Bay 12 Games Forum

Finally... => Creative Projects => Topic started by: Levi on June 08, 2014, 01:06:18 pm

Title: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on June 08, 2014, 01:06:18 pm
Figured I'd post about this, as I'm kinda proud of what I've made so far.  The basic idea of aquaponics is that you pump dirty-fish water from your fishtank up to your plants which eat the nutrients and clean the water.  The clean water is then dropped back down into the fish tank.  This removes the need for filters or aeration, and you get to eat your fish and your plants.

So after my plants out on my deck have died horribly for a third year in a row, I decided I wanted to try to grow vegis with aquaponics instead.  I've been working on building this since.  Its still not quite ready yet(I should be getting the hydroton grow bed media sometime this week), but I'm far enough along to show it off.  :)

Pictures below:

Older pictures:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The growlights I built out of an aluminium sheet, a LED controller, and a bunch of 3 wat leds(mostly red ones, but a few blue and white ones as well).  They operate on a timer that turns them on at 9:00AM and off at 9:00PM. 

The rest of it was made out of random containers, pvc tubes and fittings and a table bought at Canadian Tire.  I'm hoping the table doesn't collapse under the weight of it all, but I think it'll probably be okay.

Right now I'm waiting for the growbed media(hydroton) to arrive.  Then I can start the system up and let it run for a while to normalize the system.  Then I'll get a bunch of fish(probably goldfish) and start growing some vegis!

I'll post some more pictures once things have started growing.  :)

Anyway, its been a fun project and I've learned a lot from it.  I've always been pretty incompetent when it comes to building things, so this has been a great experience.

Edit:  Pictures from 2014-06-17:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Arx on June 08, 2014, 01:21:38 pm
Looks cool! Is this what you were soldering LEDs for?
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on June 08, 2014, 01:25:18 pm
Quote from: Arx on June 08, 2014, 01:21:38 pm
Looks cool! Is this what you were soldering LEDs for?

Yeah.  And let me tell you, my blue-tack idea totally failed :)  I ended up redoing the whole thing properly with solder.  It was slow going at first, but I got better at it.  :)
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Yoink on June 08, 2014, 08:17:27 pm
That is really cool. I'm not at all knowledgeable about such things, but a vegetable garden is something everyone should have/have access access to, in my opinion. If this method makes it easier and more cost effective to do so, well colour me intrigued. :)
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Anvilfolk on June 09, 2014, 09:44:04 am
Wow, this is awesome! Do keep it updated! :)
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on June 09, 2014, 11:54:26 am
Quote from: Yoink on June 08, 2014, 08:17:27 pm
That is really cool. I'm not at all knowledgeable about such things, but a vegetable garden is something everyone should have/have access access to, in my opinion. If this method makes it easier and more cost effective to do so, well colour me intrigued. :)

It takes more to set up than a regular garden, but maintaining it ought to be a breeze.  Just need to feed the fish and occasionally add some more water(because it slowly evaporates).  I've seen some other setups where they have an automated fish feeder, so some people don't even need to do that. 
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: freeformschooler on June 09, 2014, 12:56:37 pm
Quote from: Levi on June 09, 2014, 11:54:26 am
Quote from: Yoink on June 08, 2014, 08:17:27 pm
That is really cool. I'm not at all knowledgeable about such things, but a vegetable garden is something everyone should have/have access access to, in my opinion. If this method makes it easier and more cost effective to do so, well colour me intrigued. :)

It takes more to set up than a regular garden, but maintaining it ought to be a breeze.  Just need to feed the fish and occasionally add some more water(because it slowly evaporates).  I've seen some other setups where they have an automated fish feeder, so some people don't even need to do that.

This is fascinating. Do you collect seeds to "replant" like a normal veggie garden?
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: DeKaFu on June 09, 2014, 12:59:07 pm
Quote from: Levi on June 08, 2014, 01:06:18 pm
you get to eat your fish and your plants.

Quote
Then I'll get a bunch of fish(probably goldfish) and start growing some vegis!

Eat... goldfish?
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Sheb on June 09, 2014, 01:10:11 pm
Aren't tilapias the standard aquaponics fishes? Also, have you any idea of how many fishes you'll need to provide enough nutrients for your veggies? What will you feed your fishes with? Is there a reasons to use growlamps rather than sunlight?

Also, using growlamps, you can go for way more than 12 hours a day if you want max productivity. 16 or even 20 hours would be perfectly fine.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on June 09, 2014, 01:47:51 pm
Quote from: freeformschooler on June 09, 2014, 12:56:37 pm
This is fascinating. Do you collect seeds to "replant" like a normal veggie garden?

Probably you could.  I'm not going to though, seeds are cheap enough.  :)

Quote from: DeKaFu on June 09, 2014, 12:59:07 pm
Eat... goldfish?

Well, I won't eat the goldfish.   :P I'm more interested in the vegis, so any fish will do for now.

Quote from: Sheb on June 09, 2014, 01:10:11 pm
Aren't tilapias the standard aquaponics fishes?

Yes, Tilapias are the aquaponics standard fish.  I've had a hard time figuring out where to get them where I live though.  I figure for now I'll start with goldfish or something and if I get more ambitious I'll upgrade to Tilapia if I can find some.

Quote from: Sheb on June 09, 2014, 01:10:11 pm
Also, have you any idea of how many fishes you'll need to provide enough nutrients for your veggies?

I've heard that a rule of thumb is about 5 gallons of water per tilapia, and I've got about 30 gallons capacity so I can probably have about 6 fish in there.  Goldfish are smaller I think so I could probably add more.

Quote from: Sheb on June 09, 2014, 01:10:11 pm
What will you feed your fishes with?

Fish food from the pet store. 

Quote from: Sheb on June 09, 2014, 01:10:11 pm
Is there a reasons to use growlamps rather than sunlight?

Mostly because my apartment deck doesn't get a lot of sun.  I'd also be able to grow food during the winter which is nice.

Quote from: Sheb on June 09, 2014, 01:10:11 pm
Also, using growlamps, you can go for way more than 12 hours a day if you want max productivity. 16 or even 20 hours would be perfectly fine.

Good to know!  I might add more hours then.  The main limiter is that this is all in my bedroom and I wouldn't want to sleep with those lights on, they are really bright.   :P
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Sheb on June 09, 2014, 01:56:11 pm
Just buy some milar or something and make a growth tent. It's really cheap, and gives good results.

However, if you're not interested in the fishes, isn't the whole thing just an enormously expensive way to produce fertilizers? I mean, it's still a cool project, but unless you plan on adding tilapias later on, or just like aquarium, it seems inefficient. Looking into cheaper source of feed might be a good idea too, later on.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on June 09, 2014, 02:41:02 pm
I don't think fish food is very expensive, although I admit I've never had an aquarium before.   :P  My main goal was a fairly hands-off system for growing vegis without the need for sun/potting soil.  Maybe hydroponics would have been a better choice, but this looked better to me at the time.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Sheb on June 09, 2014, 02:48:06 pm
Well, cool project anyway. BTW, I have access to tons of scholarly literature through my university, so if you need any research done, just ask me.  :)
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on June 09, 2014, 03:42:37 pm
I will certainly if I run into any troubles.   

Edit:  Sheb, why did all my fish die and my tomatoes turn blue!?!  :D
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: BlindKitty on June 10, 2014, 06:23:48 am
As far as I can tell, mostly from tomatoes turning blue... Well, chloride is not a good idea in such setup. ;)
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on June 17, 2014, 10:09:47 pm
Okay, an update.  I finally got everything I needed together and (mostly) working.  My plastic table sagged underneath the weight of my grow beds, so I put a sheet of plywood over it to help spread out the weight.  The hydroton clay pellets were cleaned and added(I may have plugged up my bathroom drain with dusty and tiny pebbles though).  I adjusted the plumbing a bit so it works better and raised my growlight up higher.

I've also added two sacrificial goldfish to help start the cycling process.  The idea is to get enough ammonia to start the growth of bacteria that turns ammonia to Nitrites, and then get enough Nitrites to get ANOTHER bacteria growing that turns Nitrites into Nitrates.  The Nitrates are good plant food and not very toxic for the fish.  Since this takes a while to happen though, those first two fishies may end up choking to death on their own poisoned water. (Sorry fishies!).

The main problem I've found is that the draining water is way to loud, and since this is in my bedroom I have to turn off the pumps at night.  I've heard that other people have done the same and it works out okay, but we'll see how it goes.  I also put some seeds (Kale, Bell Peppers and Tomatos) in because I've heard you can do that right away. 

Anyway, here are some more pictures of my updated system and running system.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Hubris Incalculable on June 17, 2014, 10:20:59 pm
you could submerge the drainpipe so that the water is flowing directly into the fishtank, thereby quieting the system.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on June 17, 2014, 10:34:11 pm
Quote from: Hubris Incalculable on June 17, 2014, 10:20:59 pm
you could submerge the drainpipe so that the water is flowing directly into the fishtank, thereby quieting the system.

Maybe.  The drainpipe is supposed to be splashy a bit to help aerate the water.  Also I'm not sure the siphon effect would happen if the drain is submerged?  Might be worth a try though.

Edit:  Hmm, actually it sounds like you can submerge it, but it might take longer to start up properly, so the water level will go higher.  This might be worth some tinkering, I'll probably play around with it on the weekend if I can.

Edit 2:  Actually I decided to tinker now.  And it worked perfectly.  THANK YOU HUBRIS.   :o   :D  The water level in the grow beds seems to get a little higher than I'd like now, but its probably fine.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Sheb on June 18, 2014, 03:28:04 pm
It's funny, because plants actually need to metabolize nitrate into ammonia to use it. :p
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on June 18, 2014, 03:35:29 pm
Quote from: Sheb on June 18, 2014, 03:28:04 pm
It's funny, because plants actually need to metabolize nitrate into ammonia to use it. :p

Lazy ass plants.  They should just absorb the ammonia directly!   :P
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Sheb on June 18, 2014, 03:43:11 pm
They do actually. Ideally, they need a mixture of both not to fuck up their internal pH.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on July 01, 2014, 05:12:05 pm
A quick update.  The system currently has 4 sacrificial goldfish in it, but they all seem to be doing fine.  Plants have sprouted, and I'm starting to think my "sprinkle seeds all over the place" method may not be the best of ideas.  I've pulled probably 75% of the sproutlings as there are too many.  There probably still is too many, I think the kale will probably need more room than that.  :)

I've been leaving the pumps off at night and turning them on in the mornings.  Probably not ideal, but it seems to be working okay so far.  I feed the fishes a little bit in the mornings, but they don't seem overly excited about eating.  Maybe they only eat when I'm not looking?  They seem to be swimming around lots, so I'm not too worried at this point.  I did once peal and chop up a pea and dropped it in though, and they went nuts over it. 

Pictures:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on July 11, 2014, 06:30:45 pm
My system is finally showing Nitrites and Nitrates. :D

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This means the cycling process is actually working and my plants are actually getting tasty nitrates to eat now.  Ideally the water test will eventually show no Nitrites and lots of Nitrates.  Fish are still alive and my tomato plants are looking healthy(as far as I can tell). 

My kale doesn't look quite as good.  I think the weather has been too hot for it, and I accidentally poked one in the wrong way and snapped its stem.   :-\

My peppers might be okay?   Nothing looks wrong with them, but they are still pretty small.  Maybe they take longer to grow in general.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Arx on July 12, 2014, 01:29:42 pm
In my experience, tomatoes grow large quickly and peppers tend to stay smallish and grow slowly. Never grown kale, and this wasn't in a whole fancy aquaponics rig, but it's held true for two different climates (rainfall season, temperature, etc.) and several soil types.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on July 12, 2014, 05:06:30 pm
Good to know.  Somebody else commented on my pictures saying the tomatos look "leggy" and they might not be getting enough light from the growlights, so I've moved the growlights down a foot closer.  Hopefully that helps.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on September 16, 2014, 08:54:47 pm
I figured it was time for an update.   :D

Things are still going!  None of my goldfish have died, and I added two new ones the other day for a total of 6.  They seem cheerful enough, although one of the two new ones seems shy and hides in the cave a lot. 

The plants are growing, although nothing edible has appeared yet.  The tomatoes plants are all over the place, I hope they don't get any bigger.  The bell pepper plants look the nicest, but I'm not really sure what they are supposed to look like, haha.  The kale died during a heatwave, and I replaced it with the bottom chunk of some grocery store celery.  The celery was going good until I was trying to debug a problem with the bell siphon and I think I snapped apart all of its roots.   I also planted some more kale recently, but its still pretty small.

My cheap paper water test strips keep coming out okay, PH 6.5, and no ammonia, nitrates or nitrites any more, so I guess the plants are doing a good job keeping the water clean. 

I got my mom to bring me some worms from her garden the last time she came to visit.  She accidentally left them out in the sun before coming over so half of them were dead or almost dead.  I put the remaining ones into my grow beds and hoped for the best.  I kind of figured they would have died off, but the other day I actually saw one crammed up against the side of the growbed!  Kind of neat.  :)

Anyway, I'm thinking of building a second growlight(I think I might have enough LED's left over), and getting some proper reflective-stuff to cover the sides and back of the system.  Hopefully that will help things grow more.   Here are some pictures.   
Spoiler (click to show/hide)


Edit:  I spoke too soon.  One of my new fish I got died.  Probably wasn't that healthy when I bought it, as the other one seems fine.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on October 01, 2014, 10:14:37 pm
Made some adjustments to the system.  :)  I built a second growlight, doubling the light going into the system.  I also replaced my lousy sheets of tin foil with some slightly less lousy mylar thermal blankets.  They do a great job of making my room less pink and glowy.

Also, my tomato plants have started to flower!  This is a good sign, hopefully it means I'll actually get something edible out of them.   :D

Not much else new.  I had a bit of a scare when my biggest oldest goldfish didn't come out to eat one day.  I saw him tucked over by my cave, I figured he was just being weird.  Came back later in the day to feed them again, and saw he was still there, and his ass was pointing up and he wasn't moving.  I figured he was dead!   :o  I moved the cave over so I could fish out his corpse, and he swam around like crazy.  It turns out he was too fat and got himself wedged between the cave and the wall looking for food and got stuck.   :P

Some more pictures!  (The mylar seems to make it hard to take close up photographs, so the flowers aren't really very visible.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: acetech09 on October 02, 2014, 12:54:44 am
You let your plants have raves at night? You're a very liberal caretaker. :p
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on October 02, 2014, 03:54:52 pm
I'm still looking to score some glowsticks and ecstasy for my goldfish.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: symonthewise on November 19, 2014, 01:12:43 am
This is ingenious. A man after my own heart, growing plants in an apartment with inadequate lighting uncomfortably close to your sleeping quarters.

Ever hear about the walstad method? Not as useful as yours for growing veggies, I would think, but a hobby in the same realm and possibly interesting. http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Walstad_method

Edit: ahh fuck now im reading old aquarium bookmarks instead of sleeping.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on November 19, 2014, 10:40:30 am
Quote from: symonthewise on November 19, 2014, 01:12:43 am
This is ingenious. A man after my own heart, growing plants in an apartment with inadequate lighting uncomfortably close to your sleeping quarters.

Ever hear about the walstad method? Not as useful as yours for growing veggies, I would think, but a hobby in the same realm and possibly interesting. http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Walstad_method

Edit: ahh fuck now im reading old aquarium bookmarks instead of sleeping.

Nice.  I hadn't heard of the walstad method, but it makes sense.  I've heard some people grow duckweed on the surface of the water, which fish like to eat, making it an even more closed system.

I don't have any pictures, but here is a quick update of my system.  Basically, my tomato plants overwhelmed everything.   :P  Its gotten slightly too cold in my room for the flowers to polinate, but its still growing like crazy so it sort of turned into an ultra-thick damp jungle pushing up against my growlights.  I've got two tomatoes that are growing on the plants though, so its not a complete loss yet.  I've ended up pulling out all the ones that didn't have tomatos, and pulling the rest down away from the growlight so the jungle isn't quite as thick now. 

One of the LED's on one of my lights burned out though(probably due to how moist it was), so I had to fix that yesterday.

Also I've been having trouble with my bellsiphon on one side, I think bits of the clay gravel kept getting stuck in it and making it not-level, which was interfering with it.  I've pulled up everything on one side and added a media-guard to keep the clay balls out of my bell siphon.  Seems to be working well.  I also planted a bunch of smaller cold resistant plants and herbs(Kale, Oregeno, Peas, Thyme and parsley), so that one grow bed is pretty much been reset.  I'll do the same for the other growbed once those tomatos ripen.   :P

Overall my lessons were don't grow things that grow too big, and don't skip making a media guard.   :P

Fish are still good and happy.  They are trained to eat right out of my hand now, and often give little kisses(well, they try to eat my fingers) when I feed them.
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Helgoland on January 23, 2015, 10:07:02 pm
PTW, if this is still going on - seems neat.
Also it's a shame you're not growing some more, ehm, traditional plants, but I fully support homegrown tomatoes - the ones from the supermarket are nothing but shite. Well, water and shite, and whatever else the Dutch decide to dump in their greenhouses :P
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on January 24, 2015, 10:49:38 am
Ah yeah, I haven't updated this in a while.  Can't grow the traditional, because I'm in an apartment and my landlord occasionally has to come up and I don't want to get kicked out. :D Its still going, although the tomato plants met an untimely end when I had to pull them all out as they started to attack my growlights.   :P  I'm growing Kale, Garlic and some herbs now, as they are all shorter and more apartment friendly.  I'll save the tomatoes for when I retire and can have a nice big outdoor system.  I'll try to remember to post some more pictures soon.

Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on February 11, 2015, 07:43:24 pm
Here are some photos of my system as of a few weeks ago.  :) 


The growbeds.  I'm growing a bunch of stuff, most of which I have no idea if they will work.  Kale is going well, Garlic SEEMS to be doing well, but I've got no idea because its under the clay balls.  Oregano is doing ridiculously good.   Everything else, the Onions, Basil and other spices don't seem to be growing much.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My Kale:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Oregano.  I kinda just sprinkled the seeds over there and they all sprouted.  I was going to thin them out, but then I figured hell might as well see what they do like that.   :P
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My Garlic!  It grew ridiculously fast, but I've got no idea what its doing under the clay.  Hopefully turning into garlic so I can eat it.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My fishes are all still alive.  The first three goldfish are getting pretty big and they all seem healthy and happy.  The medium sized one has a pimple like bump on his side that is probably bad news, but he seems active enough and it doesn't seem to be getting bigger.  The smallest one is doing fine, but is a bit more shy than the others.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Compost worms!  I put these in my growbeds because apparently they are magic and can breath underwater as long as that water is oxygenated enough.  When I wake up in the morning and turn on the lights these suckers are always plastered against the plastic tubs of my growbeds.   :P
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Helgoland on February 12, 2015, 04:01:45 pm
What other fish/water creatures could one use in such a setup? I keep thinking about using crayfish, like yabbys or something, and feeding them with slaughtering side products...
Title: Re: Levi makes an aquaponics rig
Post by: Levi on February 12, 2015, 04:39:23 pm
I've heard of people using yabbies.  I did read that it works great for growing the yabbies, but not so well for growing vegis, but I don't know enough about that to really say.  Tilapia is most commonly used just because it grows so quickly.