Back in business

I'm back in business. So, the rubber containers ("buckets") that I've been using had this pre-installed metal-threaded bulkhead fitting/outlet that I used as my drain. Problem was that they were only about 1/2" diameter, so thin, that a single piece of gravel could get stuck inside it and clog it up. That was the cause of the disaster.

So, what I had to do was to try and push all my hydroton/gravel to the other side of the bucket while attempting to not kill any plants, remove the metal-threaded bulkhead fitting, drill out a larger hole, and then install. I used 1" pipe this time, probably still not wide enough, but a major improvement. I've heard the occassional piece of hydroton getting sucked clean through, so I think the risk of clogging is lessened.

I also followed the recommendation of every single other aquaponics person in the universe and put in a standpipe with the cut out "V" at the top. I don't understand why that makes such a difference, but trust me, it does! The suction is now pretty impressive. I drilled plenty of holes through the standpipe to allow the water to fill in and drain out before it even gets to the top "V", and given that my water is running constantly, I found that the more holes I had, the more flow I could give the bucket without overtopping the standpipe and flooding the plants.

From everything I've read, people use the flood/drain system to ensure that the roots have enough oxygen to avoid root rot. Given that my pump is also operating the waterfall for my pond (more of an aesthetic purpose), I choose to let my pump run all the time. I find that the plants seem to do well enough that I don't notice the difference. Maybe they'd be even bigger if they had some time to breathe fresh air! Given that the water doesn't stay all the way at the surface, part of the root system is always getting some oxygen, so that should help.

My next system will likely be aquaponics only, so I'll try out a timer and do a flood/drain type of thing. I'm looking forward to not having to run the pump 24/7 from an electricity-use standpoint, as well.

Disaster

Well, I'm not surprised this happened, but I'm still not happy about it either. My middle bucket, with the tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil, is now defunct. The drain clogged with a big piece of gravel that I was not able to remove. I had to cut out the drain. So, then I figured I might as well make it a little wider, and I desperately (and hastily) tried to drill out a new drain and pipe it in. The seal wasn't good enough, and the thing was leaking. In the day or so that this all went down, I tried to keep the plants alive by putting them in a big cooler with the pond water, changing the water as frequently as I could, but to no avail. With the drain leaking and all the plants looking droopy and 95% dead, it wasn't worth continuing. So, it's now shut off for now while I figure out how to stop the leak. Of all the buckets to go, why did it have to be that one??

Lesson here is that the drain needs to be 1) larger diameter (probably at least twice) of the incoming flow and 2) large enough for gravel or hydroton to flow through easily without plugging it up.

I also need to read up on how drains work, 'cause I noticed yesterday while I was checking for leaks that despite the larger diameter pipe, the water wasn't really flowing out very quickly. I'm thinking there is some sort of pressure thing going on that I don't understand.

End of May Pics

Crooked neck squash leaf comparison. The aquaponically-grown leaves are close to 3X the size of the soil-grown leaves! These two plants were planted on the same day from the same seedling cup purchased from a local garden center.

Two identical tomato plants grown from seed. The aquaponically-grown seedling was about the same size as the soil-grown seedling is now. At this point, the aquaponically-grown plants are about to flower, while the soil-grown seedling will be lucky to survive!

Things are looking good! If there was ever any doubt as to the effectiveness of growing vegetables in an aquaponics system, these two comparison photos tell the story! There's no question that aquaponic veggies grow bigger and faster. Next question to answer is "Do the veggies taste similar?" Hopefully that little tomato plan will survive and get big enough to be able to compare tomatoes in addition to the squash.

Growing Update

Spinach on the near side, broccoli and yellow squash on the far side

3 different basils on the near side, just coming up, then tomatoes and eggplant on the far side

Peanuts on the near side and green beans and yellow squash on the far side. Green beans LOVE this setup.

Spring is here!

So, I bought about 9 big bags of hydroton to add on top of the existing gravel. I really like the hydroton - it's so easy on the hands! I know that sounds pretty wimpy, but digging through the gravel really does take it's toll, while the hydroton is so smooth and light, it's easy to manipulate.


I found some old spinach and broccoli seeds from last year. So, I threw them in the far right bucket, and things seem to be going pretty well. The spinach in particular seems to like the conditions. A note on the pipe grid - I started out pointing the water down, but I noticed that any changes in water pressure could cause the water to splash off the hydroton, and any lost water is wasteful. So, I flipped the pipes over, and now it's like little fountains splashing all around. I hope it will also prevent roots and such from clogging the insides. I didn't glue any of the grid, which I found helpful, as I've had to clean them out fairly frequently from gunk getting sucked up and sent in from the pond pump.


So, all my fish survived the winter, and all the plants, too! In fact, the plants appear to be doing better at this time of the year than they were last year. I can't even imagine what they'll look like come September.

I ordered some tilapia, but I will likely cancel. We decided that we're going to try and sell our house and move closer in. It's not a decision that we came to lightly, but we're excited about the prospect of living in town and spending a lot less time and money in the car. Of course that means I'll have to start from scratch and probably build something on a smaller scale, but I'm looking forward to the challenge!!

Inauguration/Snow Day Update

Well, it's been a long time since I updated this. I actually had done a bunch of work on the hydroponic buckets a while ago, but never got around to taking pictures and getting up a post. Since we had a rare snow day, it seemed like a good opportunity to post some photos. The new work was to create a level platform for the buckets, plumb three separately controlled input lines, as well as tie three new output lines into the existing return line into the pond. I also tied in an output that just dumps into the garden, just in case I want to flush the buckets without sending that water back into the pond. I'm excited about the ability to control the flow to each individual bucket, and I'm also excited about having 3 buckets instead of 2. That means more veggies, more flowers, and the capability for hosting more fish. Fingers crossed that I'll actually be able to get the tilapia this year!

The buckets are not quite done. They are about 2/3 full with gravel, but I'm hoping to get those clay pellets to fill up the rest of the space. I've constructed a PVC pipe grid to deliver the water. I just need to drill holes into them to allow the water to come out. The only thing I'm worried about is the drain. I'm using an existing drain that is installed on the buckets. It's a little small, so I'm worried that roots or leaves or something else may end up clogging the drain. And, I'm worried that if the drain clogs, that it will be difficult to free the clog. We shall see...

I'm also thinking about constructing a bamboo roof to keep out the leaves in the fall, to filter some of the intense summer sun, and maybe act as structure for climbing vines to attach to. I haven't made up my mind how I like it so far, though.

You can see all the fish at the bottom. None have died yet, despite the freezing cold!

Bucket platform and a couple of bamboo posts installed for potential roof system

End of Summer Update

Well, I've shut down my two garden buckets for the winter. It was winding down anyway, and then we had a ton of rain from a TS that exacerbated my one tilted bucket. So, it made sense to shut down and prepare for a re-tooling for next Spring. This winter, I'll be building a level platform for three buckets to sit upon. And I think I'm going to try to run PVC pipe across the top of each bucket in a grid pattern to drip water down, rather than dumping all the water into one end of the bucket. This new approach will allow me to drain from the bottom, rather than the top, which should completely avoid any of my over-spilling issues that I had this year. More pipe = more costs, yes, but I think the effort will be worth it. I also plan to design in such a way as to be able to easily add more bucket capacity, should I want to or need to. Here are some more flowery shots from the pond area.

Great blue lobellia

Swamp sunflower

Tall tickseed

Bullfrog (thanks web4deb)