My aquaponics adventure, kind of

Indoor Growing Hydroponics
#1

so I’m trying to start a few things and thus is what I’ve been up to with aquaponics.

I have a friend who is experienced with it, and he is helping with the design and build.

I started with a home made bunk bed, put some sides on the top, lined it with plastic. I need to get thicker playoff next time. I looked up how much hydroton was and went with pea gravel. that stuff is expensive! I put a 2" drain into a 55 gallon drum. a pump from the drum to a 4 gallon bucket, that has a drain to a “t” that runs the width of the bed with a bunch of holes to let the water out. here are some pics.

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2023: The Year in Review
#2

Nice one what an interesting concept. Actually makes quite a good frame :+1:

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#3

I attached some side to give it depth. the pea gravel was a huge pain to wash. I used 8 bags and it was very dirty.

I’m doing the first run as a flood and drain table. make sure it works, then do the fish.

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#4

When I used to run with a live rez I mixed in lava rock for my media. Its very porous, which is great for beneficial bacteria and pretty cheap.

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#5

my plan is to section off the back of the garage. build temporary walls so I can regulate Temps better. that’s been a problem for me for a while. but, just as soon as I start, the in-laws (the owner of the house) need to get an appraisal done… so take some things down until after. it’s always somthing.
good news is I have about 45 clones ready to go in the table.

I bought the parts to build 2 4x4 led lights. just waiting on the aluminum bar stock to stick them to.

next will be starting the tissue culture to make clones.

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#6

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: I’m very interested in learning your methodology and approach towards tissue culture…

Nice setup. Wishing you the best in your aquaponics endeavours…

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#7

Definitely cool. This is one of the few methods I haven’t tried. Down for this for sure. Nice.

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#8

I’ll start a new thread for the tissue culture. I bought a starter kit online, but everything I have watched and read is about the same, process wise. keep everything as clean as possible, agar with veg hormones, then clip the sprouts, then agar with rooting hormones.

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#9

the big difference with setup is in not looking for big plants. I’m looking for many single cola plants. I have 45 little clones ready to go I’ll give them one week to acclimate then right into flower. I should have no problem getting half an ounce from each. that’s almost a pound and a half. if things go really well, that could double. no popcorn buds, just the tops.

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#10

I’ll definitely be following this post! This is very interesting. And what do you mean by fish like actual live fish? I’m pretty new to everything all I know is soil and hydro. :sweat_smile:

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#11

yep, actual fish. I feed the fish. they pee in the water, microbes change it to nitrites, then nitrates, then nitrogen. that feeds the plants. I have to test the water more often for all those things along with ph, ppm. a little more work, less money on food.

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#12

Ooooo, Aquaponics. I wanted to get into this for vegetables as well as the aquaculture. Cold winters killed the profit margin for me though. I’d have to go indoor lobster farm, and that’s pretty foul smelling. Super neat, but you need a good source of manure to keep the levels right.

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#13

This is rad! Wishing you tremendous success! Have you settled on which type(s) of fish you will be working with? Much love

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#14

the guy I’m working with says talapia is the first choice, or some type of carp. any fish is only good until they reach maturity, then the ammonia drops way down. you need to change your fish. I like eating fish though. :slight_smile:

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#15

I feel like tilapia would taste much better over carp.

Very interesting project. Are you going to run any kind of sand filter, or anything for filtration?

If you can pull it off I think it’s really awesome.

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#16

the bucket above the table will have car sponges in it for microbial growth. other than that, I don’t have a filter.

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#17

Well very cool project.

Have you tried anything like this before?

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#18

I do dwc. I’ve had good results with that. the only issue is keeping consistent water and air Temps. for this setup in building a room in the back of the garage. insulated and heated. I’ll know this winter if it works :slight_smile:

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#19

That’s awesome! I use my fish tank water but never have thought about that!

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#20

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OK, all the things that have gotten in the way of setting up are done. I took all 45 of my clones and put them on the table.

electric sub panel is run and everything is on its own breaker now.

here it is!

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