I'm very excited to announce we are donating a small system to a local elementary so that kids can learn about plants, fish, and microorganisms hands-on.
The system is two 30 gallon fish tanks on a typical over-n-under metal stand. The top will house fish - most likely some type of gold fish but I'm open to ideas. The bottom tank will have crawfish so that there is yet another learning aspect added to the system - crustaceans!
The plants will grow in a hydroponics tray housed in a wood frame. Supplemental lights will most likely be fluorescent but I would like to try LEDs too.
The flow is from the bottom tank to top, the top will overflow into the far side of growbed, growbed drains into bottom tank (aka sump), then it's pumped back up to the top tank...
Going to grow tiny tim tomatoes, and basil. Maybe some other things too. The tiny tims only get about 1.5ft (or half meter) tall and get kinda bushy with tons of cherry tomatoes.
Here is the rundown:
Attachment:
File comment: not-to-scale drawling
aq.jpg [ 65.04 KiB | Viewed 13318 times ]
aq.jpg [ 65.04 KiB | Viewed 13318 times ]
Here is the start of the project:
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File comment: unfinished frame
start.jpg [ 110.51 KiB | Viewed 13319 times ]
start.jpg [ 110.51 KiB | Viewed 13319 times ]
Still to do:
-sand and paint wood
-make frame for the light to hang
-get another 30 gallon tank
-enjoy
This is a topic for another thread but I'm creating an educator resource for aquaponics. The document will contain lots of lecture notes on the science behind AP. I will ask for help on the document soon and it will be published via creative commons so that everyone can benefit from it.
