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kneedeepinwater
08-29-2011, 01:18 PM
Hello everyone! My aquaponics farm journey has started :D Well I actually got started about 3-4 weeks ago and I have some pics to show some of the progress. I am starting out with a 26x48 greenhouse and in the future I have 5 acres I would like to expand on to.

The beginning


http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04599.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04594.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04598.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04600.jpg

I have plenty more pics to add but I was just informed more rain might be on the way so I have to go back outside to get some more work in. More pics to come soon....

davidstcldfl
08-29-2011, 02:06 PM
Congratulations...Very cool Kneedeep.... :mrgreen:

If you happen to think of it, next time posting pictures....If your using photobucket....they give a choice on the picture size. One size smaller, makes it fit into the page size better, Thanks Kneedeep.. :D

urbanfarmer
08-29-2011, 02:55 PM
WOW congrats! I am jealous! :-D Keep the pics coming!!!

kneedeepinwater
08-29-2011, 05:45 PM
Okay, I'm back! Eastern North Carolina is getting pounded with storms. We had hurricane Irene over the weekend she was a category 1, not much I know compared to some areas but it's not something you look forward to while your in the middle of putting up a greenhouse :shock: The only damage received over the weekend was one of the polycarbonate panels on the end was torn out. I will try to fix it or just buy another 4x8 piece.

Today when I went back out to do some more work, a thunderstorm came in with A LOT of wind and rain, tornado warnings, etc.
I got caught out in the storm while trying to clean things up and we had enough wind where it pushed the bottom of the end frame inside the greenhouse and about 2 feet or so in the air. The look on my face priceless!! Thank God not much damage was done, it tore the end frame and bolts out the ground post it was connected to on one side and twisted one of the long tubes a little. It might sound a little worse than it actually was those because everything is put back and drove some extra metal pieces in the ground in front of the frame for the time being. I will have to order another support bracket for the end wall frame part that was ripped loose from the ground post, but everything else seems to be good to go.

So now that I am done with all of that on to the pics of the progess :D

Thanks UF and david for the nice comments :)
I will also do my best to down size the pics I am using photobucket.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04603.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04605.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04606.jpg

urbanfarmer
08-29-2011, 06:08 PM
Glad you survived!

You should try Florida. We have some of the nicest hurricanes in the country! :-D The worst part is the hurricanes make the sinkholes open up! Talk about bad timing! :lol:

kneedeepinwater
08-29-2011, 06:22 PM
I can only imagine! I have only heard horror stories about sinkholes. I know Florida catches hell when hurricanes show up.

As you can see I am having issues resizing the photos. I will keep trying. Sorry everyone.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04607.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04612.jpg

I have more pics but I can't get them to re-size. Any idea what might be going on? I click the re-size tab and click on 640x480 and then copy the image link but I just keep getting the huge pics. When I figure it out I will continue posting.

Sorry for the delay

JCO
08-29-2011, 07:18 PM
Stop taking pictures and go back to work :shock: :o :lol: :lol: :mrgreen:

urbanfarmer
08-29-2011, 07:59 PM
Stop taking pictures and go back to work :shock: :o :lol: :lol: :mrgreen:NO! MORE PICTURES NOW! :lol:

P.S. I prefer the large pictures you had in the first post. :-D

kneedeepinwater
08-30-2011, 05:53 AM
I will, I will ... back to work in a few :D

Demanding of pictures is ALLOWED :lol:

Hole for sump being dug and completed. The hole is 40'x5'x5'.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04613.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04610.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04611.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04615.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04616.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04614.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04617.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04618.jpg

More pics to come....

davidstcldfl
08-30-2011, 08:10 AM
Looks deeper then 'kneedeep'.... :P So...I guess your pretty serious about this... :shock:

In FL. that trench would of started to cave in...(we have to stair step the sides, to help prevent cave ins)
Or, at least there would be some water in the bottom... :lol:

Wow, can't wait to see the rest of the build... :mrgreen:

bsfman
08-30-2011, 10:02 AM
Great begionning, Kneedeep! What kind of fish are yoiu going to use? What crops are you planning?

kneedeepinwater
08-30-2011, 02:42 PM
@david Heck yeah I'm serious :mrgreen: We were joking after it was finished about it being perfect for an endless pool (the ones you see on TV) I always complain about the clay because it's so hard, but I guess it's good to have in this case :D

@ bsfman Thanks! I plan on starting with Tilapia, hopefully if all goes well and I can expand I may venture into stripe bass also. As far as crops go I plan on a few different tomatoes, lettuces, cucumbers, okra, carrots, peppers, basil, eggplant, and maybe some watercress.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04619.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04620.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04621.jpg

More pics to come, I have to upload some from my cell phone to photobucket. Want to try and keep them in some order :-)

urbanfarmer
08-30-2011, 05:26 PM
Very neat! I feel like I'm right there with ya (and I wish I was)! :lol: Keep 'em comin!

JCO
08-30-2011, 06:51 PM
Did you do the planning on the degree of north and south facing of the green house so as to keep it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter? :mrgreen:

kneedeepinwater
08-30-2011, 07:28 PM
Thanks for all of the kind remarks :)

@UF I wish you were here too LOL! Besides my old lady helping me put the rafters up everything else has been done by my one man team...ME :D It has been a lot of fun I must say!! :mrgreen:

@JCO No :o I didn't.....I don't know what is facing what but I know the greenhouse gets sun ALL DAY long from sun up till sun down. I hope I can keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/981270744_photobucket_67527_.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04623.jpg



http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/DSC04622.jpg

We received quite a bit of rain for a couple days and this is how things looked afterwards(This is about 2 weeks before Irene). I decided to buy a 1/4hp sump pump from HD after this. Anybody up for a swim? :lol:

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/981270744_photobucket_67537_.jpg

davidstcldfl
08-31-2011, 04:43 AM
Kneedeep wrote....More pics to come, I have to upload some from my cell phone to photobucket. Want to try and keep them in some order .
Yes, we are hooked now.. :P ...we need our fix.....more pictures ! We are all 'there' helping you to build it... :D

I send picture texts to my email account/computer...then I can date them and store them in 'My pictures'....of course, then they can then be sent to photobucket. Plus, it's fun to pull out the phone and show pictures to 'everyone'...even strangers that you meet .... :lol:

'How did we ever survive with...ah, what was it called ?.....Oh yeah.. 'film' ! :lol:

kneedeepinwater
08-31-2011, 06:19 PM
I forgot to tell you guys that the sump hole is lower at one end than the other, I hope this helps to catch some of the solids. I will have everything drain into the lowest point of the sump.

Also just in case any of you might be interested I used a product named Petri-Wood on the baseboards (boards at bottom of the greenhouse) as a trial. I was going to use it on the sump wood also instead of buying treated but i figured I better not risk that. I'll see how the baseboards hold up and maybe use it in the future when building another sump. The baseboard is untreated wood sprayed with petri-wood and seems to be holding up fine compared to some untreated wood that i have lying off to the side that is already being eaten by termites in some spots on the wood. We'll see 8-)

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/981270744_photobucket_67539_.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/981270744_photobucket_67541_.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/981270744_photobucket_67551_.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/981270744_photobucket_67543_.jpg

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/981270744_photobucket_67542_.jpg

kneedeepinwater
08-31-2011, 06:30 PM
So after I pumped all that water out of the sump this is what was left in the bottom, so out came shovels. The entire bottom was actually covered with all that thick mud.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/981270744_photobucket_67550_.jpg

And this is the last picture that I have. I am a little further along than this pic but I haven't taken any recently plus with the weather we had recently I haven't been able to do much.

I plan to back fill around the sump tank with the dirt you see on the sides and the rest will be gravel. Hopefully the gravel will help with drainage and the wood will last longer.

http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/pureharmonyaquaponics/981270744_photobucket_67547_.jpg

urbanfarmer
08-31-2011, 06:34 PM
I REALLY want to SEE what's next!!! :-D

kneedeepinwater
09-20-2011, 06:54 PM
Hi everyone! Hope all is well. I have some updated pics I will post real soon but I had a couple of questions and was looking for some advice before I make any moves. I need to buy a pump and was wondering how many GPH you guys would recommend. I plan on having two 550 gallon tanks for the fish which gives me a total of 1100 gallons.

I plan to have 48 media beds that contain hydroton or gravel and possibly 4 rows 40ft long with maybe 5-6 nft channels in each row. What size pump would you recommend. I saw a 5100 gph pump for a good price. Would that be enough?

Thanks for the advice and updates are coming soon!

stucco
09-20-2011, 07:09 PM
Make sure the pump that you are looking at is oil less and fish safe. I’ve learned this the hard way (a couple times.) I’m not sure, but I think it is more efficient to run two small pumps vs. one big one???

stucco
09-20-2011, 07:16 PM
I’ve had the most luck with the Danner so far. The parts are easy to get and the service folk are easy to get along with.
http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories ... rive-Pumps (http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/1191/Danner-Supreme-Mag-Drive-Pumps)

kneedeepinwater
09-20-2011, 09:17 PM
I will double check but I think it is oil less and fish safe. It is pond pump that you might use in a koi pond. Would 5100 gph be enough for what I have planned?

Also could you please explain the two smaller pumps vs. one large pump???

Thanks

stucco
09-21-2011, 02:00 AM
I’m running 8 large beds with a cheap lows 3600 gph pump