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ZD's humble little greenhouse AP project
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Author:  ZenDaddy [ May 7th, '13, 11:33 ]
Post subject:  ZD's humble little greenhouse AP project
Hi all.

Long time lurker first time poster :-)

Since I have been reading all of your threads and watching your progress for a while now, I thought that I had better lay it all out there and show you what I have been working on.

I have been interested in the concept of AP for a long time and have wanted to put together a system for several years. Unfortunately, time space and funds have always held me back... until now that is :lol:

My wife and I moved into a home with a little outbuilding that used to be a greenhouse. I took one look at it and knew that there would be fish in it soon!

I have not gotten all fancy with the system like so many of you have.. you all have built some incredible systems!! But I am excited to be where I am with the project.

I am building on a very tight budget, so it is happening slowly and simply.

Take a look at what I have done so far. I would very much appreciate your input and suggestions. You all have had a lot to do with me getting this far! Thank you all!






ZD
Author:  DrLuke [ May 7th, '13, 12:46 ]
Post subject:  Re: ZD's humble little greenhouse AP project
What do you mean "not fancy", its superb.

My only concern, since I didn't hear it in your video, is that you are running unfiltered water directly to your DWC raft bed. It is almost mandatory that you will need to pass that through some solids filtration first. Same for our NFT. People usually go through their media beds first, as a minimum, and often use a secondary clarifier before the rafts.

The reason for this is that the plant roots themselves will act as the solids filter, building up brown sludge and chocking the plant. If your roots are not bright white like blond hair, you are probably experiencing this issue.

You'll probably be okay with gold fish, but once you throw something big and dirty in there, like talapia or cats, you will like run into issues.
Author:  ZenDaddy [ May 7th, '13, 13:56 ]
Post subject:  Re: ZD's humble little greenhouse AP project
Thank you DrLuke. I appreciate the feedback.

I actually originally had the drainage from the fill and drain bed as the only flow into the DWC bed, but I didn't feel like the water was moving through it (the DWC) quickly enough. It moved through so slowly that the long, wide, shallow bed acted like a radiator and warmed the entire system up more than I felt good about.

The solids lifting overflow from the fish tank emptied into the barrel sump through the bucket filter in the beginning, but I rerouted it through the raft to increase the water flow. I didn't think about the solids becoming a potential problem in the roots. It does make sense though.

Fortunately "under construction" means just that. I will set it straight. PVC loves to be cut and re routed.

I do like the idea of a system that retains the solids as much as possible and utilizes worms and bacteria to break them down as far as possible. But you are right, the DWC bed is not the right place for that to happen.
Author:  ZenDaddy [ Nov 8th, '13, 08:16 ]
Post subject:  Re: ZD's humble little greenhouse AP project
Hi all :wave:

It has been a while since I posted. The system has gone through a few challenges, but we have gotten a lot of good salads out of it.

Sadly, we were never able to get the tomatoes to fruit. Bummer. But lots of lettuces and peas and strawberries and greens.

We had to replace the greenhouse roof material that died an early death in the sun. We also had a major fish die off while I was out of town on an extended trip. But we are still running!

I added a swirl filter between the tank and the raft and just added 200 red worms to the gravel bed. I hope that is not too many...

Anyway, here is a few pics of the system currently


facebook ap album
Author:  ZenDaddy [ Nov 8th, '13, 09:25 ]
Post subject:  Re: ZD's humble little greenhouse AP project
I have a question -

How much chelated iron per dose would be correct in this system? The gravel bed is 30"x10'x 11" and the raft is 4'x10'x 8-10" deep.

Also, how much maxicrop liquid would you add?

Thanks in advance!
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