Page 1 of 10 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 98
  1. #1
    Members
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Longview Tx
    Posts
    52

    Im building a 144 sq ft grow bed system.

    we are in the process of building a 144 sq ft grow bed. we have 12 icb totes for grow beds,and we have a 500 gallon in ground fish tank. we have a 200 gallon sump tank. we are going to use a 2000 gph sump pump and a 1744 gph air pump. we are going to use pea gravel for the media. and blue gill for the fish. we are going to use the flood and drain system. if you see something we are doing wrong. please let me know
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	A1_1.jpg 
Views:	595 
Size:	706.6 KB 
ID:	3882  
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2
    Members
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Fairport Harbor, Ohio
    Posts
    1,073

    Re: Im building a 144 sq ft grow bed system.

    pea gravel may tend to clog.. a good size for media is 1/2" to 3/4" or so..
    how much media do your growbeds hold? kind of hard to tell with the pic, but it kind of looks like your sump may be a little small for the job?
    fyi, if your media beds are 100gallons, then it will take about 40 gallons of water to "flood" each one.. x 12 gbs, that's almost 500 gallons to flood all the beds at once..
    how are you plumbing this up?

  3. #3
    Moderator JCO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Orange Park, Florida
    Posts
    1,830

    Re: Im building a 144 sq ft grow bed system.

    The one problem I see is the piers holding up the grow beds. Once you ad your media and water, you may need some additional piers under the middle. Also, you overhang over (I guess it's the in-ground fish tank) may be a bit too long because of the weight and not enough support. You are talking about a considerable amount of weight with media and water. As for media, red lava rock is light and excellent for grow beds.

    Also, be sure to level and re-level with shims length ways and cross ways about ever 1 to 2 feet or you will wind up with puddling in your grow beds.

    Additionally what are your Bluegill use to for food...live or pellet. If it is live food you could run into the same problem our member WATERBOY has Crappie are picky eaters!!

    Keep the pictures and up dates coming.

    Also go to your profile and put in where you are located. There may be other members close by who might want to lend a hand.

    Good Luck
    JCO
    Irish eyes are always smiling but
    • "In the eyes of the world, you are only as good as your last success"
    so never forget
    • "MAN IS ONLY LIMITED BY HIS IMAGINATION"

  4. #4
    Members
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Longview Tx
    Posts
    52

    Re: Im building a 144 sq ft grow bed system.

    Yes we used 2 x 6 all the way around the structure. we used 4 x 6 on that long span across the sump tank. we have already done a small system with two grow bed the same size and we can out to about 17 gallons of water per grow bed after the pea gravel was in place. the sump tank is a 275 gallon ibc tote. i just about got the plumbing done yesterday. we are going to put the media in today i hope. i have a MD 3200 sump pump to use. It will do about 2000 gph at 7ft of head. i hope it works out good. it had good ratings on it and a good graph. i bought it on half off ponds website. we are using floating catfish food in the small system we have now. they seem to tear it up. lol
    Attached Images Attached Images

  5. #5
    Members
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Longview Tx
    Posts
    52

    Re: Im building a 144 sq ft grow bed system.

    I finally got most of the media in and worked on the upper plumbing. We had a few leaks to fix but no biggie.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  6. #6
    Moderator JCO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Orange Park, Florida
    Posts
    1,830

    Re: Im building a 144 sq ft grow bed system.

    Looking great...keep the updates and photos coming
    JCO
    Irish eyes are always smiling but
    • "In the eyes of the world, you are only as good as your last success"
    so never forget
    • "MAN IS ONLY LIMITED BY HIS IMAGINATION"

  7. #7
    Members TMorgan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Albemarle, NC
    Posts
    41

    Re: Im building a 144 sq ft grow bed system.

    Looking good, keep the pics coming. I wish I had space lived that, instead of being an urbanite confined to my little back yard. Of course my little construction has managed to really confuse the neighbors to if I was building a pool or a multi level hot tube.

  8. #8
    Aquaponics 101 Oliver's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Show Low, AZ USA
    Posts
    251

    Re: Im building a 144 sq ft grow bed system.

    I have a problem with the piers. You should not place those kind of bricks on end for they have no strength that way. They should only be placed with the holes running vertical. They are subject to collapsing the way you have them. The brick wall where the wood contacts them is very weak and has no shear strength. Once you add all the gravel and water they will most likely fail.

    Oliver
    To measure is to know

  9. #9
    Members
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Longview Tx
    Posts
    52

    Re: Im building a 144 sq ft grow bed system.

    We have just got the system up and running through the weekend. We have all the rock cleaned out pretty good. We are going to get water from our existing pond tomorrow. I am trying to put a video up but i think it to big. i'm trying to put it up on youtube. i will let you know if i can figure it out.





    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	19 photo.jpg 
Views:	324 
Size:	46.1 KB 
ID:	4860   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20photo.jpg 
Views:	294 
Size:	43.0 KB 
ID:	4861   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	22photo.jpg 
Views:	340 
Size:	56.7 KB 
ID:	4862  

  10. #10
    Members
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Longview Tx
    Posts
    52

    Re: Im building a 144 sq ft grow bed system.

    Sorry about that the pic was upside down.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	19 photo.jpg 
Views:	321 
Size:	43.2 KB 
ID:	4859  

Similar Threads

  1. Building Gary's system
    By davidstcldfl in forum Back Yard Systems
    Replies: 45
    Last Post: 01-03-2015, 01:05 AM
  2. Building first new system
    By mharmon0011 in forum Want To Know HOW TO..?
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 12-22-2013, 09:25 PM
  3. Started building my system
    By MRowsh in forum Want To Know HOW TO..?
    Replies: 24
    Last Post: 04-20-2012, 10:17 AM
  4. Building my 1st system
    By Walt in forum SUMP
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 08-17-2011, 12:24 PM
  5. New guy building system right now
    By Brier in forum The Welcome Lounge
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 10-10-2010, 08:20 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
  •