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Grow Beds for a Small Space
http://byap.backyardmagazines.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=30622		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Acro [ Aug 2nd, '19, 09:00 ]
Post subject:  Grow Beds for a Small Space
What would be good grow beds for this system? Can you suggest any specific containers?

I'm building my first aquaponic system (flood and drain). It's indoors using a 50 gallon aquarium, a Low Boy like this: https://zoomed.com/50-gallon-low-boy-breeder-flat-aquarium/

I'll use a 10 to 20 gallon sump aquarium underneath.

Because of the small space I have to work with, the grow beds will be on a vertical shelving system that I'm making, and they will measure 47" x 11" being two or three levels above eachother.

What would work best for grow beds? Can you suggest any specific containers?
Author:  Acro [ Aug 8th, '19, 05:29 ]
Post subject:  Re: Grow Beds for a Small Space
No suggestions? That's too bad.

But I found some on my own, at a hydroponic store in Atlanta, Ga. They are only about 4" tall however. I'm hoping that will work for a flood and drain system.

I'd still like some advice if there is any to share. You know, thoughts on how to make this work with a 4" tall grow bed.
Author:  scotty435 [ Aug 9th, '19, 00:16 ]
Post subject:  Re: Grow Beds for a Small Space
4" tall grow beds probably won't let you have 4" of media. You might be able to use something like a cylinder to increase the media depth where you place your plants. You could also use grow bags just sitting in the bed so that they wick up the water.

Some plants would probably work OK in just the 4" depth but you might run into issues with the bed because of the roots. I think maybe the grow bag option might work the best but wait and see what others suggest.

Part of the function of the grow beds is to filter the water for the fish. With less media you'll get less filtration. Make sure you don't exceed the filtration capacity of your grow beds when you stock with fish. I don't know that I'd be able to tell you what your stocking capacity would be if you go with the grow bags :dontknow: . I guess just figure the amount of wetted media like any other system.
Author:  rininger85 [ Aug 10th, '19, 02:23 ]
Post subject:  Re: Grow Beds for a Small Space
I would just pick up some totes... I had a small AP system set up in my fish room in the house that I was using totes as grow beds. then you could pick a tote size that fits the space you want to use.

Note that my bed space was much less than my fish space, which resulted in nasty black crud filled bed after a while that I had to clean out every so often.
Author:  TCLynx [ Aug 12th, '19, 06:44 ]
Post subject:  Re: Grow Beds for a Small Space
The grow bags work great for growing plants but I would totally recommend building a system with dedicated filtration if you were to use grow bags for the plants in 4" deep hydro trays.

For small spaces and deeper grow beds, I've used 5 gallon buckets as grow beds before on an indoor aquarium system.

There are probably pictures here some where when I built that at the old house. Take note that I was not really successful breeding tilapia when I was trying.
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