Roger R.
02-10-2013, 05:44 PM
My wife and I had been planning to move to a place with more land, and possibilities, but after an unexpected career change it looks like we'll be staying here for a while. We like living in this community but they have some very tight restrictions about what you can build in your back yard. My square footage allowed is only a small percentage of the lot size and our lot is small, I can only build 138 sq.ft.
My plan is to build a 7'-8"x18' greenhouse to house an aquaponics system. The North roof, side and half of each end will be insulated and the rest will be covered in 8mm, triple wall, polycarbonate. It will have a 6/12 roof pitch with some type of operable ridge vent, still working on that design. The 6" side overhang soffit will operable for ventilation and it will have some type of operable door at the base just above the outside raised bed.
I still like dirt gardening so I plan to have a 2' wide raised bed across the South side with three 4'x8' raised beds coming out to the South. Here's a drawing.
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/greenhouse_zpsa96291ca.jpg
The inside will have a single IBC fish tank, a sump tank under the front grow beds and a couple of barrel fiters. The grow bed on the North side will set on a row of plastic water barrels for winter heat gain. Those barrels are not tied into the aquaponics system. The North growbed is 2'x14' and divided into two sections. The South growbed is about 2'-10"x14' and is set lower. All the barrels will be black.
My plan is to have a sump tank close to the same size as the fish tank. The fish tank will be a constant height and the system will have two pumps. One pump will continuously circulate from the sump, through the fish tank, filters and back to the sump. The second pump will be for a timed flood and drain to the growbeds, pumped from the sump and will drain back to the sump. That's why the sump will be about the same size as the fish tank. I'm thinking about raising hybrid bluegill in the IBC tank and may be throw a couple of catfish in the sump
Here's an interior look without the roof and polycarbonate. I'm not good enough with Sketchup yet to add in all the framing but I'm planning to have a rigid wood frame every 6' and purlins.
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/interior_zpsdd2409cd.jpg
All the material from cleaning the filters will be used to fertilize the dirt garden.
I will plant sweet corn, sunflowers and other tall plants in the first outside bed to help shade the green house through the summer but I will probably have to use some shade cloth as well.
Anyway I hope to get this built before the cold weather next fall and get the aquaponics underway. My little indoor system is going great and I can't wait to try it on a larger scale.
Any questions and suggestions are welcome.
My plan is to build a 7'-8"x18' greenhouse to house an aquaponics system. The North roof, side and half of each end will be insulated and the rest will be covered in 8mm, triple wall, polycarbonate. It will have a 6/12 roof pitch with some type of operable ridge vent, still working on that design. The 6" side overhang soffit will operable for ventilation and it will have some type of operable door at the base just above the outside raised bed.
I still like dirt gardening so I plan to have a 2' wide raised bed across the South side with three 4'x8' raised beds coming out to the South. Here's a drawing.
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/greenhouse_zpsa96291ca.jpg
The inside will have a single IBC fish tank, a sump tank under the front grow beds and a couple of barrel fiters. The grow bed on the North side will set on a row of plastic water barrels for winter heat gain. Those barrels are not tied into the aquaponics system. The North growbed is 2'x14' and divided into two sections. The South growbed is about 2'-10"x14' and is set lower. All the barrels will be black.
My plan is to have a sump tank close to the same size as the fish tank. The fish tank will be a constant height and the system will have two pumps. One pump will continuously circulate from the sump, through the fish tank, filters and back to the sump. The second pump will be for a timed flood and drain to the growbeds, pumped from the sump and will drain back to the sump. That's why the sump will be about the same size as the fish tank. I'm thinking about raising hybrid bluegill in the IBC tank and may be throw a couple of catfish in the sump
Here's an interior look without the roof and polycarbonate. I'm not good enough with Sketchup yet to add in all the framing but I'm planning to have a rigid wood frame every 6' and purlins.
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/interior_zpsdd2409cd.jpg
All the material from cleaning the filters will be used to fertilize the dirt garden.
I will plant sweet corn, sunflowers and other tall plants in the first outside bed to help shade the green house through the summer but I will probably have to use some shade cloth as well.
Anyway I hope to get this built before the cold weather next fall and get the aquaponics underway. My little indoor system is going great and I can't wait to try it on a larger scale.
Any questions and suggestions are welcome.