Basement Proof of Concept System

[ksnyder]

I have been watching for a while now and picking up things here and there and finally decided to get around to putting a small AP system together. I hope to start cycling within a couple of weeks. I plan on growing lettuce and herbs this winter. Maybe some peppers too. To minimize my risk on fish, I will be starting with goldfish.

I just saw natethegeek's setup and was amazed at how similar it was to my planned setup!

After looking through a lot of other designs I decided to settle on a continuous flow growbed with about 1.5 inches of water in 5 inches of hydroton to try to keep the noise down. The tank is 20 gallons and the growbed is a little over 10.

I have many comments and some questions below that correspond to each of the letters on the attached image. Feel free to chime in with any thoughts/comments before I get too far off the beaten path.

A - I will be putting in some type of solids filtration where the pump outlet is going. I am thinking a nested perforated box (for easy removal and cleaning) with a filter medium and gravel in it.

B - I will be painting the outside of the growbed black to protect the roots/minimize algae. I am also considering covering the sides of the tank.

C - My outlet will be placed to allow the 1.5 inches of standing water in the growbed. I was thinking about placing some kind of baffling in the bottom of the GB to ensure a good portion of the GB receives moving water. Any thoughts?

D - An overflow drain will be fitted here.

E - Pump location. I was planning on picking something up that would move at least 40 gallons per hour.

F - Any recommendations on lighting for 10 gallons worth of GB? I was going to pick up whatever was cheapest and combine with a recommended bulb.

G - I think I will be keeping the gravel for now. It was used in a prior tank and I am guessing it still has a bit of bacteria on it. Anyone know how long the bacteria will live on dry gravel?

So what do you guys think, am I off to a good start plan wise?

[svc]

Looks good so far. If getting up and running cheap is your objective i would go with standard household compact flourescents.
Check the color range on the box, you will want mostly cool white(blueish white) for your leafy greens if you go with peppers as well you may need some warm white (reddish white) towards flowering cycle.
A few bulbs will get your seedlings up but i think a minmum 100 watts (at least 5 bulbs) for decent growth. Bulbs can be placed as close as a couple of inches.

Others to look at are metal halide (for the best growth at the furthest distance from the light but power hungry and requires a special balast) or LED (no heat, cheap to run but expensive to set up)

[GaryD]

Hi,


A - I will be putting in some type of solids filtration where the pump outlet is going. I am thinking a nested perforated box (for easy removal and cleaning) with a filter medium and gravel in it.
With such a small system, you have a range of off-the-shelf options available to you.....a chunk of filter foam that is washed out daily would be a cheap easy start. Easy maintenance is the key as you've already identified.


B - I will be painting the outside of the growbed black to protect the roots/minimize algae. I am also considering covering the sides of the tank.
I'm a bit concerned about whether that plastic container will hold much in the way of media. The sides appear to be bowing already. Can you access a high density polyethylene (HDPE) container of a similar size. It will be a bit more robust and will hold its shape better and it likely to be coloured so you won't have to paint it.


C - My outlet will be placed to allow the 1.5 inches of standing water in the growbed. I was thinking about placing some kind of baffling in the bottom of the GB to ensure a good portion of the GB receives moving water. Any thoughts?
If the grow bed is flat and level you shouldn't have too much of a problem with static water......particularly given the size of the grow bed.


E - Pump location. I was planning on picking something up that would move at least 40 gallons per hour.
That will change your tank water approximately twice per hour......which is good. You can always bypass any excess flow in such a way that it helps with the aeration of your fish tank.


F - Any recommendations on lighting for 10 gallons worth of GB? I was going to pick up whatever was cheapest and combine with a recommended bulb.
With such a small system, LED's would seem to be a good choice.......low wattage and low heat. Since you've really only got room for a few salad plants, you would also get away with some fluorescent gro-lites.


G - I think I will be keeping the gravel for now. It was used in a prior tank and I am guessing it still has a bit of bacteria on it. Anyone know how long the bacteria will live on dry gravel?
Once media dries out, most of the bacteria that was on it will die.

I'd actually suggest that you get rid of the gravel. It will trap solids which will deplete your system of oxygen and harbour pathogens. The easiest way for you to cycle a system of that size is simply to fill it with water from an existing system.....and then add a few fish....and then a few more later as your system settles down a bit.

Incorporate a small air pump and a sweetwater air stone or two into your design. Plenty of air is good for the fish, plants and bacteria.

Hope this helps.

Gary

[Ravnis]

Your setup is almost exactly like my first setup. The gravel will work just fine. If you have a nursery nearby , you can add some composting worms to the setup. I used a flourescent lamp for light source, but I also had mine in a window. It would have done better with 2 lamps I think. My main reason for dismantling it , was I wanted more growing space. Those clear tubs are made out homogenized polyproplyene and they are strong, but will get brittle after 6 months to a year and crack all the way to the bottom. If your just exploring this as many start out, then no problem. If you want something that will last, get a black hard tote from home depot or the like.

Another issue that these setups run into is water level in the fish tanks drop really low during the filling cycle.

The gravel will act as a filter, you would be surprised at how much this will trap. A hang-on-the-back(HOB) aquarium filter does make a nice addition and keeps the larger particles locked up, provides a little areation, and makes it where you can shut the growbed down to mess with it if needed without worrying about loosing all of your nitrification . I guarantee you will want a bigger setup eventally.

As an aside, IF I had to do it all over again, I would have used a cheap 32 gallon trashcan as my tank and put a growbed on top, but aquariums do make it easier to see.