Aquaponics for a New York City apartment - Part 3 [grow bed build - plumbing and testing]

[The00jing00]

Hi. Why is the flooding necessary at all? Specifically, why do most aquaponics systems have bell / loop filters instead of directly draining into the fish tank? It would seem to me that as long as the water was "drip-distributed" across the hydroton, the flooding isn't necessary. What am I missing?

[jfkadish]

@The00jing00 The answer is oxygen. What flood and drain accomplishes is flooding to get the H2O and the nutrients to the roots and the draining allows oxygen to reach the roots so that they don't have an anaerobic environment and rot. You could never do a drip distributed set up because the fish poo would gum up the nozzles and tubes. To filter the water for the fish you need to pump the volume of the fish tank a couple of times an hour and you couldn't do that with a drip drip.

[qin02]

does the pvc primer affect the fish?

[AquaponicsNYC]

@qin02 I'm sure it would if you were putting it into a system with fish right away. However this stuff is rather volatile and evaporates and oxidizes quickly. By the time you will be adding fish it will be safe for them.

[qin02]

@AquaponicsNYC thanks for that information, i am looking at building a system but held off because some people recommended not cementing the joints. (dont want water to leak into my floorboards). But this is very good intel, thanks

[Talz1803]

This is sweet! I love how you built it all from scratch. Good luck to you!

[jfkadish]

@Talz1803 thanks for the love! From scratch is the best way to learn :)

[MrMadmax478]

Nice setup you have there. That clear hose will get clog up with algae after a few months. I have found out the hard way... hehehe

How come you chose a Loop siphon over a bell siphon?

One suggestion to keep the pluming from getting clogged up use Red Lava Rock on the bottom third of your grow bed. It larger rocks and it will not clog up you plumbing as easily as Hydroton will. I'm still a fan of Hydroton on the top 2/3 of the grow bed it is alot easier to work with.

[AquaponicsNYC]

@MrMadmax478 I wanted to give it a try as it doesn't take up growing space. I know it has more issues than a bell siphon but I want experience with all modes. If i fail then the bell goes where the overflow is. I am going to opt for gravel as the drain guard - we don't have any volcanos around...;) and was planing on just putting a cloth over the hose.

[MrMadmax478]

@AquaponicsNYC Home depot and Lowes have Red Lava Rock for about the same price as Gravel and before you add that gravel to your grow bed you need to test it for being pH Neutral.

Take some of the media and place it in a glass and pour vinegar over it. If you see any bubbles don't use it. Another lesson learn from the school of hard knocks on my part.

[GrowerChief]

Good looking system!

[AquaponicsNYC]

@GrowerChief Thanks Chief!

[aragonst]

This is looking great Jonathan... I can never get enough of watching siphons in action! When I did this in my system I found that the pipe that you have connecting the siphon - this can get clogged by the growing media and then roots over time. In preparation you may want to add more holes to the other side, as well as underneath the pipe (if it is raised slightly off the floor of the grow bed). This may save a difficult plumbing excavation in the future (or at least postpone it longer!)

[AquaponicsNYC]

@aragonst I did add many more holes and made sure nothing can get into the drain pipe, but once the media was added there was a reduced flow already and the siphon doesn't start.... problem solving, now the fun begins. I need a camera mounted on a worm to see the block is. Worst case i just turn my over flow into a bell siphon and make the other one my overflow.