# Aquaponics system ..



## SoloW (May 25, 2014)

Hey guys .. So initially I wanted to make a giant sump with in water plants to remove nitrates . After relooking at aquaponics systems, I've decided it would deal with my problems in the best way. I might need some advice from someone who has done this before though ; I've never grown plants.

Basically , I plan on having an overflow from my aquarium into a sump, where the water is filtered : mech & bio which is then pumped into a plant cultivating tray which is overflowed into my aquarium . 

My questions: 
Do I need to prefilter the water in my sump before actually sending it up through the plant system ? ( will a canister filter do anything for me in this case )

Do I need to have media in the planting tray ? If so , what kind of media ? Will regular aquarium gravel work ?

Also , what kind of plant sucks the most nitrate & requires little to no replacing or harvesting ? I want to just trim and grow .. 

As well , would I be able to use a LED light fixture designed to grow aquarium plants over the aquaponics grow out system? 

I want to cut my water changes in half or more .. If possible eliminating them all together .

Any type of advice will be read and appreciated . Thanks guys .


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

if the sump/aquaponics system is your only filter, then you will want a prefilter and bio media. If it is just an extra system and you have a normal filter, then nothing is needed.

you could make an overhead sump to easily,

I am pretty sure aquaponic light systems are the same as aquarium light systems so pretty sure your good led will work just fine.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Here's your questions:
1. Do I need to prefilter the water in my sump before actually sending it up through the plant system ? ( will a canister filter do anything for me in this case )

- after it's gone through the mechanical and chemical stages? No, they can go straight in, however if not, you'll get gunk buildup.

2. Do I need to have media in the planting tray ? If so , what kind of media ? Will regular aquarium gravel work ?

- yes and no, it would depend on plant, some can work well for aquaponics with free floating roots - secured to styrofoam or another floatable mount - like lettuce.
Gravel does the job, but if you can get a clay substrate like turface or even kitty litter you will have the benefit of your substrate absorbing excess nutrients.
I'd recommend a larger granula media like hydrocorn, hydrocoral, or grow stones.

3. Also , what kind of plant sucks the most nitrate & requires little to no replacing or harvesting ? I want to just trim and grow .. 

- none, if you want plants to thrive and absorb the waste as fast as you're describing, you'll have a lot of trimming and grooming to keep things clean and manageable.
You can use emersed aquatic plants, floating, and/or terrestrial - the latter two being easiest for beginners, just do your research on moisture loving terrestrial plants like some ferns and ivys, but having floaters will work just as well - and that can be straight in you're sump and not needing an additional setup.

4. As well , would I be able to use a LED light fixture designed to grow aquarium plants over the aquaponics grow out system? 

- yes.

5. I want to cut my water changes in half or more .. If possible eliminating them all together .

- doable, but don't hope it'll be like that right off the back. Just keep in mind, you want plants to remove the bad stuff, but they'll need other nutrients to thrive and absorb more.
Ex. Plants deprived of all other nutrients will not intake any more nitrates than it already has. So if there's a surplus of waste and shortage of micros or other essential components you'll still end up with some growth, but minimal.
This will relate back to your previous question of no maintenance plants, if your plant is growing then it's taking in what it needs from the water column, therefore more trimming/harvesting, if the plant isn't growing quickly or spreading, their not doing a good job "cleaning" your water.

Just remember, you'll need to learn to take care of the plants if you want them to do their part, although not difficult and just some simple reading and experimenting, it still takes more than just a simple thought of labourless fish keeping


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Consider some marginal pond plants, which are already designed to thrive in the conditions you're aiming for. Many are on sale now, with pond season ending in sight.

Though almost all of them will simply get too large, Peace lily would be ideal for this purpose. They are marginal pond growers in native habitat. Water celery, if you have enough light, is really pretty and there is a water mint, which is nice looking and edible. You can even make mint jelly from it if you have enough. There's an attractive marginal Pennywort, gets larger leaves than the aquatic versions and they use it for salad in Asia, I think it grows about a foot tall at most.

You could also try growing herbs, almost any mint, or sage. They all grow fairly fast, may be used for cooking and are easy to cut back. Pretty bushy growth if they are trimmed often. However, herbs all need a lot of light to avoid them getting really leggy and straggly looking.

I'm not sure the LED light would work as well as fluorescent tubes over this setup, I guess it depends how strong the LEDs are and what plants you end up growing. Lights need to be pretty close to most plants unless you're using something like metal halide.

I would avoid English Ivy, which tends to attract every plant pest under the sun and is toxic to some pets if they eat it. There are several other plants commonly called ivy other than English Ivy. Pothos [ epipremnum] Philodendron, or Swedish Ivy [ Plectranthus] are all much better than English Ivy, and all have some sort of variegated form, which tend to be more attractive than the plain green ones.

The smaller philodendron vine is usually called Heartleaf, and there is a cultivar, Brazil, which has two tone leaves, light and dark green, very handsome. Btw, philodendron is also toxic to some pets if eaten. Pothos comes in Neon, dark green & variegated with white or yellow. Plectranthus comes in several variegations and all green.

Of them all I'd go with Pothos, it's probably the most reliable and trouble free for this kind of growing and doesn't get as shaggy as Plectranthus often does.

There's also Tradescantia, which has a few forms. It's sometimes called Wandering Jew, though I've never understood why it would be called that. It's a nice plant, the common form has purple and silver striping, another is pale green and white. Constant trimming is about the only way to keep it looking really nice for any length of time outside of a greenhouse, as it tends to drop older leaves with house humidity levels. I'd expect it would look quite nice in a hydro set up with the extra humidity that would bring it.

Something called ZZ plant [ zamiafolia zamioculas, is, I think, the botanical name, but I may have spelled it incorrectly ], looks pretty neat. Large compound vertical leaves grow from a potato looking tuber. If you take cuttings, which is simply a whole leaf cut at the base, they root very well in water and you could probably sell them as potted plants when they get a bit of tuber growing on them, if you wanted to do that. They look like succulents that need full sun, but are actually good in deep shade and super easy to grow, so light would be less of an issue with them.

Spider plants are also very easy to grow in water. They grow pretty extensive roots, which become very swollen with time, semi succulent. You would have to trim the roots back at least sometimes as they can eventually take up a lot of space. Several forms are around, both all green and the commonplace variegates, most of which produce the long flower stalks with baby plantlets you can root if you wish to or simply cut off if they get in the way.

If you can find one and have enough light, cyperus, like the cultivar Tut, or Baby Tut, which is only a couple of feet tall, is also a nice marginal plant, with handsome flower heads that can be rooted for new plants. Some sedges would also work, as would rushes. Curly rush cultivars are interesting looking as well.


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## SoloW (May 25, 2014)

Thank you all for answering my questions and providing me with all your insight & knowledge . I will have to do a lot more research and experimentation before my system works out perfectly , in the meanwhile I will have this page as a reference to look upon . Although, I am thinking of planting just a single plant, perhaps something that will grow 8-10 feet .. In a 4x4 tray .. Idk if that will work lol .


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## SoloW (May 25, 2014)

Also, do you think an aquarium would make a good aquaponics environment , almost like a greenhouse & traps humidity as well.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Aquarium would work fine, using a grow tray would work better depending on what plant you choose.
If you're looking for a good substrate for your setup, I have a lot of mixed-sized granule hydrocorn/ton for sale. Great for aquaponics.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

If you have space to grow something 10 feet high and 4 feet square, the larger cultivars of the Peace Lily would work well. Depending which cultivar they are, they get from 3 to 10 feet and commensurate in spread. They are handsome plants and while they actually like a lot more light than is commonly thought, they will tolerate some shade, so you might not get too much die back on the lower sections of the plant as it gets larger. There are even a few variegated ones, like Domino, though it does not get much over 3 feet or so.

They also spread by producing plantlets from the rootstock, so you'll keep getting new ones, which you can grow on & sell, they are among the most popular off house plants and always in stock at most stores selling indoor plants. Any nursery will have them, but it may not be too easy to find out what cultivar they are, they are almost never sold named. Might have to order a specific cultivar to get a tall one, since the midsize ones are most popular for most purposes.

I think Valleyview Gardens, on Kennedy in Scarborough, may have some larger ones. Not cheap if you buy big ones though. Given conditions they like they do grow pretty fast though.


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