May 2013, Tomatoes added

This will be my second attempt at aquaponics but now with an established system.  I chose some cherry tomato seeds I have planted and used in my container garden.  They were started with the Burpee seed starting kit and rockwool cubes as previously posted.  I planted them about 3-4 inches deep in the clay pebbles.


I planted the two plants in opposite corners of the grow bed.


Here is a view from the front.  The one in back is hidden.


Here are two of the three fish. Funny thing is I had originally bought one gold one, a black/gold and a white/gold. Now in about 6 months they are all gold.

Update, Failure!

My cucumbers never fruited.   Here is a few things of what went wrong.  First I needed to thin out the blossoms to one every 12-18 inches per vine.  Second the blossoms needed hand pollination.  My vines were producing both female(ones with little cucumber) and male ones.

I am not taking this as a total failure though.  The vines grew long and had a couple hundred blossoms on them.  None of the fish died.  The salad greens also flourished.  No bugs or mosquitoes.  So actually for a "proof of concept" design it works as it should. 

Going forward I plan on expanding some of the systems.  Automatic fish feeding, auto water top off and possibly a Arduino controller for light and temp monitoring.  Eventually a pH prob and dousing pump to automatically control pH is planned.  But in the meantime I will be planting some cherry tomatoes.  

01-20-2013 Update, Success!

Another couple of pictures.  This cucumber is producing many, many flowers.


And hopefully they will all turn into fruits.


As far as I can tell there are two cucumbers started.  Finally some fruits of my labor.  :)

pH, ammonia and temperature

These are a few odds and ends you will need but have not been mentioned up until now.  There are two water parameters you need to monitor in the aquaponics system.  pH and ammonia.  The pH needs to be around 5.5-7.0.  I will usually adjust it at night to 6.4-6.8 then by the next night it gets down to 5.5-5.8.  To test for this I use a digital pH meter I purchased off eBay for under $20.  Took less than 2 weeks to come from Hong Kong.  It was tested it against a chemical pH test kit and it is accurate.


The pH is the yellow one on the left.   Next to is a ppm meter.   You need that one for a hydroponic setup but I don't hear it mentioned in aquaponics.  Then on the right is a Lux meter.  It is used to measure the amount of light.


In addition to pH the ammonia level needs to be monitored.  This especially important while the system is cycling.  I have chosen a ammonia tester that mounts in the tank and has a dot in the center that changes color as the ammonia level changes.  It has 4 levels from 'safe' to 'toxic'  It is just easier than the test strips or test tube and chemical test.  They say it lasts about a year on the package.  This is also the first time the three fish have let me get a good photo of them.

Next to the ammonia tester is a thermometer.  This just attaches to the outside of the tank.  It is large and easy to read.  In order to keep the temperature between 70-78º an aquarium heater is used.  During the summer down here in Florida it will be unplugged but in winter it is needed.


Then here is a picture of the tank setup.


One other tool I use is a Kil-A-Watt meter.


With this tool you can monitor how much power this setup is using.  I like to keep tract of how much money in electricity this is costing.  Not necessary but good info to know.

1-13-13 Update

Just a couple pictures of the system.


As you can see the cucumber is getting big.  It is pretty much dominating the grow bed.  The dill is getting crowded out and I don't expect it to do well when the other cucumber starts coming on.


There are a bunch of flowers starting, too many to count.  Hopefully that means lots of cucumbers to make pickles from.

01-06-2013 Update

Here is a quick update of how things are growing in the system.  The cucumber is really taking off and is taking over the growing area.  On the left hand side another cucumber was added.  Mesclun mix and Microgreens are also doing well.

Some close ups

Some close ups of my plants


The cucumber is becoming crowded.   I should not have grown three in one rockwool cube.  Will have to thin it out.  A couple of the microgreens are below it.


These are some of the mesclun mix growing well. I also put some seeds right in the expanded clay pebbles. Some have sprouted.