Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello

I'm a college student at Florida State University studying chemistry. I was introduced to aquaponics last year and wanted to build a system ever since. As a college student, I've been around hydroponics and know the typical setup.

I currently work in a chemical oceanography laboratory, where I have access to an ion chromatogram. This measures major anions (Fluoride, Chloride, Nitrate, Phosphate, Sulfate, among others), so every now and then, I'll be taking water samples to test.

The Setup.

Right now, I have 2 small Shibunkin goldfish in a 10 gal tank, with 4 pots set up above it. Oregano seeds and a few catnip clones. Did all that yesterday (all afternoon). I won't get into costs (credit card). Everything is under a 90W blue LED.

I leave for a 2 month research cruise around Antarctica in February, so my gf will be required to keep up the system during that time. When I get back, I will be working vociferously to establish a large aquaponics system: 100 gal system to begin with, probably stocked with local fish, or some catfish from Georgia.

Ultimately.

I'd like to have a system like the Shoalhaven Skills Garden Project, or some similar commercial sized system. I have access to a few acres of land, and I'll probably work it into grad school (agricultural chemistry?). Anyway, it started when I had vegetable gardens in poor soil as a kid, and it has never stopped.

That's my addiction.

This set up has 2 filters--a bubbler and a waterfall. It is cycled over the GBs via a ~60GPH water pump. The growbed containers are recycled HCl bottles from the lab, all totaling about 10L of LECA, with rockwool inserts.

I've made an effort to reduce electrical/water hazards, but still need to add a plastic sheet below everything, as I am a renter and want my security deposit back in the event of the unfortunate.

The light(s) are hanging on a frame for a mobile shirt closet that I've employed for my catnip for some time.

Start Date: Saturday 4DEC2010

Pictures Taken today: Tuesday 7DEC2010

Catnip clones look good. Fish are also good. pH ~ 7.0+/-0.5.

N/P/K ratios coming soon.

I contacted an ad on Craigslist. 150 Gal Stock tank for $40. I'll be picking that up this afternoon. This will be for the Spring (April/May) system. I'm thinking about adding some fish/plants to this 10 Gal system in anticipation. Current setup will continue to ensure quality control before additions are made. Also in my possession is a 75 Gal aquarium and ~100L (~25 gal) of LECA. The rest of the GB, I'll probably make up with gravel.

Here at FSU, there are a few grad students that are growing algae for biofuels research. If all goes well (and time permitting), I may get into algae culture for fish food; otherwise I'll stick with cricket farming. We'll see what the new year brings.

Ok. I got some nitrite and ammonia reducing bacteria tonight, along with 3 more Shubunkins, some tank toys, and more gravel. So I added some Nite-Out II (with Nitrosomona sp., Nitrospira sp., and Nitrobacter sp.) to get the bacteria levels where they need to be, since I doubt they'll get exposed to that in my apartment room with a hepa+UV air filter.

Catnip clones look good, so 3/3 will likely root. I can see a root poking out of one of the visible oregano seeds, but I'll have to keep the catnip in the pots until the oregano takes off (2-4 wks, I'm guessing) to eliminate nitrates.

Water Test (5-in-1 test strips)
pH: ~7.8
Nitrate: 0-10 ppm
Nitrite: 1.0-3.0 ppm
GH: 150-200
KH: 300 ppm

Adding the 3 additional fish could pose a threat to the nitrite/ammonia levels, but hopefully the bacteria treatments will be enough to correct the situation. I'll keep a close watch on it.

I think I'll be working on redesigning the GB setup to foolproof spills/electric concerns, in addition to expanding the GB volume for more plants. There is an extra water pump (200GPH@0ft) that will replace the current pump (6.5GPH@2ft), but that's still about a week or two away.

Hope everyone's enjoying the project as much as I am.

G'day Kilgore - welcome to the forum.

Interesting setup. I looked, but couldn't see it - what volume of grow bed do you have ?

If you follow up on that algae production, remember, the algae will be a lot easier to scale up than that the crickets, if it proves worthwhile.

One final comment - if you can afford it, but a proper test kit - those strips have a pretty bad reputation for inaccuracies.

Hay there Kilgore and welcome.

When you scale up to a bigger system, will it be outdoors?
For channel catfish I like to recommend 300 gallon fish tanks. My catfish never seem to do well long term in anything smaller. (100 gallon is fine for fingerlings while they are still really small but not so good for grow beyond 6-7 inch advanced fingerlings.)

My 300 gallon system seems to be doing fine with catfish though but it is definitely not an indoor system.

I have access to an ion chromatography system, so I'll run a few samples soon to verify the strips.

Currently, there are 10L (2.57Gal) of GB, and I'll probably expand that system this weekend. If I remember, I'll check the rate of nitrate absorption in plants over time. That's something I'm curious about.

With the larger system (April/May): definitely outdoors. I have a 150 gal tank ready for that, so with your advice on the channel cats, I'll look into getting a larger tank when they grow up.



As for the Cricket/Algae question, the algae doesn't sound as pleasant at night.

I'll continue this thread in the Systems section of the forum.


I appreciate your input!

Kilgore welcome to the forum, nice looking setup. Looking forward to watching your progress. And we want to see pics from the Antarctica trip!

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8691

All my progress has migrated into Member Systems, lots of pics... (Not really, but I'm working on it)