Six weeks later the vertical grow pots are doing fantastic. There is so much space this is saving and running on my 650 litre system does not increase the load on this system. This system is still running at 50% capacity in my opinion. I can easily add another few more vertical grow pots and two more regular grow beds. Periodically I have been adding a little seaweed extract which seems to take care of some of the micronutrient deficiency. Compost tea is the next addition which I will be trying soon.
Monday, 21 December 2015
Thursday, 17 September 2015
Inside the Green house
Here are a few pics for the green house
I now have a 650 litres aquaponics system which is doing well powered by over 100 fish. This system is been around for over a year and half now, during which time there was a lot of refining done to get the water flow work properly.
Recently I have added the vertical system to this which will be activated soon. This will up my productions capacity by 48 individual grow pots. With a little modification to the plumbing this vertical system is now integrated to the main 650 litres system.
The 250 litres new system is also just setting in, the nitrification cycle has just started and this system is powered by over 20 fish.
Wicking beds are doing good and I have had a few good harvest from this. So I have added a few more smaller wicking beds. Also this wicking bed gets water from my swirl filter which gets cleaned weekly.
Monday, 14 September 2015
250 liter aquaponics system - Cycling with fish.
The new 250 liters Aquaponis system was in the making for a while and now its ready. This system was planned to reduce transportation and assembly time. The current system is a direct drain to the fish tank, where the growbed is directly on top of the fishtank.
The dimension of this system is 900 x 900 mm x 300 mm and the fish tank is a 300 liter capacity loft tank that is readily available in the market.
The wooden framework was developed keeping in mind the outdoor conditions and was treated with a PU coat (weather proof sealant).
Once the framework was assembled, the inside was lined with a pond liner.
The growmedia for this system was in two layers .. the lower half was filled with 25mm gravel and the remaining top half was filled with LECA.
For this system i started cycling with fish.
the formula i was following in the past was the same i used here. So what i did was once the system was fully plumbed and the water filled in the fishtank, i ran the system for three days without fish.
Then on the 4th day i added 5 goldfish, and did a water test. After the first week i added another 5 fish and every week gradually i started adding more fish.
The first few weeks you will notice the PH reducing and the ammonia level slowly building up .. once you see the ammonia building up .. its time to add some seeds so that there will be takers for the nitrate when the bacteria start converting the ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate.
Here are the results from the testing that was done in 8 weeks.
you can see the progress gradually.
The dimension of this system is 900 x 900 mm x 300 mm and the fish tank is a 300 liter capacity loft tank that is readily available in the market.
The wooden framework was developed keeping in mind the outdoor conditions and was treated with a PU coat (weather proof sealant).
Once the framework was assembled, the inside was lined with a pond liner.
The growmedia for this system was in two layers .. the lower half was filled with 25mm gravel and the remaining top half was filled with LECA.
For this system i started cycling with fish.
the formula i was following in the past was the same i used here. So what i did was once the system was fully plumbed and the water filled in the fishtank, i ran the system for three days without fish.
Then on the 4th day i added 5 goldfish, and did a water test. After the first week i added another 5 fish and every week gradually i started adding more fish.
The first few weeks you will notice the PH reducing and the ammonia level slowly building up .. once you see the ammonia building up .. its time to add some seeds so that there will be takers for the nitrate when the bacteria start converting the ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate.
Here are the results from the testing that was done in 8 weeks.
you can see the progress gradually.
Sunday, 14 June 2015
Aquaponics - 400 liter barrelponics
This is a 400 liter barrel ponics that i built with two 200 liter barrels interconnected for the fish tank and 2 barrels cut in half to form the 4 growbeds. For the sump tank i used a 300 liter loft tank.
The system was set up some time ago. The build was simple with 40 mm square section of treated pine that was put together with a clever load bearing design the barrels sat comfortably on the frames.
The fish tank was placed strategically under the overhead tanks of the house to avoid direct sunlight and this gives the FT plenty of insulation from the elements.
Bell siphon was put in place and the plumbing was done using 19 mm cpvp pipes with control valves at every water exit point.
Once the system was all hooked up we ran the system for about 3 days for all the dust etc get settled down at the bottom of the growbed and for the water to get cleared.
3 days later I introduces 10 gold fish. This is very less number of fish for this size tank, but this was done because I was looking at cycling this system with fish.
Then I ran the system for a week and added a another round of 10 gold fish. By now a few seeds was also thrown into the growbeds. It took almost 6 weeks for the nitrogen cycle to get established. During this time a few tweaks was done to the bell siphion upstand to get the flood and drain cycle to set well. 8 weeks later the system was running fine and in three months time the system was well set and the tomato plant were already starting to fruit.
The system was set up some time ago. The build was simple with 40 mm square section of treated pine that was put together with a clever load bearing design the barrels sat comfortably on the frames.
The fish tank was placed strategically under the overhead tanks of the house to avoid direct sunlight and this gives the FT plenty of insulation from the elements.
Bell siphon was put in place and the plumbing was done using 19 mm cpvp pipes with control valves at every water exit point.
Once the system was all hooked up we ran the system for about 3 days for all the dust etc get settled down at the bottom of the growbed and for the water to get cleared.
3 days later I introduces 10 gold fish. This is very less number of fish for this size tank, but this was done because I was looking at cycling this system with fish.
Then I ran the system for a week and added a another round of 10 gold fish. By now a few seeds was also thrown into the growbeds. It took almost 6 weeks for the nitrogen cycle to get established. During this time a few tweaks was done to the bell siphion upstand to get the flood and drain cycle to set well. 8 weeks later the system was running fine and in three months time the system was well set and the tomato plant were already starting to fruit.
Friday, 20 March 2015
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
What type of growmedia not to use
A lot of people have been asking me if we can use smaller pebbles, sane or cocopete for the grow media in an aquaponics system.
So i decided to give it a try.
I used small pebbles in this experiment, the pebbles were about 5 mm in size. easy to handle and the system started to grow well.
Well as a lot of experts from various online forums did mention that this will not work.
And after a few months, tomatoes were happily growing until one day i noticed that the water flow was not the way i would have liked it to be.
This is precisely 5 months after i started the system and the problem started.
Root clogging, had caused the problem .. the roots were really big and used up all the space between the small pebbles and there was no space for the water to flow. Also the flood and drain did stop working and this adds to the supply of oxygen the to roots to be cut off.
So what i have learned from this experiment is that, for a media based Aquaponics system to work well, the grow media have to be atleast 20 mm. The ideal material is LECA - Light Expanded Clay Aggregate also known as Hydroton.
This is a little expensive material and one ca use 20 - 25 mm gravel or river pebbles as well.
Gravel or river pebbles are a lot heavier compared to the LECA, so having a large system on your roof top with gravel or river pebbles will be a bit challenging.
So i decided to give it a try.
I used small pebbles in this experiment, the pebbles were about 5 mm in size. easy to handle and the system started to grow well.
Well as a lot of experts from various online forums did mention that this will not work.
And after a few months, tomatoes were happily growing until one day i noticed that the water flow was not the way i would have liked it to be.
This is precisely 5 months after i started the system and the problem started.
Root clogging, had caused the problem .. the roots were really big and used up all the space between the small pebbles and there was no space for the water to flow. Also the flood and drain did stop working and this adds to the supply of oxygen the to roots to be cut off.
This is a little expensive material and one ca use 20 - 25 mm gravel or river pebbles as well.
Gravel or river pebbles are a lot heavier compared to the LECA, so having a large system on your roof top with gravel or river pebbles will be a bit challenging.
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Monday, 5 January 2015
Tuesday, 9 December 2014
Shifting tilapias
So the last weekend was filled with action as i noticed the solidwaste in my 500 liter system is creating a problem. This system now has around 48 tilapias and some of them have become bigger than the others. So i decided to move 10 of the big ones to my second system.
Catching them in the small fishing net was a little tricky, since the fish had become bigger then the net i had with me. So i had to get a bigger net. In the aquarium store i noticed lots of big fishing nets like the size of an A3 poster. I always wondered who would buy such big nets .... well ... i am well on the way to getting one soon :)
Some of my tilapias have become 8 inch long, another eight months they should be plate size or at least 0.75Kg to 1Kg each.
Here is a short video of how i moved the tilapias.
Catching them in the small fishing net was a little tricky, since the fish had become bigger then the net i had with me. So i had to get a bigger net. In the aquarium store i noticed lots of big fishing nets like the size of an A3 poster. I always wondered who would buy such big nets .... well ... i am well on the way to getting one soon :)
Some of my tilapias have become 8 inch long, another eight months they should be plate size or at least 0.75Kg to 1Kg each.
Here is a short video of how i moved the tilapias.
Tuesday, 2 December 2014
Miniponics - The Art Series -
This weekend i just decided to make more miniponics and give it an art treatment.
First i painted the growbed and portion of the fish tank white.
Using permanent marker pens, i started drawing interesting fish directly on to the white base coat.
The bottom of the fish tank was given a wave treatment and a few stylized creepers on the vertical pipes held the whole design together.
First i painted the growbed and portion of the fish tank white.
Using permanent marker pens, i started drawing interesting fish directly on to the white base coat.
The bottom of the fish tank was given a wave treatment and a few stylized creepers on the vertical pipes held the whole design together.
Thursday, 27 November 2014
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
DIY workshop at Green Bazaar
This weekend was exciting as Green Bazaar had organised an event on "Design Matters". One of the many workshops was on Aquaponics. Here i got a chance of talking to a lot of Aquaponics enthusiasts who wanted to know more.
After a short presentation, I did a DIY session where i showed how one can make a Miniponics - Aquaponics for just under 10$.
Here are a few pics of the workshop. and also a video on DIY - Miniponics
After a short presentation, I did a DIY session where i showed how one can make a Miniponics - Aquaponics for just under 10$.
Here are a few pics of the workshop. and also a video on DIY - Miniponics
A quick video grab of the workshop.
DIY - Video - How to make Aquaponics system for under 10$
Sunday, 23 November 2014
DIY - Aquaponics for under 10$
Aquaponics systems can be setup in various sizes, if you have the space and money you can set up a large 1000liter system in a green house or you can have a small 100 liter system in your balcony.
Most kitchens have a window which gives a little sunlight, this Miniponics is an ideal system that one can use in such small spaces.
So here is how you can make one for just under 10$ and in about an hours time.
This is Miniponics - Aquaponics system made from a 25liter water can.
Most kitchens have a window which gives a little sunlight, this Miniponics is an ideal system that one can use in such small spaces.
So here is how you can make one for just under 10$ and in about an hours time.
This is Miniponics - Aquaponics system made from a 25liter water can.
Wednesday, 19 November 2014
Tuesday, 18 November 2014
500 liters Aquaponis setup - Early days
After removing the NFT system i deceided to set up my next big, or rather my first big Aquaponics setup. A 500 liters fish tank with a 300 liters grow bed. The grow bed was filled with 20 mm gravel.
Pictures of my first Aquaponics growbed
Here are a few pics of how the 70 liter Aquaponic system looked a few months after it was setup.
I had to also build a cage around it to keep it from being destroyed by monkeys. Yes we have some monkey trouble here once in a while.
I had to also build a cage around it to keep it from being destroyed by monkeys. Yes we have some monkey trouble here once in a while.
Early experiments - 70 liter Aquaponics using aquarium
When the NFT system started to grow, i began looking up online about aquaponics and came across a lot of content and realised this is a wonderful food production system.
So i decided to try a small growbed system. I had few small tubs and an old decommissioned aquarium lying around and so i decided to make use of it. So first i built a wooden table, just to hold the growbeds/tubs above the aquarium.
After a visit to the hardware store, I created the siphon mechanism using pvc pipes and connected the water flow mechanism whole system. I did not use any taps to regulate the water flow as this was an early experiment. Just wanted to see how basic can this setup be.
My NFT system was giving a bit of a problem and so i decided to transplant all the plants form there to this grow bed system. Since i wanted to remove the NFT system and plan a bigger Aquaponics unit in its place. The transplanted tomatoes started to grow really well. This system has a 70 liters aquarium below the tubs and it has 10 goldfish and a few guppies.
Days, weeks and months later ... lust look at the way the plants have grown and in 4 months time of just feeding the fish twice daily and topping up water as and when the level dropped a little due to evaporation. After this system completed six months i learned a lot about the simple science behind aquaponics, and once you follow those life becomes easy.
I learnt a lot like the right size of growbed, the right growing media and size the water flow rate how it drains out etc. Then i decided to go bigger .. My next project a 500 liter aquaponics setup.
So i decided to try a small growbed system. I had few small tubs and an old decommissioned aquarium lying around and so i decided to make use of it. So first i built a wooden table, just to hold the growbeds/tubs above the aquarium.
After a visit to the hardware store, I created the siphon mechanism using pvc pipes and connected the water flow mechanism whole system. I did not use any taps to regulate the water flow as this was an early experiment. Just wanted to see how basic can this setup be.
My NFT system was giving a bit of a problem and so i decided to transplant all the plants form there to this grow bed system. Since i wanted to remove the NFT system and plan a bigger Aquaponics unit in its place. The transplanted tomatoes started to grow really well. This system has a 70 liters aquarium below the tubs and it has 10 goldfish and a few guppies.
Days, weeks and months later ... lust look at the way the plants have grown and in 4 months time of just feeding the fish twice daily and topping up water as and when the level dropped a little due to evaporation. After this system completed six months i learned a lot about the simple science behind aquaponics, and once you follow those life becomes easy.
I learnt a lot like the right size of growbed, the right growing media and size the water flow rate how it drains out etc. Then i decided to go bigger .. My next project a 500 liter aquaponics setup.
Monday, 17 November 2014
How I got introduced to Aquaponics
Every weekend i used to build something like a DIY, sometimes furniture or sometimes toys. And then on day Chaitanya mailed me a video of a small DIY aquaponics system that was interesting. The following weekend I jumped into action... and set up my first aquaponics unit which was a NFT system.
I already had a 500 liter water tank that was used as a raised pond of sorts, with gold fish, koi, sword tail and a few guppies.
The plan was to create a NFT frame work next to the tank and pump the water from the FT to the pvc pipes. For the drain to to flow back into the FT i raised the pipes above the FT.
A full saturday of shopping at the hardware store, cutting drilling and assembly.
Here i primarily used 4 inch pvc pipe and drilled 2 inch holes. I used some tank valve and some 0.75 inch pipes to create the drain.
I then used some plastic cups i had, drilled a few holes in the bottom and just placed it in the holes.
I had some aqua clay left over from my aquarium that was decommissioned a few weeks before this build, so i used the aqua clay to fill the cups. I then hooked up the water connection and planted the seeds directly into the cups. And 10 days later .... it starts to sprout.
I already had a 500 liter water tank that was used as a raised pond of sorts, with gold fish, koi, sword tail and a few guppies.
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| The fish tank or raised pond with fish and water lilly |
A full saturday of shopping at the hardware store, cutting drilling and assembly.
Here i primarily used 4 inch pvc pipe and drilled 2 inch holes. I used some tank valve and some 0.75 inch pipes to create the drain.
I then used some plastic cups i had, drilled a few holes in the bottom and just placed it in the holes.
I had some aqua clay left over from my aquarium that was decommissioned a few weeks before this build, so i used the aqua clay to fill the cups. I then hooked up the water connection and planted the seeds directly into the cups. And 10 days later .... it starts to sprout.
Aquaponics in Bangalore
Hello Everybody,
This is my first post in the blog. Aquaponics is a beautiful food production system that works for me. Its ideal for people who are in a busy schedule of their day to day job.
From my experience this system is easy to maintain. All you have to do is feed the fish twice or thrice a day depending on the kind of fish you keep, check if the pump is working and that's it.
This system has been working beautifully for me for the last year and a half.
I am using this blog to share my learnings and hope to get lot more people interested in growing your own fresh organic food at home.
This is my first post in the blog. Aquaponics is a beautiful food production system that works for me. Its ideal for people who are in a busy schedule of their day to day job.
From my experience this system is easy to maintain. All you have to do is feed the fish twice or thrice a day depending on the kind of fish you keep, check if the pump is working and that's it.
This system has been working beautifully for me for the last year and a half.
I am using this blog to share my learnings and hope to get lot more people interested in growing your own fresh organic food at home.
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| My first grow large bed |
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| cauliflower |
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