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

In this series I will demonstrate how to construct and bring to life a small 26 gallon aquarium/4 cubic foot grow bed aquaponic system for my Manhattan apartment. In this video I will be doing all the plumbing and testing the flood and drain system with the loop siphon. Follow me as construct and bring to life one of the best methods of growing food known to humanity

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• grow bed
• Hydroponics
• Aquaponics
• urban
• farming
• fish
• Nyc
• home garden
• sustainability
• manhattan
• New York City
• loop siphon

[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.

[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.

[GrowerChief]

Good looking system!

[AquaponicsNYC]

@GrowerChief Thanks Chief!

[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

[jfkadish]

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

[Talz1803]

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

[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.