simple floating aquaponics system
Published June 15, 2012 | 
A really elementary levity sort aquaponic system. Very elementary as well as scalable approach to grow uninformed H2O fish or molluscs for food in H2O as well as regulating a effluent from a fish to feed a plants.
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- Home Aquaponics “The Floating System”
- HD Aquaponics – Floating Raft system, DWC, growing sweet bells and habanero peppers
- AQUAPONICS THE FOOD SYSTEM FOR THE FUTURE
- The Aquaponics System – Build Your Own Sustainable Food Supply – Zimbio
- HD Aquaponics – Barrel aquaponics maintenance, floating raft , DWC, planting
I? have decided to make a new float with more, smaller holes for this growing season. I am going to get some net pots to put in the holes and use red cinder rock as the substrate. I’ll be posting videos soon.
sounds good man,? i like uncomplicated systems myself
Since the fish in the pond are native to still? water settings adding air to the water might kill them and would certainly cause me other problems, as this is sitting right next to the road, and stuff get’s taken from my yard often enough without adding a new temptation for the local meth-heads.
Actually, it’s Paul? Stamets idea, which is explained in his book: “Mycelium Running”
that is probably right, but having wild fish native to still water settings growing in the barrel, adding extra oxygen to the water might have killed them, I am going to try some lettuce this year,? and if it does okay I’ll post a video.
the plant might have done better with an air stone or some type of moving water, the roots might not be getting enough dissolved oxygen in the? water
Thanks. I am hoping to post a lot of new? videos as this growing season progresses
your channel? is blowing my mind…
I’d try gravel but I fear the pot would be top heavy and tip over. Expanded clay? pellets would work, I just used what I had on hand.
SocietyOfEnoch,? use Lecra (expanded clay) instead of perlite. You only need that stuff for physical support, so that the plant does not topple over! Lecra, or gravel (small stones, should not be sharp in order not to damage the roots).
SocietyofEnoch, you’re the man! I’ve done some simple? hydro in the past but this setup just blew my mind! Also your mushroom cardboard tek rulez!
Put an acuarium bubbler stone in there and the roots will grow like crazy! Question: what does the plant feed on??? Fish poo? That enough or do you? add fertilizer?
I believe the fish eat insects that land on the surface of? the water, and they eat the smaller snails.
I’m not sure if snails would survive in a hydroponic nutrient solution. If you have algae growing in? your solution I would guess snails would survive there, but the only way to find out is to try it.
ah cool, would they survive in a regular nutrient solution? maybe i could put snails? in my regular hydroponics
I don’t think so, there are native snails in the water that? seem to keep the algae down.
do the fish? eat the algae too?
Your suggested alternative? sounds like a lot of extra, unnecessary effort, besides, I just threw this together with scrap materials I had on hand at the time. The only challenge I have had with this system is that smaller pieces of perlite leak out and get into the water, which I consider unsightly/messy. I have a tomato in it, which is clearly not a good choice for a floating hydroponics system, as my soil planted ones nearby are thriving and this one is barely staying alive.
Is Pearlite really the way? to go? That stuff’s pretty cheap at Home Depot. I also think that polyurathyne foam is the way to go but I don’t like the idea of cutting a hole in a raft. Why not cut two I beam rails as beams and screen a row of peralite in between them? Not quite sure what to use as framing material. What about making a sandwich with sacks of screened peralite and bands made of duct tape or bailing wire every foot or so? Just cut a hole in the top of the sacks to plant the plants?
Thank? you!
Sun exposure should be dictated by your system, and what you are growing. If the tank is black, sitting on concrete in the hottest part of an? Arizona summer you may need to shade it to keep the fish alive, otherwise full sun. Typically, in a floating system, full sun is desirable.
Great! I like that.? I’ll try. What about the sun?
You don’t change the water. In aquaponics the bacteria change the fish effluent (urea and feces) into nitrogen compounds which the plants(s) then absorb, cleaning the water for the fish. Aquaponics is a copy of the systems found in nature. If you set up a proper balance between the plants, water? volume and number and size of fish, you should never have to worry about water exchanges, only adding water to replace what is lost to evaporation.
Hi! How Often Should? You Change the Water?.
I have several very? small native wild fish that look a little like tetras, probably gambusia.