Aquaponics 6: Making it pretty!

Hello all,
Finished of the construction part, and even did some fancy paintjob with some dark paint I had in the basement...

 Very stable....

Looking oh so pretty. Unfortunately, it turned out that the paint was not that water resistant (good thing I didn't paint the Growbed inside!), so every time I splashed water around some paint would rub of afterwards. Oh well, once it is finished I'll repaint...




Cost so far: 8$ for the silicone used.

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 5: Draining Water

Hello all,
So, once we've pumped all that water into the growbed, the plants have eaten (drunk?) all the nutrients, where should the water then go? Well back to the fish in the tank, hopefully. So here is my impromptu draining system...

 And no, the firetruck is not part of the system. And hopefully there will be no need for such drastic measures in the future.
The drain is located in the furthest corner from the where the water is pumped into the system:

Well, you can't see it ont he above picture because I forgot to take one of the drain.
I also made an emergency drain in the hole on the left, this also drains directly into the fish tank below, so if something should clog the normal drain this should, hopefully, be enough. I really hope. 14 gallons may not look like much, but on the floor of an apartment it is quite enough, thank you very much!


Cost so far: 8$ for the silicone used.

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper

Aquaponics 4: Fancy plans gets siliconed...

Hello all,
So now the time has come to turn my free growbed (AKA plastic milktray-thingie) into a true grow bed:

As the thing is smaller than I would have preferred and I want to increase the little amount of water I can send through the constant flood-system I decided to get sneaky... Also because I like to complicate things. A lot.

So I silicone "glued" three pieces of Acryl plastic into it to form a small maze. This should (...) force the water through as much os the Leca Grow medium as possible. Oh, and using Aquarium safe silicone, always.

Proof of concept. Well sort of. The water ran much to fast through so I decided to close tha gaps and drill smalle holes for the water. Really wish I had done this more carefully. I think this will come back to haunt me...

 Also I found out (with only a few liters of water on the floor) that I would need to plug up those holes for the hands at each end. Again I really wish I had done a better job at this. And here you can see what type of stuff you find within hands reach when needing something to weigh down pesky things :-).

Oh well, its only a test and its not like the water will ruin anything, right? Right?

Cost so far: 8$ for the silicone as my old stash had dried out (why does it always do that. Argh!).

For those not yet privy to the fascinating world of Aquaponics here is what information Wikipedia provides:

Aquaponicsis a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals. The term aquaponics is a portmanteau of the terms aquaculture and hydroponic.
Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor or outdoor units to large commercial units, using the same technology. The systems usually contain fresh water, but salt water systems are plausible depending on the type of aquatic animal and which plants. Aquaponic science may still be considered to be at an early stage, relative to other sciences.

Basicly, this translates into let the fish shit, let the plants grow on the shit and clean the water, and then eat all the plants yourself... more or less....

All the best,
Kasper