Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

A filter gets clogged. I'm talking squeezing gunk out here Janet, not killing bacteria.

Janet...between AA and myself I would have to veto your opinion. Eight years of experience on my end and moreso on AA's end.(I'll let AA chime in if need be) sorry. Have you done desktop aquaponics? I have...many times in classrooms. small system, best practices, not theory is needed. You want max nutrients on your plants. A power filter robs solids....a fact. Not the you are entirely wrong because there is no right or wrong in AP and I don't want to shame you, but you need to understand Sonshe is new. Confusing her with gray probabilities doesn't help, it makes things...well, in her words "dense." In her application a power filter is not "advised." If you want to argue it, PM me or AA.... It robs the plants of good solid nutrients and that is a fact. It is not good to confuse Sonshe obviously as she is trying to set up a desktop AP system and is trying to understand. We are here to help her set her system up right.

Please let shonshe respond before we post options...

...or opinions

I'll repectfull disagree with MF. The location of the bacteria really has no bearing on the functionality. Take NFT or floating raft. The bacterias function is to convert ammonia to nitrate. the plants will take the nitrate out of the water. It does not matter where the bacteria or plants are as long as they are in the same water

My first insight into AP was putting the "change out water" from my aquariums onto my herb patch which exploded with growth. Bacteria in the cannister filter converted ammonia into nitrates which are dissolved in the water. water with nitrates makes plants grow.

AA himself has said in his previous posts that it does not matter where the biomedia is in the system

But Steve, it is important to have the solids in the medium. The bio-filter will fluctuate in response to what it is fed. It can only grow to the size of it's nutrient load.

And it takes more than nitrate to grow plants. Phosphates are high in the solids and potassium and most trace elements present.

The bacteria in DWC undergravel filter is only a small part of it. The root systems and netpots house more than half of it. Those DWC roots get HUGE, and I've always at least 3 of 4 planters growing things.

A sponge/material type filter does strip nutrients, requires cleaning, and if it's not cleaned will create anaerobic problems awful fast. You know the saying 'a dirty filter cleans cleanest' - this is when you need to clean it you only have days before problems arise.

However, I'd advocate using a filter that is regularly cleaned in conjunction with AP beds compared to the overstocking and resultant massive water changeouts going on hereabouts. I'd much more highly recommend following the guidelines that work as set out by Joel in his book, and me all over many threads.

Cleaning filters properly - squeeze and rinse sponge in AP water, then throw this waste on garden or other plants. To clarify for noobs.

Yes, i was picturing a gravel grow bed and a NTF in the same system.

The solids get trapped in the gravel, the P and K are released from there via microbial de-composition (P and K CAN be water soluble) and allow the plants in the NFT to flower and fruit.

Jim will be growing tommies this way, so will verify or negate my assumptions

I love it when we have good well mannered arguments and productive points of view put across respectfully like this!

Kudos to all of ya!

its the ONLY way to be

Thank you for your clarification, Steve. My original concern was that Shoshe understand that the activity of the bacteria in the Power Filter (or elsewhere) is complementary to (and does not replace) the activity of the plants. While a power filter will certainly draw in some of the solids, in my aquariums, I always found much more solids in the undergravel filter. My thoughts were that the small sacrifice of solids in the power filter were worth the trade-off to get aeration and substrate for the bacteria. It also made use of what Shoshe already has rather than purchasing additional equipment.

Ok now I'm more confused ;>)

What is DWC? And do I actually clean the filter sponge by rinsing it clean instead of purchasing a new one like the instructions said that came with it?

And what is this book of Joel's you're talking about.

What is noob?

Since I can no longer return the Whisper filter, would it be advisable to go ahead and get the air pump and stones? They really aren't all that expensive.

I do have "The Emily" hydroponics system which is a passive-type system. I purchased it cause all one had to do was put the parts together and it was ready to go. The lettuce and herbs are doing great although I did have a hard time getting them started but now they're fine. I'm thinking, MF, that you are advising another system, except with the fish, like the Emily which has the an air pump and stones????? But why pea gravel instead of regular aquarium gravel? And I'm assuming I'm to cut the stryofoam cooler down to fit on top of the water????

"Deep Water Culture"... Don't get too rapped up in the definitions Sonshe....



Sonshe if you want to use the pump then fine, if you do the filter will ultimately (just as an aquaruim filter does) need to be cleaned or replaced...

If you're are using some grow medium in your planting containers then you could probably just leave the filter out as the grow media will trap most of the solids in the grow container.

If you are only going to float your plants on the aquarium surface then you will probably have to use the filter and clean/replace it periodically as the left over fish food and fish poo (solids) will eventually clog it up.



you can never have too much aeration in the system (well I don't think so???)... and if you cover the surface of the aquarium you obviously close of any oxygenation from the water surface... so yes it would be a good idea



It would probably be beneficial for you to order Joel's book and DVD titled "Backyard Aquaponics"...

Joels Book/DVD

Joel was one of the pioneers of Aquaponics and his book/dvd will give you a better understanding of what's involved with the concepts and what's possible in order to apply them.

Look back to my other post about giving the bacteria that break down the fish poo to nutrients....

All you really need is a tank, a pump (or gravity feed outlet)... going to a container which includes either ...

just water with nutrients... nft, hydroponic, DWC (check out the abbreviations thread.... mainly relate to hydroponic techniques)

or some sort of grow media for the bacteria and plants to grow in...

... typically this container is "flooded" with the nutrient rich water (or drip feed) then "drained"... hence referred to as "flood and drain" or "ebb and flow"...

we drain the system to allow the grow media to "dry out" (not literally) and allow oxygen into the grow media for the good bacteria to use when they break down the fish poo and for the resulting nutrients uptake to the plants....

This cleans the "nitrates" from the water, otherwise when we return it to the tank we would ultimately stagnate the water/remove the oxygen from the tank water and build up ammonia....

Killing your fish.....

However it is possible to produce results with an aquarium system like you are proposing to do... just alters a few of the variables and you need to be careful your plants don't develope "root rot"

I suggest looking through the forum threads and you will find several systems similar to what you are proposing...

ie Steves Indoor System...

Steve's Indoor System

A school aquarium system...

School System

Always look for the "more pages" indicator and read through it all...

some of the best stuff on setting up the system is on earlier posts and you'll have to pan to them

ROZ - Great answers! I'll expand only a little...

Cleaning the filter sponge - of course the manufacturer wants you to buy more. That's how they make money. I have traditionally cleaned them with the sink sprayer in the kitchen. Squeezing works for a true sponge filter, but my filters (Whispers, also) used poly batting over a rectangular frame, so were not sqeeze-able. Catch the run-off water in a bucket and use it to water your houseplants or garden.

'Noob' is short for Newbie.

Aquaddict has been doing this for many years, as has Steve. When I saw their posts, I was afraid that all the lingo would throw you.

Joel's book details his own system design plus general Aquaponics concepts. I don't recall that it details an aquarium setup like what you are doing.

sorry for the techie sonshe! Was very busy on the forum last night, and couldnt take the time i usually do to explain things Oh, and welcome!

This was my point really...and what I was trying to head off. It's ok though maybe it's for the better