Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I think I've got a pretty good feeling from the pictures now... there are two doors which are directly across from each other right?

something more like this? the thought did consist of moving/removing the second row of floating beds that are currently in there right? They may be able to keep them in a smaller form in a different area -- just depends on how tight you want it to be.

Oops just realized I forgot the redraw the sump... hmmm

Think only one door. Brian had talked about adding a second door to be a makeshift quarantine area.

The pics of door is of same, just looking from other side looking SE towards Socorro St. (last pic)

Adam

OK so more like this beds all around except tank area.

I did not have tape for more general measurement, but I would say close to what is there (in a general sense) :tup:

Dome SW corner of:

Grant to the N.
Socorro to the S.
Aragon to the W.
S. Pacific to the E.

Earth put the dome approx 30' and the white spots on top of the very fuzzy picture is the vents/wind turbine off to the right (2-3 o'clock position) if going from top of pentagon.

Entrance is around the 4-5 o'clock position of pentagon.

The other white protrusion (towards Aragon), is another set of vents :idk:


Adam

Looks like the turbine is off to the side.



So with the door being in the SE corner you'd really walk in and the beds wouldn't probably be perpendicular to the door...(assuming you still want the beds running east/west?) I think that's what you are getting at? Just let me know if you want anything changed for the concept that you want to show... otherwise next time Brian is in the neighborhood maybe some dimensions of relative information (how long are the beds from the door before they are cutoff for the fish tank, approximate location of the pole etc.) I can get a more accurate representation.

it does look like it has a second door. this is pointing towards the Aragon street (can't go down Aragon street to see it better because the google car didn't go down there)

Sorry I had to deal with cows this afternoon.
Excellent interactions working together Adam and Rob.
You've really brought this project to life. Technically there are two doors, and they are opposed at 180 degrees. Door2 as you have it listed may not be operable or at least they don't use it. I was considering removing door2 and framing up place where it was to house the RFF/static-up-flow filter, the sump and MBBR.
Perhaps use door2 outside of door1 for a mudroom between them with seats for students to put on greenhouse booties.

I believe there three segments of the dirt beds lining the the interior. There are breaks of beds at each door and another larger gap at the north side.
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My presentation, I'm told was enthusiastically performed. I had no trouble answering questions.
After three or four months of misery, I am so ready to snap back to life. This made me very happy.

This is the first time I've done a presentation.
I was prepared, I was not too nervous. I asked a friend to help me do this in case I wasn't well enough. She said if I was nervous, if came off as vibrant good energy.
I described the project for 15 minutes and asked for questions.
A Rio Gallinas Charter school teacher is in the group being presented to. She stood up and explained the school's position on my project which enlightened and delighted me as well.
The teachers are already working with students studying farms.
The school staff are already planning to structure classes around their new aquaponics system.
Amanda's class goes to the Growdome every Friday.
They are excited to be moving forward, as is the Kiwanis group.
I feel great after this meeting with the community.
I'm also exhausted.
I'll read each of your posts now and try to answer the ones I can help with.
Thank you guys so much.

brians.outfit@gmail.com

3D would be awesome for future presentations, thank you.

I do like the idea of using masonry for the FT and beds. I could use lumber to build the DWCs and Media beds.
I'm curious if masonry would be more aesthetic looking as well as structurally sounder? I like the idea because I can make use of volunteers for laying blocks. Kiwanis is big on volunteering for work projects.
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Rob, I was considering a five to 700 hundred gallon FT, but I was leaving the specific dimensions for you engineering guys. One goal is using readily available 55 gallon HDPE barrels for filters. I imagine this would be the over all constraint for fish tank and grow bed sizes.
Brian

Are they going to try and reuse the tank they have in there now or buy something new?

When you get a chance to visit again can you take some rough dimensions of where the existing obstacles are at (i.e. from the door how far to the edge of the bed by where the tank is at currently, how far from that point and the door to the pole for the wind turbine? How far from the edge of that bed to the edge of the next bed? What are the depth of the beds? This kind of info would help lock in the items that can't change / don't want to change to be able to more accurately draw the plans up.

If they are going to keep both doors and want them both accessible I probably would run the beds perpendicular to the doors... if you are going to remove or block one of the doors then it may be OK to run the beds east/west -- is that your intent? It might look/feel funny having them on an angle to you when you walk in to the door... not the most efficient for entry/egress.

If I recall, the current tank is really nothing more than a plastic diameter with a PVC liner. It is (by eye) roughly 8' diameter with 32 in sidewalls and filled a little over half.

Some of the perimeter beds would need to come out to make space for housing bodies inside. OR, make use of the little shed roof as a teaching/classroom (NE corner under tree) area to allow more growing area.

For reference, 120lbs of fish could support around 180 SF of growing area.... (there is the first slip Rob.......conscious one anyway )

Adam

Good morning.
Thank you for your input and attention to this project.
I'll drop by the dome today and get accurate measurements.
I suggested to Rio Gallinas staff on Tuesday meeting that we could leave the dirt beds on the perimeter, however if some need to be removed, that is what we'll do.

Interestingly the builder of the dirt beds who is on my facebook friends list recently asked if I was going to leave them. Also one of the people in the Kiwanis group also asked, to both, I suggested we'd like to build a system which is less invasive to what is there. The people in the community like the idea of keeping what they already have in there. I will measure the floor space with and with out those beds. I'll also check on the material used to build them. They may be built from recycled plastic or something comparably robust. It might look good with added liners to those beds.

Another obstacle which can be moved is the pole for the wind turbine. This setup I am familiar with, as I have a wind turbine albeit much larger. The current position of the turbine isn't idea for wind collection or convenient for maintenance. The turbine works best if it is much higher in the air because of nearby obstacles such as houses. My plan is to switch it out for post mounted photovoltaics in the yard. For now we can remove the pole. A friend runs a large solar power company called Energy Concepts. I will approach him to see what he can help us with as far as delivering the power we'll need to run pumps and whatever we need to keep the aquaponics system working. His son also has an IBC aquaponics setup at their headquarters in the next valley over from us here in Las Tusas. This will be my next presentation. So for now ignore the post in the middle of the dome.

I agree on the layout of beds and goldfish tank being important as I want to optimize space for the best teaching environment. The proper height of beds and fish tank should be optimized for K-7 children to interact with. We'll need to protect the fish tank from dropped items as well. I'm not certain about how to do this other than a screen over the tank and signage.
Suggestions are welcome. I know lots of you have done APs in school environments. Please, let me know what works and what doesn't.

Hah! Write it down boys, one line at a time we are going to get our free education! Lol. 1.5x grow area/lb of fish.

Brian I think once we have fairly accurate dimensions of the beds and where they are I can update the layout and get fairly close estimates for the space we need. From there you can decide if you want more space and should remove some beds or leave them. I have some manicans sketched up for grown men, I can make little people manicans to estimate the number of people who will fit without being overcrowded as well.

So with our new knowledge of 1.5x sq ft grow space / lb of fish then we can estimate the size of beds vs. the number of fish to see if we need more bed space or can get away with a smaller tank etc.