Aquaponic Build

[darbee63]

You should go solar

[bestestmama]

One lame question... i missed how the grow bed is supported... i cant seem to figure out how it doesn't fall into the tank.

[backyardaquaponics]

Man some of you guys are pretty harsh. This is ok if you know what you're talking about, but many of the comments below make it obvious that most are just arm chair critics with no real idea..

[PoweredByAaron]

I say Good Job tekendell1, your off to a good start! Try and learn something new every day, this can be a rewarding investment of your time. If you want some advice, I would suggest adding more oxygen directly to the grow beds; as this proportionally stimulates bacterial break-down of toxic ammonia into nitrates! Using expanded clay rather than gravel in your beds would give this bacteria a much more suitable-sized micro environment directly surrounding the roots! I Use air diffusers.

[PoweredByAaron]

And mitchamus is right, if you want to avoid excess algae growth, you should shield the fish tank from light that penetrates the clear poly-tank you used for the lower section. Some light is good for the fish but that much is an inviting breeding ground for millions of photosynthetic plant-based life forms (algae) that are most likely floating around in there to begin with. Other than that, keep the fish fed and watch out for that first ammonia spike, good luck.

[neolardass777]

you should let more light into the fish tank, better for the fish and the bacteria, Note: ive never made one of these before, Ive just done alot with ponds and aquariums.

[mitchamus]

@neolardass777 too much light creates algae in nutriment rich water.

This will clog the system and make it useless.

[Crutchcor]

Your missing a toilet flow which dumps large amounts of water to fully reach all ends of your grow box. Your missing the tank for growing the fish food.

Your spray of water is constant, and limited in space. I doubt this works. Your missing out on the importance of 3 interconnected cycles.

[PoweredByAaron]

@Crutchcor Give him a break. If your so familiar to hydroponics, you would know about deep water culture. As long as the water has a good supply of oxygen and nitrates, plants and fish will co-exist; living from and for the service of each other (in what is known as the Nitrogen Cycle.) And I'm sure he could pick up a 55 gallon oil drum, split it in half and use it to culture red worms and duck-weed. We all gotta start somewhere. If he posts a video of it working well shortly, then what?

[elvieken]

I would suggest using only food grade containers due to posions that embed in the plastic. Antifreeze is nasty stuff.

[dinger454]

In the UK these large containers are used to store antifreeze. If you want one try to find a transport depot that uses large amounts of antifreeze like a bus depot or a truck depot.

[mmcxiit4e]

what are those caged tanks called and where can i get one? thanks.

[jtyson76]

How is it working? I'm curious about this continuous system. I'm skeptical, I think the ebb and flow cycle is needed to draw enough oxygen through the substrate to handle the solid fish waste. But if it works well, then it sure seems alot simper and quieter than a flood and drain type system.

[Crutchcor]

@jtyson76

It doesn't. His is missing a bunch of really important elements.

[Weeskidl]

Question. The drain pipe back to the tank always allows water to be in the grow bed? It never empties?

[tpm4life]

nice setup, I need to find a few of those tanks. It looks to me that the top half of that cage would make a hell of a safari rack.