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Aquaponics
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small
family set up
From: Debra Russell <De8ra@netscape.net>
Date: 17 Aug 99
If one is interested in starting a family aquaponic system. Using
inexpe nsive materials how low of an investment do you think one
can get away with?
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Subject: RE: small family set up
From: "Ronald W. Brooks" <orchid@kellnet.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999
Well you could do a small system using one of those Wal-Mart type
swimming pools and scrounged lumber and such. All told you could
start up for around \\$150 - $250 depending on how well you can
scrounge. In the spring a lot of people throw away the frames and
pumps and such to those pools and all you need to add is a new
liner. I dumpster dove 3 such pools this May. Cost of new liner
\\$45 each. Check farm auctions for stock tanks , these usually
hold 150 - 180 gallons , very good for young fingerling tanks.
Check curbside for old aquariums that hold water , these a very
good for fry tanks.
So you can start very cheaply depending on how well you dumpster
dive and scrounge.
Ron
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Subject: RE: small family set up
From: Jones Nick A PSNS <jonesn@psns.navy.mil>
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999
I too am just getting things together, low/no-budget. I
"scrounged" over the last several months and have two
300 gal round plastic municipal waste (dumpster) receptacles
(they were steam cleaned by the city before we picked them up).
Free was too good to pass up.
They had minor damage which was easily repaired with pipe plugs
in the larger holes (borrowed 1/2 inch pipe tap, 1/2 inch pvc
pipe plugs with teflon tape sealer), and melted scrap plastic for
the small holes. A soldering gun outfitted with a piece of #12
copper wire for the tip was used to melt the scrap to be used in
the repair (use lots of ventillation, and do this kind of repair
outside). A small crack, starting at the upper lip and running
down the side was stopped by drilling a 3/8 inch hole at the very
end of the crack. This stress relieves the point stress area at
the end of the crack, and spreads the stress around the edges of
the hole, hopefully preventing further growth of the crack. The
crack did not radiate/grow to below the intended water line to
begin with, so that made this repair acceptable.
A stainless steel, 10 gallon, cone bottomed tank was found at a
scrap yard, for only \\$5.
St Vincent dePaul and Salvation Army stores are wonderful places
to shop. I have three water bed heaters, to be used a seedling
starting heat mats, with controls, for about \\$3 each, found at St
Vincent's.
It is my intention/plan to use rain gutter for NFT troughs. At
\\$3.29 per 10 foot length it seems the right way to go. Standard
NFT trays with lids/covers would cost several times this amount.
It really ticks me off to see the price difference between the
two, but then again I am totally inexperienced with this
"system", so I may find out the hard way why people
spend so much for the standard trays.
I believe that the KEY is to have a plan, then take your time
shopping/looking/scrounging. Don't be afraid to ask friends and
neighbors, there is a warehouse/wealth of information and help
out there. But, at some point you have to make the decision to
get things going. A person can spend their lifetime just in
planning.
I did buy something new...(sorry) A marine bilge pump @\\$18 from a
hardware store, not a marine supply store. Its rated capacity is
450 gal/hour, and it will lift a 3/4 inch water column several
feet. I have been testing it 24 hours/day, 7 days/week now for
just over two weeks and it hasn't failed yet. However, I do not
believe a person should use this as a primary pump without an
additional one as a backup, and an automatic way to transfer to
the backup in case of primary failure. AUTOMATIC, I know how fast
things can get away, and how quickly things can die. You can't
sit there 24/7 watching, you have a life.
We are home-schooling two of our daughters and we decided on an
aquaponics science project for this year. If anyone is doing the
same and have comments, please send them along. We do need to
find out how to do all of the water tests on a budget and have
the girls, and us, learn how to perform these tests properly and
accurately. Ammonia test kits for aquariums should work but not
sure about the other "essential?" tests (nitrite,
nitrate, dissolved solids, oxygen???). I have not investigated
this yet so the aquarium test kits may do all/part of these
tests.
My two cents worth....Nick A. Jones W7AA
njones@hctc.com <mailto:njones@hctc.com>
jonesn@psns.navy.mil <mailto:jonesn@psns.navy.mil>
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Subject: RE: small family set up
From: "Merriken, Michael"
<Michael.Merriken@GalaxyScientific.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 16:10:58 -0400
-----Original Message-----
From: POLLYDD [mailto:POLLYDD]
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 1999
To: aquaponics@townsqr.com
Subject: Re: small family set up
Hello all,
I have been working quietly over the past few months constructing
a miniature version of the Speraneo's aquaponic system. I also
have been reading many of your posts for many months to learn as
much as I could before I began my first foray into Aquaponics.
Thank you for all of your advice and thoughts. Below is a brief
summary of my efforts to date.
First off, I live in a small house in a neighborhood that does
not allow greenhouses. Therefore I needed to keep this system as
small as I could to be unobtrusive. I also wanted to use this as
a learning experiment and therefore one of my goals was to keep
the cost down by constructing most the components myself or
scrounging for second hand supplies. The parts I did purchase new
were the pump and the timer. I also decided to purchase a good
quality pump and timer since these are the keys to making this
system work and I could reused them if I decided to build a
bigger system.
The growbed is constructed of scrap 2x8s (untreated) and
3/4" plywood picked up from a friend in the construction
business. It is 3ft x 5ft x 8in and is held together with metal
angle brackets.
I used marble chips as grow medium instead of river rock since I
found a clearance deal I could not pass up (30 lb bag for \\$1)
There are six bags in the grow bed. The growbed is lined first
with a heavy plastic rip-stop plastic tarp with two layers of 4
mil plastic on top. This may be over-designed but I figured it is
the engineer in me.
The growbed sits on four cinder block columns each four blocks
high. Underneath is a 55 gal glass tank that I picked up at a
local pet store who was getting rid of some old equipment (\\$40).
I have a 700 gal/hour pond pump that pulls the water up to a grid
system constructed of 1/2in plastic tubing that floods the
growbed. At the low end of the growbed I installed a 4"
plastic drain pipe that drops the water directly back into the
tank. This return action also aerates the water for the fish. I
use a Cyclestat II timer that floods the grow bed every 15
minutes for 3 minutes.
I purchased 30 Nile tialpia from Living Waters. Great people and
very helpful. The fish cost only a few dollars but the shipping
by two-day air was \\$50!! My wife asked if the airline would give
me the frequent flyer miles and the peanuts for the fish! I put
22 fish in the 55 gal tank and put 8 fish is a separate standard
15 gal aquarium (just in case I really messed up).
In the grow bed I put a mixture of plants and seeds:
Four marigold, three basil, and six pepper plants Lettuce, basil,
and salad cress seeds.
The plants and seeds were put in a few weeks ago after I cleaned
and initialized the system. The plants look a little weak but are
still alive and all the seeds are sprouting. The fish are growing
nicely. I need to get a small scale to track their growth. All of
this is enclosed in a 5ft x 6ft x 6 ft mini-greenhouse outside
that I built from scrap 1x2s and 4 mil plastic sheeting. When it
starts to get cooler here in Atlanta I plan to add furring strips
and another layer of plastic to help insulate it during the
winter. I will probably need to add a tank heater to keep the
water temp in the tolerable range for the fish and plants.
All total I have spent just over \\$350 (primarily the pump and
timer) so far. I will be glad to accept recommendations or
suggestions for improvements. I do have a question. In one post
someone suggested barley straw to control algae growth. Where
does one get this from?
Thanks,
Michael Merriken
Novice Aquaponic-er
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Subject: Re: small family set up
From: Adriana Gutierrez & Dennis LaGatta
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 18:01:27 -0400
Michael,
I've read that regular straw works as well. The kind you get in
bales. Go to a feed store and see if they let you sweep up what
has spilled in handling, put it in one of those small mesh bags
for laundering delicate lingerie and float it in the tank.
Adriana
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Subject: RE: small family set up
From: "Ronald W. Brooks" <orchid@kellnet.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 23:12:25 -0400
Michael
Is there a reason besides aesthetics you want to get rid of the
algae. Tilapia will feed off of it. U.V.I> has been developing
a system that uses greenwater ( algae ) and have had spectacular
results . I on the other hand have been trying to get algae to
grow in my tanks especially the fry tanks.
Ron
The One Who Walks Two Paths
ICQ 44271371
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