Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Interesting method. Has anyone from this forum had much success with NFT? I was going to try it years ago, but always guessed that the nutrient solution would be too deficient for spectacular plant growth. Hydro-synthetic solution rich in P and K would be necessary. Just wondering?

Janet,
I thought of each of those ideas and a few others.

Felix,
How much does land cost out there. I "LIKE" the boonies, especially in your part of the world.

Mechael,
I am quite convinced that if the water is healthy, then the plants will be. Since we do not use soil, then the water is the only real source. If there is proof that NFT will work on synthetic solutions (and of course there is) and there is proof that AP water works (we are proof of that, since our GB's really are not helping the plant - just the water - except in the area of support), then I can not find any reason why the AP water would not be just as good in and NFT as in .... say... Joel's system.

I would bet that if you ran Joel's water through the NFT (or anyone elses who's is well stabalized), so long as it is a plant that could get sufficient support from the NFT, it would work just as well as in his GB's.

my .02

Matthew, I'm gonna make you smile before I tell you what land is worth. We pay no homeowners' tax! As far as land, up in Utuado (where the NFT place was) is probably around $5k an acre. (its pretty rugged, though) You can get something in my part of the island, (the town of Luquillo on the east coast) for around $20K to $50K & if you want to hide & never be found I'd choose the island of Vieques. I personally can't stand going to Vieques. Things move toooo slow for me there!

Every time my friends from the States come to visit I make sure I take them to the west coast. IMO, that's the best place to live here. Its slower than the east / metro, but not Vieques Slow... or Oak Grove Louisiana slow! You got towns like Rincon & Cabo Rojo, which are full of open space with the coast & the "city" a few minutes away. The town of Lajas (The Lajas Valley), where http://www.caribefish.com is, is very very beautiful. My wife said she felt like she was back in the States when she saw Carbe fish's farm. A good source for real estate here is http://www.clasificadosonline.com

If you plan a trip down here, let me know. I can tell you many where to's & where not to's! One thing I should mention right off the bat is you MUST stay at the Lazy Parrot in Rincon. Its around a hundred bucks a night. i'm dying to go back!!! The site is http://www.lazyparrot.com/

Looks like a safety so you can see if any pipes are bloked with roots [water over flows ]

I've got it figured out Felix! They put someone in a hang glider sling and then suspend them over the bed with an engine crane/hoist!!! (The idea came from the old show "The Flying Nun".)

Great idea though for making floating rafts, which would be my way to use the foam blocks. The only thing is the cradle that holds the blocks during the "punching" operation would need to have holes aligned beneath the ones on top to ease the punch through, otherwise you might end up with split/compressed foam blocks.

Kevin

hmmm,
no property tax....
no paying for someone elses rotton school system....
wonderfull temp.s year round,
cost less than my local,
hmmm,
ocean breezes instead of AC

You can see the beach from my house... but AC would still be nice! I clocked 120F on my front porch once!

About the schools, you MUST put your kids in private school. No control in public schools here. I've seen kids rioting in front of the high school. Destroying cop cars & everything! (Thank goodness I chose to walk to the barber that day! )

michael i used net pots[ same as using rockwool] in channels was told it wasent nft ! with great success

Hi all,

The photos in this thread got me thinking. I have been thinking about how to set up a commercial AP system and like the order of the pipes on the rack. Obviously the way it is set up is not going to work as is as there is nowhere for the bacteria which 'eats' the ammonia.

So, after many sleepless hours considering the system, I have come up with a possible alternative which is using the same principle.

The idea is that between the plants you place gravel, with water flowing in from the top just as in the photos. There is a divider placed upstream from each plant with a small hole at the top of the divider.

Gravel is placed on the up-side of the divider. As the water flows in from the top it flows over the gravel which has the bacteria to convert the ammonia.

I would shorten the tubes to only approx 2mtrs so they can be harvested without having to move the tubes.

The plants would grow in the same medium as in the photos.

I am considering building one to run with a small pond pump which I have sitting around to see if it works.

Can anyone think of anything that I have missed, not considered, gotten wrong etc. I have drawn a basic cross section of what I am considering (please excuse the quality of the drawing. Picasso I am not! )

Thanks

Simon

looks interesting. What would you use for the dividers? and how would you put them in the pipes?

those are just the first questions for now

I was thinking perspex dividers. You should be able to glue them in via the plant holes (or that was what I was thinking)

In the original photos the access holes for the dividers seem to be fairly large so I was thinking that they would be large enough.

Have a feeling that root growth and removing plants for harvest will pretty much destroy the dividers in no time Psycho.....

Why bother with them at all.... if you going to use gravel why not just use gravel and plant into the gravel.... whether that be direct or via a seedling in rockwool.....

Or filter before the nft pipes and just run as nft.....

Depends also if you're intending to run DWC, and fill the pipes, gravel or otherwise...ala nft..

DWC with a timer based "flood and drain", with gravel

Or top fed "drip" through media in net pots.....

Or true "nft" with continous flow???

I agree with ROZ, the amount of gravel in the pipes would not be a significant enough as a biological filter. The depth and density of the bacteria would be very minimal.

Build a large gravel biofilter which runs separately to the pipes. ie. On a different pump/circuit. Then just run a prefilter for the nft channels.

Yup, I agree with everyone above.

I'd be worried about gravel clogging and the inaccessibility of it, too. At first I was thinking of making the dividers perforated, but then decided that would probably clog up, too. I'd run a couple gravel growbeds before the pipes, and do the pipes like the original.

Simon,
You could use T's instead of straight pipe that you wouldn't have to drill/cut for the plant openings. The cost would obviously be much higher per ft, but you could adapt the tops of the T's for smaller/larger auto pots by using reducing bushings. Also you could install drain covers between the joints. You could use the totally perforated ones or you could use the solid ones and drill holes into the tops to retain the volume of water you want within the pipes.

Personally though I would rather go with auto pots set into holes drilled/cut into the pipe and either install a 1/4" line on the top to provide irrigation, and just use the larger pipe to support the auto pots/plants and drain away the extra water, or allow the pipe to hold a small amount of water in the bottom all of the time and have it flood and drain along with the filtering grow beds. (Sort of like the idea of high and low tides.)
Kevin