Happy New Year

It is New Years Eve and I don’t have anything particular wanting to be written at the moment. Sometimes ideas come wanting to get out and other times I see a need to share some particular topic. At the moment, none of that is coming to mind.

So, here is a picture of the aquaponics . . . → Read More: Happy New Year

Battery Backup

Power can go out on occasion and a heavily stocked fish tank can run our of dissolved oxygen in short order when water flow stops. I hooked up a battery backup that would be able to run my air pump for at least 20 hours before running the battery down below half charge. My set . . . → Read More: Battery Backup

Sweet Water Organics

I met James Godsil at Sweet Water Organics while I was up in Milwaukee last week.

Sweet Water Organics is an ambitious effort to utilize an old warehouse property to create something similar to Growing Power’s urban community building food production system.

Biggest challenge I see for Sweet Water Organics is light. It takes a . . . → Read More: Sweet Water Organics

Growing Power

Sorry no pictures on this one, Growing Power doesn’t allow it.

First let me say that I think Growing Power is a wonderful organization and I love what they are doing in general. However, I don’t think people new to aquaponics should attempt their Aquaponics System design methods of growing fish.

It isn’t that . . . → Read More: Growing Power

We Grow Dreams

I was up near Chicago not long ago and visited some one who has recently built an aquaponics system at We Grow Dreams.

we grow dreams aquaponics grow beds

Philip Wolf Designed an Aquaponics system that has a couple of big fish tanks dug into the ground and lined with EPDM liner. A . . . → Read More: We Grow Dreams

Low Pressure Automated Valve

Valve contraption

Some might ask me how I manage to use an indexing valve on my big system CHIFT PIST set up when my pump runs constantly. Well this might not be the best layout for using an indexing valve but I’m managed to make it work.

valve insides

I designed . . . → Read More: Low Pressure Automated Valve

Lumber and Liner termite damage

Wet corner

wet under liner

before emptying the bed

Well, I finally discovered my mistake in building with lumber and liner in Florida. Termites have caused some of my grow beds to begin leaking. Time to make a change. We will replace the middle leaking grow bed with two . . . → Read More: Lumber and Liner termite damage

Bigger Quarantine System

New Quarantine system

Finally, I moved the waterfall tank back by the two North Grow beds on my big system and turned that into my new Aquaponics Quarantine system. Tank over 200 gallons and about 200 gallons worth of grow bed.

That should be enough to make a decent quarantine system I would . . . → Read More: Bigger Quarantine System

More Big system changes

With the addition of the new Big CHIFT PIST fish tank, I decided to remove the waterfall tank and add a new grow bed in it’s place.

removed waterfall tank

Frame for new bed

This change to the aquaponics system will give a place to filter the excess water flow from . . . → Read More: More Big system changes

New Fish Tank

After about a year of operation I wanted to make some improvements to my Big Aquaponics system. I decided I wanted to do Constant Height In Fish Tank, Pump In Sump Tank (CHIFT PIST) operation. I had been dealing with the need to clean my pump trap quite often and that didn’t line up with . . . → Read More: New Fish Tank