Hello from FL

[bdotmill]

Hi all,
So I've just recently found out about the great idea of aquaponics. I hope to find out a ton of information from this site. I've already begun configuring a basic setup, but I'd like to learn more about the actual science behind the growth before I jump into. Thanks in advance for all the help.
-Brandon

[urbanfarmer]

Greetings Earthling, and welcome to the addiction!

[Basil1]

Hello back from Florida

[bsfman]

Welcome to the forum Brandon! Lot's of us Floridians here. Where in Florida are you?

[bdotmill]

I'm in New Port Richey now. Not too terribly far from basil.

[alex281]

Welcome to the forum!

[bdotmill]

So I wasn't sure where to post this, but I figured I'd get some advice on a design I came up with.



So basically the bottom tub is a 100gal tub that I plan to throw some tilapia in. It's then going to be pumped up into that T and then flow into some 4" sewer piping that's going to house some strawberries or something like that. As it flows through that it's going to drain into the grow bed (20gal each). The grow bed is going to house some lettuce, maybe some broccoli and/or tomatoes. Then as it fills up there's a bell siphon to suck it all back into the fish tub. I'm not sure on exact details of how much flow and what the fill drain times on the grow beds will be, but I do know the pump will constantly be pumping. Any feedback would be good because I'm not even sure if this will be successful, I just figured it looked pretty sweet and seemed like a decent idea. Thanks guys.

[davidstcldfl]

Hi bdotmill, welcome to the forum...

I like how you put a ball valve before each nft...that way you can make sure each one gets the same flow.

Pumping to the nft tubes 1st, could be a problem with the roots getting covered with fish pooh. You might be able to put the pump in some kind of a filter box.

Normally the media beds act as the fliters for the solids. That's why the 'rule of thumb' is (at least) a 1:1 ratio. In your design, you only have 40% of the 'normally' recomended amount of media bed area.
You can over come the ratio issue by 2 things...
If you do use some kind of a filter box on the pump, that will help some, especially if you end up with 'scuds' in the filter material. Here in FL, it's very likely they'll show up on their own ..
Also, keeping your fish density low, would help too.

[bsfman]

So I wasn't sure where to post this, but I figured I'd get some advice on a design I came up with.



So basically the bottom tub is a 100gal tub that I plan to throw some tilapia in. It's then going to be pumped up into that T and then flow into some 4" sewer piping that's going to house some strawberries or something like that. As it flows through that it's going to drain into the grow bed (20gal each). The grow bed is going to house some lettuce, maybe some broccoli and/or tomatoes. Then as it fills up there's a bell siphon to suck it all back into the fish tub. I'm not sure on exact details of how much flow and what the fill drain times on the grow beds will be, but I do know the pump will constantly be pumping. Any feedback would be good because I'm not even sure if this will be successful, I just figured it looked pretty sweet and seemed like a decent idea. Thanks guys.

Nice design. The only suggestion I would offer is to build the GB supports to the ground surrounding the FT rather than the top edge of the FT. When full of media and water, the GB's will be too heavy to be supported by the FT edge like you have it shown.

[davidstcldfl]

Bsfman made a great point.

I was surprised how fast the weight can add up. I've used these tubs for shallow media beds, they are aprox 20 gals....
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... =202086174

I weighed the river rock as I filled one of the tubs. It was over 230 lbs, just for the rock in one tub...