new hydroponics setup

[Fish Eat Fish]

I cant see the pics...I think the gallery if down or at least messed up on my end

 

[Liam]

I CAN"T SEE THE PICS

I'm missing out on all the excitement.

 

[duke33]

I can't see the original pics either. Could you put up some new ones? Thanks.

 

[stixx]

hey is there going to be an update on this project?

 

[invisyblegypsey]

AWSOME WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[davcheng]

I have a couple of questions.... I thought in a hydroponics system, you needed a way to get air to the roots? How does your system do that? (I'm a complete n00b when it comes to hydroponics and how they work)

Also, do you think this could be a replacement for actual filters (canisters, hobs, etc)? Barring the need to use them for water movement, do you think you could remove your filters completely and use the hydroponics system as a filter?

Thanks

 

[EllieGreene]

I have a couple of questions.... I thought in a hydroponics system, you needed a way to get air to the roots? How does your system do that? (I'm a complete n00b when it comes to hydroponics and how they work)

Also, do you think this could be a replacement for actual filters (canisters, hobs, etc)? Barring the need to use them for water movement, do you think you could remove your filters completely and use the hydroponics system as a filter?

Thanks

Hi.

In Aquaponics, it is quite common to have no other filtration other than the growbeds. Take a look at http://www.backyardaquaponics.com. Some of the Large systems are mind boggling though.. There is one commercial system (University of the Virgin Islands) that raises 18,000 lbs of tilapia and 60,000lbs of produce per year in a DWC system.

With no prefilters in place, the growbeds act as a mechanical filter too. After a while you can add worms to the growbeds to process the solids and have another free food stream for the fish. I've only seen that in flood-and-drain system though, I don't think it would work in the OP's setup.

-ellie

 

[EllieGreene]

Here is 1 month's growth in a 5 tilapia system.

I can't find the pictures from when I shut it down, but the results were pretty remarkable. From 2 DWC half-barrels + 1 gravel half-barrel + 1 55gallon culture tank I harvested 11 pounds of cherry tomatoes, 2 pounds of basil, 3 heads of the nastiest lettuce I have ever tasted (i think it was too hot for lettuce), 5-6 lbs of cucumbers (the little pickle kind), and 6 small ears of corn. The big problem was I used Lowe's "river gravel" in the center growbed. This was some derivation of limestone and buffered my pH above 8, causing me to lose all the fish!

This year I'm going to do it differently. I'm going to use hydroton (expanded clay.. pH neutral) in the growbeds and keep the culture tanks (Nx300g IBC's or 1x900g timber pond) in the garage where I can control the temps better. I'm also using a rotating biological contactor so I can safely disconnect the growbeds if something goes awry.

sorry for the the thread steal.

-ellie

 

[wow_it_esploded]

I have always wanted to do an aquaponics setup, I actually did a research paper on it 2 years ago. Great work and really professional results!

I think it would be especially effective in the nice texas sun on a pond. I saw one time (a few years back) where people converted an inground pool to a pond. The only filtration was a giant growbed with tons of plants, it looked like a fricking forest. The water was returned back into the pool pond by gravity.

 

[zoohouse]

I have a couple of questions.... I thought in a hydroponics system, you needed a way to get air to the roots? How does your system do that? (I'm a complete n00b when it comes to hydroponics and how they work)

hydroponics the roots are submerged, aeroponics the roots are exposed to the air and regularly sprayed with atomized solution from misting spray nozzles. Aeroponics are more effective but require alot higher concentration of nutrients(would kill any fish in the system).