Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hay Mods, There was a thread on the temporary forum about lumber and liner grow beds. I think I posted an answer to some one on it just before this forum came back online. Perhaps that one could be transfered over.

I was about to do it myself but I can no longer access the temp forum.
Thanks,
TCLynx

I'll do that one when I get back later today TC

Hay Jaymie,
Are the posts from that other thread still on the other forum?

Thanks,

they'll still be over there and can be read, but you can't reply over there. I haven't found an easy way to bring them over here.
If you want to link to the thread you can. Links to the spare site will still work.

It wouldn't let me into the spare forum. It said that it was only for when this one isn't working.

hmmm, do you need to info straight away? Would you remind me in a day or so and I'll do some copying for you.

I'm not really in need of it right away, it was more along the lines of answering some one else's questions. If you can make a link to it that will work into here, that is all that would be needed. I just can't get into the other forum to search out that thread to link for myself.

Thanks

hmmm, just tried again. I could get in there 2 days ago and now I can't. This will have to be a job for Steve or EB (Super Steve and Wonder Joel)

Ok, thanks Jaymie.

Do they have special super hero costumes like capes and masks or was that the pic I saw in the Funny Pics section?

They got me access to copy and post from that other forum for the day!

Postby TCLynx on Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:01 pm
Here is one of my wood grow beds

And one with the liner nicely folded into it.

They are 8 foot long (external) by 32 inches wide(internal) and 1 foot tall.
I used 1x 4 and 1/2" plywood. As you ca see, the stand is built of old pallets (cut in half) on top of blocks.

I have another grow bed that I did different (planning to use it for starting plants as a nursery bed) so it is shallow. That one was built using 2 x 8 around the edge on a full sheet of plywood. This bed is shallow.

If you have access to large lumber, the grow beds can be easily built with boards instead of plywood. I went with 8' long since that is a standard length for plywood and other lumber so it made materials easy. I suppose if you had lots of really wide 20' long boards, you could build that long in one run but the sides of the bed in the middle might need extra support.

Another thing to take into account. Most EPDM liner is sold in rolls with kinda standard widths. Where I got my liner (http://www.justliners.com/aboutus.htm) the small width was about 5 1/2 feet and the next is like 10 ' wide. 5.5 works for a grow bed that is 3' wide by 1' deep though it doesn't give much leeway or fold over on the top edge of the bed. Going to 10' wide for a 4' wide bed is going to be a waste of material at extra $$$$. I also personally felt that 3' wide was also an easier width for me to deal with for planting and harvesting.

Hopefully you can check out my system thread on the other forum soon (hopefully the other forum will be back with us soon). For now perhaps my pictures will help you. I am working on my AP page on my web site currently but you can check it out here http://www.aquaponics.tclynx.com/BigSystem.shtml

And it was asked how much it cost to build my grow beds.



Postby TCLynx on Tue Apr 15, 2008 11:30 am
Cost to build my Grow beds. These are the ones that are less than 3' wide (only 34" for the outside width leaving 32" inside.

Hum, Well Here is a materials list for 4 grow beds.
6 sheets 1/2" plywood (aprox $16 each) $96 total for 4 grow beds
22 sticks 8' long 1 x 4 (less than $2 each) $44 total
Couple boxes 1" (screws 3.50 each) $7 total
5 # Box 1 5/8" drywall screws $18.94
Sm Box 2" drywall screws $4.73
Some black gaff tape to cover screws heads on inside of bed (I generally don't have to buy this as I usually pick it up from work)
Then about 44 feet of 5 1/2 foot wide EPDM Firestone pond guard 45 mil liner. (was 204.64 including shipping for 65 ft so $136.44 for the 4 grow beds)

So The total I spend to build the 4 grow beds themselves was about $307.11 so if you want a price per bed it would be $76.77. So that is under $100 for about 150 gallons worth of grow bed volume. About the only way I can think to do better than that is if you can get free bathtubs, feed troughs or....

There were a couple extra things I did on the beds, like putting some nice plastic trim edging around the top and some plastic skirting to protect the wood from the outdoor elements which I didn't price in there since I'm sure everyone will want to do that different. Figure in something for staples, plastic, paint, tape, stuff like that.

I also have not shown prices for the plumbing, bulkhead fittings, or the growbed stands since any kind of grow bed requires these things.

I have found that uniseal fittings will work through a 1/2" plywood lined growbed. These are much less $$ than bulkhead fittings. I did use bulkhead fittings but in the future I will probably use more uniseal fittings. Here is a link to where I have gotten these uniseal fittings. http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.php

I've glued the plumbing to and from the pump (as the pressure could cause leaks) but the drain plumbing from the Grow beds to the fish tank I have not glued.

I hope this helps