry out. Supposedly it releases nutrients more readily than rockwool...

Anyway, those are all claims from their own website but I haven't found much third party discussion of it except in the cannabis forums -- not necessarily the most reliable source... a lot of the complaints sounded like the growers weren't following the directions unique to this product.

So has anyone tried it? Any of you vertical growers? Does it deserve the hype?

[Earl ward]

Any recommendations for indexing valves currently have 3 grow beds and would like to increase to six I would run out of flood tank water without increasing the sump, I have no room for a larger sump I would like to try indexing valves but have never used them or know where I can purchase them,

[Quinn McCarty]

What recipe do you use to make your ferro-cement mortar? I would love to try this!

Shawn said:

2x12 frame with plywood bottom, lined with 1/4" mesh reinforced ferrocement. Bombproof and more susainable over time and has kept my highly acidic (below 6) water buffered at 7.6 max. It's a good amount of work, but well worth it.

Sylvia Bernstein said:

And I'll be the first to ask a question...what are people using for grow beds? If you stick to the 12" deep rule there just ain't much out there. We raised our hydroponic flood and drain trays using plywood and pond liner, but that was a massive pain in the backside. What are you using?

[TCLynx]

Ok, I just got the go-ahead. I can supply the Aquaponic indexing valves here in the USA, if you are in OZ contact Rupert.
AQUAPONIC LYNX LLC
I only just got the basic site up and it will be improving. I intend to provide custom design and installation of systems here in the Southeast as well as carrying some unique products. I don't want to be a direct competitor with Sylvia.

Earl ward said:

Any recommendations for indexing valves currently have 3 grow beds and would like to increase to six I would run out of flood tank water without increasing the sump, I have no room for a larger sump I would like to try indexing valves but have never used them or know where I can purchase them,

[Earl ward]

about time and good luck

TCLynx said:

Ok, I just got the go-ahead. I can supply the Aquaponic indexing valves here in the USA, if you are in OZ contact Rupert.
AQUAPONIC LYNX LLC
I only just got the basic site up and it will be improving. I intend to provide custom design and installation of systems here in the Southeast as well as carrying some unique products. I don't want to be a direct competitor with Sylvia.

Earl ward said:

Any recommendations for indexing valves currently have 3 grow beds and would like to increase to six I would run out of flood tank water without increasing the sump, I have no room for a larger sump I would like to try indexing valves but have never used them or know where I can purchase them,

[Ken Westervelt]

I'm looking for 12V pumps and aerators. I'd prefer to run my system as off-grid as possible, but am not yet familiar with what equipment can get the job done. I currently have no equipment at all to speak of, so gph and head are not yet issues.