Grow Bed Questions and Greetings from GA

[ugaponics]

Hello and greetings from Atlanta. I currently have an AP system on my screen porch growing lettuce and raising bluegill. The system is a CHIFT PIST flood and drain system with 4 18 gallon sterilite containers filled with hydroton as grow beds and a 60 gallon rain barrel at a constant volume of 40 gallons as a fish tank with a 54 gallon rubbermaid tote as a sump tank. The system is fully cycled and everything is working out fine besides a sunlight problem which I have mitigated with some natural light bulbs I got at Home Depot. I'm running the system as part of an independent study at my high school and am now very excited as I have gotten approval to build a system in my high school greenhouse. I'm planning on using two 110 gallon polythylene troughs for my fish tanks, but am still looking for an ideal grow bed. The space that I have will probably fit two large grow beds per fish tank and so far the most promising grow bed I've come across is the Rubbermaid 50 gallon trough. However, I am operating on a school provided budget and the cost of 4 of these grow beds plus the troughs for my fish tanks will probably run over that budget. Any suggestions on a cheaper grow bed/fish tank?

[cspaugh]

IBC totes for tank and beds, 55 gallon barrels split in two for beds, old bathtubs, hot tubs, 5gallon buckets, there are plenty of these items availible for cheap and sometimes free if you look hard enough. Tell people what you are doing and see if you can get parts and pieces donated for your school project. I would be able to help you in setting this project up if you need a hand. Shoot me a line, I live right down the road.

[davidstcldfl]

Hi ugaponics...

cspaugh already mentioned IBC's for fish tanks. They don't take up much room. Aprox 4 x 3 1/2 feet...and they hold about 250 gallons of water. (if you don't cut off the top for a grow bed)

For grow beds, instead of 'rubbermaid brand', try 'tuff stuff' brand at tractor supply. Their 40 gallon tub is 1/2 the cost of a 50 gal rubbermaid. They are 13" deep.

Also think about these pond tubs at home depot....
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R ... reId=10051
They are about the same price as the tuff stuff tubs. They are 15 inches deep. I think they have a little more surface area, so you can get a few extra plants in them.

I've used both of the tubs I mentioned. They both seem to work well for media beds.
Good luck...

[JCO]

Build your own grow beds out of 2' X 4's and plywood. Line it with black plastic, sit it on concrete blocks and you are done.

[ugaponics]

Awesome, thanks for your help! I'll post pictures once I've got it all set up...

[NeverResting]

If you're really on a budget you can probably incorporate used pallet wood too. It will be a little more work getting the lumber off them or you can keep them whole and use them as a base. Build up some walls on them. As for liner if you're not looking for years of puncture resistance you can check out Home Depot for 6 mil poly. It's much less durable but cheaper than EPDM liner. If you are looking to get EPDM liner, a cheaper alternative is to find a friend who's a roofer and have them get you some from the roofing supply distributor. It's the same exact material/thickness as EPDM pond liner but online sources for pond liner are more expensive. Good luck and post pics.

[davidstcldfl]

It will be a little more work getting the lumber off them

I saw a video on you tube, where a guy made a special pry bar 'just for' pallets. Looked pretty simple and worked well...

[Patdaman]

Thanks for the tipabout tractor supply I went there the other day and bought 2 grain storage cans to use for a swirl filter and a bio-mass filter. very good quality heavy duty stuff.