The Perfect Marriage...
It's seems so simple enough...but we all know it's a lot of work...takes alot of time....and alot of tender lovering care...oh yeah and thought..!!

This is my very first Hydroponic System that I am hoping to set up to provide lettuce and spring mix for a café/deli that I own in Downtown LA. I’m hoping to capitalize on the marketing value of “OrganiCali Home Grown”.

Ok…so here’s my concept, which in theory will incorporate aquaponics with vermiponics. I hope to set up a Recirculating Deep Water Culture (RDWC) system in my garage. And it goes without saying that I’m going to need all the help and assistance I can get from all you guys with all the experience. I will be reading through the information and posts that are available here and through the web. But I would like to make this my forum home to post my progress and results.

My concept starts with a 3 tiered pallet rack at least 78” tall and 96” wide. A 100 gallon reservoir (fish tank) will be on the floor under the first tier approximately 24” from the floor. The first and second tier will hold 4’x8’ grow trays, which are about 5.5” deep, with a 24” clearance as well. The third tier will hold 3 - 14gl worm bins.

My initial plan consists of pumping the water from the fish tank into the worm beds and then have the worm beds drain into the top grow bed which will drain into the bottom grow bed, which in turn will drain back into the fish tank..?? Sounds simple enough huh..??
I plan to initially fill the reservoir with my fish tanks water as I clean them for the first couple of weeks to help to establish the system with beneficial bacteria and necessary microorganisms, in hopes to skip through or speed up the initial cycling process. And then go fishing with my son at one of the local fish farms in our area to see if we can stock it up that way.

I will read through the Aquaponics 101 by Oliver and incorporate his instructions into my design as best I can. I will also read through the other posts to see if I can find any helpful ideas to incorporate to keep the fish and plants healthy. One thing that Oliver mentioned during our brief initial phone conversation was a biofilter, so I will be looking for ways to incorporate a design that will enable my worm beds to act as that very thing, or possibly flow into one and then into the grow trays.

Let me know what you think of the idea and any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated. Time has become of the essence, so I will begin purching equipment by the end of this week.

Thanks for all your help.

Anthony..