- Messages
- 9,038
My aquaponics set up consists of two grow beds and one fish tank. The basic idea of the project is the fish's waste becomes ammonia. Ammonia is changed into nitrite by nitrifying bacteria (I). Nitrite is then changed into nitrate by nitryfing bacteria (II). Nitrate can be used by plants as fertilizer. Small amounts of ammonia and nitrite can be used by some plants but nitrate is the main compound that is used by plants. Both types of nitrifying bacteria grows in the pea gravel in the grow beds.
The two grow beds are 8ft by 4ft (Length by width). They stand 38" off the floor on 8" cinder blocks. Each grow bed holds 1.5 tons of pea gravel that is used as a growing medium. Each grow bed has a hole drilled in the bottom of the grow bed and connected with PVC to the fish tank. A submersible pump fills the grow bed simultaneously from the fish tank. The grow beds begin to empty after 6.5 minutes of filling. Each grow bed has a bell siphon in it so when it is full the water automatically begins to empty back into the fish tank. The emptying process takes about 10 minutes. The submersible pump turns on once every half an hour for 15 minutes and then automatically shuts off.
There are two lights above each grow bed. Each light is a 400w high pressure sodium light. The grow beds are surrounded by sheets of metallic plastic to reflect the light emitted by the bulbs. The lights are run on an automatic timer for 15 hours a day.
The fish tank is 8ft long, 3ft tall, and 4 feet wide. It holds right around 1,000 gallons of water. It has a few Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) in it to use up excess ammonia and nitrite while the nitryfing bacteria is growing in the grow beds. At the moment the fish tank contains 195 White Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). I started out with 200 but lost 5 since I got them. Usually about 20% die off withing the first few weeks so my death percentage is low. The fish are fed a type of pellet food that is not extremely high in protein to match the Tilapia's natural lower protein diet. The pellets are ground up and placed in automatic feeders. The automatic feeders put 7g of food into the tank every 2 hours during the day. No food is put in during the night. The fish arrived at 1.0g each two weeks ago. Now they have weighted in at 3.6g each.So they have more than tripled in size. The fish were bought from a local Southern Indiana breeder. They were purchased at .5-1 inch each. They have now grown to 3-4 inches each. That's a fairly good growth rate for these fish. They will be fully grown at 6 months of age.
Closer look at the fish -
The two grow beds are 8ft by 4ft (Length by width). They stand 38" off the floor on 8" cinder blocks. Each grow bed holds 1.5 tons of pea gravel that is used as a growing medium. Each grow bed has a hole drilled in the bottom of the grow bed and connected with PVC to the fish tank. A submersible pump fills the grow bed simultaneously from the fish tank. The grow beds begin to empty after 6.5 minutes of filling. Each grow bed has a bell siphon in it so when it is full the water automatically begins to empty back into the fish tank. The emptying process takes about 10 minutes. The submersible pump turns on once every half an hour for 15 minutes and then automatically shuts off.
There are two lights above each grow bed. Each light is a 400w high pressure sodium light. The grow beds are surrounded by sheets of metallic plastic to reflect the light emitted by the bulbs. The lights are run on an automatic timer for 15 hours a day.
The fish tank is 8ft long, 3ft tall, and 4 feet wide. It holds right around 1,000 gallons of water. It has a few Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) in it to use up excess ammonia and nitrite while the nitryfing bacteria is growing in the grow beds. At the moment the fish tank contains 195 White Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). I started out with 200 but lost 5 since I got them. Usually about 20% die off withing the first few weeks so my death percentage is low. The fish are fed a type of pellet food that is not extremely high in protein to match the Tilapia's natural lower protein diet. The pellets are ground up and placed in automatic feeders. The automatic feeders put 7g of food into the tank every 2 hours during the day. No food is put in during the night. The fish arrived at 1.0g each two weeks ago. Now they have weighted in at 3.6g each.So they have more than tripled in size. The fish were bought from a local Southern Indiana breeder. They were purchased at .5-1 inch each. They have now grown to 3-4 inches each. That's a fairly good growth rate for these fish. They will be fully grown at 6 months of age.
Closer look at the fish -
