One thing thats important for many potential aquaponic systems is beauty. People dont necessarily want something in their yard or home that looks like a science project. Here are some really beautiful systems. Im hoping to use these as inspiration for my future projects.
I recently received the AquaFarm that I had ordered from Back To the Roots. It took quite a long time for this to be shipped out, but it finally arrived. I set it up almost immediately, and then remembered that I wanted to do a "how to" video for setting it up. I was too eager, and forgot!
Anyway, heres a quick review. Ive had it set up for 4 days. The first beta fish that I put in the tank died after 2 days, so I got a second beta for the tank. I cant say whether the first beta fish died because of the AquaFarm design, or if it was just an unhealthy fish. Well see how this fishy does.
AquaFarm Review
AquaFarm Packaging
Sorry about the dark photo, but heres the AquaFarm!
You can see where the airline tubing for the air lift goes down into the fish tank.
It came with Lettuce, Basil, and Wheat Grass
It also came with de-chlorinating chemicals, beneficial bacteria, a fish-cleaning solution, and a tank cleaning supplement called Tidy Tank.
Overall, I think this is a pretty cool system, and I cant wait to see what it grows!
AquaFarms are available from Back To The Roots for $60.
Recently, I spoke with a hydroponics expert, Dan Sypolt from Garden Indoors, a hydroponics store in Bristol, PA. I had come to the store to buy 190 liters of expanded clay grow medium for the 105 gallon aquaponic system for my friends apartment. Instead of just selling me their product, Dan really helped me decide upon the best way to approach the system that Im working on (I ended up not buying anything at that time). He brought up some great points that I dont hear being discussed very often in aquaponic forums that I read. His advice has led me to re-planning the system Im building, and I think it will be a more robust system with this new design.
First, Dan suggested that typically, hydroponic systems are only flooded with water around 4 times during daylight hours. My windowfarm had been trickling water 24/7 which over-watered my strawberries. I have read many suggestions for a 15 minute flood, every hour. Dan suggested that this was probably too much (at least from a conventional hydroponics perspective). Im going to start the new system with a 15 minute flood every 3 hours, and see how it works out. The less pumping, the more energy saved on electricity.
You might be thinking that flooding the system every 3 hours will not provide a moist environment for the bacteria to grow in my media beds. This leads me to Dans second suggestion. In the store, there were several hydroponic setups that were similar to my aquaponic setup, except that instead of having one large grow bed filled with media, the grow beds were holding potted plants, and the grow pots were filled with media. This used a lot less media than filling the entire grow bed, which will save you money. The grow bed is essentially acting like a flood table. This allows you to move the plants around easily without disturbing the roots. You can also remove plants easily, and it also makes the grow bed much easier to clean. All the solid waste that builds up in the bottom of a grow bed can be a smelly pain in the butt to clean. This isnt a problem with this setup. You dont have to worry about media guards for your plumbing, because the grow media never touches the plumbing. The flood table would look something like this:
Now, you may be thinking, "What about filtering the water? What about the bacteria?" The grow bed in a flood and drain system typically acts as a filter for solid waste, as well as the location for bacteria growth, essential to aquaponics. If the water is not being pumped into the grow media, than where is the bacteria growing, and how is the solid waste filtered. For this, Dan suggested using a typical aquarium filter. There are several filter types available. If youre using an aquarium, a hang-on-back filter is fairly inexpensive, but may be less reliable than other filters.
A canister filter is usually a little more expensive, but more durable. Ive chosen to use a Canister Filter for the 105 gallon system that Im building (pictured below).
Another filter type that Dan mentioned was a Wet/Dry Trickle Filter. This is like having a separate, smaller media bed specifically for growing bacteria. It can be attached to an aquarium, but they seem very bulky.
The filter that Dan suggested would work best is a Fluidized Bed Filter. These are highly efficient biological filters that have enormous bio-load capacities and take up very little space. They are similar to a wet/dry trickle filter with extremely small media (typically sand), but air is pumped into the media causing it to flow around. This flow causes the bacteria to be "bumped off" the sand grains, and more bacteria grows in its place. Bacteria can adapt very rapidly to increases or decreases in bio-load. With such a small media, the surface area is huge, allowing for an enormous amount of beneficial bacteria. Heres a cool video to demonstrate how it works.
So, with all this in mind, I think this is a better way of designing a flood and drain aquaponic system. The canister filter cost me about $100, but Im saving at least $80 that I would have spent on expanded clay pellets. I havent researched the other options extensively to write about all the pros/cons of different filters, but the canister filter seemed durable and efficient. As for the system design change overall, I think that the pros outweigh the cons. What do you think?
Our windowfarm is having some ups and downs. The strawberries are growing and starting to turn red.
I planted some garlic and its sprouting.
The rosemary is great.
The parsley is great.
The basil isnt growing. Any suggestions on what I should try to replace it with?
Im going to finally finish the plumbing for Pogos 105 gallon system this week. By next weekend we should have it filled with media and water. Well start fishless cycling, and hopefully be growing soon!
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!
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!
If you are decided to set up an aquaponic system in which to grow vegetables and fish for you and your family, there are some things which you should know. The types of fish, the seeds which can be propagated and the details about the appropriate water conditions are the basic notions you have to know before venturing in this activity. Once you know that you can start putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. Yet, another question arises: where should you place your aquaponic mini-garden?
where aquaponics, how aquaponics, build aquaponics
The answer is simple: you can put it anywhere you like as long as the place has enough light to offer the plants. As you probably know, the plants need light to prepare their food. If the place where they are put has no or few light, they will be unable to prepare their food, which in time will lead to their death. This is something you do not want! Yet, if you have a room (no matter if it is your kitchen, living room or garage) where there is a moderate light, then there is where you should place your aquaponic garden.
If you live in an area with extreme temperature or weather conditions, there are also some other things you will need to take into consideration. First, the temperature: your fish like to have a moderate temperature (usually varies according to the type of fish you choose), so you should monitor it to meet your fish’s needs. If you are in a desert are a you will need to keep them away from the direct solar rays, while if outside is freezing you will need to make sure that the water is warm enough to provide your fish a good environment.
You should also keep your fish and plants away from chemicals as they are quite sensitive to that, so the room where you keep your cleaning products will not be a great location for them. Rather go for airy places where the plants can feel good and with moderate temperature so that the fish will grow and develop properly.
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Aquaponics - Commercial aquaponics - Hydroponics - Grow bed
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).
Ive been waiting to receive a replacement color chart for measuring pH, Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite levels. I sent API $2 for a replacement, but its taking forever. So, I ordered a new test kit from amazon. Theyre marked down to ~$16 dollars from ~$20. I can use this at home, since my other test kit is at Pogos apartment with his 105 gallon system.
Also, I just received my pre-ordered AquaFarm from BacktotheRoots.com. This is the most hyped aquaponic kit that was on Kickstarter recently. Im excited to get a Betta fish tonight and get it set up. Ill have an unboxing video, and a review of the system in the coming weeks.
I also recently read an article about Aqua Vita farms in upstate New York. Theyre one of the only commercial Aquaponic farms on the east coast. Theyre looking for a buyer or investor, otherwise theyll have to close up shop in about a week. Its a shame to see that they couldnt see profitable margins in their venture. The owner, Mark Doherty, claimed that they had to redesign their system to make it more efficient and profitable. However, they ran out of capital because of the redesign, and now they dont have enough money to stay afloat. I hope them all the best, and I hope that I can someday meet Mark and learn from their experiences. Heres a link to the article: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/06/aqua_vita_farms_owner_we_need.html.
I recently disassembled the 105 gallon aquaponic setup in Philly, but Im reusing some of those components for a system in Trenton, NJ at an Art Collectives studio space. The SAGE Coalition is a group of local artists that do public murals, run a community garden, and host art gallery shows at their studio. The Gandhi Garden is a beautiful community garden transformed by Graham Apgar, Jonathan Gordon, and other members of the SAGE Coalition and local residents. Ive only met Graham and Jonathan so far, but Im excited to meet more of the artists here. Heres what the Gandhi Garden looks like:
Heres some photos of our work so far:
Each shelf has a fluorescent light underneath. I think we might remove one shelf to give each row some more space. The goal is to eventually have the entire shelf be aquaponic grow beds connected to the 55 gallon tank on the floor. Unfortunately, some rocks got into my aquarium filter, so Ill just be using a pump with no additional filter. I am planning on making a radial flow filter to test out, but its not a priority at the moment. I just received the pump in the mail, and am waiting for a uni-seal to arrive, then well get some water flowing to the grow bed.
Im currently off-gassing the chlorine from the tap water. The pH is balanced, and Ive added some ammonia to start cycling. Hopefully in a few weeks this will be flowing!
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