Aquaponics + Vermiponics: The Perfect Marriage

[Cooper'sConcessions]

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..

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Anthony. You might consider keeping the worms seperate. Then use worm tea in your AP system.
I'm no worm expert...I picture the worm bins being soaking wet. The worms 'may' live in it, but it may be too wet for the worm eggs (?)

[urbanfarmer]

How will you flood the worm bed without causing it to "go anaerobic" and without stressing or killing the worms? Worm castings hold moisture quite well.

The only way to skip the time it takes for the bacteria to colonize the system is to help them colonize it faster. One easy way to do this is inoculate the biolfilter material. This can freely be done by taking a handful of biologically active compost and mixing it with the medium (so as to make contact and smear the bacteria all over the place, the mud might be a fun activity with your son). A more common way is to buy that bacteria in a bottle from a pet store or online. It's not too expensive, a few bucks usually, and can help give a significant head start. The other ways are to regulate the temperature and/or pH to speed up and optimize their reproduction. A pH of 8 or so is best for the reproduction and growth of the bacteria. Typically, a higher temperature (up to a certain point obviously) will speed things up. You will not likely want to manage all that; so, most people just let nature take its course on its own.

[Cooper'sConcessions]

Hi davidstcldfl and urbanfarmer..! Thanks for your interest. I have figured that incorporating the worm bins would probably be my biggest challenge setting up. I have considered a few things for that very thing. As for soaking the beds and the possibility of causing an “anaerobic” environment, causing the worms stress, or even worse, killing the worms, I have considered two things: partitioning the beds or providing a path for the water to flow through easily, possibly over and through some sort of biofilter media like the river rock or gravel I have read about and Oliver suggested. I may possibly try to design a water passage or trough with 4” pvc, standing up on one end, with holes drilled all around to allow the water to run through easily and then also seep out into the surrounding bedding and hopefully create a wicking action for keeping the rest of the bed moistened, thus avoiding saturating the entire bin. I also thought about creating some sort of feeding trough in the same manner, 4” pvc, standing on one end, with the holes drilled all around, with a removable cap, as to fill with food scaps and re-cover (got that idea from a worm tunnel video I saw on youtube). That way the water is not running directly through the decomposing food while the worms are feeding or waiting to feed. As for the bins becoming anaerobic, I’m wondering if the constant flow of well areated water will provide enough oxygen to eliminate that risk, if not, there is always the possibility of aerating the bins directly with an air line somehow. And of course frequent tending may be necessary. I’m already sifting my bins once or twice a month, collecting casting and re-freshening with new bedding (coconut coir). I’ve been trying to build up a composting system to go through a 5 gallon bucket of produce scraps and another 5 gallon bucket of coffee ground each week, but taking about 2 weeks right now. Maybe it’ll help now that I will be doubling my composting bin system’s volume. I’ve even thought about cycling my bins in and out of the system (3 in, 3 out). This definitely needs a lot more thought, and I’m sure there will be a lot of adjustments and tweaking during and throughout the process.

As for the cycling of the water quality, I'm concerned about what chemicals or additives that can be added to a food producing system. I use “Cycle” for my aquariums every couple of months after a deep cleaning. But I have thought about using some of the filter media that I have had in my aquarium filter for some time now as well as the activated carbon media that Is in the filter media cartridges. I’m sure there are quite a nice population of colonies there about now, maybe I’ll even throw in some of the aquarium gravel stuffed into some panty hose. What can I do to eliminate the chlorine in the fresh water that will be added ..?? I use AmQuel and NovQuel for my tropical aquariums, but I’m wondering about an organic food producing system…??.

How about lighting…I’m considering 2 – 4ft/8bulb flourescents per4x8 grow bed. But I’m wondering if I could get more production out of 1 – 4ft/8bulb fluorescent per 3x6 grow bed and add an addition 2 beds to my system..?? Cons-only 6 additional growing area, Pros-additional growing production sights for additional types of lettuces..?? Any thoughts on lighting requirements.

Ahhh..!!! So many questions..so little time…!!

Thanks again y'all…

[Oliver]

How about lighting…I’m considering 2 – 4ft/8bulb flourescents per4x8 grow bed. But I’m wondering if I could get more production out of 1 – 4ft/8bulb fluorescent per 3x6 grow bed and add an addition 2 beds to my system..?? Cons-only 6 additional growing area, Pros-additional growing production sights for additional types of lettuces..?? Any thoughts on lighting requirements.

The 2 X 4ft/8 tube lights are just right for a four by four ft grow bed (I believe you've seen our pictures). For a four by eight foot bed you would need four 2' X 4'/8 tube lights. Anything less will affect the growth of the leafy greens you plan on raising. You want to fully cover the grow bed with light.

Don't skimp on lighting. Been there, done that and the result was not nearly as good as having ample lighting. To save electricity you can reduce the number of hours the light is on (minimum 8 hours), but reducing the lighting beyond a point causes less than desirable results. If you want healthy looking greens, rather than leggy greens with reduce leaf size, then use enough light for them to properly grow.

Somewhere on the forum I gave exact numbers, but I don't remember where. It was in response to a small indoor aquaponics system that needed more light and more media. You can look it up under my name if desired.

Oliver

[urbanfarmer]

Hm, I have to ask, what benefit are you hoping to gain from having the worm bins in there like that? Do you have too much material for vermicompost to bury directly in the gravel bed? Most people have worms in the grow bed eating the fish poo and plant debris that accumulates including dead roots, etc. The worms get quite active and reproduce a lot.

Depending on how the chlorine is in your water, it is common practice to let it sit for a few days. It depends on the water temperature, if it's in the sun, and if you are agitating the water surface. If you have chloramine, take a Vitamin C pill, crush it up, and throw it in the water.

The bacteria you buy at the pet store is just bacteria, basically. You can double check the MSDS of the specific brand you get or call the mfr.

[Cooper'sConcessions]

Holy Smackers....I wasn’t considering 4 - 4ft/8 bulb per 4 x 8 bed. I was really hoping that the two would be sufficient enough. I calculated the energy cost for just running 2 per each of my 2 beds, and at 1728 watts x 18 hours x 31 days x .06kwH is roughly $67.00 a month. My wife isn’t going to be happy about that already. I am hoping for a successive harvest/planting every week, hence the long hours of light. I may have to refigure my ROI if I truly should consider doubling my light budget (set-up and maintenance). I will be wrapping each the shelves containing the grow trays with reflective Mylar, do you think that will help with the provisions of the necessary lighting without doubling the output and my costs..?

As for the worms...well everything that I read last year while I was building our 1000ft organic vegetable garden was that worm casting are the best organic soil amendment, and since I was throwing out so much organic waste at my little cafe, I figured I would try and do my part for the environment (great marketing value) and capitalize on the available product and create my own. By my estimates I've produced about 300lb so far just sitting in bins waiting for this seasoning plantings. I also read that the worm tea that collects in the bottom reservoir was great organic fertilizer as well, so I just assumed that it would be great source of nutrients in a hydroponics system. Then I stumbled across the whole aquaponics movement during my research on lettuce production and wham...here I am. Big plans…with big ideas, hoping for bountiful results…with as little capital investment as possible.

Now to be honest I’m not sure if I can justify a 50% increase in necessary budgeting and another 100% increase in utilites, just for lettuce…no matter the marketing value or not…?? What kind of yield should I realistically be expecting from a raft style system..?? I think I may really need to take a couple of steps back and rethink the investment…money…time…risk…?? Hhhmm…((disappointments already setting in))

[keith_r]

keep the worm bins separate from the ap system...are you raising the worms as a supplementary fish food?
you can and should put some worms directly into the growbeds

[hawkiye]

Holy Smackers....I wasn’t considering 4 - 4ft/8 bulb per 4 x 8 bed. I was really hoping that the two would be sufficient enough. I calculated the energy cost for just running 2 per each of my 2 beds, and at 1728 watts x 18 hours x 31 days x .06kwH is roughly $67.00 a month. My wife isn’t going to be happy about that already. I am hoping for a successive harvest/planting every week, hence the long hours of light. I may have to refigure my ROI if I truly should consider doubling my light budget (set-up and maintenance). I will be wrapping each the shelves containing the grow trays with reflective Mylar, do you think that will help with the provisions of the necessary lighting without doubling the output and my costs..?

As for the worms...well everything that I read last year while I was building our 1000ft organic vegetable garden was that worm casting are the best organic soil amendment, and since I was throwing out so much organic waste at my little cafe, I figured I would try and do my part for the environment (great marketing value) and capitalize on the available product and create my own. By my estimates I've produced about 300lb so far just sitting in bins waiting for this seasoning plantings. I also read that the worm tea that collects in the bottom reservoir was great organic fertilizer as well, so I just assumed that it would be great source of nutrients in a hydroponics system. Then I stumbled across the whole aquaponics movement during my research on lettuce production and wham...here I am. Big plans…with big ideas, hoping for bountiful results…with as little capital investment as possible.

Now to be honest I’m not sure if I can justify a 50% increase in necessary budgeting and another 100% increase in utilites, just for lettuce…no matter the marketing value or not…?? What kind of yield should I realistically be expecting from a raft style system..?? I think I may really need to take a couple of steps back and rethink the investment…money…time…risk…?? Hhhmm…((disappointments already setting in))

Why don't you consider building a greenhouse instead? The cost would be a one time deal and cheaper in the long run then a monthly lighting bill...

[JCO]

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, is this an Aquaponic System or are you going to set up a Hydroponic system or one of each.

you can and should put some worms directly into the grow beds

As for the worms in the grow bed, that issue has been discussed before and you should take heed before you do so. Read here.

Adjusting PH and adding worms

Whatever you do, slow down and plan your Aquaponic System setup and layout carefully. You will be thankful you did in the future and don't try to rush nature. She is very fickle and can come back at you in the strangest way.