Hellbent's 300 Gallon Plywood for Aquaponics

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I was as my local building supplies place last week and picked up an epoxy that is fish safe and sets under water in about 5 mins. I figured it was a really handy thing to have around the house with fish tanks. it may just buy me a few hours in an emergency

It might be an option for you, I am sure you can find some locally.
 
Hey great job.

Yeah, definitely would have been on the way to eliminating any leaks had you used chopped strand cut to size and airpurged with a smaller roller in the corners, The resin component is comparatively weak without its re-enforcement. Even though you'd think you'd be ok with a wooden backing. Bonding around the viewing window in this fashion with a strip of mould release & gel coat would make it both strong & aesthetic with your final lines. however we live & learn. Thats the good part to jumping in & experiencing everything, warts & all. We come out the other side a sh^t load wiser. Kudos bud. I have respect for anyone that has the DIY gene.

Besides the act of reapplying an extra layer for potential repairs, ive found a handful of chopped strand pieces with 406 loctite works wonders on the backing.(aka non potable surfaces) Near indestructible.

I dabble in this field as well. Few questions....
How many cycles/24hr?
You expanding more grow-out tanks (The wooden covered ones?)
Whats your system ratio? Growbeds to holding volumes

Your roof plastic also looks to have more curves that J-Lopez :) you culturing mosquito larvae for fry we're not aware of..lol

Im impressed. Great project! not only that, you can eat the fruits of labour.
 
I just upgraded the pump to a danner 950, i probably get at least 4 cyclers per hour. the DWC raft system is on a bell siphon so it rises and falls. (thats the wooden covered one - you put 3" netpots in. i have 96 holes (but i mismeasured so i only can use like 82 of them)
i currently have a malaysian prawn in there, gonna add more. they wont eat the roots.
the roof has been replaced with polycarbonate corrugated roofing.

the tank is about 300 gallons, the top growbed is about 85 gallons. the raft system is about 89 gallons. it should be 1:1

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so thats a cycle every 15min. Sounds about right.

Malaysian prawn, so you can eat them as well?

So you have another 126gal of grow space to utilise if need be, does that vaule factor actual water levels, or just the total volume in your sump.

Whats depth do you have on your primary clay ball bed?

how do you find the load currently and in hindsite what would you change?
 
so thats a cycle every 15min. Sounds about right.

most efficient would be 10min fill, 2 minute drain for the growbed, but ive heard of 4 cycles a day working.


Malaysian prawn, so you can eat them as well?

yes, but it is very hard to get them to breed, so for grow out and consume only.


So you have another 126gal of grow space to utilise if need be, does that vaule factor actual water levels, or just the total volume in your sump.

the top growbed is cinder/hydroton fileld. depth is 12" deep. this growbed fills and drains so water level in tank does fluctuate. the DWC (deep water raft) system does an ebb&flow but only by about an inch due to the bell siphon at the end. this allows the 3" netpots and roots to dry a litltle and encourages root growth to go deeper.


Whats depth do you have on your primary clay ball bed?

the primary growbed has 12" of cinder/hydroton. the raft has hydroton only inside the netcup.


how do you find the load currently and in hindsite what would you change?

i still am planning more cinder growbeds for the left wing. with more growbeds (1:3 i can stock fish density higher).
in hindsight i would have made a ferrocrete above ground pond. and made a bigger viewing window. i have 4 systems total so far, this one is the most stable. the others are on my website - barrels, IBC's, and a 160 gallon preform pond.
 
Cycles depends on the water retention abilities of the material used & current climate.
4 cycles would work, however your not going to maximise growth potentials.
Plants tell you everything you need to know anyways, so adapting your approach based on observation is always the best advice to give.

However i dont have to inform you on any of this, no wonder youve got everything covered, youve got the business on such things. I'll check out your web site alittle later as well. See what else youve got cooking.

Hydroton is clay balls anyways yeah? Alittle less formal on the descriptions down here, call it how we see it.
& cinder, thats volcanic pumus isn't it. Makes sence based on your geographical.
You collect that locally? Ive never used it personally, in fact, dont think ive even seen it deployed.
 
ive read that others have used river rock, crushed coral, coconut coir, and so on, but aside from hydroton, they all affect PH in some way.
black cinder is available for free or about $100 for a cubic yard here and is lightweight.

ah, i see youre from melbourne. the biggest aquaponics websites are from australlia - check out backyardaquaponics and aquaponicsHQ, both are very informative.
 
yeah its got a decent following down here.
I deploy hydroponics on an indoor system across from my kitchen during winter,( without a greenhouse, it gets way to cold to be even be bothered going outside, let alone risks of frost) however my cats must get bored every now & then decide its fitting to chew on the stalks of the plants. Ive already lost a couple of tomato & cucumber. This year my aim is to produce a decent crop of alpine strawberries & odorless garlic.
 
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