Aquaponics Greenhouse

ABs Aquaponics Greenhouse
Goals:

Provide increased food security for immediate & extended family Enable year-round production of fresh vegetables, herbs, fruit, & protein Enable early-season seed-starting for transplanting to outdoor gardens Possibly supplement income thru the sale of surplus produce Set an example of a practical, cost-effective, food production system that can be copied by others
Design Parameters:

Convenient location near kitchen Inexpensive & easy to build Low operating cost minimal need for grid energy
Characteristics:

12 x 24 footprint, w/doors on each end, conveniently located on south side of house outside kitchen window 5 high 4x4 treated lumber side-walls, w/arched cattle-panel roof spanning the 12 width Double insulated bubble-wrap inner layer throughout & 6-mil polyethylene outer layer above 5, with polycarbonate sheet below 5 (2) separate aquaponics nodes each consisting of (1) 250 gal fish tank, (1) 110 gal sump tank, (12) 2 x 3 half-barrel grow-beds, pump, & plumbing (2) 3 x 18 conventional raised beds (below the aquaponics grow-beds), w/self-watering, sub-surface irrigation (6) buried 55 gal water barrels for additional thermal storage {future} solar panels to provide heat for the thermal storage
AB's Aquaponics Greenhouse 3-2-2011.doc
3/2/11
2:38 PM Page 1 of 30
12 x 24 greenhouse started early October 2010
AB's Aquaponics Greenhouse 3-2-2011.doc 3/2/11 2:38 PM Page 2 of 30
(6) 4 x 16 cattle panels provide an arched roof

Both storm doors bought at the Habitat Re-Store (one for $15 & the other for $7.50). A 275 gallon (upside down) tote is in foreground soon to be a fish tank.
Framing the upper end walls was tedious. The cattle panels on the right will be removed soon they were used for trellising pole beans in 2010.
Both fish tanks were brought into greenhouse before the skin was installed. The (8) lights are $6.97 clamp light fixtures with a 13W compact fluorescent bulb in each.
Starting to install the inner layer of skin bubble-wrap.

Inner bubble-wrap layer & outer 6-mil polyethylene layer are now both installed on the roof.
Close-up of the C-channel aluminum strip used to secure the bubble-wrap & 6-mil polyethylene covering
Pipe insulation is used to prevent the skin from being cut by the cattle panels
A night shot fully clothed at last still have to seal numerous small gaps, though. Aint she gorgeous !
1 fish tank a 275 gallon tote filled to approx 250 gal partially buried to moderate temperature swings of the water formerly used to ship dog food ingredients. ($50 from Craigslist)
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Still have a lot of detailing to clean-up appearance. Area above doors on both ends will be modified to be open-able in order to vent excess heat in summer.
Excavating for (6) 55 gallon barrels to be water-filled for thermal mass. Note the 2
nd
fish tank (left) is buried a lot deeper than the 1 fish tank.
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A view looking at the east end of the greenhouse.

Sump tanks are in front of the fish tanks each sump consists of (2) 55 gal barrels plumbed together at the bottom make a 110 gal sump. The (6) barrels in the center will only be used for thermal storage not connected to either of the (2) aquaponics nodes.
Another view looking toward west end.

4 SDR pipe, slit down the top, will be used for sub-irrigation w/automatic watering for each of the two 3 x 18 lower raised beds.
Wicking fabric is inserted to the bottom of the 4 SDR pipes. The SDR pipes will be maintained half-full of water by means of mini-float valves.
A strip of landscape fabric is placed over the wicking fabric to prevent dirt from getting into the slit SDR pipe.
The lower raised beds are filled with a mix of loamy garden soil & compost.
Some of the 1 run of veggies to be planted in the lower raised beds.

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Additional bracing added for the arched cattle panel roof prior to the heavy snow.
The roof didnt even flinch ;-)

Lower raised beds are planted. If you squint real hard & use a little imagination, you might see some of the sprouts coming up.
A couple of the (4) Goldfish that Franco Molea loaned me to get some ammonia started in my system. Be sure to check-out Franco's waaaaay cool Aquaponics system at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NAPFdMdyZk
Now they can be seen without squinting ;-)

Starting work on a raised floor for the center area 2x4 horizontal studs on approx 16 centers, covered with treated plywood (removable panels to access barrels)
The raised floor will be covered with AstroTurf (or something similar). Anybody know where I can get some AstroTurf CHEAP? Used is OK
I got 2 tons of 5/8 screened river gravel ($30/ton) for the grow-beds from Load n Go on E Division in Springfield - real nice folks there. It took 3 trips with a 4' x 6' trailer pulled behind my Corolla. (still got 35 MPG hauling gravel). Visible in the trailer is the last load (approx 1700 lbs). It will take about one more ton of gravel to fill all 24 grow-beds. Ill use blended pea gravel ($95/ton) to top-off the grow-beds it looks a lot better, and Id like to use it exclusively but Im way too cheap.
Still growing ! Hanging from the post is a wireless sensor for monitoring greenhouse temp & humidity from inside my house. Also barely visible is a regular dial thermometer stuck in the ground just below the wireless sensor.
adapters are used with existing bung plugs that are standard on 55 gal plastic barrels. The center of the bung plugs are already threadded for NPT.
A drain tube installed in a grow-bed. Short sections of irrigation tubing are heated & bent, and then inserted onto the straight barb adapter to enable draining the grow-beds thru the bung plugs. 34 sections of septic tank perforated leach field pipe slit lengthwise cover the grow-bed drain tubes to provide a french drain. Theyll be covered with landscape fabric before the gravel is added to prevent gravel from clogging the drain. Ends of grow-beds are painted opaque to prevent algae growth in the grow-beds.
I filled one of the grow-beds with gravel & water. Seen here are 273 lbs of 5/8" river gravel & (not seen, but there) are 87 lbs of water: 360 lbs total. I'll be replacing the top 2" or so of river gravel with blended pea gravel but the weight should be approx the same. With 3+ tons of total gravel in the (24) grow-beds, I'll have a lot more thermal mass to moderate temperature swings in the greenhouse.
Still growing !
We had fresh Spinach in a salad tonight (Feb 29). This wasnt grown in the greenhouse, but it was fresh-picked just before consumption. I planted it (seed) early Nov 2010 in a 4 x 8 demonstration raised bed / cold frame in my front yard. The Spinach survived the -13F (actual temp not wind chill) we had this winter, but the Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots, & Broccoli didnt. This wont be a problem once I finish the greenhouse
AB's Aquaponics Greenhouse 3-2-2011.doc
3/2/11
2:38 PM Page 30 of 30

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ABs Aquaponics Greenhouse

AB's Aquaponics Greenhouse 3-2-2011.doc

12 x 24 greenhouse started early October 2010

AB's Aquaponics Greenhouse 3-2-2011.doc 3/2/11 2:38 PM Page 2 of 30

(6) 4 x 16 cattle panels provide an arched roof

Starting to install the inner layer of skin bubble-wrap.

A view looking at the east end of the greenhouse.

Another view looking toward west end.

Some of the 1 run of veggies to be planted in the lower raised beds.

The roof didnt even flinch ;-)

Now they can be seen without squinting ;-)

AB's Aquaponics Greenhouse 3-2-2011.doc

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