Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

nice, that greenhouse looks fancier than some people's houses.

The footings are being installed this Saturday morning. Once they are in I can order the lumber and get this build started! I'm wondering if the name of my system build is causing people to ignore it or my posts just aren't interesting enough yet. Hopefully I will get some interest once I start building the actual AP system.

Even though it rained all day on Saturday, I was able to work on the floor for the Aquaponics fish tank building Sunday. Granted, it was still very muddy but I need to get the floor joists in by this Wednesday before the next round of rain comes in. I fully expect to have the floor down and the walls up this coming weekend. I was pleasantly surprised when I checked the floor framing and found that it was perfectly square as well as level. I guess taking my time and checking the cuts twice helped ensure the building was square. This will help tremendously when I start the walls.



Unfortunately, I’m still having some trouble figuring out what I need to do about the improperly installed footings for the greenhouse. I’m debating whether I should dig a new hole by hand to correct the problem with the incorrectly installed front left footing. If you want something done right you should ALWAYS do it yourself.

I’m also going to have to deal with a low end of the greenhouse to ensure it doesn’t flood with a heavy rain. The rain on Saturday showed me where I will have some standing water issues but I think I can just install a drain on the right side of the building to combat the issue with standing water. Since the yard above the building next to the pool has a slight slope, I will need to install that pipe before I finish the greenhouse walls.

I also have plans to build a chicken coop on the backside of the fish tank building along with an easy way to gather the eggs from the nesting boxes. I think I will simply building the side wall with openings for the nesting boxes so we can gather the eggs without tracking chicken poop all over the place. More pictures to come as I progress with the build.

Keep in mind that you still probably have to go around to the coop side to feed the chickens so having the nest boxes open into the greenhouse might not be all that time saving unless there is a door right next to the nest boxes and coop to keep you from having to walk all the way into the greenhouse to collect eggs and then back out and all the way around the greenhouse to clean/fill feeders and waterer and take scraps to the chickens.

If you give the birds a large chicken run/paddock, you will track through less poo when walking in their area than if you only have them in a small coup with only a small outdoor yard for them.

Does anyone have any additional information on these foam tanks and their use in an aquaponics setup? any known issues with leaching of harmful chemicals? Does anyone use these tanks now?

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/rubbermaidreg%3B-structural-foam-stock-tanks-300-gal--capacity

I know it's been a long time since my last update but there have been a lot of challenges with this build. Just a few of the latest pics of the progress. Hoping to get the siding on the building next week and then I can finish the greenhouse framing.

I've used the Rubbermaid Stock tanks. They do not carry any food grade certification.
The Plastic is HDPE structural foam. HDPE plastic is generally considered one of the safer plastics to use but I don't know anything about the foaming agent they use.
That said, I know of many operations that use the tanks as fish tanks and I've used them as grow beds.

I will say that after about 4 years of use as flood and drain grow beds some of my 100 gallon stock tank beds that had heavy gravel in them have started to crack on the side that gets afternoon sun exposure.

I do find the tanks a bit on the shallow side for use as fish tanks. I prefer to have a water depth between 24-30 inches which isn't possible if the fish tank itself is only 24 inches deep.

Thanks TCLynx. I was just looking at setting up a small tank and grow beds until I can expand the setup later this spring. I was planning on building a tank out of wood and using the HDPE liners. I was concerned about the foaming agents they use so I'll do more research and post if I find anything useful.

Hi APFTW!

Nice greenhouse going, keep the pictures coming!

Rubbermaid containers are the first ones I expect people to use, I have no compunction (sp?) about using them for AP.

I agree DD, I use them and I figure if they are safe enough for my food to drink from, they are safe enough for my other foot do drink from or grow in or live in or swim in.

Just because something doesn't have the "food grade" certification doesn't necessarily mean that it is not safe, it just means that they haven't paid to get every step and material in the process certified. And there are some materials and plasticizers that are approved for food contact in this country that I DO NOT appreciate in my food and I therefor do not necessarily hang all my trust in government "certification."

Has anyone used an in-ground sump tank with a floating raft or is that something that shouldn't be done? I'm planning on digging out a 4'x10'x1' sump tank in the floor of the greenhouse similar to what JT did in his greenhouse but instead of placing a grow-bed over the top like he did, I was wondering if I could simply place rafts in there. I have been planning a raft setup but I won't have the room once I build-out the grow-beds.

Would there be issues with the waste water from the growbeds fouling up the sump tank? Would the water be too dirty and impede the growth on the raft plants?

Sumps are a fine place for a raft, as long as the level going up and down is not excessive.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8849&p=299478&hilit=lettuce+raft#p299478

Yea, you just have to make sure that the plant roots in the rafts are not going to get sucked into your pump in that sump tank and make sure the water level fluctuation isn't going to be too extreme and keep the water coming from the grow beds from splashing on the rafts.

Beware that any aeration under the rafts in a fluctuating level tank will experience fluctuating air pressure/flow so I would advise using a separate air pump for the raft bed than you use for your fish tank since the tank with the deepest water will get the least air flow and fluctuating water levels in the shallow raft bed would require constant adjustment of the valves to the air stones to make sure the stones in the fish tank kept working. Best to just use separate air pumps.

Oh, and you might be better off making the sump/raft bed a little deeper if you can.

+3 haha