Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

That sounds like a pain but makes sense. You're doing great, each version gets better and in the end your system is down pat . Do you have a metro cart? I was thinking that you could set it up to be lighted space for seedlings indoors or use it as a roll out cart for hardening off seedlings before putting them in the bed.

Cheers

No metro carts here. Really not moving that many trays at any one time usually so it hasn't been a priority. Having to make two trips with two trays is quicker than trying to manhandle a cart around. And then there is the fact that the place doesn't really have smooth flat floors between the indoor space and outdoor space so a cart wouldn't be all that helpful and most of the place doesn't have floors at all.

Now if I ever get to the point of installing a larger operation where we pour a floor, I would definitely make sure we can wheel carts from area to area easily. Of course that is only likely to happen if we put in a large greenhouse or at least the roof of a greenhouse.

The cart was mostly for starting more seeds inside under lights (mobility would have been nice though). It was a thought but I wasn't sold on this idea myself, especially with a youngster running around and trying to climb on things.

Jajaja... forget Metro Carts! That is so old school... riding the Choo-Choo is the future!

Check out the 4-minute mark of this video...


Yeah, I think I'm gonna set up a rail system like that for my backyard.

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Sam

Tomorrow we plan to start leveling the space for a new addition to the systems. Time to expand.

Yay!
Good luck with your expansions TC, what are you adding more DWCs?

Martin.

Got it in one.

Will be a couple of raft beds between 46 and 50 foot long.
One using my old method of construction and the other testing out a new method of raft bed construction.

Just realized that I hadn't posted an update on the Raft Master!


Now I just need to get the bed next to it built so I can plumb them together and hook them into the system. Right now the celery raft just has a little circulation pump and some mineral salts type nutrient solution but I'm not willing to drain and re-fill with new hydroponic solution every few weeks and also not willing to send out samples for lab analysis so that I can mix up appropriate custom nutrients for just the one raft bed. I need to hurry and get it all hooked up since the celery is starting to object to running out of some nutrients.

"The Raft Master"

Good catchy name and looks like it works well. You're almost getting to the point where the curvature of the Earth is hiding the end of the grow bed

TCLynx,

That Raft Master looks super! It looks like a real functional production system that is flexible and yet perhaps doesn't require a cement truck and construction crew to build. Are the tubes under the liner noticeable or are they covered in a way that makes them undetectable by the water flow? Do you have more build photos you can share?

Very nice work! Thanks for sharing the interesting ideas.

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Sam

The pipes run under the liner. I used an old piece of carpet between the pipes and liner but you can still see the bumps as the liner goes over the pipes. It isn't a problem for water flow but if you wanted a perfectly smooth bottom, I would suggest you sink the frame pipes into a layer of sand.
Rob Torcellini is the one who developed this product. It is great as it can ship in Fed Ex or UPS ground size boxes!
It only took me 2 hours to unpack and assemble the frame. Most challenging part of all of this is making a level site to build it.

I do have more pictures and video I just have to find the time to sit at the computer and sort through it. Edit some to put

TCLynx,

Very nice! You are already featured on the Manufacturer's website!

What is The RaftMaster™?

I think I'll be trying this technique down the road. It looks very clever and obviously holds up to the water pressure just fine. The flexibility that this provides for quick setup and takedown, and expansion, is impressive. I think I would try to alleviate the rib bump like you have with your carpet, and maybe even bury ribs a bit deeper in the sand to avoid the bump they show in the installation manual:


So that is all constructed out of 1.25" tubing, liner and clips? Very clever!

--
Sam

It is actually smaller tubing. I believe it is the 3/4" Conduit.

The other beds I built were done using the 1 3/8" mechanical conduit or chain link fence top rail and clamps (no bends)

The raft master is nice in that there are only a few different parts and they are all small enough to be shipped. It is still more $$ than building out of wood BUT I have had bad experiences building out of wood and having liner pressed against said wood with water in it in my climate (makes a perfect moist place for carpenter ants and termites to nest.)

Scanning through this one, tons of great info to take in, and your comment about Thermax got me doing some web mining...

2" Thermax is listed on Dow's site with an R13 rating.

Anyone have any experience with Prodex? They're claiming R16 ratings but much thinner applications, I would assume due to closed-cell PE foam.

Heck, if it works like normal insulation then doubling up on layers should double the R value... maybe?

I woudn't recommend building a cooler with the Thermax. Dow BlueBoard, 4" thick is what is actually recommended by the cool bot people. I only used the Thermax because I had it left over from the project insulating the ceiling on the addition (needed the Thermax so that we didn't have to put up drywall or some other thermal barrier.) In order to get the amount I needed I had to order a full pallet load which was twice what I actually needed for the ceiling project.
Worked out ok since I got to use the rest of it for the cooler but if I was starting the cooler from scratch and didn't have a stack of the Thermax sitting there, I would have purchased blue board to make a total of 4" thick.

As to trying to use that other product. I suppose if you had a pre-existing structure and you decided to wrap it with that stuff to get a total R value greater than the foam then maybe? You probably still need to use blue board under the flooring through. The biggest thing is you need to seal up all seams very well. I don't know about the cost of the roll of product or how you seam it together to make sure the vapor barrier is continuous.

If making your own walk in cooler, definitely read up on the cool bot site before spending any money.