a bunch of newbie questions

[15mules]

I think it goes without saying a smaller system is less stable, due to the small quantity of water involved. It takes a whole lot more ammonia to cause a rise in 5000 gallons than it does, in say 50, having said that. I think the smaller system will make you learn AP faster, in that you will not have as much room for mistakes, so you will either learn to keep things balanced and monitor your system correctly, or you will have a dead system. With a bigger system a person can probably get by a lot longer making mistakes, before it really shows up or causes a problem.

[Nikenik]

I think it goes without saying a smaller system is less stable, due to the small quantity of water involved. It takes a whole lot more ammonia to cause a rise in 5000 gallons than it does, in say 50, having said that. I think the smaller system will make you learn AP faster, in that you will not have as much room for mistakes, so you will either learn to keep things balanced and monitor your system correctly, or you will have a dead system. With a bigger system a person can probably get by a lot longer making mistakes, before it really shows up or causes a problem.

Seems like wisdom what you're saying. This setup is easy to aquire for me, just one trip to ikea and one trip to the hardware store for the plumbing and clay beads and it's up and running in a few hours. No need to rearrange your furniture, order stuff online, build a special stand for the growbeds etc.

And perhaps set my mind to that a smaller system is a bit harder to control and be prepared that I'll maybe have to start over again. Have found a place nearby that sells goldfish for about 2€ a piece, so no big economic crisis if I have to get more and start over. Would feel bad if I accidentally killed the fish though...

[15mules]

Yes, But think how much worse you would feel to start with a 2000' system and kill a large amount of fish and plants ( now we are talking a large financial loss), as you are learning!!! Much better to learn and experiment on a smaller system.

[Nikenik]

Exactly! Better to make, if any, mistakes in the beginning. Of course you'd want to live in the country, have a big ap-system and have a few fish and salads a week right away...
But if a system like that would fail I guess I could lose interest, and a lot of money... :P

Will start small and work my way up. If it goes well I could just by another setup just like it and run them side by side for some experimentation.

Would you change anything from the setup I linked?

I'm thinking about cover the outside of the growbed with aluminumfoil to keep out the sunlight from the roots but haven't found anything else in the design that could be made better.

[15mules]

I will be honest, I am going in kind of a different direction, as I am looking to start small (as in a small commercial setup 250-300') and then expand to a larger system next spring in the neighborhood of 3000'. I plan on all DWR, not media beds, although I may do a few media beds for experimentation, with different crops, such as tomatoes and fruiting plants. having said that, I think the system you are building is a great indoor system for areas with limited space. The only area of concern I see, as others have mentioned is the possible algae growth, due to the white (somewhat translucent container) with no cover. Personally, I may would spray paint the FT brown or some color that looked ok in your house and make some sort of cover for it, to keep the light down. i think in an indoor system that size though, some type of algae eater fish may also be an option?
Keep in mind also, even though you are building a media bed system, it does not hurt (is will be beneficial) to research other AP systems just to get a well rounded perspective of what can be done with AP. I am sure, if you are like the rest of us, once your system is up and running, guest will have lots of questions and you will also be so amazed at the opportunities AP presents that you will find yourself talking about AP, to anyone who will listen.
By the way, Thanks for Listening!!!

[Nikenik]

God idea about the lid for the fishtank. There is a lid that goes with the "antonius"-frame, think I'll buy that and maybe drill a few extra holes in it, or just have it sit askew on top of the fish tank.

I don't really care about what color looks good. Right now I kind of like alumunium foil (you call it "thin foil", right? Even though there isn't any thin in it...) Well, anyways. Alu-foil reflects light witch means I get a few lumens more out of my grow.lights in the winter time. Makes me think of the future as well...

Should the lid be white to let some light in, if the tank is lightproof on the sides, or is that to dark for the fish? The tank won't get that much sun it, just shade underneath my window.

About an algae eater that might be a good idea but I think I will start without them and just scrubbing the tank every now and then and let the algae get pumped up in the growbed and hopefully the worms, that I'll add, will eat the algae.
I think my local pet store charges 20-30€ for a small algae eating fish. And that's almost the price of the whole system!

[15mules]

No Tin in Tin foil, you are absolutely correct, just another of those American slang terms meant to confuse the rest of the world!!! I just know in today's modern society, some folks are really concerned about DECOR !! haha.!! Fish actually require very little light at all, so i would not worry to much about keeping the tank fairly dark. Have you ever been fishing, The fish do not stay out in the open, they hide under rocks where it is dark. In a small shallow tank they will probably feel much more secure in a darker covered tank, than in a open tank where every time you walk by, they think the "Predator can see them, and they have no place to escape being eaten by it. 20-30, WOW, maybe growing and selling Algae eaters is a good market in your area then??

[Nikenik]

No Tin in Tin foil, you are absolutely correct, just another of those American slang terms meant to confuse the rest of the world!!! I just know in today's modern society, some folks are really concerned about DECOR !! haha.!! Fish actually require very little light at all, so i would not worry to much about keeping the tank fairly dark. Have you ever been fishing, The fish do not stay out in the open, they hide under rocks where it is dark. In a small shallow tank they will probably feel much more secure in a darker covered tank, than in a open tank where every time you walk by, they think the "Predator can see them, and they have no place to escape being eaten by it. 20-30, WOW, maybe growing and selling Algae eaters is a good market in your area then??

Decor??? That's what the plants are there for!

Okay, rather more dark then light then.

Yes, the prices for aquarium fish is quite high around here. Big business I guess with all the things you can buy for your tank, those that just want pretty and exotic fish to display and don't really care bout the cost.
Breeding and selling exotic fish could perhaps be a great source of income in the future. There's a lot of used aquarium's for sale in the classifieds. That should mean people get tired of them, throw the fish out and sell the aquariums to someone else who has to buy new fish.

But first things first.

Small moves, Ellie. Small moves. /Contact 1997

[JCO]

That should mean people get tired of them, throw the fish out and sell the aquariums to someone else who has to buy new fish.

Usually what happens is misinformed/uninformed persons get enthusiastic about tropical fish because a friend/acquaintance has them and they are so pretty so they rush out and buy the entire show...tank, stand, hood, pumps, filters and anything else the salesman says they need and then they buy a bucket load of tropical fish and take it all home and try to set it all up complete with fish the same day.

Naturally the fish die and so they go back to the salesman and he starts selling them all kind of chemicals he says will prevent that from happening, OH and some more tropical fish.

They go home put in the chemicals (usually too much or not needed at all) and the fish and this time some of the fish miraculously survive for awhile. The tank gets dirty due partly to overfeeding and live plants that are no longer living littering the bottom of the tank and the misinformed/uninformed person gets tired of the continuous work at maintaining the tank and quites paying attention to it all together and then the rest of the fish die and now you have someone advertising a complete aquarium setup for sale.

The fish were not thrown out until they died right along with the misinformed/uninformed persons' interest.

[Nikenik]

JCO: It's a shame that business is built upon the death of so many innocent fish. Big business anyhow...