Grow Bed Set up

[Jimmie]

Question - 1
I want to put my fish tank is in the ground. Can I have the grow beds empty rigt into the fish tank, eleminating the sump pump ?

Question - 2
Can I have the water run all the time rather than every twenty minutes or so?

Question - 3 How do I plant the plants? Do I put the seeds in the rocks? Take a established plant in the soil and place in the rocks? Use a Starter like spounge and place the seedling in the rocks?
Sorry I am new to all this
Thanks for helping
Jim

[Jimbo]

Hi Jimmy,
Yes you can put the fish tank in the ground- lots of people do - main reason is insulation. My fish tank is 4500l and is buried almost completely- only top 150mm or so is out of the ground. At this stage I haven't got any fish as the water temps are too low (and the rest of the system is not ready). I have had a max/min thermometer in the tank and it is very stable at about 10 degrees C. The tank is also insulated with 25-30mm of polystyrene foam board. The only problem I can see with a buried tank (apart from the massive effort to dig the hole) is that it will have to have a cover of some sort to keep children and animals out. The reo cover in Jonty's system looks to me to be the go.
My other reason for putting the fish tank in the ground is so that the return water comes back via gravity - ie no need for sump pump.
Jim

[GaryD]

Hi Jimmie,

Question - 1
I want to put my fish tank is in the ground. Can I have the grow beds empty rigt into the fish tank, eleminating the sump pump ?

Jimbo's on the money on this one. Whether you need a sump pump will also depend on how many grow beds you have relative to the size of your fish tank.

Question - 2
Can I have the water run all the time rather than every twenty minutes or so?

Yes......you can. If you use autosyphons, your pump runs continously.

Question - 3 How do I plant the plants? Do I put the seeds in the rocks? Take a established plant in the soil and place in the rocks? Use a Starter like spounge and place the seedling in the rocks?

You can sow seeds directly into your gravel or you can plant seedlings.
If you sow seed, ensure that your irrigation cycle brings the water up to the level of the seeds......even if you override your timer or float switch a couple of times each day to flood the beds and make sure that your seeds get watered.

You don't need to use sponge......gently wash any seedling mix from around the roots of the seedling.......use a spoon to pull the gravel back while you place the seedling in the hole then gently replace the gravel.

Sorry I am new to all this

Don't be concerned......everyone was new once.

Gary

[anniefish]

Hi ,
Just a question about the seedlings, could you start them in fine cocopeat, or jiffy pots, then just pop the lot in the grow bed? I'm not sure what jiffy pots are made of, might try to find out. Just thinking it would mean you're not disturbing the roots of your seedlings.
Cheers Ann.

[Frank]

Annie, Jiffy pots are just cocopeat, think they may have originally been actual peat.

You can actually get them know as a cocopeat shaped planter pot.

They will decompose of time and allow the roots to grow through very readily

[GaryD]

Hi Annie,

Seedlings seem to cope OK with having their roots washed.....if you're careful. I usually immerse them in a bucket of fish water and gently agitate them until the seedling mix flushes away.

Planting seeds into coco-peat works well if you're going to then plant them out into more coco peat.

I'm not sure about the effect of planting the seedlings (along with coco peat in which they were grown) into gravel. I'd still wash them.

Gary

[Jimmie]

Annifish, some time ago I obtained from the local hardware shop these little disks that, when soaked in water became a little sort of ball about 50mm across and about the same height, flat bottom and top. planted one seed in each and had them sitting on a tray that I kept wet.
They were the most marvelous thing to raise your own seedlings.

I think they were called jiffy pots or some such name.
Are these the same thing you are talking about Anniefish ?
Do you know what or where I might get them again. Perhaps some place on the net so I can order some.

[anniefish]

Hi Jimmy,
Jiffy pellets and peat pots can be found at www.diggers.com.au, or phone 03 59871877. They are a great company to deal with and have seeds, plants, trees and hardware for sale.
Hope this helps.
Cheers, Ann

[Jimmie]

Thanks for that info AnnieFish. I have, at last ordered some Jiffy pellets from the Diggers Club. Very interesting organisation.

[Aquatic Oasis]

Hello peoples,
Jiffy pots are great for plant propogation. The only problem i find is that they can tend to breakdown a little. The other option is to use rockwool propogation blocks. These are similar in composition to insulation bats. They were first discovered by mistake. A faulty batch of insulation was sent to a dump some where overseas, and a few days later people noticed that weeds were growing in the material. After further research and modifications to make them suitable for plants, they fast become one of the favorite media's for commercial production of crops in Holland and around the world. We sell both of these in our store at Capalaba. (07) 3245 7777