All parts from hardware store, small aquaponics system

[Johnny]

Hey i've recently setup an aquaponics system, I saw the prices of so called kits and said to myself they've got to be dreaming.

i've built a system which is producing very tasty lettuce and even better spinich, and it's already overtaken my soil garden which has the same plants in it but had a head start over the aquaponics system.

Theres also lots of bees and wasps hanging around for a drink, so hopefully when things start to flower they do their work :)

http://i47.tinypic.com/1499w91.jpg
Corn, silverbeet and eggplant. Recently planted about a week or so ago as small seedlings.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2je4s52.jpg
Both growbeds side by side, hose on the very right is coming from the submersible pump (550litre per hour and inside a biofilter). the growbed at the left was full and thus why water is coming out of it, a simple ciphon does the trick, did it with a hose.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2how6zm.jpg
Both growbeds side by side at a better angle so you can see whats growing.

I'll get a few more pictures later.

Anybody interested or wants to know the other things i've done well just go ahead and ask.

Also can you please be nice by only posting a constuctive comment on any errors I may have made. Other than that it saves heaps of water and produces really well.

I've got one question though, by picking two (really cheap) CLEAR plastic growbeds will this affect plant growth? they're about 300mm deep which i've read is optimal for an aquaponics system but the fact they are see through will that have any effect or detriment on plant growth? It doesnt seem to be a problem at the moment with everything going nuts in the system with regards to plant growth.

erm before you ask what fish are in there, i completely forget, i asked the fish shop for some hardy fish which can withstand a temperature variation and would survive in a 160litre tank. Theres also a few yabbies (which are a type of marron) in there. And there is also a pump and two airstones for oxygenation.

in future I plan to use a fibreglass fish tank and growbeds. The future being sometime next year when i'm cashed up :)

[wa shane]

Yeah Johnny with clear plastic, when the sunlight hit's it,it will turn green with algae.Just wrap some shade cloth around it,then it should be fine.If not sure just have a look at my set up,good luck.

[Johnny]

Yeah Johnny with clear plastic, when the sunlight hit's it,it will turn green with algae.Just wrap some shade cloth around it,then it should be fine.If not sure just have a look at my set up,good luck.

Well one of them has already done that.

Would wrapping it in masking tape work?

i've got a reasonable amount lying around spare so i might as well


cheers mate.

[GaryD]

Hi Johnny,

Most of us used whatever we could lay our hands on when we started out in AP......so your set up is fine.

As Shane pointed out, those clear tubs will allow algae to grow around the system and (and without covering them up a bit) they might light prune the roots on your plants as they emerge.

Given that you're only using a very small fish tank at this stage, just use whatever goldfish are cheapest. They tend to be pretty tolerant of indifferent water conditions and they will produce copious amounts of ammonia.

They'll help you to get a sense of what happens in a small system like yours - and, if you make a mistake (and we all have), they are easily replaced.

Good luck with it and continue to ask questions as the need arises.

Gary

[LFCummins]

Very nice start.

You will see the advantages of this type of farming over other methods. (already - with the fast growth). It's real rewarding.
Enjoy and good luck. Don't eat too much ! :D

[Johnny]

Very nice start.

You will see the advantages of this type of farming over other methods. (already - with the fast growth). It's real rewarding.
Enjoy and good luck. Don't eat too much ! :D

Hahahha well since i'm not on the best income at the moment a system like this will pay for itself when I just about no longer need to buy veggies.

I plan a new setup about this time next year, with a greenhouse and 1000 litre tank and a few growbeds.

Would a chilli plant grow well in an aquaponics system?
In terms of potency of the chilli i mean.

[LFCummins]

Yes, very well in fact.

I'm told they are great but I don't (can't :eek: ) eat chili peppers or jalapenas and such.

[robinmill]

hi johhny

looks great , pretty exciting hey?

in regards to using cheap and second hands materials have a look at my system
it's pretty rough to look at but it is currently working and as cost me very little ,
about $100 now i think plus fish and seedlings , which some of came out of my vege garden

enjoy
robin

[Johnny]

hi johhny

looks great , pretty exciting hey?

in regards to using cheap and second hands materials have a look at my system
it's pretty rough to look at but it is currently working and as cost me very little ,
about $100 now i think plus fish and seedlings , which some of came out of my vege garden

enjoy
robin

Yeah I forgot to mention i had problems with the ammonia and nitrate levels but they're fixed now and nothings died in some weeks :)

Can't wait for my next setup, i'll have marron which last time i bought cost me $60/kg. Currently i have some yabbies in there but they dont grow as big, still taste nice though.

[Johnny]

Hit a little problem, the corn i've planted the roots of it have grown into the ciphon hose and managed to completely block it, causing the grow bed to flood.

Luckily I was there and am now figuring out how to stop roots from growing into the hosepipe.

[Ravnis]

I have found excessive root growth can be caused by low nutrient. If your nitrates are low you could consider adding some seasol. Not sure how much for your size system, but a wild guess would be a tablespoon or 2.

It looks like you have a lot of plants for those small growbeds too. If it's not low nutrient causing the issue, then you might need to consider taking the plants closest to the siphon out.

I don't have much experience with corn, but other members do, perhaps they have other ideas.

Good First system though. I redid mine several times before coming up with a configuration I could be happy with.

[Johnny]

I have found excessive root growth can be caused by low nutrient. If your nitrates are low you could consider adding some seasol. Not sure how much for your size system, but a wild guess would be a tablespoon or 2.

It looks like you have a lot of plants for those small growbeds too. If it's not low nutrient causing the issue, then you might need to consider taking the plants closest to the siphon out.

I don't have much experience with corn, but other members do, perhaps they have other ideas.

Good First system though. I redid mine several times before coming up with a configuration I could be happy with.

Yeah i've just fixed the siphon system now, thinking of what i'm gonna do next. The corn has just got over the transplant and is looking greener than ever and is showing signs of nice new green growth.

You've got me thinking about the lack of nutrients, i've added a touch of seasol to the system however more fish is what i need long term here. I might just go down and buy some goldfish.

[Johnny]

Bought 11 goldfish for the system, did the usual procedure for introducing new fish (leave em floating in bag in water so they get used to it). Released them after 10 mins or so.

The growbed which siphon stuffed up has started to overflow, i think rocks have gotten caught in the hose again. I might have to make my own bell siphon system if i cant get it working soon. Should I be alright if i manage to flood and drain the growbed a few times today? It's half drained at the moment and im gonna flood it a few times more and then leave it and hopefully get to it in a few hours.

it's a VERY hot day today but i simply do not have the time to fix it until this afternoon.

[robinmill]

hi johnny

you say that the rocks might be getting caught in the hose

I am a little confused as to howyour siphons are set up

but
my siphons , a bell at 50mm and a u at 20mm both sit inside a large pvc pipe which is about 150mm diameter
this pipe has about 100 holes drilled in it which are smaller than my medium
this stops the medium from getting next to the siphon
hope this helps

in regards to seasol I applied with a watering can over the plants every couple of days until i got some fish, it definately kept them going

try some old paint or even shadecloth around your growbeds to stop the algae

speaking of cheap bits i got another corner bath and a 3000 litre tank for nicks the other day

usually if you tell people you are after stuff things start coming out of the woodwork
oh and a house pressure pump which will get used somehow
oh and another pool pump which is pretty worn out but is doing a great job of being a fountain with two washing machine hoses
it is keeping some added oxygen in there until my air pump turns up

so for those of us that cant afford many new bits we just need to put the word out and use a little imagination

the more people doing this at any scale the better

enjoy

[Johnny]

hi johnny

you say that the rocks might be getting caught in the hose

I am a little confused as to howyour siphons are set up

but
my siphons , a bell at 50mm and a u at 20mm both sit inside a large pvc pipe which is about 150mm diameter
this pipe has about 100 holes drilled in it which are smaller than my medium
this stops the medium from getting next to the siphon
hope this helps

in regards to seasol I applied with a watering can over the plants every couple of days until i got some fish, it definately kept them going

try some old paint or even shadecloth around your growbeds to stop the algae

speaking of cheap bits i got another corner bath and a 3000 litre tank for nicks the other day

usually if you tell people you are after stuff things start coming out of the woodwork
oh and a house pressure pump which will get used somehow
oh and another pool pump which is pretty worn out but is doing a great job of being a fountain with two washing machine hoses
it is keeping some added oxygen in there until my air pump turns up

so for those of us that cant afford many new bits we just need to put the word out and use a little imagination

the more people doing this at any scale the better

enjoy

Oh i made the siphon just using a piece of hosepipe :)

After my crops finished i am going to invest in a new tank and growbeds

250 Litre growbed
1000 litre tank
proper bell siphon (not home made).

The siphon is working good now i've fixed it and it should last until i ditch these growbeds for a bigger one.

How will watermelon grow aquaponically? what sort of pest control can i use because last time thewhole plant got eaten in a day or two.

[robinmill]

hi johnny

don't despair with the siphons
have a look at mine...........search for ' robinmill ' to have a look

they took me a few goes to get going I just kept altering them in a bucket until i got them to work

the main thing i found with the bell siphon was having a small space between the siphon/bell and the standpipe I think i have a 20mm standpipe and a 40mm bell

also the height above the standpipe till the top of the bell needs to be at least an inch i think from memory
just cut your bell too long and keep shortening it until you get it siphoning

also I found that if the water is filling th GB's too fast the siphon will not stop and if it is filling too slow it will not start

once you have got them to siphon then drill a hole near the top of the bell pipe and jam a piece of clear pipe in the hole and that breaks the siphon at the height that you want

hope this helps and if you read around you will find other posts

robin

[GaryD]

Hi,

If you do a search on this forum......using auto-syphon or bell syphon....you'll find a lot of information about syphons, how they work and how to make them.

Gary

[Johnny]

Hi,

If you do a search on this forum......using auto-syphon or bell syphon....you'll find a lot of information about syphons, how they work and how to make them.

Gary

I know how they work i just thought a hose would do, i've figured out a way to keep it going for the meantime. Yes the forum is great for finding information on siphons and the different ways to make them.

[poohbear]

I'm curious with those plastic bins would any chemicals leech out and over time kill the fish or perhaps absorb into the fish and in turn if you eat the fish enter your body or the plants?

[GaryD]

I have to say that I'm often confused about the whole toxic plastic discussion.

I read how PVC is not good......but just about every AP system has PVC in it somewhere (even if only for the standpipe/autosyphon or media barriers. Many systems (and houses) are plumbed entirely in PVC.

I've seen (and used) black plastic containers as grow beds and, while some people say black plastic contains recycled stock and that it shouldn't be used to grow things in, it's use is still common.

I've seen plastic tanks which are branded as not being for potable use. Some people have interpreted this to mean that the plastic is not safe......where my take on it is that the water in it may not remain in a fit state for drinking. Either way, I've seen these containers often used as fish tanks.

Does anyone really know?


Gary

[Johnny]

That gets me thinking, the chemicals over time in certain plastics do leach out.

This plastic (although wasnt labelled as such) looks exactly the same as other pond liners so hopefully it's fine.

I am planning to acquire a 1000litre tank of some description from a place in Mundijong WA called Golden Ponds. They are a lot cheaper than anywhere else.

They also sell the fish I need.

Thanks for the thought, I might have a further look into this.

The fish are going very well as of late, theres about 22 large goldfish in there. They've grown heaps over a short time.

The growth is amazing compared to the same plants, planted at the same time in the ground. I will get some comparisons online of soil versus aquaponics.

However I seem to have failed with the corn, they just didnt produce very large corns. I think it might have been the whole planting 20 corns in one small growbed thing, the corns might have become potbound as growth stalled.
The corns that i got off it tasted much nicer than corn grown in soil .

[doc pyro]

I have to say that I'm often confused about the whole toxic plastic discussion.

I read how PVC is not good......but just about every AP system has PVC in it somewhere (even if only for the standpipe/autosyphon or media barriers. Many systems (and houses) are plumbed entirely in PVC.

I've seen (and used) black plastic containers as grow beds and, while some people say black plastic contains recycled stock and that it shouldn't be used to grow things in, it's use is still common.

I've seen plastic tanks which are branded as not being for potable use. Some people have interpreted this to mean that the plastic is not safe......where my take on it is that the water in it may not remain in a fit state for drinking. Either way, I've seen these containers often used as fish tanks.

Does anyone really know?


Gary

Hi

When I was buying some plastic tubs the sales person suggested food grade tubs which were all colours other than black for their tubs due to the black tubs being made partially from recycled plastic. My guess is they are not sure what has been stored in the plastic before it is recycled and it is a safety precaution. With PVC pipe I'm guessing that people are worried about the plasticiser used to make PVC less brittle. Plasticisers do slowly leave the PVC over time and in theory enter the water, look up dibutyl-pthalate which is a common plasticiser.
An example of plasticiser leaving a plastic is old vinyl dashes in cars used to crack over time, that was the plasticiser leaving.

Doc

[Bonj]

First post...

I have done a little research on plastics and their use in food contact. It is by no means authoritative, but better than nothing.

From my research, the absolute best plastic for food contact is Polyethylene in either its Low Density (LDPE), or High Density form (HDPE). LDPE is what glad wrap is made of and is food safe at a very wide range of temperatures. HDPE is simply a denser version, and is used to make the water cubes and barrels that are used quite extensively for home brewing in this country. Polypropylene (PP) is also a commonly used plastic in food contact and is also considered safe at room temperature, although I can't comment on the rest of the temperature range, because I simply don't know.
Polycarbonate (PC) is used to make the very clear plastic used for drinking cups, drink bottles, baby bottles etc, but contains, and leeches Bisphenol-A (BPA) into the water at a rate that increases as the temperature increases. It is only very new research, and not enough is known of its affects, but it is apparently an "endocrine disruptor which can mimic the body's own hormones and may lead to negative health effects." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A

I'm not sure what the plastic was that they used to plumb the drinking water in my house, but it was black. All drains were the standard white PVC.