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Thread: micro setup

  1. #1
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    micro setup

    Hey everyone. I had planned on doing a greenhouse with aquaponics setup this spring, but my current circumstances are not allowing that to happen. I decided that it may be for the best anyway, so I will be doing a micro setup in my basement to get the hang of the proper way to treat water, and the ratio's of grow beds to the amount of water.

    I found a 3 gallon aquarium in my garage with a pump that pulls roughly 30gph at 0" head and drops to nothing at 3" head. Any suggestions for a micro setup in general? If I'm not able to use the tank and pump that I have, it really isn't a huge deal, just figured that if I could make do with what I have, it would be for the better.

    I'm really thinking a 5-7 gallon setup at the max so that I would have room for the growbeds required. Any help appreciated

  2. #2
    Moderator jackalope's Avatar
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    Re: micro setup

    A micro-setup is a good idea, a good way to familiarize yourself without spending a fortune .....please keep us up-to-date on your progress
    Just keep the 2:1 or 3:1 ratio in mind for the GB to FT and you should be OK as far as bio-filtration...... They sell micro-hydroponics in the local hardware store that only hold about a 1/2 gallon of water, so I think the 3 gallon would be fine for your experimenting. I would suggest a better pump tho, as you want to 'change/recycle' the water at least 3 times per hour That would mean about 10GPH for your pump at whatever height you may need.
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  3. #3
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: micro setup

    Fine for a demo system, but not much more. Good for greens and lettuce. Small systems are very unforgiving. Harvesting of greens or fish end up crashing the system.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

  4. #4
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    Re: micro setup

    Quote Originally Posted by Jackalope
    A micro-setup is a good idea, a good way to familiarize yourself without spending a fortune .....please keep us up-to-date on your progress
    Just keep the 2:1 or 3:1 ratio in mind for the GB to FT and you should be OK as far as bio-filtration...... They sell micro-hydroponics in the local hardware store that only hold about a 1/2 gallon of water, so I think the 3 gallon would be fine for your experimenting. I would suggest a better pump tho, as you want to 'change/recycle' the water at least 3 times per hour That would mean about 10GPH for your pump at whatever height you may need.
    Any idea where I would find a pump with those kind of specs? The lowest I've found so far is a 30GPH pump on amazon. I guess i could rig up a potentiometer to a 12V pump and adjust the voltage to the point that I would get the flow I wanted, but undervolting the pump motor seems like a bad idea.

  5. #5
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: micro setup

    You can 'split' the out flow from the pump. One line going to the fish tank, the other for a small fountain spraying in the sump.
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  6. #6
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    Re: micro setup

    Good call! I could control the flow to the grow bed via a valve, and let the rest flow back into the tank, which would double as an aerator of sorts.

  7. #7
    Moderator jackalope's Avatar
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    Re: micro setup

    Quote Originally Posted by davidstcldfl
    You can 'split' the out flow from the pump. One line going to the fish tank, the other for a small fountain spraying in the sump.



    OR, you can just adjust the height that the pump is going to need to pump up to the GBs ......
    Quote Originally Posted by dwaller
    I found a 3 gallon aquarium in my garage with a pump that pulls roughly 30gph at 0" head and drops to nothing at 3" head.
    ..... as in 'head' so that you lower the head flow pressure by raising the GBs i.e. let's say you get a pump that will pump 30 GPH @ 0 ft, and maybe it will pump 20 GPH @ 4 or 5 ft., so at what height level will it pump 10 GPH ? ..... that's what I was thinking - by raising the height level it has to pump, it pumps less GPH, right? .... but I do like the idea of splitting the flow too! Take a look at the pond pumps at Lowes, Home Depot or Ace Hardware ..... they usually come with specs that will tell you how many GPH at what height ..... don't be afraid to open up a box, or slit the tape or plastic package to get at the paperwork, if it needs to be taped back together, they can do that, but if the info is hidden from the buyer, that's just wrong ........ you don't want to buy a pig in a poke either !
    I use the Linux Operating System ...... Free as in beer!
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  8. #8
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    Re: micro setup

    Welcome to the yo-yo that is my life. I now have a spot to put a greenhouse for this activity. I talked it over with my wife, and we decided that for the first year, we will focus on getting the greenhouse build, and the beds and tank setup, but she wants to see how it all works before we commit to putting any sort of heat in there.

    I have some large picture windows that I am going to try to utilize for the glazing on the south facing roof, but I was figuring that I wouldn't need any glazing on the north facing roof; does that make sense, or will I be losing critical sun? I figured it wouldn't matter since the sun is so low in the winter anyway. I'm going to build a semi-permanent building; maybe a 4x4 or 6x6 footing in each corner with a layer of rigid foam, then sand, then pavers.

    I wish I would have kept working on my designs, because now I'm behind on the curve for this...

  9. #9
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: micro setup

    Cool, glad to see your making the leap....

    Speaking of 'cool'.....MN is ....well, not known for it's warmth.
    (you probably have already done this)....You might study up on the different ways to heat your greenhouse, before you start to build. Some are using thermal mass....running pipe underground to help heat (and cool) the green houses.
    By the way....How deep is your freeze line....like 20 feet.... :P
    I only pick on people I like....

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    What type of fish are you thinking about ?..... Catfish or trout of some kind...?

    Don't worry about the 'yo-yo'.....When I was building...I was making changes before I finished the previous change...

    Keep us posted....lots of pictures as you two build ...
    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - President Ronald Reagan

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