Results 1 to 10 of 15

Threaded View

  1. #1
    Members
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Philadelphia, PA
    Posts
    8

    First build - Indoor vertical tower system

    Hey everyone,

    So I've been lurking on here for several months now but held off commenting or posting mostly because I was still trying to wrap my head around aquaponics conceptually before adding my .02. I absolutely love whats going on here and I am excited to read your posts as they are some of the best information on the web for aquaponics.

    So I finally decided to take the jump into designing and building my own system. I chose to design my own system on account of the facts that I am in the city (Philadelphia if anyone is from around here), have limited space, and want to grow all year round. This eliminates a lot of the designs on here that require a lot of space or require natural light. I appreciate any and all comments and feedback, especially if I am missing something stunningly obvious (which is something I am good at! ).

    So here's what I have so far.

    A four tower system with a 45 gallon tank using a 120GPH pump. Each tower is 3' tall and suspended directly over the fish tank. I have 1/2" PVC tubing for the plumbing and 4 1/2" ball valves, one for each tower. The towers will be filled with Hydroton and are hanging by sturdy steel hooks (and not so sturdy zip ties..) I am using this as a prototype for future (hopefully commercial) vertical tower systems so I am very flexible in what I want to plant, what fish to grow, and practically every other aspect of the build.

    Questions:
    1. Will this system work? Haha, loaded question and I'm sure it won't until I get some much needed critiques

    2. Should a system like this be a constant flow system or will I have to add a grow bed w/ bell siphon to make it an ebb/flow setup?

    3. Directly tied to how many/what type of plants I am growing, how many fish per plant would people recommend for a vertical system? I was planning on varying the number of holes in each tower to see which grow better but are there rules I should stick to?

    4. Is this pump going to be big enough to raise water 5+ feet in 1/2" pipes? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006M6 ... os_product

    I will continue to post updates as progress happens. Am I missing anything obvious or non obvious?

    Thanks for any input, looking forward to becoming a more active member!
    -J
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20130116_124513.jpg 
Views:	503 
Size:	1.96 MB 
ID:	3770   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	system.jpg 
Views:	493 
Size:	1.89 MB 
ID:	3771  
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Every time history repeats itself, the price goes up.

Similar Threads

  1. Indoor system
    By Roger L. in forum Back Yard Systems
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 10-29-2013, 06:48 PM
  2. 30 Gallon indoor system under vipar LED's
    By alex281 in forum Back Yard Systems
    Replies: 17
    Last Post: 08-08-2013, 10:38 AM
  3. My indoor build.
    By swanzyusmc in forum Back Yard Systems
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 01-23-2013, 04:09 PM
  4. Problems with indoor system
    By crosshairs in forum Back Yard Systems
    Replies: 17
    Last Post: 11-05-2012, 07:53 PM
  5. Evan's Indoor Nano-System
    By evanj in forum Back Yard Systems
    Replies: 25
    Last Post: 01-17-2010, 08:55 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •