# Odd Grow Op Plan



## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

So I'm sitting at my desk staring at the sunlight coming through my window sill that is littered with random houseplants and started getting the usual probably-wont-happen-but-would-be-interesting-to-try ideas...

I measured out the length of the window sill (50 inches) and the available width of my desk (16 inches) and began to think if I can just get a custom made tank with those dimensions and probably only 2-3 inches high, I could get a crazy carpeted planted tank going.

After some *quick* googled calculations, a tank with dimensions (50"L x 16"W x 2"H) would contain about 7 Gallons of water. Since my desk is a glass top desk I calculated weight to be about 60 pounds (excluding tank weight).

Question is, think this could work?


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Have you considered an aquaponics setup? 




http://www.compostguy.com/images/aquarium-aquaponics.jpg

Got a pic of the window still area? What's the bracing underneath it?


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

Aquaponics could be an option, but I'll probably look into that only after I've gotten something set up that isn't too crazy. It is in my bedroom after all.

The tank will probably be sitting on a stand that is sitting on my desk.
I don't have a picture (too messy to see it even if I do lol)

So... I've decided to use my awesome microsoft paint skill to show you.

So 2 pictures, 1 is what the desk and window looks like, and the 2nd is kind of what I imagine it would look like with the tank. (Shouldn't have called it fish tank since there will be no fish)


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Looking at the second picture it looks more like a grow bed. Are you planning for a submursed or emersed setup?

You may want to have the grow bed on top and have 2 holes for water in and water out. Think of it like ummm a canister filter and hide that under the table or something. You could also make a DIY water mover/filter like what Sunstar did with a fountian pump and snap lock tupperware.

If you do go the tupperware route I just got back from an awesome store on Donchester Ave (Yonge St. & Donchester) called Caynes. They have a wall full of almost any size snap lock water tight (4 point locking tabs) for about $2-5 bucks. When I saw that my mind was thinking of all the mini filters or water mover setups for small aquaponic or tank setups.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Just some ideas on the cheap or you could jazz it up with pvc to look cleaner.


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

Haha yes... a grow bed sounds much more appropriate.
It will probably be a simple submersed setup growing UG and/or HC-Cuba.
But with the crazy surface area, there is bound to be a lot of topping up required, so it might just unintentionally become emersed at times.

As for water movement, I was also thinking of either a DIY canister filter or just put in 2 mini elite filters and have a clockwise-like flow going. Haven't gotten that far in planning yet. 

I will definitely make plans to check out that store some time. I couldn't believe how hard it is to try and find a proper water-tight canister out there.

As of right now, I'm already trying to fight the temptation of putting cherry shirmps in this theoretical setup.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

An idea came to mind. Seeing as everyone has an air pump if you have a multi gang with a port not being used you could run an air line to your grow bed and do a air lift system for water movement. Think sponge filter sans the sponge. 

Also think like how water current channels are made for loach tanks with power heads or like those ||________||________|| dual sponge filters you see on Dealextreme.com or other LFS's but using PVC so you can pull water from both sides while air lifting in the middle for water movement.


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

You're such an enabler of all these interesting ideas 

Well keep in mind that the bed is only going to be about 2-3 inches high. Substrate will be just a little under 1 inch thick. So that leaves about 1-2 inches of water.

I may go the water channel route with a small powerhead instead to minimize noise. I don't think an air pump will allow much sleep to happen.
Spray bar one end, sponge filter on the other, pieced together with some sort of powerhead I'll have to look for.

As for the tank, I'm wondering if making it with the clear acrylic sheets found at home depot would suffice, or should I just be safe and get some pieces of glass cut to size and just silicone it together myself.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Are you trying to make use of natural sunlight? This is something I've been doing for a while now.

I have a South-East facing window that gets great sunlight from Sunrise to about Noon. However, even that isn't enough to grow even low-light plants.

The problems you will encounter are:

1- Cloudy days and shorter days during winter. During the winter, we barely get one sunny day out of a week.

2- Green hair algae taking over the tank and choking out your plants. This may be remedied by CO2 injection.

3- You will be battling high temperatures during summer.


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## WiyRay (Jan 11, 2009)

Yes, I'm trying to make use of the natural sunlight from my south facing window.
I was only thinking about this because my room is the only room in the house that can grow plants.

1. I don't know if you would consider it winter right now, but as of the past couple months, the natural sunlight seems to have been plenty for my orchids and even the UG in my nano tank to grow.
2. Green hair algae is definitely growing in the tanks, but I'm already thinking of adding shrimps and will inject CO2 if necessary
3. It is always consistently warm with even near summer-like temperatures in the winter.

Chances are I'll try to grow both UG and HC-Cuba. HC-Cuba submersed and potentially have some of the UG emersed which shouldnt be too hard if I just make the substrate levels different at certain points.


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