13 Creating a Greenhouse out of Electric Metallic Tubing EMT

Picture of EMT frame, draped with plastic
So how do you grow 365 days a year when you have cold winters? A greenhouse is a big part of that answer. [In fairness, 365 Aquaponics also requires attention to fish selection and plant choice, but that’s for another post.]

The lightbulb went off for me when I saw a video of Michelle Obama’s hoop house garden, at the White House. An evening of internet surfing later, I knew all kinds of information about high tunnels, aka hoop houses.

But a standard hoop house wouldn’t work for me. The typical cross section of a hoop house is a circular arc, 12 feet wide if it’s 6 feet high. Not bad for crops grown in the ground, but murder if my crops are sprouting 3 feet above ground level, as in an aquaponics system that’s wholly installed above the surface of the ground. Besides, all that area at the edges is practically useless for either growing plants or allowing the gardener to walk around.

There are some nice greenhouses available for sale. Harbor Freight has an inexpensive 10’x12’ model that is used by many gardeners. But my townhome community has covenants that limit how tall my backyard structures can stand.

Besides, I wanted to see if I could come up with a sturdy greenhouse someone could build themselves from standard materials available at local hardware stores.

Now that I’ve lived with such a greenhouse for a summer, I prefer a simple hoop house over standard greenhouses. When it gets hot, you can simply remove the plastic from the hoop house for the hot months. If you need shade, drape shade cloth over the hoops. Nature takes care of ventilation and pollination. When the days and nights start cooling, put up the plastic again. 6 mil plastic will be stronger and provide better insulation, but 3 mil plastic lets in more light and still keeps things moderately toasty in the sun.

I used Electric Metallic Tubing (EMT) rather than the more typical PVC pipe because:

• EMT allows me to achieve a precise shape
• EMT is stronger
• EMT won’t break down under UV sunlight the way unpainted PVC does.
• EMT is sold in 10 foot lengths, allowing me to create an arched form that is 8.5 feet wide and around 7 feet tall from just two 10 foot lengths

Pictures (better, moving pictures) are worth thousands of words, so here is a movie showing how to set this up.



So what are you planning to do for World Water Day on March 22nd?

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Utility Sink Installation Part One Water Supply

Check out this video to see how to install a simple utility sink in your home. Have some sort of utility tub or sink setup in your home is a must for any home owner. No more washing off paint brushes in the kitchen sink, no more greasy hand washing in the same area you wash you dishes. If nothing else, your wife will thank you! Since we have lived here in this home for a few years I have been wanting to get this installed and it kept getting put on the back burner. Until a few weeks ago I passed by a perfectly good utility sink at the end of someones driveway as a giveaway. Call it divine intervention or just a lucky break but it inspired me to get this project put to the top of my list.

The fist step once you have a sink and faucet picked out is to locate a good spot in the basement for the sink. The best place will be in range of a floor drain and some overhead copper water supply lines. You want to make sure that your water supply is tapping into a 3/4" supply and not a 1/2" supply. 1/2" supplies are not meant to be split another times as they are already split from the main water supply line once.

Once you have  a good location get your supplies together and get ready for a messy, somewhat stressful, and eventful afternoon in your basement working with one of my favorite tools.....the torch:) Make sure to leave yourself enough time to account for anything that might go wrong since this project will require that the entire water supply to the home is turned off for a bit.
Start by turning off the water supply to your home and then hooking a hose up to the drain on your water heater. Next open the drain and a few faucets on each level of your home. This will allow air breath into the pipes and the water to drain completely back to the water heater which should be the lowest point in the system. Once the pipes are drained out, close the water heater drain and get ready for cutting and soldering.

Once you have your Tee in place on a 3/4" supply pipe go ahead and start measuring, cutting, and soldering your supply pipes over to your utility sink location. Remember to follow local codes and if you are unsure of where you can drill holes or how to run the lines consult with a professional plumber.


Once your water supply is run, solder on some supply valves and turn them to the off position. Now you are ready to get your water turned back on and start to fill up those pipes and check for leaks. This is that somewhat stressful time I talked about:) Did it leak, how do your joints look? I can say from experience that no matter how diligent you are sometimes in hard to reach places leaks can occur. Make sure to let the system sit for a bit and then keep checking for any drips. If you find any drips you will need to drain everything back out and re-solder the leaky fitting.


Now that you are all hooked up and leak free it is just a matter of hooking up your flex water lines from the valves to the faucet and you are in business. All you need now is a drain....... more on that later.


Parts used listed below........

Utility Sink parts -
Utility sink - http://amzn.to/1Mj6q4u
Water supply valve - http://amzn.to/1GulDPN
Cheap faucet - http://amzn.to/1BYK8Uf

Tools of the trade -
Spark start torch head - http://amzn.to/1BMl54f
Mapp Gas cylinder - http://amzn.to/14G5DdF
1/2"-3/4" pipe and fitting cleaner combo tool - http://amzn.to/1BSy2ao
Tight spaces pipe cutter - http://amzn.to/1y0INKD
Pipe cutter - http://amzn.to/1xP2qDj
Lead free solder - http://amzn.to/1wGPqvL
Flux - http://amzn.to/1yPxXqA

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

Please check us out at www.simplesuburbanliving.com

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Music - "Shadows in the Moonlight" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/ShadowsintheMoonlight

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9 Floating Raft for Deep Water Culture

My first floating raft system, July 2010
Sometimes you want to grow plants without using "media." In that case, you need some method for suspending your plant over the surface of the water.

Ive seen folks use foam rafts, wooden structures supported on air-filled water bottles, or water-filled bins with holes cut in the lid. The plants are put in "net pots" to provide some support while allowing the roots to grow through the mesh/net of the pots.

Ive used foam rafts. But you want to make sure you select the right foam. There are three basic foam insulation board products on the market produced under several different manufacturer names. The basic types of foam board insulation include: polystyrene, polyurethane or polyisocyanurate.

• Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) - This is the white foam board that is made up of lots of tiny white foam balls. Even though this isnt toxic, you dont want to use this for aquaponics. The stuff will disintegrate relatively quickly, leaving you with a white, snowy mess.
• Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) - This is what you want for aquaponics. Folks typically recommend the 2 inch thick Dow product (blue board). However you may find other brands at your local hardware store, and the colors will vary depending on the manufacturer. For example, pink is the trademark color for the Owens Corning product, Lowes GreenGuard product is (surprise) green. In all cases, make sure youre dealing with extruded polystyrene rather than some other chemical.
• Polyurethane (PUR) or Polyisocyanurate (PIR or ISO) - Fully reacted polyurethane, itself, is chemically inert. The problem is that the stuff you can buy at the hardware store is typically "improved" to increase the insulation properties (R value). This "improvement" is achieved by adding isocyanurates, which are hazardous chemicals. The list of potential human hazards from exposure to isocyanurates is long and scary - and I wouldnt want my fish exposed to this stuff (or have the roots of my plants bathing in a weak isocyanurate solution). Folks on the web will often equate pink foam with polyisocyanurate, but that is not necessarily the case. Check the chemical composition of the foam you intend to buy and just make sure youre getting XPS and not PIR or ISO.

Lay out where the centers of your holes need to be. I use 3" spacing between centers for the 2" net pots Ill use to start seedlings or allow cuttings to root. Youll want to use 6 inches or more between centers if you want your plants to grow to maturity in the floating raft - this will be OK for plants like lettuce.

To drill the holes for 2" net pots, I recommend a standard 2-1/8 inch Door Knob Hole Saw and another drill bit that is long enough to go all the way through your foam. Drill a small hole at the center of each location, then drill part through one side at each location with the hole saw. Flip the foam and finish drilling the holes from the other side, using the center holes as a guide.

A Door Know Hole Saw bit
To prolong the life of your raft, you can paint the foam with white latex paint.

Heres a video showing the basics of a 2 inch thick floating raft that will fit in a 50-gallon Rubbermaid tank.

N.B. - If your plant roots are "dark," this may be due to particles in the water youre piping in under your floating raft. In that case, consider adding some kind of filtration to reduce the particulate content.

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Suburban Aquaponics Water Testing and Butterflies

See our newest edition to the aquaponics system...butterflies! In this episode I am also going through a standard water test using the API Fresh Water Master Test Kit.

Water testing is a very important part of starting and maintaining any aquaponics system. This is especially important to do more frequently when you are first cycling the system to determine when it is safe to add fish. Since Ammonia and Nitrites are very toxic to fish it is important to make sure that the bacteria colonies established in your system are able to keep up with converting these toxic compounds into more harmless Nitrates. And, of course, this is the nitrogen fertilizer that your plants need to succeed (more aquaponics rhymes coming soon).

I have been using the API Test Kit for over a year now and I have been very happy with it. I did a review and walkthrough on the use of the test kit last year and am still just as happy. It is very easy to use and gives pretty accurate results for all of the tests within 5 minutes. The only complaint I have (and this goes for any of these color based tests) is that some of the colors are very close and hard to distinguish apart. However, in most cases we are only looking for a general idea of levels in the system with the exception of pH. For the best pH results I would recommend picking up an electronic pH reader, however they are a bit more expensive. 

Now, as for the butterflies. You might be asking yourself, why would you put butterflies in your indoor aquaponics system? Well, there is a great explanation for this, I just cant think of it right now:)
The kids wanted some live butterflies for Christmas and so we decided we would give it a try and see what happens. We have done the live butterfly thing in the past and the kids loved it; so what could it hurt? They were able to watch their little caterpillars grow from tiny little worm looking things to some pretty awesome butterflies in about 3 weeks. Only problem now was, where do we release these new buddies of ours in the middle of winter? Well we figured since we have an indoor garden, they would probably fit in down there for the time and if they survive until spring they can be moved outside. In the meantime we are just hoping they do not get too comfortable and decide to start a new family of plants-destroying caterpillars! We will keep you updated on this as it develops but for now the kids, my wife, and I(I have to admit) like to come down to the basement garden and check in on our butterfly friends. Until next time, thanks for stopping by!

 

Products Used:

The API Fresh Water Test Kit - http://amzn.to/1Jd1SuT
Ammonia test kit - http://amzn.to/1L35EJa
Nitrite test kit - http://amzn.to/1EwkZNY
Nitrate test kit - http://amzn.to/1uybBZI
Water hardness test kit - http://amzn.to/1EwkIdM
Phosphate test kit - http://amzn.to/1yRWSdJ
Calcium test kit - http://amzn.to/1y2NtZQ
API Replacement test tubes - http://amzn.to/1Jm1YhS
Electronic test kit - http://amzn.to/1Jd2NeP

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

Simple Suburban Living General Store

 

 

 

 

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Testing Water In Our Aquaponic System

How we maintain good water quality in our AP system

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Making an Indoor System

The last weekend in March I will be presenting a workshop at the Home Grown Institute Conference.

The conference will be held at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, in NW Philadelphia with the theme "Springing Good Intentions Into Action.” There will be over 50 home-scaled workshops, including edible gardens, community and school gardens, seed-saving, soil enrichment, 4 season harvest, bees, chickens, worms, aquaponics, food preservation, fermentation, re-purposing, upcycling, and natural building.

Lots of fun!

Ill be putting on the aquaponics workshop, demonstrating the construction of three different systems:

• An aquaponic windowfarm, using recycled water bottles
• A apartment/patio system
• An outdoor system using stock tanks

All the systems Im demonstrating emphasize putting together something relatively nice-looking out of local parts on a budget. In my own aquaponics journey, I went straight from a windowfarm to a system made from stock tanks. But I can imagine many people would want to start with something in between. So Ive been playing...

First, structure. I like the look of wire shelving. But heavy-duty wire shelves can put you back a pretty penny. Luckily, Target carries a small three-tiered set of wire shelves for just $19.99 as part of their Room Essentials line. The shelves can carry a moderate load, particularly if the load is evenly distributed, such as would be the case with the flat bottom of a fish tank, or a flat bottomed grow bed.

Second, the fish tank. Im fine with a 5-gallon water jug, but my daughter really liked the idea of an actual fish tank, where you could clearly see the fish inside. I was happy to find a 10-gallon tank at PetSmart for under $14.00. That would work just fine for a tank located under the growbed with a pump inside. Or I could cut a 1" hole near the top with a diamond hole saw if I wanted to have a "Constant Height of Fish Tank" configuration with a pump in a sump tank.

Finally, the growbed and sump. Ive used concrete mixing tubs in the past, at least for a grow bed. But TC Lynx over at the Aquaponics Gardening community mentioned that she uses bus tubs for a demonstration system she packs along when shes selling her wares at the farmers market. Bus tubs are sturdy, designed to carry a load of dirty dishes from a table to the dish-washing part of a restaurant kitchen. They are also compact enough that theyre still luggable, even when filled with gravel. I was able to find 7" deep bus tubs online from a variety of sellers. I decided to get three: one for a sump, a second for a media growbed, and a third for a floating raft grow bed.

There are other configurations I can imagine, but this is simple to put together without putting much strain on the family budget.

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Aquaponics Water Hardness pH Buffering and Carbonates

Watch this video to learn more about how to manage water quality in an aquaponics system. I have learned so much throughout the last seven months after building our own system.  The terms used in various books and websites can be confusing!  I hope the information you learn here today helps you understand more about whats going on with the water in aquaponics. 

One of the things that has been most interesting to me is the balance that is required between the water, the fish, and the plants. There is so much more to this than I initially suspected!

In aquaponics one of the most important elements of water quality to understand is pH. The pH affects the fish and the plants growth and ultimately determines how well your system is going to work overall. I have been struggling with pH in my system since the river rock I choose to use contains limestone; this causes the pH to hold at a level of 8.2 which is far too high to have the results I am looking for.  You can also read more about pH in my previous post here.

As I am going through the process of replacing all of my grow media, I have learned a great deal about what pH actually is and also how it is lowered and raised in the system. I have also learned how to test for carbonates and what the best range should be in a healthy system.

General harness, Carbonate hardness and buffering pH have been some of the most interesting concept that I have learned. Check out the video here to learn more.

Thanks for watching!!




For more information and a tour of our indoor aquaponics system, click here.

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2 Building the 365 Aquaponics System

My Original Prototype, Apr 20, 2011

For the next several days, Ill walk you through building "the 365 Aquaponics System," a wheelchair-accessible, 200 gallon aquaponics system and greenhouse for around $1000. The system youll see over the next several posts will be auctioned off during the Aquaponics Association Conference to raise funds for the Association.

Heres the schedule of posts - enjoy!

9.03 - Setting up the Tanks
9.04 - Installing the Bulkheads
9.05 - Connecting the Fish Tank and Sump
9.06 - Pumps, Timers, and Plumbing
9.07 - Installing a Float Valve
9.08 - Media Options
9.09 - The Bell Siphon
9.10 - The Coanda Discharge
9.11 - Floating Raft
9.12 - The Durso Standpipe
9.13 - The EMT Hoop House
9.14 - Moving the System
9.15 - The Final Accounting
9.16 - Storing Solar Energy for Winter

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Aquaponics System Design Filtered Water Vs Well Water

Is filtered water really a better choice for aquaponics? Doesnt my well water have all the nutrients and minerals that I am going to need for growth? These are some of the questions that I had when putting my system together as well and now that I have been running for almost a year I have learned a few tricks on the matter. I originally thought that the best source of minerals and nutrients to supplement the system would come from my well water. Over the course of the last year I have found this to not be entirely true and also, the well water causes more pH issues than it is worth. Now, dont get me wrong, I am not saying that you cannot use well water here. There is definitely a way to get around the pH issues and top off the system with your local well water. It is also important to note that not all well water is the same, it depends greatly on where you are in the world.


In my case the main issues was the presence of a large amount of carbonates in the well water. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of carbonates I have more info in another video here - http://youtu.be/NSXmwaPBQp8. What the carbonates were doing was not allowing the pH in the system to drop below 8. No matter how much acidic solution I added to the system the carbonates would continue to buffer the pH back up. I also had some issues with this same concept due to the river rock that I was using and have recently corrected that as well.


The bottom line here is that although you can use well water in your aquaponics system you might be better off installing even a simple inexpensive filter to at least get rid of some of the carbonates. You can still supplement nutrients if needed but in most cases this is not normally necessary. Using filtered water will allow you to have more control over the water quality and bring the pH into the perfect range for both your fish and your plants.

 

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