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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Backyard Landscaping DIY or Hire a Professional

The most important thing of your backyard landscape is the well-being of you and your family. Among the various reasons people use for building a backyard landscape is to change the look and feel of their home. It is a wonderful way to add peace to your life whether you have a big family or you live alone.  A beautiful landscape is like a sanctuary, which is everyones dream.

Backyard Landscaping isnt a very hard job. You can do it by your own or you can hire a professional to do your job. If you dont have much experience I suggest you start with a help of a professional. In most cases people screw up big time and end up paying much more. The learning can be pretty intense.  Another option would be to start a crash course on landscaping or try out different online resources which can be pretty cheap.

If you are pretty determined to do it yourself here is one online resource which I want to mention. It is an online landscape resource by Helen Whitefield called Ideas 4 Landscaping. This will guide you through more than 7000 photographs, and  step-by-step videos of practical landscaping.


Do the simple and straightforward process by yourself; leave the complex ones like irrigation, etc. to the professionals. Many things can be over the head especially for a beginner. Best way is to do the part you are comfortable doing yourself. With time you will be able to do most of your things by yourself.

Read books from public libraries or buy from online resources like Amazon, Watch videos of people doing landscaping.

Enjoy the whole process. As I told earlier the best part of having a landscape is the peace of mind for you and your family.


Read more on Landscaping: 

Landscaping for Beginners
Basics of A Rain Garden

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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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SUN or NO SUN

Light (sunlight or artificial light) is one of the most important factors of Gardening. In the presence of light plants bind water and carbon Di-oxide(CO2) into sugar which is being used as food.
This sugar is also used to form new cells, to thicken cell walls and to develop flowers and fruits. Plants effectiveness to produce sugar is normally proportional to the intensity of light (until its too hot or too cold to survive).

In case the plant bears fruits or flowers, it requires much more energy than those which only grow leaves.
If there is a short supply of light even healthy and green looking plant may never yield any flower or fruit, which is definitely a problem with vegetables like Tomatoes or Beans.
In case you are only interested in the leaves (like in the case of spinach or lettuce) Light might not be a major issue.

Keep the plants to a minimum of six to eight hours in direct light in case you are looking for fruits. The results can be very frustrating if you try to grow Tomatoes, Eggplants or peepers in the shade. There is a fair chance that you might come up with a good and healthy green plant without any fruit.

Root crops such as beets, Carrots, Radishes do well in partial shade as they store up their energy before they flower. Plants like Lettuceand Spinach are mostly tolerant of shade. In case of very hot and bright light they need protection.

Only Mushrooms can be produced in total darkness.

I hope the article has cleared some doubts regarding sunlight exposure of the plant. If you have any other query please provide your feedback in the form of comments.

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