Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey guys took a little longer but Ive been busy this week but here is episode three a few minor tweaks and a few lessons learned. As always feel free to comment ask questions and if you are so inclined feel free to subscribe.
thanks for all the input guys
chris




**edited for you chris, charlie**

Dude putting air into your pump like that is a bad idea. Causes cavitation on the impeller and then every time has to work 3 times harder before head pressure is built to sufficient level to overcome the cavitation/air .. i give the pump a few weeks before its finished. Also is that a halogen grow light? # 2 problem you are going to have.. Halogen is one of the most inefficient lights going 70% of energy burned is being used to generate heat with poor lumen output yes its bright but in completely the wrong spectrum and way to hot for plants you will burn them. Your 10 times better off going with compact florescent get one bulb in daylight spectrum and one bulb soft white.. basically you want one in the 6800K band (daylight bulbs) and one at the 1600 - 1800K band (soft white) K meaning kelvin and CFL packages usually tell you what Kelvin range they are in. anything in between those 2 spectrum is useless light as far as plants are concerned. Then move light like 6 - 10 inches away from grow bed as CFL's do not produce heat hot enough to burn plants. I have had plants grow right into the bulbs before and did not even burn em.. just my opinions but im sure a few others will chime in with something similar

I figured the pump thing was a bad idea....but hey for $9 I figured Ill take a chance. Also about the light I agree it is very inefficient and not the best but I am trying to make a under $100 system anyone can make...it may not be the most efficient but until I find a better substitute at a comparable price I'm stuck with it. Do you know of any inexpensive lights that have the right spectrum...this is all a learning experience and I appreciate all the feedback. I do think I will move the pump though just want to see how long it takes until it fails. Also thanks for the edit charlie.

sorry got it wrong daylight is 5000K up to 6800K and soft white is 1000 up to 3000 K both spectrum's plants need

Yes compact florescent are fairly cheep. like i said before get one daylight one soft white and you have covered 90% of light spectrum's plants need and fit in a standard light socket outlet.. You dont even really need the soft white .. Plants only need that band for flowering if all your growing is leafy greens then 5000k to 6800K band is all you need .. Get a standard lamp socket and then get a divider that splits one outlet to two. Uses way less power than halogen you can take it a step further and get 2 more dividers and be able to run 4 lights. If using the common 23 watt daylights thats only 90 watts of power consumption for a fairly good amount of lumen per watt also a good shade/reflector makes all the difference.

Thanks Ill def look into that!

Pic of my seedling ligh. Since this pic have removed the 2 soft whites as you only need the 2 daylights for vegetative growth

oh im glad you showed this I was thinking of the long tubes....this makes it seem much cheaper...thanks a bunch man!

another light pic

Hey homemadeaquaponics:
You might consider keeping the same thread running with the new videos rather than starting a new thread, makes it easier to follow the evolution of the system.

ok sounds good Ill go ahead and do that from now on thanks dave

do you want to string them together Dave?

You go Charlie if you want, I'm on an iPad and it could get dicey.

Im glad you're starting this journal. I've been having a hard time finding fish tank threads to get ideas for what I eventually want to do. Keep it up and more pictures please!

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk