Aquaponics Help

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J

J. H.

Potamotrygon
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Oct 14, 2016
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I have been "planning' an aquaponics system for a long time. I finally decided to build one now as I am off from college. I have been given a deadline of tomorrow night to have a plan. I have many questions.
1) i have approx. 10 x 15 ft area I can use. Let's say that is 100 sq ft of growbed. How many fish? is a 5ft x 5ft x 5ft pond good?
2) i am somewhat strapped for cash. I have about 15 fluorescent light fixtures 2ft x 4ft x 4in. I know they are less than the 1ft recommended for growbeds, but I would have the 'dry' section of the growbed built of wood sitting on top. I would also use a settling tank, so I would not use the beds for that. I would fill and drain the entire bed.
3) how much gph? I have two 350gph submersible pumps. Are they enough?
4)Fish. I live in NY. we have winter here. my frost line is about 3.5ft, that is why the pond is spec'd at 5ft. What kind of fish should Ii go for? (Assume I am building a greenhouse, but don't want to heat it.) Will bluegills rip each other to shreds? Will tilapia die at the first sign of cold? Should I just go with goldfish that are not supposed to be very palatable? Any other options? (I eat kosher, so no catfish, I know technically channelcats or bullheads would probably be best.)
5) Anyone know of a good aquaponics forum?
 
Noone here knows about aquaponics?
 
i would go with the most temperature tolerant fish which i think would be the catfish. As far as pumps go that will depend on how big your growbeds are. As long as your drain lines are elevated higher than your root lines even a slow drain will do the job...even in a power outage your roots should be submerged to not damage your plants. Your plant selection will also determine if you need more flow.....some need more air rated water while others like floating type lilys do better in stagnant water......you can also add airstones to help the pump but again how big is the ambed.....most peeps just put air stones in the fish pond. A greenhouse is definitely recommended...using this you wont even need the lights. This will save alot electricity and even upgrading your pumps doesnt take much more $ to power..things like heating will kill you. Remember when it comes to plants in a greenhouse the outside ambient temperaure is not as a big a factor as the temp running through your water which is feeding your plants roots. it can a bolstering 100 degrees in there in the summer but 65 degree water will keep the plants happy...you will just have to harvest in the morning or night to not burn your plants for example...its trial and error.....test your water...if nitrates run low add more fish......if roots arent growing at a desired rated you may have to adjust waterflow....its just like fish hobby...set it up....give it time and patience.....observe and make adjustments
 
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I am going with a very small system inside. I eventually want to convert my 3 x 30 ft strawberry patch into a waste high hydroponic growing area.

I want to get off the ground to pick fruit.

Straw berry. Maggots need dirt to turn into adults. Beatle bugs.

Drought and dry conditions are non issue with hydroponics.


My master plan is to bury two 55 gallon drums. To water everything with. I currently irrigate with aquarium water. Then flush the drum with new aquarium water. The excess overflow waters regular raspberries, blackberries, apples, or cherry plants.

I will not be recirculating the water back into the fish tank, outdoors.

Inside I have about 12 square ft of dedicated grow space, with about 500 watts of led.

I have started seeds indoors for many years. The indoor part, will include a year round growing of basic salad greens.
Mostly a winter hold over for everberry strawberries.

I always get a late November crop that tends to freeze out. With the plants in light weight verticle tubes, I can hibernate them in the basement.20190213_173125.jpg
Polyester floss as dirt.
 
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20190216_143550.jpg
I had the strawberries in my sump. They arrived about a week ago half dead and have perked up nicely.

They do ok in hydroponics as long as the top of the roots stay dry..

I want to put them in a vertical pipe once they get some better roots.

I have no experience with this just seeing what works, after watching a few hours of youtube.

Still got a lot of twerking to do.

The lights are diy led grow type 30 watts

It's very frozen outside , so for the next 3 months they will be indoors.

20190216_161945.jpg
Then I plagiarized the overhead aquaponics cup holder, from somebody on this site.

This is on my basement 75 grow out tank. It has a built in fluidized algea ball scrubber. The extra red lights are converting electricity into very inexpensive fish food.
 
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markstrimaran said:
View attachment 1360884
I had the strawberries in my sump. They arrived about a week ago half dead and have perked up nicely.

They do ok in hydroponics as long as the top of the roots stay dry..

I want to put them in a vertical pipe once they get some better roots.

I have no experience with this just seeing what works, after watching a few hours of youtube.

Still got a lot of twerking to do.

The lights are diy led grow type 30 watts

It's very frozen outside , so for the next 3 months they will be indoors.

View attachment 1360902
Then I plagiarized the overhead aquaponics cup holder, from somebody on this site.

This is on my basement 75 grow out tank. It has a built in fluidized algea ball scrubber. The extra red lights are converting electricity into very inexpensive fish food.
Click to expand...

This is pretty cool. I'd make your own thread, I bet lots of people would be interested in this
 
I never expanded past a 10g, which I no longer have running. I couldn't come up with a concrete, useful plan.
 
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