May 29, 2011 Aquaponic Basement Garden Update and Raised Bed Garden

[Tuxedo748]

why don't you move the lights up?

[SCGoodOlBoy]

@Tuxedo748 over time I have moved the lights up but they are very low watt lights and no heat so I keep them as close to the plants as possible. Gives the best results.

[mhpgardener]

You cant beat the perfection and beauty of plants that are grown indoors. No bugs to eat holes in the leaves, especially that cabbage. Very nice. And the outside garden looks good too. ;-)

[HowToHydroponics]

Some good videos here. If you want another idea for reflective material try the emergency blankets. I've found them for as little as $1 at the dollar stores and they have quite a bit of coverage.

[Kudaimo]

Ok that ends my wall of text! Anyway great setup, very good looking plants and i'll be subscribing to see your results.

Also feel free to call me wrong on any of my statements, again im still new lol :)

[Kudaimo]

I'm still very new to Aquaponics so i could very easily be wrong but I've done quite a bit of research to help learn. My last comment is about your deciding to use trout or Koi. They both have pluses and down sides, the plus side to Koi is they are in the carp family and almost all carp fish produce tons of waste thus tons of nutrients however you can't eat them like you could if you got trout. However one warning about trout is that they need VERY clean water and very cold water, a fickle fish.

[SCGoodOlBoy]

@Kudaimo I still have not decided. I would love to do Tilapia to be honest but I think I should try to do something that is a little more native to the area. I will need to run heaters year round to keep Tilapia. Even in the summer my basement doesn't go over 70* F. The water stays a bit cooler at most about 66* F. I have thought about catfish or bluegill but I just can't make up my mind yet. I am still waiting though. I want to make sure I have a firm grip on running this system.

[Kudaimo]

@SCGoodOlBoy Yeah i agree. I think the warmest iv'e seem my system get so far here in South Dakota is like 58(F). Tilapia are very hardy fish but your right need warmer water. What i plan on doing after i have enough Ammonia in my system from my minnows is adding Yellow Perch. I've caught them ice fishing in lakes so they can handle cold and they are smaller as well so can fit in tanks fine. Anyway just a suggestion.

[NHamel123]

@SCGoodOlBoy im useing bluegill.... P.M. me in about a month and ask about aquaponics... :-)

[Kudaimo]

Hey good to see another Basement Aquaponics grower, that is an awesome intricate grow bed system. Just a few questions or comments i had, at 1:49 from the tubing system is that a NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) system? Also when you first showed those red rocks i thought "are those red lava stones?". I originally thought of using those in my system too but then a aquarium enthusiast i know told me that they might lower the pH a bit so that could be your pH problems.

[SCGoodOlBoy]

@Kudaimo Yes my system is a combination of NFT and grow beds. I did use red lava rocks and a few weeks back when I made this video I was keeping my ph lower but I had fewer fish too because of the die off. After raising my ph to 6.8 it has stayed there. The lava stone seems to be doing fine, so far.

[Kudaimo]

@SCGoodOlBoy Ah, good to hear then about the lava stones. I always thought about doing NFT but not a whole lot of basement versions of it so didn't have much for references. Do you pump your water directly too the pipes the plants are in or does it go through a filter box to get out the thick stuff first? Then i imagine gravity must take it back to the fish tank. Anyway thanks for responding!

[redneckscorner]

Great update video. Putting some Trout in your system would be awesome!! If you do go down that path please make a video.