# Indoor Aquaponic System ---What do u Think?



## didi (Mar 24, 2010)

Hello everyone, 


I am looking forward to starting my Aquaponic system going this upcoming week.
I am, however, new in this AP concept that I am going to need some help.
Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated

Here are few details about my so far virtual Project:

I own a 36 gallons aquarium that stands on a table in my living room. It has been up and running since February. It is now cycled with plenty of bacteria to break down the ammonia and nitrite. I have two HOB filters where the bacteria colonies can grow. I have to do water changes once a week in order to remove the nitrate.

My aquarium is the home of 19 little fish, including 9 platies, 5 neon tetras, 3 cory catfish and one algae eating pleco and 1 guppy. Only pleco will grow to a big size(1 foot). As you can see I don't want to breed and grow fish to eat. However, I want to grow vegetables and herbs right next to them


As I said, my tank is already cycled. I am thinking of letting at least one of the HOB filters to run while I allow the bacteria to start thriving inside the growbed. (Do u think that this is a good strategy???) 

The container with the grow bed will be right next to the aquarium on the same height. The water from the grow bed will be falling into another container through a siphon, where then will be pumped back to the aquarium. ( so i need 2 water pumps The size of the container will be 30cm deep but i think that the volume of the fish tank will be greater than the volume of the grow bed.


Has anyone done something similar?


Do you think that my fish tank(with the little fish) will be sufficient to run an aquaponic system successfully? I can add few more fish in my aquarium, but even when the fish will mature will be quite small. Does it matter????

Also, anyone can recommend a lighting for indoor gardening!?

Sorry about the long post.

I hope by the end of this post you are not too tired to give me some advice. .


Thank you all,
Didina


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

I have never set one up so I have no experience but like you I have read alot about it online and watched some informative utube videos.

I would think it would be better to have the tank on the bottom of the stand and the plants on the top where the tank is now.I would think you would have no need for HOB filters or filters of any kind except an sponge filter hooked up to a air pump. Then a submersible pump (Small pond pumps at Canadian Tire $12) Then 10 - 12 ft of 1" rubber flexible tube.Then a timer to turn on/off pump to fill your table up where your plants are and some tube to use as a drain and over flow.


You will need lighting and I assume the fixture would have to be hanging above the plants because I would assume you would have to move the lighting up as the plants grow. As for the light I would think going to the hydroponics store and asking them what type of lights would be best for your plants (vegetables). 

I also think you need bigger fish for a higher bio-load (more fish fertilizer). I would also assume using cold water fish would be best because of the water temperature. Like goldfish or a large pleco like you have currently.

My understanding is that the plants and hydroponic media like rockwool or those clay beads act as the filter and like nature the plants extract the nutrients from the fish waste and the enriched tank water. The water is then returned to the tank cleaner so less need for water changes on the fish tank maybe just the need to top up the tank. I have no idea really I have never had the ambition to set one up seems like a lot of work for a few tomatoes and your tank is on the bottom harder to watch.


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## Octavian (Sep 30, 2009)

> The container with the grow bed will be right next to the aquarium on the same height. The water from the grow bed will be falling into another container through a siphon, where then will be pumped back to the aquarium. ( so i need 2 water pumps The size of the container will be 30cm deep but i think that the volume of the fish tank will be greater than the volume of the grow bed.


Did you plan for the siphon to break/stop when the power goes out? Don't want the water to siphon out of the tank and overflow causing water to go onto your floor.


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## notarookie (Jul 8, 2010)

hi there, the thing you're doing is quite normal, you are using the waste products of the fish to feed the plants. plants require macro-nutrients and micronutrients. the 3 macro nutrients are potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. mainly the fish waste products will be producing these 3. the ratio between these 3 is important, so you'll need to be able to measure at least nitrogen and phosphorous. as long as you're sure you have potassium then you'll be fine. you'll also need to supplement the micros, usually done with a standard aquarium plant mix, or you can mix your own.

there is a balance where there is enough fertiliser in the water to feed the plants, and not be toxic to the fish. plants will love high levels of ammonia, but obviously fish are going to die pretty quick in that toxicity, f/i. any references to planted tanks will provide you with enough info on water chemistry to grow plants and not kill the fish. i think that your goal should be to have a moderate to low level of nitrogen and phosphorous and no more. land plants will thrive 'hydroponically' provided you think in these terms.

i would suggest the you mount the plant tank above the aquarium, using a small pump to move the aquarium water into the plant tank, then allow the water to simply drain back into the aquarium. this will not require syphon and therefore have no syphon to be broken. you want to make sure the roots don't block the drain, or the plant tank will overflow.

good luck, rick


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## didi (Mar 24, 2010)

Thank you all for your feedback.



> Did you plan for the siphon to break/stop when the power goes out? Don't want the water to siphon out of the tank and overflow causing water to go onto your floor.


Good point!No I haven't planned for this. The container at the bottom will be big enough so the water will not go onto the floor. I now see another problem with my design, thank's to your question. hmmm...



> plants require macro-nutrients and micronutrients. the 3 macro nutrients are potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. mainly the fish waste products will be producing these 3. the ratio between these 3 is important, so you'll need to be able to measure at least nitrogen and phosphorous. as long as you're sure you have potassium then you'll be fine.


Do you by any chance know the best way to measure the Macronutrients in the water?


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Didi,

I can help you out a little. I currently dont have a real aquaponics setup. Mine is a hydroponic setup with me pouring my water change water into the hydroponic setup. I'm in the process of converting to a full indoor aquaponic and outdoor setup.

You may want to look at Home Depot for a wire rack shelf. I got one that is IIRC 6 shelves but I know it is rated for 600lbs PER SHELF. It is NSF rated which I've been told is for kitchen use and such but for my uses it allows ease of mounting lights.

The one I got at Home D was 36" and was on sale at I think for $79 from $99. You can get a 48" dual tube shop light for IIRC ~$18.99 cheapest which uses T12 and/or T8 of your choosing. It comes with hanging chain but you may want to get some more chain for lower usage. I forgot how much the tube lighting was but they sell them in pairs. I use Philips 6500k x 2 T8 bulbs.

You could pick another 48" shoplight if you want with a wider reflector but that was something in the $50's range IIRC. For that price you could get two 48" shoplights and make your own reflectors by going to the furnace duct isle and buying a cheap section of the duct and cutting it in half the length of the shoplight and screwing it onto the shoplight then bending it slightly to give you the curve/width you want for the lighting.

Having two of those 48" shoplights with DIY reflectors would give you a lot of light. Make sure you timer. Get the newer timers WITHOUT the little tiny on/off markers you have to put into the timer. You can lose those easily. Make sure you get a HEAVY DUTY (3 prong) timer which I got at Home D IIRC ~$7ish. When I was working on building my unit I was not looking to go all Martha Stuart and Gucci looking. I was looking for 'function OVER form' always and balancing price to function. Those 7 day digital timers are nice but cost a lot.

I find cirlantro, cherry tomatos, lettuce, and basil work with the hydroponic system I have. I use a flood and drain setup. Basil is known to work well with aquaponics.

You can use Light Expanded Clay Aggerate (LECA) also sold under the name Hydroton, pea gravel, or gravel. The small fish you have there will have a small bio-load so you can't grow as much without additional fertilizer/nutrients. This is why for such small scale setups like yours goldfish are used because they produce the most bioload for thier size. However if you upped some of the bioload with fish that is compatible with the fish you have the growbed will be a large external filter compbined with your current filters.

It is best to have the fish tank on the lowest rack on th e shelf or on the ground or just the lowest setup of your AP setup. The reasoning is that gravity will return the water to the tank. If you plan on having a few grow growbeds on different levels then you would have one growbed drain into another growbed and so on if you want to do it that way and let gravity work for you till the last growbed before it returns back to the tank. That way if anything does happen like a power outage all the water returns back tot he tank on the lowest level and you have less need for more pumps.

Also it is a good idea to have a overflow tube on each growbed leading back to the fish tank that way if anything did back up you are less likely to have a flood. I have seen online before (lost website ) where they sold bulkheads for our use or for fish tank/sump tank setups but if you check on I think reefkeepers or monsterfishkeepers I recall seeing a 'DIY bulkhead' which can save you money.

I've been looking into an auto-syphon setup where you can use a tube looped up to a certian (sp) point so when the water reaches that level the water will syphon out of the growbed. Another setup which has interested me more and I've seen implemented too is the 'bell syphon' design which IIRC Affman designed it on Youtube. It uses a tube in tube design so that as the water comes up there is a vaccum inside that when the water level covers the height of the inner tube the water is sucked out and when the water drains to a level were you set it to it will keep some water in the grow bed as the tank floods again if I understand the setup correctly.

Check the Fresh Water Discussion forum for my thread on Aquaponics.

http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9293


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## didi (Mar 24, 2010)

Hi Aquaneko,

Thank for your feedback!
It is Great!



> You can use Light Expanded Clay Aggerate (LECA) also sold under the name Hydroton, pea gravel, or gravel. The small fish you have there will have a small bio-load so you can't grow as much without additional fertilizer/nutrients. This is why for such small scale setups like yours goldfish are used because they produce the most bioload for thier size. However if you upped some of the bioload with fish that is compatible with the fish you have the growbed will be a large external filter compbined with your current filters.


I do want to use hydroton. My growbed will be quite small for my tank size. 1 x 2 feet and 1 foot deep. I am hoping that the bioload in my fish will be good enough to run such a small AP system. I am not sure what type of small fish will produce bigger amounts of bioload (except goldfish)!

Do u know any community fish that produces big amounts of bioload!?

Thank you again.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

didi said:


> Hi Aquaneko,
> 
> Thank for your feedback!
> It is Great!
> ...


I see you're in North York. Where abouts are you? Hydroton is the best of the best frm my understanding however it is EXPENSIVE. Largest size bag they sell to my knowledge is 50L which is about ~$35ish in the city. Sue they sell smaller bags but you pay more for the smaller sizes. The 50L gives you the best flexibility to do other things and less cost of buying a few smaller packages of that. You can -always- sell surplus hydroton if it is unused. Used you hardly ever find any used on the market (well in T.O that I've seen anyways) as it is so reuseable.

Gravel works just as well but you have the weight penalty. But the huge pro is that for the price of 50L of hydroton you can probably get 200L of gravel. You just have to build a stronger structure or factor in the extra weight to the shelf max load per shelf specs. I tend to weigh everything I have so I can know what my things wiegh.

According to Murray Harlem (possibly sp on last name) if you watch his video and also because Australia being as dry as it is there they have had a huge boom in aquaponics and more experience then the west here. Aquaponics seens to be moving at a slower pace here but more and more people are discovering it daily. What Murray said is that a stock tank of X gallons can handle up to 1:1 ratio. ie. 20gal tank to 20gal growbed. At first I thoguht all the water in the fish tank would be drained out if you 1:1 it but after thinking about it and watching more videos online and remembering that the growbed has media takingup volume in it already that is why you can do 1:1.

Pretty much anything you use improvised as parts to make the syphon if it is food grade it is fish safe. you may want to look into gatorade bottles as they are long and slim. The cap top ones. Not the twist water bottle types. If you used that as your stand pipe cover in the growbed you can twist it on/off later if you need to access the drain pipe later.

What dimensions are your 36gal? I would probably stay away from neon tetras myself given thier small bioload but if you have a wide tank and given your growbed is a MASSIVE BIOFILTER combined with your two HOB's (which you don't really need once your growbeds fully cycle then probably add a lot of neon tetras or schooling fish if you like to see tight schools. I myself would likely keep the tank bare bottom but still provide fish hiding spaces. Makes for easy clean up or stiring of the solid waste so the pump will pump it all into the growbed to mix in with the roots of the plants.

Well... largest fish I have right now are zebra danios and white cloud minnows as a tie. Just remember something you'll likely not get any algae in your fish tank because the plants in the growbed are absorbing most if not all the nitrates out of the water so if you keed any herborvoire fish remember to feed them. I prefer omnivore fish myself just because they eat both and I think it's easier to find fish food targeted for omnivores at a better price then herbovoires. I would highly caution you if you consider intergrating turtles if you wanted to do that because of the samonella issue with them.

You could bump up the snail population if you wanted and have some lettuce greens growing on the sideand pluck leaves off to feed the snails which will add extra bioload. Sorry I can't help out much more on the community fish thing. If you did go cold water with goldfish then you could add white cloud minnows and rosey red minnows to fill in more bioload. IIRC 10gal/goldie was the smallest setup you could do tho I have heard of 5gal/goldie but depends on how to feel on that. Obviously you don't want to use prized or expensive goldies but feeder goldies for that. With a 36gal you could fit 2-3 goldies and say half a dozen of rosey red minnows or white cloud minnows slowly should you need more bioload and give more viewing character in the tank if you like to watch the tank that is.


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## didi (Mar 24, 2010)

Hi Aquaneko.
Thank you for the great info!
I ll def look into the options of community fish you sent me!

I am located around the Finch and Keele area.
Today I went to get the most of the stuff for my AP system but I left empty handed  and by the time I went to look into the Hydroton the store was closed . Anyways, I don't think that I ll have problem with the extra weight if I use gravel. My stand is pretty stable.

I also liked the idea to buy hydroton and share it with someone, or keep it for my next grow bed  if i ever get the 1st one going ... lol


Thank you again.

Cheers,
Didi


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

didi said:


> Hi Aquaneko.
> Thank you for the great info!
> I ll def look into the options of community fish you sent me!
> 
> ...


www.Bustan.ca is downtown and tends to be a bit pricey on a lot of stuff I saw. I guess it is that downtown rent and or thye want to keep it local for those that don't drive and such. There is a new store that opened up on Denison in Markham around the Nedco building spplies store. IIRC $30/50L. There is a product which has a lot of feedback from the aquaponics community which is called Seasol. It is a seaweed extact organic mix which IIRC is marketed in Australia but you could probably find something similar to that locally. The product adds extract trace elements and micro nutrients to the system while not harming the fish. What I remmeber clearly is goldies and Seasol being used. What I'm faintly unsure of is if tilapia was used with it before. I'll have to check back on that.

As my setup is organic hydroponic right now (tho I did drop some ramhorns in when I had a massive green algae coating as I use clean bins) I used a product by Pure Blend. Many years ago at the MEtro Convention center there was a hydroponics show. I never knew it was there but a friend of mine and I took a walk around the grounds after seeing some comic/anime and motorbike display and found that at the other end of the convention center. OMFG did we catch a lucky break. We caught the tail end of the con so I think either it was a no cover or the con staff let us pass as the con was about to wrap up in there. I saw grow boxes, revolving carosel (sp) hydroponic setups, products left and right and people just generally very helpful to help as I think it is because of all the negative light hydroponics has with the illegal marijuana trade which everyone and thier grandma thinks of when they think of hydroponics.

Anyways, we kept getting showed products in our face. So much we almost had to get a garbage bag to hual it out. Thinking back we probably hualled ot $500 each min of hydroponic ferts, rock wool, etc. Liquids are a pain to carry.   Anyways, Pure Blend worked well for me. I mainly used that because at the time I wasthinking of going hydroponics but if I did use the chemicals in the setup I have I dont think I would have been able to go aquaponics or organic hydroponics as the plastic would have probably absorbed some of the chemical ferts.

Gravel you can get cheap and closer to you. A tip I would like to mention is becareful with perlite and vermicultie if you want to use some of that. It will gunk up the holes fast as I've experienced. Now a days I use pea gravel or aquarium gravel (same thing except pea gravel only has nutral color while aquarium gravel have a few extra colors, fancy product bag logos, and been through a wash/rinse) as my seed or cloning starter so the roots have somethig fine to grab onto then take it out and transfer to larger gravel when the roots are larger.


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