Kitchen Aquaponics: Initial Setup (2/2)

After happening to read the blog post below while perusing epicurious.com, I became intrigued by aquaponics. I looked around at various kits and setups for building an aquaponic system, but finally j

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• aquaponics
• gardening
• apartment
• fish
• garden
• herbs
• indoor

[PoohbearDX]

and make a pvc stand to hang the lights over the plants on a chain. It'll keep the plants growing straight up. If you don't like the bar light setup the get two desk lamps with 2x 23W 6500k bulbs over it for suplimentary lighting. cheap and works as you've got natural light light already. witht he filterfloss in there you can stir the bin a bit to clear out the dust once in a while. BTW where did you get that wooden stand? Looks nice.

[gamercubed]

Cool, I've actually just ordered a nice desk lamp with 3 T5 fluorescents that is on an articulated arm which should add a good amount of light and be adjustable. And it didn't break the bank!

The stand is from IKEA. I wish the top shelf was higher so I could fit a real aquarium tank underneath, but otherwise yeah, I like it!

[PoohbearDX]

does is that it removes fine particles in the water and polishes it. seeing as you have a tank before the water returns to the fih tank I'd stick some filter floss in there and replace it after about 5-10 rinses of it. I find after then the filter floss breaks up into a mess but if you leave it there it will culture a LOT of good bacteria as well. Filter floss comes in small or large rolls. Is your pump always on? I think it'll drown the plants you have in there right now. I know basil can

[gamercubed]

Thanks for the comments! Hmm, I am a bit concerned about drowning. I was hoping my air stone would inject enough air to prevent that. One thing I am planning to do is lower the water level somewhat...after seeing some other setups it looks like mine is plenty high.

[PoohbearDX]

Welcome to aquaponics (AP) mate. washing the gravel or hydroton (IIRC it's also pronouced 'hydro-ton' ) is a right of passage into AP. In regards to your dumping the hydroton straight and having the dust stir up you should look for something called FILTER FLOSS which can be found at any local fish store (LFS), Petsmart, or I think Wal-mart has it. I'm in Canada and our Wallys have about 2/3 what the USA ones have. I think some super center ones will have the filter floss as well. What that

[gamercubed]

Interesting, I'll check that out. Right now my water looks pretty nice and clear, but whenever I move stuff around I have to turn it off for a while to let stuff settle. I'll have to think about adding filter floss if it becomes too much of a headache. Thanks for the tip!

[gamercubed]

Oh, and I blame the local hydroponics shop guy for my mispronunciation of Hydroton...that's how he said it ;).

[kastrosama]

ye really need to sort out that excess water or it will kill off alot of the plants. autosiphon or a bellsiphon.

[PoohbearDX]

small snails when they hatch to keep the population down. Ramhorns normally grow to 2cm max size and are hermephrodites so one snail can spit out ~4-10egg. On the side note if you do get a dwarf pupper fish in your place as a pet you can pluck some snails out and feed that puffer. Look into that fish. They can be housed in ~3 - 5.5gal tanks. 5gal is ideal but they say 3gals is min for territory reasons if you plan to keep more then one. Very personalbe fish. You tube them :)

[PoohbearDX]

space? Just eye balling here it looks like it can take a 5.5gal fish tank or a wide 10gal tank. A tip with clear tanks like that is get 1-2 snails free from the LFS. Tell them you got a dwarf puffer fish. They'll give them to you free. Ask for ramhorn snails. They breed like rabbits but also graze on the algae you'll have on the sides of your tank in ~2 weeks. Their small bioload will also help with more nutrients in the tank while keeping the tnak looking clean. IIRC the goldies will eat the

[PoohbearDX]

beat. I find for the most part the special red/green plant lights give off little lumens and an excuse for the store to bump the price up on you. 6500k is daylight rating which woks well with the seedlings I've grown in past years indoors in soil before transplanting outside. I'm not saying the plant lights are useless. It i true the red and blue color spectrums do help the plants but you can't beat natural light when you have it. What are the measurements of the bottom stand inside useable

[PoohbearDX]

BTW for the short term the bins you have are ok but the long term I know that chemicals will leech out of the bins and I'm not sure how it will effect what you're growing and if it'll enter the plant/fruit and thus enter your body. Don't invest too much into the lighting as you've already got the best lighting suppliment being by a window. While ot'sot the most light you're getting as IIRC you mentioned i's not the brightest light coming in it's still a good mix of natural light which you can't