Hell everyone!
I have been lurking for a while, I may have posted once or twice on account I cant remember, but for the most part just researching.
Before I discovered tye world of aquaponics I was researching hydroponics. I reallt liked the look and idea of N.F.T. The plants roots can grow as long as they want to flow down the pipe.
When I found aquaponics it was like I had already learned a half of the picture, now I just needed to learn how the fish fit into the equation. One thing that slipped my mind completely was the bio filter. In most flood and drain systems the bio filter is also the growbed but in my N.F.T. system there is hardly any grow media and water contact, but I will talk about that later.
I bought a 4 foot length of ABS pipe from home depot, a pump from home depot, and got to work on a small expiramental system.
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When I stopped by the local hydroponics store to buy some Hydroton, the guys there were nice enough to give me 5 tomato plant clones for free, as well as a free urban gardening magazine!!
I bought 20 feeder fish from PetSmart (the feeder fish are a little cheaper at walmart but I often see a tank with 40 or 50 dead fish, at least the one near me they dont take care of them) and put them in a large Rubbermaid container. The plant 'gutter' sat above the fish tank and the water drained straight into the fish tank.
I dont have a good picture of it because this system was in the corner of my garage but in this video you can get the idea.
http://homebrewaquaponics.com/wp-conten ... G_1045.mov
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I used this system for a few months, after a month or so I added a bio filter made up of a 2 liter bottle filled with Hydroton but i eventually decided to change to flood and drain, my homebrew aquaponics 1.5 version!
I was getting anxious and decided to try something else, a loop siphon. The loop siphon worked perfectly every time, now I haven't used a bell siphon to compare it with but I am kinda thinking the loop siphon might be a better choice, it doesn't take up grow bed space, and it is easy to fine tune if you build it externally. What are the reasons everyone normally chooses a bell siphon?
Do you have any tips on making the standpipe ?
