Wolfdog91 7,627 Posted June 11 Report Share Posted June 11 Bought a few of these tanks from a friend when she was downsizing her set up and they just been sitting around , wife said she wanted a lil deal for her s and the like so thought I'd make a new aquaponoics set up Nothing serious at all pea gravel media ,grow bed from a concrete mixing pan ,cheap little fountain pump , $20 grow light , scrap 2x4's some shiners and gold fish from the bait store. Currently growing a peppermint a cherry tomato and Tabasco pepper. Was gonna add a swirl filter on the back but decided against it. 7 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mackem 29,360 Posted June 11 Report Share Posted June 11 5 minutes ago, Wolfdog91 said: Bought a few of these tanks from a friend when she was downsizing her set up and they just been sitting around , wife said she wanted a lil deal for her s and the like so thought I'd make a new aquaponoics set up Nothing serious at all pea gravel media ,grow bed from a concrete mixing pan ,cheap little fountain pump , $20 grow light , scrap 2x4's some shiners and gold fish from the bait store. Currently growing a peppermint a cherry tomato and Tabasco pepper. Was gonna add a swirl filter on the back but decided against it. What made you go down the aquaponics route wolfie?Why not just plain old hydro?I saw some decent setups in NorCal last month. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfdog91 7,627 Posted June 11 Author Report Share Posted June 11 7 hours ago, mackem said: What made you go down the aquaponics route wolfie?Why not just plain old hydro?I saw some decent setups in NorCal last month. Didn't like hydro because you have to add the nutrients and what not . That and I like having fish. For me aquaponoics is a bit easier and more fun. Most people do hydro if they just want the best plants but I like the idea of I can keep some fish AND get some plants along with filtration and well...plants lol ! I mean even if it's just something as simple as some herbs . I've considered hydro but egh just misses a little something that aquaponoics gives 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfdog91 7,627 Posted June 11 Author Report Share Posted June 11 O and also once you get one set up decent there SUPER low maintenance...though when you do need to work in them they can be a little bit of a pain .. for instance I finally decided to take a sampling out of my outdoor system and welllll 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mackem 29,360 Posted June 11 Report Share Posted June 11 11 minutes ago, Wolfdog91 said: Didn't like hydro because you have to add the nutrients and what not . That and I like having fish. For me aquaponoics is a bit easier and more fun. Most people do hydro if they just want the best plants but I like the idea of I can keep some fish AND get some plants along with filtration and well...plants lol ! I mean even if it's just something as simple as some herbs . I've considered hydro but egh just misses a little something that aquaponoics gives Understood,hydro is a lot more “hands on” aqua is more laid back’the earliest recorded aqua was the chinampas gardens perfected by the aztecs.Keep us informed how your garden goes/grows be interesting to see the plants development. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
littlefish 592 Posted June 11 Report Share Posted June 11 How does the set up work? Does the water from the fish tank get pumped up to the plants? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfdog91 7,627 Posted June 11 Author Report Share Posted June 11 (edited) 1 hour ago, littlefish said: How does the set up work? Does the water from the fish tank get pumped up to the plants? Yep ! So basically the pump pumps the water into the grow bed 24/7 365. The pea grave is a porous medias the weather just seems though and around it . There this little clay balls people also use for the same .. forgot what they're called The white thing in the middle is called a bell siphon and when the water level gets to a certain point in the grow bed it causes the siphon to kick off and it completely drains the grow bed till its pretty dry and it sucks up enough air to stop the siphon effect. Water coming up to the point I want Siphon effect staring Full on Drained bed And done and siphon stopped Plants roots get air in-between draining cycles and the water also gets some air added in from he water agitation . Plats don't have to work hard to get nutrients because the water just brings it right to the roots so they tend to grow a bit quicker and better Really the only thing that really runs on this is the pump and the grow light everything else l see is kinda just a by product of the system Edited June 11 by Wolfdog91 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel cain 47,847 Posted June 11 Report Share Posted June 11 Clay balls- commonly known as Pea Gravel over here I used to use the water from my old tank, to hand feed my clones,used to grow on little mirror/common/ghost carp ,get them at 2/3" grow them to 8/9"...never thought to actually set the tank up as the 'reservoir' so to speak Cracking little set up you have there Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfdog91 7,627 Posted June 11 Author Report Share Posted June 11 19 minutes ago, Daniel cain said: Clay balls- commonly known as Pea Gravel over here I used to use the water from my old tank, to hand feed my clones,used to grow on little mirror/common/ghost carp ,get them at 2/3" grow them to 8/9"...never thought to actually set the tank up as the 'reservoir' so to speak Cracking little set up you have there O yeah fish water is some crazy potent stuff ! Was actually selling bottles of the stuff from my outdoor tank for a while . And best part is these lil systems aren't super expensive at all.. $20 pump $30 worth of CPVC and fittings... And half of that went into the ball valves that are $8 a piece other then that's it's just a few 90°'d and three ways $7 concrete mixing pan $10 with of store bought gravel $20 grow light Already had the tank Already had the scrap would but it like $8 with of treated 2x4 Like lil over $100 ? Honestly could do one for way less and smaller , kinda want to do one with a beta Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfdog91 7,627 Posted June 11 Author Report Share Posted June 11 6 hours ago, mackem said: Understood,hydro is a lot more “hands on” aqua is more laid back’the earliest recorded aqua was the chinampas gardens perfected by the aztecs.Keep us informed how your garden goes/grows be interesting to see the plants development. Wife just sent me these , about ten days in the system or so and they're doing good it seems 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
littlefish 592 Posted June 12 Report Share Posted June 12 Thanks for the explanation........fascinating. I'm running some low tech shrimp tanks at the minute....plant growth in them is crazy! I'm having to trim the growth weekly. Water from the tanks is used to water my tomato plants on the window sill. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfdog91 7,627 Posted June 12 Author Report Share Posted June 12 3 hours ago, littlefish said: Thanks for the explanation........fascinating. I'm running some low tech shrimp tanks at the minute....plant growth in them is crazy! I'm having to trim the growth weekly. Water from the tanks is used to water my tomato plants on the window sill. Of course glad to share no tell.me more about your shrimp tanks ! Really want to add some shrimp to my system for cleaners but the lady at the pet shop advised against it lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
littlefish 592 Posted June 13 Report Share Posted June 13 (edited) 20 hours ago, Wolfdog91 said: Of course glad to share no tell.me more about your shrimp tanks ! Really want to add some shrimp to my system for cleaners but the lady at the pet shop advised against it lol I tried to put some photos on but due to being technology challenged it looks like they are on sideways...lol. Anyway, I have 4 tanks, each one 40 litres. Neocaridina shrimps...only about 1 inch in size, so snack size for most fish. I don't keep any fish now, only shrimps. A tank of reds, one of yellows, one of blues and a cull tank where any poorly coloured specimens retire to. The cull tank is the most populated. Each tank runs on a little sponge filter, the bioload of the shrimps is very light. Each week I change a coffee mug amount of water from each tank, using the water removed to water my tomatoes and lettuce plants. It's a fascinating little nerdy hobby..... Edited June 13 by littlefish 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfdog91 7,627 Posted Tuesday at 18:23 Author Report Share Posted Tuesday at 18:23 On 13/06/2025 at 08:39, littlefish said: I tried to put some photos on but due to being technology challenged it looks like they are on sideways...lol. Anyway, I have 4 tanks, each one 40 litres. Neocaridina shrimps...only about 1 inch in size, so snack size for most fish. I don't keep any fish now, only shrimps. A tank of reds, one of yellows, one of blues and a cull tank where any poorly coloured specimens retire to. The cull tank is the most populated. Each tank runs on a little sponge filter, the bioload of the shrimps is very light. Each week I change a coffee mug amount of water from each tank, using the water removed to water my tomatoes and lettuce plants. It's a fascinating little nerdy hobby..... Man that's pretty cool ! Always though the whole shrimp growing thing as pretty neat so do you sell them ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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