Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Ok I am really a Texan - but live here for now and have got the bug to set up a system on my roof terrace. The issues here are apparently getting supplies (think no home depot, no cattle supply, and a fish store that just sells imitation crap) - that said I could probably buy a lion cub down in Satwa if I looked hard enough so maybe all is not lost.

Anyway, hello to all.

Welcome. What size system are you looking at.

Yes welcome and good luck with that but i'm not sure that Lions do so well in AP.

Not sure they taste so good either

It will be small. The biggest issue I see so far is availability of materials (oh, and scorching heat). So far I have not come across a source for EDPM so it looks like I will have to go with a trough system. I found a distributor from here:

www.jfc.ie

that imports them from Ireland. I am sure they are expensive compared to what you get outside the sandbox. How do these prices compare?

180 Gal/871 l for US$297
250 Gal/1125 l for US$372
350 Gal/1590 l for US$551

Anyone know how much these things weigh? Their website doesn't say. I know I am going to have to lug these up three floors by myself. I don't know how much I could carry - and there is no way I am asking the husband for help. (pride goeth before the fall and all that).

Anyway, any suggestions are welcome.

Hi Snazzy,

Those prices don't sound to bad. Might want to check the demensions to make sure you are able to get them up the stairs . Also the other thing would be to check your building management about putting large weights up 3 floors.. I'd hate to see you put it out on your balcony, fill it up, then find you had no balcony...

Ha - Yeah, that would suck (ooh, can you say that on this forum?). I will definitely check sizes before I buy.

Turns out the building management is crazy - she wants to put an aquaponics system up there so maybe you guys can help me think through the weight issue. Basically houses here are concrete cubes with windows and doors. The walls are made of poured concrete reinforced with re-bar all the way from the roof to the ground. All exterior walls are load bearing and I would guess that the bulk of the interior ones are load bearing but this is just a guess because they are in line with each other going up. This is on the third (or European 2nd) floor of the building. This level of the house only has a bedroom and its windows lead to the 'roof' of the rest of the house. This was originally built as a terrace - so it is tiled and level (very slight slope to a drain). The water tank will go next to a load bearing wall. That should be around 2000lbs - right? (250 gals x 8.5 ppg just for the fish tank although I haven't bought the tank yet..), guess would be double that for the grow beds (because of the rock - but I just pulled that number from you know where) and maybe 1/2 that for the other tank. So maybe a total of 7-8000 lbs (or 50 people roughly) - let me know if you think I am off the mark on my calcs.

Given what I know about Dubai (things are just harder to do/get/find out here) I am expecting that I could bug the builder forever and still not get an answer about the weight question - anyone know a rule of thumb about building design and person load factor? If there are roughly 575 sq. feet of terrace space - how many people would a builder generally design it for? (to be fair all my 'people' would be in one spot I don't know if that estimation works)

Thanks!
Snazzy

have a party with 50 people on the terrace, get them all to stand in the "spot" and see what happens?

Maybe turn on some loud music and have them jump up and down too....

speaking of weight though - what grow medium weighs least? Expanded clay? (that is around US$18 per 45L bag here - or I think it was 45L). Has anyone tried those crystal things - they are very light to move up three stories to the roof and would weigh about the same as water rather than the same as rock (but worried they would break down in the sun and then gunk up the system - oh and they are probably expensive in volume)

Keep in mind a Live load of people is very different than a static load. People jumping or stomping to music is a fairly effective way to destroy construction or at least bleachers and balconies. I'm not sure you really want to rock down the house.

Anyway. Perhaps you can go for smaller containers? Blue barrels perhaps? Beverage companies often use them and sell or give them away cheap. Water treatment plants sometimes use them for chlorine so there might be options. And just get the larger stock tank for a fish tank? Some people have done pretty nice systems with simple storage bins as grow beds.

As to the water crystals, I wouldn't use them. Salt dissolves them. They may have chemicals in them that are not all that good for people. And they definitely don't provide much support for the plants and they will keep the roots of the plants too wet most of the time. They will float and shift when the beds flood and they will let too much light down deep into the beds which will inhibit the bacteria.

Better choice for media is the expanded clay.

That is what I figured TCLynx - I will avoid the crystals - maybe stick them in my regular plants.

I've been following your (massive) system as I think your weather is closest to here - except, of course, that it actually rains in Fla. I'm impressed (and a little jealous)

Do common plastic planters (the ones with no holes in them of course) tend to break down in the sunlight or are they suitable for growbeds/tanks? I ask because although I found the tanks at the Camel store they just aren't that "pretty" and aesthetics is super-important to the other half. I obviously can't bury anything so there is no hiding it underground either. The plastic things are at least nice looking - but they look a little flimsy compared to a tank.

Thanks.

Light colored plastics are rarely going to last log term out in the sun if they are not UV stabilized. However, if you start with them new and protect them from the sun, they might last a while but be careful as over time they may get brittle.

There are ways to dress up the less attractive stock tanks or other tanks. So, if you have to wrap the planters in shade cloth or bamboo fencing or something to protect it from the sun, well you could wrap the stock tanks or other less attractive stuff in the same materials and it could all look about the same. So let the other half pick out the shade cloth or whatever so it will stand up to the aesthetic requirements.

IMO, the best looking system are the concrete/block systems. Concrete would be fairly light compared to all the water.

I love the look of this one!
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6895

But you can't grow many fish without the water...