Aqua Farm Update 7 Jan 2014 Dead Pump

The Aqua Farm hasnt been doing very well.  The air pump seems to have died.  For a while it was not making very good bubbles, and the water was not reaching the upper tray.  The water wouldnt circulate, and the system was not functioning properly.  I tried cutting the airline tube at different lengths to make better bubbles, and it seemed to work, but eventually the pump stopped making any bubbles at all.  Im going to ask Back to the Roots if theyll send me a new air pump.  I may also try using an aquarium air pump next to the fish tank to supply the bubbles for the air lift.  Either way, Im not happy with the system right now.  Im hoping that I can tinker with it and make it work better.  On the bright side, I regrew some green onions in one of the grow pots, and ate them in a tasty turkey soup (Thanksgiving leftovers!).

Edit 10 Jan 2014 - Back to the Roots is going to send me a replacement air pump.  They recommended placing it outside the system, sitting vertically next to the tank.  Theyre also sending me new seed packets, and suggested that for the basil and lettuce I may need more light.  Great customer service!

I apologize profusely for the vertical video.  :(

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ZipGrow Towers are Awesome!

Since Ive started learning about aquaponics, one of the coolest technologies that Ive seen is the ZipGrow towers, made by Bright Agrotech.  Theyre a way to grow vertically, with hydroponics or aquaponics.  The idea looks very simple.  Its one of those, "Why didnt I think of that," kind of ideas.

The ZipGrow tower looks like a square fence post with a 2-inch slit cut down one face long-ways.  A long strip of polymer foam with very large pores is folded in half, and inserted into the post.  The plants roots grow in between the folded foam, and water drips from the top of the post down the foam, watering all the plants roots.  They have some amazing results with these things on their farms in Wisconsin.  Good for these guys!

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105 Gallon Apartment system PVC or no PVC

So, Ive previously written about my windowfarm that Im building.  Im also currently working on a 105 gallon system for my friend +Evgeny Pogorelovs apartment.  Its going to be a basic flood and drain on a timer.  We have a 55 gallon aquarium, which will feed into our 50 gallon stock tank grow bed.  Were currently planning to have about 5-6 tilapia, and grow all kinds of veggies.  Ill update with pictures soon.

Right now, were constructing the frame that will hold the system.  Weve cut all the wood, and painted it all white, and now we need to assemble and put it on wheels for easy mobility.  The next step is plumbing; well use a 200 GPH pump.  Were hoping to stay away from using PVC due to conflicting reports about PVC leaching chemicals into water over time.  However, this may only apply to soft PVC, not hard PVC.  We need to do a little more research before we buy pipes.

Heres what Pogo wrote to me about PVC in farming systems:

Found some resources that cite PVC as leeching dioxin, pthalates, and other toxins into water / food. Definitely want to avoid PVC piping in any operation we start. The safer alternative is biodegradable EVA plastic. 

"See: www.aaa.dk/pvc PVC plastic is an environmental and public health hazard because dioxin and other persistent organic pollutants can be emitted into the air, water and land during its manufacture and incineration.

In addition, PVC products can leach toxic additives during use, and thus may harm patients receiving certain medical treatments.

PVC has come under scrutiny by the European Commission since 1997 resulting in the release of the Green Paper in July 2001 that highlights the dangers associated with its disposal, and in April 2001 the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Commission "to introduce rapidly a policy on the replacement of softPVC, in so far as the current risk analysis of phthalates indicates that it is desirable to reduce the exposure of people and the environment".

These concerns have led increasing numbers of health care providers to search for alternatives. Grenaa Central Hospital, Denmark, substituted 95 percent of its PVC-products with safer alternatives without compromising safety and care, and found many of the alternatives to be more cost effective."

http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/nonalforplas.html

Heres a company that sells EVA piping: http://dir.indiamart.com/impcat/eva-pipe.html

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Low pH in the apartment system but growth is good

I checked out the system this week, and it seems to be doing well.  The brown algae in the water is slowly disappearing.  The veggies are growing well, though the strawberry seeds that I scattered in one pot don’t seem to be growing too quickly.  My friend hadn’t checked the chemicals recently, so I did while I was there.  The pH was very low (<6), but everything else looked ok.  The ammonia was 0.5ppm.  Nitrite was zero, and Nitrate was 160+ ppm.

I added 6 capfuls of API’s pH up.  I decided that I didn’t want to rely on my friend checking the pH and adjusting, so I added enough pH up to bump up the pH to around 7.  Normally I wouldn’t want to raise it more than 0.2 per day, but I didn’t want to risk losing the bacteria and have to re-cycle the system.  My friend added a little water the next day, and checked the pH.  It was about 7 – 7.2, which is ideal.  Hopefully this weekend I can visit for a few hours to clean the canister filter, and plan out new fish that we want to put in the fish tank.  We’d also like to mount some small lights that we have onto chains above the grow bed.  Another issue is that the water draining is somewhat loud, so I want to figure out a way to muffle the draining water.  Here’s some pictures and a video from my visit to the system.

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Update to Apartment Windowfarm

I added more plants to my windowfarm today and fiddled with the airlift to get it working a bit better.  The water wasnt syphoning out of the fish tank very well, so I got the syphon working better, and now more water is flowing.  I added some a rosemary plant and a strawberry plant.  The green onions from a week ago are still growing strong.  I started them from supermarket green onions.  I kept the root after using the green part in a recipe, and the root grew more green onions!  Im also trying to start some basil and parsley from seeds in the fish rock media.  Im pretty sure that Ive seen other people having success with starting from seed directly in the grow media.  Heres the update video:

The Windowfarm in front of my kitchen window.

Strawberries!

Rosemary!

Ive also had some lavender seeds laying around, so I planted them in the potting soil left over from the strawberries and rosemary.  When that grows some roots, Ill switch it out with the green onions, which should be done growing by then.

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The Valhalla Project has some great ideas!

I was browsing kickstarter a few days ago and came across this fundraiser for "The Farm of the Future."  The group behind the project calls themselves Valhalla.

"We are Valhalla -- a group of people dedicated to making sustainable communal living mainstream and inspiring people to help create the beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible."
I like their mission statement and in particular, I thought their idea of combining an earthship structure with a greenhouse was really cool.  Check them out!

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105 Gallon Apartment System Assembling the Frame

 Tonight I had time to stop over +Evgeny Pogorelovs house after work and we assembled the frame that will hold our 105 gallon aquaponics farm for his bedroom.  The total cost so far is about $250, and we still need pumps, piping, media, and fish.  Estimated cost is about $350 for the entire system.  It is also larger than we need, so we could fit a second 55 gallon fish tank, and a second 50 gallon stock tank on the frame.  Pogo moves out of his apartment in September, so well decide where it will go, and if well upscale at that point.

We started with the shelves that we made last weekend, painted and ready to be assembled.

Heres our 50 gallon stock tank and 55 gallon aquarium.

Attaching wheels

Not too difficult at all

DRILL!

Assembled!

Moving it into its future home

The frame was build larger than necessary to allow us to make the system larger in the future.

Thanks +Evgeny Pogorelov.

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Apartment system update from October 27th and Harvesting some Bitter Arugala

Heres a quick video of the system from late October.  I ran out of room on my camera, so its a quick video.

Also, a few days later on December 3rd, we harvested the arugula.  It ended up being too bitter to eat.  We harvested it too late.  Im still learning about growing veggies, but its been a fun experiment!

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105 Gallon Apartment System Update

The system at my buddy Saqibs apartment is doing well.  Saqib was away for a week for work, so a roommate was feeding the fish.  We think that he overfed our tilapia, Zeus, because the water is filled with brown algae.  Ive read online that this algae is not really caused by sunlight, but rather by overfeeding the fish.  High nitrates also lead to this type of algae.  Well be feeding Zeus less from now on, and I plan to clean out the filter to make sure everything is nice and healthy.

Saqib added some small lights to the system, and the plants look to be doing well.  Well get those lights up on chains soon.  In another 2 weeks, well be switching to some ornamental fish for the tank, and at that point well clean the tank and hang the lights.  Hopefully, that will help keep the algae in control, and help with the veggie growth.

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NIWA Smartphone Control of your Hydroponic Garden

I recently learned about a new product concept for an indoor hydroponic garden that looks like it has potential.

NIWA (www.getniwa.com) is a pretty slick looking 5 liter recirculating hydroponic system with lights and automation controlled from your smartphone.

Compared to the Aquafarm from Back to the Roots, this looks like a more serious food production system. The Aquafarm is a nice, compact system that can grow some herbs and is a good introduction to aquaponic gardening, the NIWA looks to be able to produce some serious food, and I suspect the price will reflect this increase in performance. NIWA claims to be able to grow tomatoes, strawberries, orchids, or medical plants.

Ive been in contact with Aga, one of the founders of NIWA, and asked about integration with a fish tank for an aquaponic system. While they havent yet worked with any aquaponic experts to determine what would need to be done to the system to integrate aquaponics, they will be offering a maker-kit on the kickstarter which will include the electronics and gear inside with instructions to build the system on your own. I can imagine this could be used to hack an aquaponic version.

Some of my favorite features:

Automatic nutrient and irrigation adjustment for different plants. You dont have to do additional research, just tell NIWA what youre growing, and the nutrients and irrigation cycles are adjusted to optimize growth. Or, if you want to experiment, you can manually adjust the settings.

Automatic heating, ventilation, humidity, and lighting control. NIWA claims to monitor climate. In the system and automatically adjusts for optimal growth. If there is enough light in the room, the lights will be off.  If the room isnt bright enough, NIWA will sense this and turn on the grow lights.

Cloud connectivity lets you monitor and adjust the system from anywhere with an internet connection.

NIWA is getting ready to launch their kickstarter campaign on Monday, May 12, 2014.

The kicstarter prices are not too bad.  I dont know if itll fit into my budget, but I definitely want to try this thing out!

www.getniwa.com

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Apartment Aquaponic Windowfarm Garden

Hey everybody,

This is my first post for this blog.  I posted this youtube video about a week ago after I finally got my aquaponic windowfarm garden set up in my kitchen.  I followed the windowfarming plans available online.  I added a 5 gallon water cooler jug at the bottom for a fish reservoir   I have a betta and an african dwarf frog in the water jug.  Im not sure that theyll provide enough nutrients for all 5 plants, but well find out.  Im planning on using mostly herbs, as they will need less nutrients than fruiting plants.  Heres the video:

I want to use this blog to track my progress with this garden, and the other aquaponic projects that Im working on.  I hope youll enjoy my posts, and maybe youll learn a thing or two (or maybe you can teach me a thing or two).

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Apartment Aquaponic System disassembled

The 105 gallon system set up in my friends apartment in Philly was disassembled yesterday.  Well be moving most of the components to the greenhouse that were building in Wilmington, Delaware.  We already have a 330 gallon IBC tank waiting, and were going to be building a PVC hoop house.  Well be attaching the grow bed from the apartment system to the IBC system as well.  Also, I have obtained some old windows to make some coldframes at the same location.  Lots of excitement coming this Spring, but it was a little sad to take apart the system that I had worked so hard and long on.  We did harvest about 2 supermarket bags full of kale, and I filetd the tilapia we had living in the apartment system.  Im sure Ill have tons of updates and photos from the Wilmington garden this Spring.

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Arduino Controlled Aquaponics

If you havent seen this video yet, check it out.

Eric Maundu is an engineer in West Oakland who uses Arduino controllers to automate his aquaponics gardens. Its a pretty impressive setup in an otherwise barren industrial lot.  A friend of mine, Donna Raef, visited with Eric at his garden in January.  She had this to say about her visit:

"He is dedicated to technology more than aquaponics so it took me a bit off guard when at first he said he didnt care about farming or aquaponics. He only has one aquaponic system going and he monitors it through a computer system that tracks all kinds of levels, takes pictures, etc and compiles the data. It was a very impressive system.  His philosophy seemed to be geared toward educating kids about science, math and technology through aquaponic systems with this kind of data collection. He has after school programs and other educational programs in some of the schools. It was a really good way to see farming/food production from that angle. He was pessimistic about just using aquaponics alone to inspire people to grow food or to get kids interested in it. His focus was really on the technology of gathering information and trying to make it more productive through technology. I am going to put him in contact with the greenhouse I worked at in Amarillo and hopefully he can come out there and teach the kids some stuff about the technology/aquaponics--he seemed really interested in that idea. I forgot to take a picture, sorry!"

Thanks Donna!

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Bright Agrotech Commerical Aquaponics Webinar

Recently, Bright Agrotech hosted a webinar for people interested in getting into commercial aquaponics.  Bright Agrotech is a business in Laramie, Wyoming co-owned by Dr. Nate Storey, who is one of the best sources for information about aquaponics.  He posts tons of educational videos that have helped me tremendously.

Heres the Commercial Aquaponics Webinar:  http://bit.ly/1dsSXr3

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Lions Mane Mushrooms

A few years ago, I became interested in mushroom cultivation.  Ive grown oyster mushrooms in the past, and I just harvested some Lions Mane mushrooms that I got for the holidays.  Ive heard some pretty cool things about these mushrooms.  Apparently they can increase you memory and mood.  Paul Stamets is a mushroom expert with some interesting thoughts about Lions Mane.  You may have seen his TED talk, 6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save The World.

I saw Paul give a talk about mushrooms at Burning Man this past year.  The talk was very interesting, and one of the things he mentioned was that Lions Mane promotes growth of cells in the brain.  He also mentioned that they taste like lobster when sauteed with butter.  I had to give it a try! 

I prepared the grow kit around December 27th, and I made a mushroom fruiting box a few days later.  The fruiting box is a large clear bin with holes drilled in it, and moist perlite at the bottom.  This keeps the humidity high so that I dont have to mist the bag as often.  I still fan out the box once or twice a day.

From Jan 15th-ish?

 I harvested on Jan 20th

I sauteed them up with some red onions and butter, and a little salt and pepper.  They were pretty tasty, though not my favorite.  I am excited to harvest another flush in a few weeks, and hopefully I can prepare the next batch a little better, and theyll taste more like lobster!

Heres Pauls website where I got the kit:

http://www.fungi.com/shop/mushroom-kits/indoor-mushroom-kits.html

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