Aquaponics System Design Setup and Maintenance Costs

This aquaponics project has been one of the most interesting and rewarding things that I have ever built and I never could have imagined how it would have turned out over a year ago when I got the idea. My wife and I were looking for ways to be more sustainable and wanted to get more into gardening and growing our own food in the upcoming year. We had watched a few documentaries on food production, organic food, sustainability, and a few other related topics and were becoming more and more interested. We also kept finding it hard for us to eat healthy foods on a budget when it seems like the healthier you try to eat the more and more expensive it becomes. That is when we decided to start into this aquaponics adventure and let me tell you, it has been an adventure!

I have been running the system in the basement now for coming up on a year now and have recently completed all of the grow lights and grow media needed for full production. I have had a lot of questions surrounding the various costs and upkeep of the indoor aquaponics system and so I thought I would provide as much detail as possible on that. There are two categories of cost to set up something like this, maintenance costs and the one time setup costs to build the system. I will start with the setup costs listed below. I have also included links to many of the items on Amazon that I used in the system.

Setup costs -
Here is a list of the components and their costs -
55 Gallon Drums - 5 @ $10 - $50
Wood and Screws - $40
PVC pipe and fittings - $50
Aquarium heater - $12
Float valve for automatic top-off - $15
Air stone and air pump - $15
Aquarium water pump - $40
Bulkhead adapters 2" and 3/4" - $50
Light fixtures - 4 @40 - $160
Grow media - $70
Bulbs - $90
Misc - $10
Giant bucket of fish food - Priceless

Total system build cost - $602

When we originally planned to build this system we had budgeted about $400 and thought I could have it all setup in a couple of weeks. Well, as my wife always tells me "figure twice as much and twice as long". It wasnt quite twice as much but it surely took twice as long to build it! Now, many of you are saying "$600, that is a lot for growing some lettuce in your basement!". At first thought, you are right, it is a lot of money. However, if you are looking to build something similar you do not have to be as elaborate as this setup, there are many ways to cut costs as I discuss in the video further. There are cheaper bulkheads, lights, and other components that you can choose from and if you put this in a greenhouse you can cut that cost in half. This setup has been such an amazing experience for me though, I would have paid twice that to do it again.

 To justify the cost think of it like this, how much do you pay for organic vegetables? How much do you spend on other hobbies such as golf, bowling, sports, games, and other things that you probably dont need. What is it worth for you to have year round vegetables available for you to pick right off of the stem? For us it is a no brainer, it is worth every penny! Once the system is setup the running costs are minimal and the production is just getting started here so lets see how much food we can produce!

Now, on to the matter of running costs. Many people have asked about the lights and what they cost to run as well as the rest of the system. I have  made some estimations here and attempted to calculate an accurate monthly cost to run this system. The calculations are based on 12 hour run times on the lights at .13 cents per kwh (kilowatt hour).

Running costs -

Lights - There are 32 light bulbs combined between all four lights. Each light consumes 23 watts of power for a total of 736 watts. This can be converted into kwh by first converting 736 watts into kw (kilowatts) 736/1000 = .74 kw. this can then be converted into kwh (kilowatt hours) by multiplying by the number of hours the lights are run. I normally run the lights for 12 hours so that makes .74 X 12 for a total of 8.8 kwhs. I currently am paying about .13 cents per kwh with my power company so to calculate the total cost per day I take 8.8 X .13 = $1.14. For one month that is about $34.

Pumps - I have one small air pump and a small water pump, both are estimated at less 12 watts combines power consumption. Using the same calculations as above (((12/1000 * 24)*30) it comes out to about $1.13 per month.

Aquarium heater - This is estimated at about 300kwh per year based on running it at about 70 degrees. Using the same calculations as above ((300 X .13)/12) that comes out to $3.25 per month.

Total month costs - $34+$1.13+$3.25 = $38.38.

 So for just over $1 per day you can have fresh produce growing right in your home 365 days a year! When you relate the monthly cost to so many of the other things that we pay monthly for, Netflix, cable bills, cell phones, data plans, XM radio, hobbies, and other unnecessary things you can easily justify growing your own food indoors. In the end it comes down to what is important to you and your family, yes we can go out and buy fresh produce in the winter. But, where does it come from? Mexico, Brazil, some other far away country? How long has that been frozen or in a truck or airplane? What chemicals were put on it to make it look nice for you at the store? The ultimate goal for us here is to grow enough in the summer to get us through the winter through preserving and canning our fresh food. However, this system will always have a place in our home producing fish and produce for us year round! I hope this info has helped you in your own aquaponics build, happy building!

 

 

This post has been shared at:  Homestead Barn Hop



 

Read More..

Aquaponics Systems Ontario DIY and Complete System Kits Easy Setup See Now! Learn more

Aquaponics is an easy activity which will provide you with the necessary vegetables and fish in a short amount of time. Read More!

-

Advantages of Aquaponic Farming

Aquaponics can be a new way of approaching farming. Unlike classic agriculture where you necessary plants to grow vegetables, with aquaponics you will need water and fish to be able to have healthful meals on your table every single day. Generally, aquaponics relies on the interdependence among fish and plants: the fish produces bio-nutrients for the plants, even though the plants clean the water, making a perfect atmosphere for the fish to develop and create. It is a blend of aquaculture and hydroponics which has lots of benefits. In the event you require some motives to obtain your very own aquaponic system started, then listed here are several of the benefits youll get when you assemble it.

For starters you may have fresh organic meals on your table every single day, regardless of the hour when you determine to cook your meals. You just take your tomato, cucumber of the basil from the aquaponic "field" and use it for your meals. It is as simple because it sounds.

The second greatest thing about it really is that you simply not just grow vegetables, but you also have lots of fish. Whether or not you would like them for cooking tasty meals or just for the d?cor, they may be a great addition in your residence! Additionally they possess a practical purpose, as you will in no way need to use chemical fertilizers in your plants, as a result obtaining true organic meals.

If you ask how tough is this program to place in practice, the answer is extremely easy. Not merely will you be capable of assemble it all by oneself, without having the aid of your loved ones or neighbors, but youll be able to also put it wherever you would like. In the event you move from one house to one more, then you definitely basically disassemble the program and take it with you! What can be simpler than that?

Yet another excellent benefit on the hydroponic farming is that it delivers you financial independence and control more than your income. You realize specifically how much you should invest on your food and also you will no longer rely out there for your veggies supplies.

Final, but not least, it involves no dirty hands and garments, no bending and digging, no land and small upkeep time, so it is going to be like your veggies and fish develop all by themselves! Quite a simple to place in practice technique, appropriate for all forms of men and women, even for busy and impatient ones!

You can find plenty benefits that the aquaponic system can offer you! Your overall health and your comfort will be enhanced, even though your savings will considerably develop together with the continuous use in the aquaponic kind of farming! If this really is what you desire, then why not give it a try?

---

Fish Scales Can Not only Beautify The Futures But in addition Provide Calcium

Fish scales account for 2% to 3% in physique weight. Scales are transparent in look and like petals. The edges are tiny curly with white luster. It has slightly fishy and soft texture. Moisture content of scales is about 16.4% to 17.8% as well as the typical price is about 17.5%.
Nutritionists found that scales are unique well being food. It includes astaxanthin and much more fat egg scales, there is enhanced brain memory, slow extension of cellular senescence. Fish is rich in phosphorus and protein, fat and vitamins, iron, zinc, calcium and a lot of essential micronutrients, including calcium, phosphorus content material is higher, and can stop rickets in children and osteoporosis in the elderly Fractures. Experts have located that a variety of scales contained inside the unsaturated fatty acids, might be combined with protein inside the blood to pass in the type of aid emulsify fat and minimize cholesterol deposits in blood vessel walls, can avert arteriosclerosis, hypertension and heart illness prevention multiple roles.
Dermal layer of fish scales is generated bone collagen, learning the challenging protein referred to as scales, it shows the extraordinary in the healthcare field impact. Extracted from fish scales six - sparse generation of guanine, the clinical treatment of acute leukemia, the effective rate of 70% to 75%; and gastric cancer, lymph node tumors also miraculous. Scales contain big quantities of collagen. Collagen is frequently present in peoples mouth within a hot subject of beauty, cosmetics from topical to oral liquid, capsule, powder, it may be stated, and one can see its shadow. Collagen also known as collagen, is actually a filamentous collagen fibers, the principle physiological function is always to make connective tissue adhesive material, make the skin sturdy and elastic, it exists inside the human skin, bones, tendons and also other components. On the skin, which constitute with each other with the elastic fiber network to help the physique, to supply stability for the dermal layer of strong assistance. With age, the physique will progressively decrease the collagen content, network help physique will steadily drop their elasticity, flexibility and moisture truly the cortex was reduced, the skin will be wrinkles, spots along with other old-state phenomena . Skin would be the epidermis, dermis, subcutaneous fat and other components from the skin from the physique is leather, collagen dermal cells in total protein content of 70%. Youll find two key wholesome skin - anti-wrinkle and moisturizing, collagen, the cells turn into complete, complete, sustain skin elasticity and moisture, stop aging. Fish scale collagen protein and collagen than the other, its simple to break down protein, very easily digested, absorbed. After individuals employing it, it has clearly effects. Inside the identical time, it could increase blood amino acids, whilst promoting biotin collagen production.
Scales also contain a higher chitin. Chitin on human overall health has the following rewards: 1 to strengthen the part of chitin assists to decrease the immune harm to tumor cells and new cells and to market the normalization of liver harm. 2 Non-toxic anti-cancer impact. three reduce cholesterol, so for the prevention of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular illness possess a very good impact. four to improve digestive function and avert constipation. 5 fat loss, beauty. Chitin weight-loss, is carried by its own constructive and damaging ions and negatively charged meals automatically attached to the mixture of fat, the role of blocking lipase, creating the fat inside the intestines with no becoming absorbed straight in to the physique. Chitin combined with the fat from the physique, but is not going to, and crucial nutrients like protein binding, so it will not trigger harm to humans.
All in all, the scales possess a number of nutrition, health care materials. So foreign countries use the fish-scale therapeutic a whole lot. Scales, especially the huge fishs scales, theyre great things. It could boil jelly, supply calcium if men and women eat them, beauty and anti-aging.

Read More..

All The Dome Videos

I put all the dome videos together in this nice index video.  Just click on the one you want to watch!



Also, Heres a play list that you can click on to queue them all in a row: YouTube Playlist

Read More..

Expanded Shale for Hydroponics and Aquaponics

A little self promotion for my company....

Bigelow Brook Farm is pleased to announce a new partnership with The Aquaponic Source as a distributor for our expanded shale product line. The Aquaponic Source (www.TheAquaponicSource.com) specializes in a wide array of products providing complete solutions for the North American home aquaponic gardener. Along with their on-line store, they also provide an active and free community site filled with a vast array of aquaponic discussion topics and information for both novice and experienced users at www.AquaponicsCommunity.com. “We are extremely excited to be working with Bigelow Brook Farm and offer expanded shale to the aquaponic and hydroponic gardening communities. Finally there is a US based grow media with optimal growing properties!” says Sylvia Bernstein, President of The Aquaponic Source. “We think this will become a core component in the rapidly expanding soil-less growing market in North America.”

For more information about Expanded Shale, please visit our web site at www.BigelowBrook.com or www.ExpandedShale.com.

Read More..

Commercial Aquaponic Systems For Sale DIY and Complete System Kits Easy Setup See Now! Read More!

How to Build Your Own Aquaponics System? See Our Products

-

Reasons for Taking Up Aquaponic Farming
Using the numerous scam enterprise plans and systems promising you to resolve all you problems with minimum work and investment, putting your hopes into another, entirely new activity seems unfeasible. Some individuals are significantly less willing to attempt new items for fear of not getting scammed. However, this new aquaponic program is as easy and lucrative since it appears! As soon as youve got tried this type of farming youd by no means desire to visit the industry again! But prior to that, here are some of the causes for which you need to start your mini aquaponic farm.

• Does not call for a large quantity of cash or time - which fundamentally implies that youve got practically practically nothing to drop. What you will want is a couple of containers for the fish along with the vegetables, an oxygenizer for the fish tank and yet another handful of components to finish the developing of the system, all relatively low-cost. As well as that the time needed for maintenance is really low - handful of minutes each and every day. You simply must feed the fish, put the seeds then wait for them to grow and harvest your crops.
• The system is simple to set up and can be placed anywhere in the home or garage, supplied which you have sufficient light for the plants to develop usually. It is possible to do it oneself from beginning till end, so there will be no fees associated together with the installment.
• You can plant virtually all varieties of plants, which means that regardless of what veggies you desire for dinner, you are able to harvest them on the spot, out of your aquaponic garden, with no any hassle. The greatest issue is that they are all all-natural, organic plants that will taste better and be far less expensive than the ones from the industry.
• Last, but not least, you will no longer must pay fortunes to cook your meal with organic ingredients. You will have them all at your hand, with no paying more every single time the oil price tag goes out of manage. You are going to be independent financially and since the method will spend off in no significantly less than a year, the crops and also the fish you will get will probably be just profit. You can use it for you personally or you are able to even sell the crops and make some extra cash. Does this not sound excellent!

There is no need to have to believe every single one particular from the words written right here, just attempt and you will see that this is the plain truth. Aquaponics can modify your life and enable you to have a balanced diet plan the straightforward way!

---

Healthful Tilapia Fish Recipes

There are many tilapia fish recipes to select from, each and every providing a slightly distinct flavor and texture. Tilapia is a extremely versatile fish and one of the ideal cooking approaches for this fish is always to bake it.

All baked fish recipes are tasty but tilapia is also quite healthful and higher in nutrients. If youd like to eat a nutritionally balanced diet program, tilapia is a great fish to contain. Its mild in flavor, which signifies youll be able to use powerful sauces, spices, or marinades in the event you wish. Tilapia is accessible all year round and includes a selection of well being positive aspects.

Tilapia is offered in more than one hundred varieties but black and red tilapia would be the most common. Right after cooking, the flesh is completely white. Tilapia could be identified in both saltwater and fresh water as well as the taste is determined by the water kind because tilapia absorbs the flavor in the water where it was raised.

Why Tilapia Fish Recipes are So Healthier

A little portion of tilapia fish consists of 85 calories. A piece of salmon precisely the same size has 158 calories, that is virtually double! Tilapia consists of 1g of fat in comparison to 7.9g of fat inside the identical sized portion of salmon.

Tilapia contains no carbohydrates or fiber. Its low in sodium and a excellent source of phosphorus and niacin. Tilapia can also be a plentiful supply of selenium, protein, and vitamin B12. The only negatives are that it really is really high in cholesterol and doesnt include healthy omega-3 fatty oils but it is possible to make up for this by consuming oily fish including mackerel or salmon after or twice a week too.

Tilapia fish recipe nutrients differ based on how the fish is ready and cooked and what fats or sauces are added. You are able to marinate tilapia but you should only marinate it for any brief time simply because else the proteins is going to be broken down, resulting in mushy fish. Grilling is one more cooking technique despite the fact that tilapia does have a tendency to become thin and small, meaning it tears effortlessly if you are not cautious. It requirements only a few minutes grilling else it might dry out. Tilapia features a delicate taste and suits most seasonings. Grilling can be a healthier way of cooking tilapia. You may need to grill a complete fish with some seasoning added or you might want to marinate it very first.

You can use a baked tilapia recipe as well. You will must add fat by brushing on some oil or melted butter, to make sure the fish remains moist. This sort of fish can dry out simply because theres very small fat content, so employing butter or oil has wonderful benefits.

When utilizing baked fish recipes, youll be able to spot the fish on a bed of onion and celery or bake vegetables alongside it within the same baking dish. You are going to also must add oil or butter when sauting tilapia. Steaming this fish is a healthful approach to prepare it, because no added fats are added.

Cooking Tilapia Fish with Oil

You can saut or bake tilapia in melted butter or oil. In case you favor to make use of oil, sunflower oil or peanut oil are the ideal to utilize, considering that they may be virtually flavorless and will not interfere together with the flavor of the fish. It is possible to use canola oil or olive oil as well however they do contribute taste instead of just becoming utilized to cook the tilapia. Fats are a single of the vital meals groups so preparing tilapia within this way may well be a great selection.

Read More..

Suburban Aquaponics Benefits of Indoor and Outdoor Gardening

Knowing the benefits of indoor gardening and outdoor gardening really helps when deciding which plants to grow in your aquaponics system, and which plants to plant outside.

Indoor gardening can be ideal during the colder months, and you have full control over the elements.  You decide when the lights come on, how much humidity, and the temperature.  Also, there are no pesky bugs to eat your plants.

Outdoors is wonderful, too.  You have all the light you need, height for tall plants, and room to plant whatever you want. 

As with anything, you need to keep in mind the climate where you live, the length of your growing season, and available yard space for your garden.  We hope this video helps you plan out your own gardens, and maybe even consider an aquaponics system!  Click HERE for more information on aquaponics.





This post has been shared at:  The Homestead Barn Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, HomeAcre Hop

Read More..

Best Hydroponic Lighting Systems DIY and Complete System Kits Easy Setup See Now! Read Reviews

Wold You Like AN AQUAPONIC SYSTEM For Your Home? Join us

-

Where Should You Spot Your Aquaponic System

If you are decided to setup an aquaponic method in which to grow vegetables and fish for you personally and your family members, youll find some items which you should know. The kinds of fish, the seeds which might be propagated and the specifics regarding the acceptable water situations will be the standard notions you have to know before venturing in this activity. After you understand that youll be able to start putting each of the pieces in the puzzle together. Yet, an additional query arises: exactly where should you location your aquaponic mini-garden?

The answer is basic: you are able to put it anyplace you like provided that the location has adequate light to provide the plants. As you almost certainly know, the plants require light to prepare their meals. In the event the spot exactly where they are put has no or couple of light, theyll be unable to prepare their food, which in time will result in their death. This can be one thing you do not want! However, in the event you have a space (no matter if it really is your kitchen, living area or garage) where theres a moderate light, then there is where you need to place your aquaponic garden.

If you reside in an area with extreme temperature or weather conditions, you will find also some other things youll need to take into consideration. Initial, the temperature: your fish like to possess a moderate temperature (generally varies according to the kind of fish you decide on), so you must monitor it to meet your fish

---

Jerk Fish - Fish for overall health

Jerk Fish Fish for wellness

Inspired by the Jamaican recipes, an ordinary fish fillet could be made into a Jerk Fish. A healthy food thats a lot more applicable to people that loves to eat different dishes that the key ingredient is fish. This really is a Caribbean recipe which let us to know much more about becoming creative and getting our own style of cooking. With all the assist of this, you can now get in touch with yourself as a professional 1 even youre just a simple person. Just a bit time, work, and money, it is possible to do it.


How? Right here it goes.

For the straightforward fried Jamaican Jerk fish, wash the fish and slice it with the desire thickness. Mix the jerk seasoning in a tiny bowl. It composes the oil, the soy sauce, and vinegar. Function the seasoning in to the fish. Place a modest quantity of oil then start off putting the fish into a deep skillet till fried. Just as easy as that, you have now your own personal specialty.

One more simple dish youll be able to make will be the Jamaican Jerk Tilapia recipe, let me teach you how. Heat grills into a medium heat and place a piece of tilapia in every foil. Meanwhile, within a tiny bowl, mix olive oil, garlic, cilantro, lemon juice and jerk seasonings. Apply these mixtures within the distinct side of the fish. Place an equal amount of bell pepper, onion, and poblano in each and every piece of the chicken. Then season it with salt and pepper. You should crimp the side from the foil and sealed with packets. Spot it in the grill and cook for about 10mis. When the vegetables became tender along with the fish gets opaque, eliminate it from the heat and set a side for about 5mins. Then serve. The cooking time only requires about 15 to 20mins. Youll be able to add some toppings as well as other seasoning to attract the individuals who will consume the dish. Just so simple to do and it can lessen the time that youll spend in cooking.

Caribbean Jerk food is one of the easiest recipes to accomplish. In just a couple of minutes, you can serve it. You dont need to commit a good deal of funds to create it far more specific. Healthier, greater and very good sufficient to supply the nutrients youll need. A simple fish turns into a unique Jerk fish. Be very good sufficient. Be practical. Be sensible. That is the fish for well being. Each day will probably be a good day!

For far more information about please visit our site

Read More..

Connect with Us on Facebook Twitter and Instagram!

We are very excited to be able to connect with you now on Facebook and Twitter! Please click on the icons in the Follow Us section. We are also on Instagram and you can find us there via our Facebook page or go direct by clicking HERE.

We have been receiving the nicest, most encouraging comments and emails from our followers recently.  Thank you so much all of you who stop by and follow our story! 

Read More..

Lobster Farming In The Caribbean DIY and Total Method Kits Easy Setup See Now! See Our Products

Aquaponics is an easy activity which will provide you with the necessary vegetables and fish in a short amount of time. Join us

-

Aquaponic Gardeing - The Advantages

Aquaponic gardens can give you plenty of fresh vegetables and tasty fish, theyre fantastic for any kind of house at the same time as for any age and occupation you may have. However, theyll not take care of themselves! It is correct that they call for really small care, nevertheless it is crucial that you give them those few minutes every day each and every day to be able to get really good outcomes and maintain the farm making for any extended time frame.

The key process in aquaponics is aeration. If the water is correctly aerated, then your fish will be pleased and your plants will grow generally. Alternatively, in the event the water just isnt effectively oxygenized, then you will find really handful of chances that your farm will survive for greater than a couple of days.

The motives why aeration is so essential are very basic and easy to comprehend for everybody. To begin with, the dissolved oxygen is required for the fish to breathe. Although the fish live under water they still have to breathe and just like in case of other animals, they need oxygen to survive. When they lack oxygen they die, therefore the balance out of your aquaponic technique is lost and inside a matter of days your plants will start off to have yellowish and at some point die out.

As this was not adequate, the fish excrements are decomposed and transformed from toxic ammonia into valuable nitrates inside the presence of oxygen. Therefore, in the event the water is just not effectively aerated the fish poop will not be transformed, the plants will have nothing to eat, although the fish will die intoxicated with ammonia. This is not a really pleasant perspective, is not it? This really is why youll need to monitor the high quality of ones water each and every and every single day and have a back-up program in case the energy gets off and also the air pumps will no longer be capable of function. This really is the only way by means of which you are able to save your aquaponic technique and make it operate for any lengthy period of time. Your plants as well as your fish will thank you for that!

---

Vertical Hydroponics - New Dimension to Hydroponics Gardening

Vertical gardens and living walls add a complete new dimension to hydroponics gardening. Apart from space constraint, vertical gardening gives an appealing alternative for undesirable views, adds interest to boring walls, and produces the identical amount or perhaps much more fresh vegetables as a standard garden. Many of the fruits and veggies like tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries, herbs, pepper, pumpkin and so forth. could be grown inside your vertical garden. While contemplating a vertical garden, keep the following issues in thoughts:

Place: Make certain your plants get enough sunlight; and for those who have seasonal winds, make sure the plants are well protected. In case you have a balcony or patio with limited sun exposure, select plants accordingly. Leafy vegetables like lettuce and cabbage do well in shaded places. Selection of vegetables: Practically any vegetable grown within the ground will work effectively as a container-grown plant in your vertical garden. Shelves work ideal for vertical gardening, as it gives you plenty of space for quite a few varieties of vegetables. The best kind of shelving would be the type with slats this allows far better circulation and excess water will trickle down from best to bottom. Trellises are excellent for developing trailing or vine crops, or you can also use fences, hanging baskets, tiers, or ladders. With minimum obtainable space you can effortlessly prepare a vertical hydroponics technique which is very functional. Its straightforward to preserve a vertical hydroponics technique however the building part requires small bit of skills.


Tools needed to prepare your very own vertical hydroponics garden: Screw gun 4 wood screws of size 3-inch Plywood of size -inch and 2-by-6 feet 3 rockwool plastic slabs, of 4-by-6-by-48 inches 12 eye hooks, -inch eight feet long nylon string Water pump 18-gallon tote Box cutter Black vinyl tubing -inch, 8 feet 2 T fittings, 1/4-inch 12 rockwool plugs 2 eye hooks, 3-inch Chain, 4 feet HPS bulb, 600-watt as well as the cooling unit Ballast, 600-watt

Easy method to develop your own personal vertical hydroponics garden with simple :

Repair your plywood in a vertical position onto the wall where youve decided to set your vertical hydroponics program. Fix the 2-foot side on the bottom on the ground. Set the rockwool slabs opposite the plywood with equal space in between them. See to it that there is 2 feet of clearance between the top from the slabs. Repair the eye hooks in the distance of six inches from above the slabs to ensure that they may be equally spaced and 18 inches in the edge of the plywood. Repeat this approach by sustaining a distance of 18 inches from the plywood bottom and assistance the slabs with all the help of nylon string. Now divide the vinyl tubing into two sections of about 4-inch every single. The plastic which is placed around the top side of the slabs. Fix tubing of two inches and insert into the holes that are drilled to the left and middle on the slabs. Now repair one particular T fitting on every single section. And connect tubing that travels among them. Now connect the 8-inch tubing for the middle T-fitting and connect the finish towards the final slab. Connect the remaining T-fitting for the left and run it towards the lower finish of the slab. Set your 18-gallon tote underneath the slabs and cut the plastic at the bottom of each slab. The excess nutrient solution is drained in for the tote by the slabs. Now connect the water pump into the tote with connected -inch tubing. Now your vertical hydroponics technique is ready to use and you may commence gardening by adding seedling inside the plugs which can be further placed within the rockwool. Cut a 3-inch slice over the plastic slab to supply some space for the plug. Ad nutrient remedy into the tote, and start your water pump. You can hang your HPS unit by hanging it on the 3-inch eye hook. The unit ought to be placed as such that the bulb is parallel with all the vertical slabs and four feet distance away. With the assist of a chain youll be able to position the cooling unit in suitable angle to ensure that the light covers all of the slabs without having significantly waste.

A lot more on &

Read More..

10 Pumps Plumbing and Timers

How one pump can feed four growbeds
The only appliances you need in your aquaponics system are a water pump to circulate water and an air pump to keep up the levels of dissolved oxygen. I’ll discuss electrical pumps, since most folks have access to electricity, whether delivered by the power company or generated at home in some manner.

The water in your system should circulate completely once an hour. So if I have 200 gallons in my system, you might think a 200 gallon per hour (gph) pump is enough, right? Unfortunately, the flow rating on the box of a pump assumes there are no significant friction losses in the pipes and the water is only being pumped 1-2 feet up hill. Since I have 200+ gallons in this 365 Aquaponics system, I’d want at least a 500 gph pump. I’ve used 800 and 1000 gph pumps, which gives me plenty of power to overcome piping loss, intentional throttling, and bio-fouling (e.g., leaves and algae gumming up the works).

Most systems I’ve seen use plastic pipe or tubing to carry water from the pump to the grow beds and tanks. But these tend to be expensive and/or complicated. As someone trained in the physics of fluid flows, it hurts my soul to see right angles in water pipes. Right angles create friction losses and invite blockage.

Turns out there are all kinds of manifolds with valves designed for garden hose. You can buy them at your local hardware store. And they’re cheap, because tens of millions of people buy them. So far, so good. Regular garden hose, however, isn’t safe for drinking water due to the amount of lead it can leach into the water. Call me silly, but I don’t like leaching lead into the water my fish drink and breathe. So I use special ‘garden hose’ that is specifically designed for drinking water. If your local hardware store doesn’t have it in stock, you can special order it, or order it online. It’s not much more expensive than the stuff that leaches lead, and you can usually get it shipped for free if you shop around.

Draping the hose between the pump and grow bed is trivial for the growbeds on the same side as the sump. But it’s a bit more complex for the beds opposite the sump. Below is how I drape the hose, to ensure I don’t kink the hose, don’t block access to the garden, and put the hose opposite the end of the grow bed that drains into the sump or fish tank. Here is a video clip showing the water pump and hose installation.


Timers - If you have functioning bell siphons, you can leave the water pump running continuously. But there are reasons to have a simple timer to turn the water pump off and on:

• Stopping water flow at night. You may do this because its cold weather, and you want to conserve thermal energy rather that spending energy to "cool" your water by circulating it during the dark nights. Or you might just want to keep it quiet for your neighbors. Since I turn my pumps off at night, I have drilled a small hole in the standpipe of my bell siphon so any excess water remaining in the grow beds can drain when power goes off for the night.
• You dont want to deal with bell siphons. In this case, you can set the timer to turn on for 15 minutes every so often (say once an hour). As long as you have a standpipe with a small hole at the bottom, your beds will fill while the pump is on, then slowly drain when the pump is turned off.
• Even with functioning bell siphons, you can throttle back on power requirements by turning the power off intermittently. This can be particularly important if you have an extended power outage, and are trying to maintain your system off a small solar array.

There are any number of timer systems out there, but I believe a simple timer like the one pictured above will take care of most needs for an aquaponics system.

Read More..

Cheap and Easy Tomato Supports How to support large quantities of toma

Every year I deal with this same problem, how to support all of these tomatoes!

Here are the best tomato cages Ive ever used:

And here are cheaper, shorter galvanized cages:

All of these products and more recommended items from the SSL Family are available at the

Simple Suburban Living General Store

Please follow us on....

http://www.pinterest.com/simplesuburban/

http://www.facebook.com/simplesuburbanliving

http://www.twitter.com/simplesuburban5

http://www.instagram.com/simplesuburbanliving

Read More..

Aquaponics Disease Strikes and Future Plans

Can we recover from this tragedy? The aquaponics system has been producing food for us for almost 2 years already and I couldnt be more happy with it. However, I have had my share of issues with the fish! Here is an update on the aquaponics system and a few thoughts on a future revamp of the entire system. Summer is coming to an end and I can finally get back down into this system!

Early this spring I purchased 30 Tilapia from an online company. I couldnt have been happier with the support I received from them and I am in no way blaming that company for the issues I have had. However, I added the Tilapia to the system in a separate (but connected to the system) tank and they slowly all died off. I tried to raise temps and meticulously checked water quality and could not figure out why they didnt make it, not one single one. they only thing I could come up with at the time was that the water was too cold (about 70-75 degrees) for the Blue Tilapia which do like warmer temps especially when they are young. So I shook it off and kept moving forward, planning to add some new fish later in the summer once outdoor gardening season died down.


At this time I had about 70 goldfish in the other barrel and they were doing their job nicely eating up the food and fertilizing the aquaponics garden through the various natural processes that take place. Each day I would go down to the system to add the daily allotment of flakes and on occasion find a dead fish. This continued on throughout the summer with the fish population getting down to less than 15 by August. I again, kept checking the water quality, did not add any supplements, kept feeding regular, and moved fish between the barrels to see if there was some issue in the tanks with no result. At this point I have come to the conclusion that there was a disease introduced into the system by the Tilapia that slowly killed off all of the fish, I just cant come up with any other reasonable theory that makes sense.

But the beauty of the aquaponics system is that it is so forgiving and still chugging along using up the residual nitrates and nutrients in the water and producing excellent Kale, Rosemary, Cilantro, Lettuce, and pepper for us. And now it is time to look to the future, to a cold Michigan winter where I can spend my evenings tinkering, redesigning, and rebuilding a new and improved version of the indoor aquaponics system. I plan to incorporate all I have learned into a more efficient, sleeker, easier to use system that will hold more fish and eventually incorporate so nifty new design features and grow beds. Stay tuned for more on that but for now, pray for our tough little goldfish workers that laid down their lives in the pursuit of fresh vegetables and in the name of science!

General Store - 

Please follow us on....

http://www.pinterest.com/simplesuburban/
http://www.facebook.com/simplesuburbanliving
http://www.twitter.com/simplesuburban5
http://www.instagram.com/simplesuburbanliving

Read More..

14 Moving the System in a Minivan

System packed into a Minivan
The system you’ve been reading about will be auctioned off at the September 2011 Aquaponics Association Conference this weekend on Saturday, the evening of 17 September.

My problem? How to get this sucker from Northern Virginia to Orlando, Florida.

Someone else’s problem? How to get this sucker for Orlando, Florida, to their place.

I figured the bidding pool would shrink significantly if the system was too big to fit in a standard vehicle. So here we go, packing the bits up and loading them into the back of my minivan. I left both seats in the van, since there’s no guarantee someone wanting to take this home will have thought to remove seats from their van.

It can work. You can take the 365 Aquaponics System with you – an investment you wouldn’t have to leave behind if life turned upside down. You’d have to leave the most the water behind, as well as the fish. You might even want to gift all but one grow bed worth of media to a friend. But at the end of the day, you could pick up and take it with you.

I look forward to seeing many of you in Orlando, at the Aquaponics Conference. But the anticipation can’t be better than the friendships and memories I’ll have to look back on when it’s all done.

Heres some more pictures:

The interior of my minivan with some of the long bits inside

Packing the growbeds inside

Side view through the sliding door

Read More..

Aquaponics Nitrogen Deficiencies

Why are all of your plants dying? Well, if you are just starting your system or have other fish related issues you might see some of these symptoms - Burnt leaves, slow growth, dark yellow spots, plants dying. Nitrogen is the most important nutrient of all!

If you have been following along with the system we have here you probably already know that I have had my fair share of issues with various things. Most recently I discovered that my fish were slowly dying off, each day one or two. After several months of trying various remedies the fish all eventually died. So, here I am with an aquaponics system with no fish! This leads to quite a few issues but mainly (since I am still growing plants) I am starting to see the signs of major nutrient deficiency system wide.

With an aquaponics system the main nutrient that the fish provide for us through the nitrification process is nitrogen. This is (in most cases) the #1 nutrient for plant growth overall and when it is deficient you will surely start to notice it. The easy signs are burnt edges of the leaves, curling under of leaves, leaves falling off, stunted growth, and plants dying. If you start seeing these things it is time to think nitrogen!

In aquaponics this deficiency is normally not an issue with a few exceptions. When you first start cycling your system you will undoubtedly be short on nitrogen. Small fish, not enough fish, or underfeeding could be another cause. Lastly, if you just have too many or plants planted in the system you might not be able to keep up with supply of nitrogen for your crop.

So, how do we correct it? This is the easiest nutrient to supplement, just add ammonia. Regular old, off the shelf, unscented, cheap ammonia. I would recommend starting very small and testing a few hours after you add some (just a few capfuls at first). See if your system is efficiently converting the ammonia into nitrates in a decent amount of time. Should be less than 3-4 hours after adding ammonia that you can test and it is all gone. Keep increasing the dose until you start to get some left over after about 3-4 hours and then you now know how much you can safely add without hurting fish. Make sure to add to your sump or directly to bell siphons in the grow beds but never in the fish tanks.

Update - I have been running my system for two months now without any fish and all plants are doing great! Fish will come back to the system soon but I have a few redesigns in the works first.



Check out the full video here

Check out the Simple Suburban General Store - http://astore.amazon.com/simpsubulivi-20

Nutrient Deficiency Guide - http://ammanutri.com/images/Symptoms%20of%20Micronutrient%20Deficiency%20in%20Plants.jpg

Read More..

Winter Chicken Watering System No cleaning easy to fill cheap and efficient

Are you sick of cleaning out those traditional water dispensers? For years when I was a kid my least favorite part about having chickens was that I had to go out in the cold and clean out their water dispenser and even though we had it on a hot plate it seemed to freeze anyway. Check out this watering system from the SSLFamlyDad that addresses these issues and saves money on energy.


I have tried different things with other watering systems for the chickens and had mixed results. Although I am probably not done experimenting with different ideas, this is the latest:) This system is made of a small 2 gallon Coleman cooler and a few PVC fittings and small sections of pipe.
I started by removing the spigot that comes installed in the cooler. You can then use a 1/2" male and 1/2" female threaded PVC adapter to connect through where the spigot was. I would recommend using some silicone around the fittings to ensure a good seal.

On the inside of the cooler glue in a 1/2" street 90 and point it upward. This will allow some water to always stay in the bottom of the system so that the heater does not burn up. Next, on the outside or the cooler, you can attach any configuration of piping and the chicken nipples that you would like but I chose a basic spilt setup.

I attached a short piece of pipe to the outside 1/2" fitting and then a tee. One short piece of pipe on each side of the tee with a cap on one side and a 90 on the other. On the side with the 90 I ran that up to another 90 at the same height as I want the highest water level to be in the cooler. This will hopefully prevent overfilling from the outside. This section will be run out through the coop wall so that I can fill it from the outside.

For the chicken drippers you can size up a small bolt that matches the thread size of the drippers for pre-threading the holes. I used an 11/32" drill bit to drill one hole in each side of the pipe coming out of the tee on the bottom. You can then thread in the appropriate sized bolt and back out to create some threads to start the plastic drippers. Use some silicone or thread sealant and thread in the drippers, one on each side. I also wrapped the piping in 1/2 foam insulation and some electrical tape. 


The last things is to mount the 50 watt aquarium heater to the bottom using the included suction cup. I also put a dab of silicone on the suction cup to hold it down firmly to the bottom. I also cut a small notch in the lid threads on the cooler to feed out the cord for the heater as well.

You are now ready to install it in the coop. I made a small shelf for mine inside the coop for the winter but I am not sure if I will continue to keep the system inside the coop as it tends to make a mess. I will update on that later. I routed my fill pipe out the back wall of the coop and placed a small threaded fitting there so I can attach a homemade PVC funnel to it for filling. You could also omit this step and just open the lid and pour in some water that way as well.


Once you are all setup you can just plug in the aquarium heater to electric however you can (extension cord, hardwired electric box, etc). I also use what is called a thermostatic electric outlet in my setup. This outlet only powers on the heater when the temp reaches 32 degrees or below and stays on until it gets up to 44 and then shuts off. This prevents me from heating water when it is warm outside and thus saving on electric costs. I have used this same outlet for a heat lamp in the past and it works great.

Full Video Walkthrough here

All you need for this project below

2 Gallon cooler - http://amzn.to/1MsHgAY
5 Gallon cooler - http://amzn.to/1QyXBZ5
ThermoCube outlet - http://tinyurl.com/qz5aa9c
Chicken Drippers - http://amzn.to/1uQ8PIM

All of these products and more recommended items from the SSL Family are available at the Simple Suburban Living

General Store - http://astore.amazon.com/simpsubulivi-20

Please follow us on....

http://www.pinterest.com/simplesuburban/
http://www.facebook.com/simplesuburbanliving
http://www.twitter.com/simplesuburban5
http://www.instagram.com/simplesuburbanliving

Read More..

Aphids and Worms

Video of Worm Cocoons Hatching

Fortunately, I had several plants winter over, including cabbage parsley, beets, sage, strawberries, garlic, chives, and onions.

Unfortunately, my onion, chives, and garlic on one bed became infested with little black aphids. Interestingly enough, the chives and onions in other beds on the other side of the greenhouse (3-4 feet away) were not affected at all.

Chives, garlic, and onions are supposed to protect other plants from aphids. But apparently theres a type of the little bugs that is adapted to love what other aphids despise. Which is entirely unfair, in my opinion.

After trying for a few days to hose the bugs off in place and applying organic sprays, the black bugs were still thick on the plants. So I decided I had to rip the affected plants out of my grow beds and start over. I figured with luck I would be able to salvage to add to a dinner dish, at least.

It turned out that when I had the plants completely out of the grow bed, it was possible to hose them down really well. All the little black things are gone. So while that would have been good enough for me for adding yummy bits to dinner, I thought maybe Id give the plants another change to continue growing in the beds. I particularly wanted to save the chives, which had formed a large patch, and which we love to add to dishes.

During the ripping out and re-installing the plants, I found a lot of worms. Like, whoa, a lot of worms. And there were a lot of little tiny ones as well. From time to time Id also come across these little elongated globules. Unsure what they were, I had flicked a couple of them out into my yard.

Then it hit me. They are worm cocoons! I made sure to leave all the other ones I was finding alone.

Looking it up tonight, I see that worms tend to massively increase population when the weather warms up. So youll get a lot of cocoons and baby worms either in the spring or in the fall if you bring your worm bins inside. Worms continue reproducing throughout the warm season, of course, but since I dont usually go looking for them, Id never seen enough cocoons in real life to realize what I was looking at.

Trying to find out more about composting worm cocoons, I stumbled across the video above that shows itty worms hatching out of their cocoon. Apparently you can have anywhere from one to six little worms per cocoon. Pretty cool!

Read More..

Farm Fresh Eggs Storage and Cleaning

Do you have to wash your fresh eggs? Do they need to be refrigerated? These are some of the questions I get most often concerning the handling of eggs from our suburban coop. The fact is that the nature God-given coating that is on an egg provides an amazing amount of protection and the less we do to mess that up the better we are!

There is a big difference between the eggs you pull right out from under one of your backyard chickens and one that you purchase at the store, a BIG difference. The chickens that you raise, feed, and take care of are no doubt (well if you take good care of them) healthier than those found crammed in some giant factory farm cage somewhere. The eggs from the factory farms are immediately washed and then packed and refrigerated to prevent bacteria from growing in those eggs. This process takes the natural protection away from the eggs and exposes all of the tiny pores of the shell to outside contaminants which makes refrigeration a must. However, with your farm fresh eggs this does not need to be the case.

When you collect your own eggs they can be cleaned and put into the fridge and stored for several weeks this way with no problem but it is largely not necessary. The coating provided by the chicken is the best defense from bacterial growth in the first place. Washing that coating off is the equivalent to pulling of the eggs protective respirator in a disease infested world. It wont survive long without the protection given naturally by good old mama hen.

We generally collect our eggs mid-morning and then bring them in and place them in a dish or cartoon near the sink. We do not wash them right away or refrigerate them. They just sit right there until needed by one of the SSLMoms awesome recipes or for one of our famous breakfast egg sandwiches. Once we are ready to use an egg we simply rinse it off with warm water (dont want to accidentally drop poopy eggs shells in breakfast do you?) and throw it in the skillet or mixer. We have left the eggs at room temperature like this for over two weeks at times (although I would probably not let them sit much longer than that).

If we start to get a stockpile of eggs that we cannot eat fast enough then we may wash off a batch and put them in saved egg cartoons for friends or family. We try not to give away eggs with chicken mess still on them:)

The bottom line here is that the natural way the chicken eggs was made by our creator allows for us to store them without worry of bacterial infection at room temperature without the invention of the refrigerator. How do you think people use to store them for the thousands of years before the refrigerator?

There are also other ways for long term storage at room temperature that I will not get into here today but may talk more about on a later discussion.

Simple Suburban Living General Store

Please follow us on....

http://www.pinterest.com/simplesuburban/
http://www.facebook.com/simplesuburbanliving
http://www.twitter.com/simplesuburban5
http://www.instagram.com/simplesuburbanliving

Read More..

Suburban Aquaponics Replacing River Rock and Transplanting Crops

I went through the process of removing, bucket by bucket, the river rock that has caused me much trouble over the past several months. I am replacing it with something called beechwood pebbles that I am getting from a local landscape supply for $90 per yard. My system took almost one full yard to fill but the good news is that this new stone is much lighter! I will be adjusting my system pH in the coming weeks and planting out some new crops.

The river rock that has been in my system keeps the pH locked at 8.2 and there is nothing I could do to bring it down lower than that. The limestone and other fossils mixed in with the rock I purchased at Home Depot were the cause. I later learned that this was a source or calcium carbonate and that it would constantly bring the system pH up and out of the preferred range of 6.5-7.

Over the past several months, I have been slowly switching out the four grow beds and it has been quite a process. All of the new rock has to be washed and sorted (to get out the smallest pieces) and then hauled downstairs to our basement in a bucket. Prior to that, the old rock has to be hauled up and out of the basement bucket by bucket and then the grow beds cleaned up.

I am excited for the upcoming winter growing season and look forward to bring you all along, thanks for stopping by and watching!

Read More..