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Thread: Getting started

  1. #1
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    Getting started

    Our aquaponics system is still in the imagination stage but I'd like to pass a few ideas along to see if the spaghetti sticks to the wall.

    We live in a rural area of southwestern Georgia, USA. The winters are very mild and the summers are hot and humid. We have plenty of room and I am eyeing the area next to our house for a covered aquaponics system bordering on the large, potentially small commercial size. The area I am looking at has easy access to both electricity and "city" water. I'd rather a well but that's only in the cards if the system warrants it and it is something we want to expand. I'm looking to have a cover over it because it's probably the easiest way to keep forest rats (Bambi) and other varmints out. Also the covering would allow us a little more comfort when it rains frequently in the wet season.

    Space is not a big concern. I have found a 13' by 33' "portable" greenhouse kit. I imagine in half the greenhouse I could raise up at least four tanks for fish (edible and ornamental) along with smaller breeder/isolation tanks. The other half I could build up trays/frames for the green section. The area involved is under trees so I'm sure we'll have to occasionally patch the plastic and might have to invest in some grow lighting to augument the lower light especially during winter months.

    I have a good set of tools to build including cement mixer and small tractor we can dig with if in ground tanks are best. I hope to eventually replace the greenhouse kit with something more permenant if we can make this work.

    We also have a 1/3 acre "sky pond" that holds water maybe half the year. About now (late May) it's nearing empty and won't be filled again until fall showers hit. If we eventually get a well put in we can probably keep it topped off and I've been reading that it may be a good place to raise some freshwater shrimp.

    Any comments on our plans would be appreciated . . .
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    Do you have any problem with fish in your tap water now. Our tap water kills fish. If you never tried it, I might suggest a test before ramping up and finding out later. Ph?

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    We have a 1,500 gallon ornamental fish pond currently holding about 30 goldfish and two koi. We regularly add water to the pond as there are little leaks in the four tier bog/spillway system. The fish show no ill effects as yet. I plan to have a hold tank for new water so chlorine can dissipate before being used in the system.

    In my research flood and drain appears to be the most common nutrient cycle system. I haven't seen anything concerning cycle times though. I'm sure that can be adjusted by altering flood rate and drain rate. Is there an optimal rate like 10 cycles an hour, more, less, doesn't matter?
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    Excuse my ignorance but what is a four tier bog/spillway system? Sounds intriguing. On the run cycles some people run them 24/7. I would think the daytime would be enough and let them sit empty at night. Give everything time to grow with the available O2. maybe 1 cycle per hour or 2. This is one choice that everyone has their own opinion on. How hot is it there and will evaporation dry them out first. Some roots need a lot of air time, some can sit in water. Depending on what you plant. Reference the DWC plants vs some trees. I have had some/more problems with drowning plants and had to step back with water. Especially seeds. If it turns to mush, then there was too much water and not enough air time. IMO you will need to figure out what is best for you. I am still testing in the small nursery. If I don't give them water the tap roots grow deeper looking for it. Eventually they will die from no water but it takes awhile. With too much water I can kill them overnight. With no light, it takes about 3 days and they wither up and die. I grow all our plants from seed and I want to know what goes wrong. This batch all got planted in net cups and half got transplanted. The other half had the light turned off to see how long it would take. This is inside with no available sunlight. 2 days and they went past recovery. I had thought they would go longer.

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    Members oldSarge's Avatar
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    Thanks for the info. Looking at some YouTube videos with people demonstrating their different autosiphons it looked as if their fill took about five minutes and drained in about one minute. That means they would cycle about ten times an hour but I'm not sure if that was just a test system and the fill/drain cycle time would be increased by a larger bed.

    Quote Originally Posted by Deuem View Post
    Excuse my ignorance but what is a four tier bog/spillway system?. Sounds intriguing.
    Maybe I have ortechnicalized that description. What I am trying to say that this pond "system" we inherited in the property we bought consists of four tiers graduating from smaller to larger plastic pond tubs. The third tier just before the main pond is filled with gravel and I believe umbrella palms. This is supposed to be a bog filtration system but according to my research having the water just flow over the gravel and down into the pond greatly reduces it's effectiveness. I plan to remedy this sometime soon by pulling the plants and graval out to put a slotted PVC grid along the bottom and replacing the plants and gravel to have water flow up through the gravel and root system.

    Quote Originally Posted by Deuem View Post
    How hot is it there and will evaporation dry them out first.
    It gets real warm in July and August, high 90's with rare once or twice a season breaking 100. The humidity is the killer though, running 94% to even 100% at times. I bet inside a greenhouse the temp will have to be monitored or I might even install auto vents.
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    Your temps are pretty much the same as mine. Hot and sticky in the summer.
    reduces it's effectiveness
    meaning what? cleaning or speed? Changing to a wicker set up?
    What are you after to do with this top level? got a photo to share?

    I am losing about 1 inch of water a day right now outside.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Deuem View Post
    Your temps are pretty much the same as mine. Hot and sticky in the summer.
    Gnats too? We are plagued with hoardes of gnats from early June to early September. Not to mention the mosquitos but they even avoid the areas the gnats gather, back as soon as the gnats move on though.

    I said: "reduces it's effectiveness" pertaining to our bog filter . . .
    Quote Originally Posted by Deuem View Post
    meaning what? cleaning or speed? Changing to a wicker set up?
    What are you after to do with this top level? got a photo to share?
    In the four tiers the bog filter is the third tier (mini pond) in the system just before the main pond. The water is spilled into it from the second tier and just runs through the bog filter. The water level in the bog is at least two inches above the gravel in which the plants are rooted so a majority of the water just flows over the top and spills out into the main pond. I'm sure there is some filtering effect but a SWAG would be that it's at best 25% effective.

    What I want to do is add another pump from the main pond to run into a grid of slotted PVC below the bog gravel to be forced up through the roots. I believe this would enhance the bog's effectiveness greatly.

    Quote Originally Posted by Deuem View Post
    I am losing about 1 inch of water a day right now outside.
    I can imagine we're experiencing about the same. We curently have a problem with a leak in the uppermost tier so as we turn on the pump to run water through the system it has to fill it with about three or four gallons before it spills into the second tier. We have a mechanical timer on a faucet so we slowly run the water into the top tier for about five minutes to keep the water level up. Most of the chlorine in the tap water dissipates before it reaches the main fish pond. An automated water level sustainer is in the plans.

    The other day we sighted a water moccasin and over time we've had to shoo blue herons away. What kind of predators do you endure?
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    We have some large stalks and some small birds but by far the number one predator is man. Thieves are a problem and anything that walks, crawls, swims or flies is eaten on site. I have never seen anything in the woods here except a few snakes and a billion ants. Up north there are wild pigs and monkeys. Zero road kill, except locals. The woods here are pretty thick and one would need to hack a trail if off you want to explore deeper. Snakes can get nasty here and bite if disturbed so we mainly stay on paths.

    I am now taking a peek at iAVs, grow beds with sand as a filter. Take a peek if you have time. There is lit on line.

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    Started looking at iAVs but it looks as if aquaponics as discussed on the forum site is essentially IAV. I may be mistaken in this. The only difference I seem to get from your reference is the sand bed filter system rather than coarse media flood and drain I've been looking at. Do you have any more detailed description of the sand bed system? It sounds good as it may better support a greater variety of vegetation.
    Last edited by oldSarge; 06-07-2016 at 06:01 AM. Reason: correct iAVs
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    Just C33 sand, no other filters, just pump the FT water right on the bed with furrows. Maybe 8 times a day and no nights. The fish poo creates a layer on the sand and breaks down over time releasing stuff to the plants. I have everything I need except the sand. it is worth a trial unit if you have an extra one open. Other then that I am still working on getting educated with it also. I am getting this info on another forum that has a few people that are doing it and have tossed out standard media for sand. The sand needs to be free of carbonates or Ph will go crazy. Granit sand will work up to 5mm in dia and smaller pieces. Washed free of dust and set into a GB and furrowed. Or in a round pail and lumped in spots. The sand should trap everything 100%. I am currently asking if that might cause an abundance of N in the plants and hurt children. It will be a wait. In the meantime I have 2 units waiting for sand.

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