Hello all. Jeff here.
I am brand new to aquaponics. I have not built a single component yet, but have been reading books, forums and and watching loads of youtube videos. I have plans for a system which seem to change almost every day. I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with hot summers and bitter cold winters. I do not have the space to make an indoor setup.
I am getting a free greenhouse! I am actually going to go pick it up today. My father-in-law purchased 2 Solexx Garden Master 8x8 greenhouses a few years back; one for him and one for his mother.His mother's got torn down by the people who bought her house before they could move it, and it has been in a disassembled pile ever since. It may be missing parts and damaged, but the solexx panels themselves are expensive as all getout, so I am super stoked about getting them free.
I don't know exactly what my components will be made out of, it will depend on the space restriction in the greenhouse. I will have a better idea when i get it put up. So far I have a good idea of what i want to build though.
I am planning on a CHOP system using a 100 gallon rubbermaid stock tank, with a 55 gallon food grade barrel as a sump. Four 27 gallon heavy duty storage totes for grow beds. There is a nursery in colorado that has expanded shale in 40 pound bags, so I think i will use that for a growing medium. That's the idea anyway; will have to see if i can fit it all in the greenhouse.
I am hoping that a 400 watt heater will keep the system alive in the winter. I may have to use a small space heater too, it gets well below zero out here in the winter months. Lots of kale in those month I'm guessing. Problem is power. I only have 1 exterior outlet that I can run to the greenhouse. I don't know if i can run a 1000 gph pump (for the head needed for towers) and 400 watt heater on a 15 amp breaker. And add a space heater too? I will have to do the math to see if that's a reasonable idea.
I want to put some media filled towers in as well, but am not sure how to integrate into a chop system. Since the towers need water that has less solids than the grow beds (which like solids with composting worms). I thought of having a separate pump in the sump tank with a swirl filter for the towers, but I only have 1 exterior power outlet. If I use a single pump, I'm not sure how to have the tank and beds run continuously while the towers run 15 on and 15 off. I have tried to find timers and valves that open and close, but the only ones that I can find are industrial grade and cost thousands of dollars. I suppose I could make the whole system turn on and off, but the engineer in me really wants to build bell siphons.
I want to have goldfish in my system because they are super resilient and our climate is temperate with extremes in hot and cold. My wife wants to start with tilapia right away. We are looking to upgrade to a larger house with more space and yard in the next couple years, so a bigger, more sheltered setup in which we can control heat more easily may be possible in the future.
So, already I am hooked on this awesome concept, and hope to have a productive aquaponic garden soon. I would certainly appreciate any tips on my setup you have, or can guide me to appropriate threads.
Glad to be part of your forum.
I will try to post pictures of my system as i build it, and annotate my great successes and colossal failures.
Backyard Aquaponics
