Aquaponic Greenhouse Fall Update

I finally had some time to make another video update of my greenhouse. As you can see, I’m still suffering from a white fly problem and the strawberries just aren’t strong enough to survive. They’re starting to succumb to the flies and are getting mildew on them. I’m probably going to rip them all out, and this winter drop the temp below freezing to kill off the bugs. Bring back DDT! ;-)

There are some stats near the end, so you may want to watch it in full-screen hi-def so you can see the info!

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Hanging It All On The Line

Why build support posts when you can use a super-strong dome?!?!




I needed to come up with a way to support and spread out some of my vine plants in the greenhouse. By removing a nut on the hubs and installing a coupling and eye bolt, it is an extremely strong point for attaching a cable system to act as a trellis.

Installing it is very simple, loop the cable through on one end and clamp it, feed it through another eye bolt on the other side of the dome, and bring it to another eye bolt to figure out the final length.  On this end, I loop it through a turn buckle.

Alright, moving right along….

Then just hook the turnbuckle into the last eye bolt and tighten the cable.

All that is left to do is to tie the plants on to the cables.  I also run some twine down to the grow beds so that the cucumbers can grow up it and attach to the wire.  Here’s a shot of the tomato and cucumber once they have really started to grow along the line.

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Commercial Aquaponic Systems For Sale DIY and Complete System Kits Easy Setup See Now! Read More!

How to Build Your Own Aquaponics System? See Our Products

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Reasons for Taking Up Aquaponic Farming
Using the numerous scam enterprise plans and systems promising you to resolve all you problems with minimum work and investment, putting your hopes into another, entirely new activity seems unfeasible. Some individuals are significantly less willing to attempt new items for fear of not getting scammed. However, this new aquaponic program is as easy and lucrative since it appears! As soon as youve got tried this type of farming youd by no means desire to visit the industry again! But prior to that, here are some of the causes for which you need to start your mini aquaponic farm.

• Does not call for a large quantity of cash or time - which fundamentally implies that youve got practically practically nothing to drop. What you will want is a couple of containers for the fish along with the vegetables, an oxygenizer for the fish tank and yet another handful of components to finish the developing of the system, all relatively low-cost. As well as that the time needed for maintenance is really low - handful of minutes each and every day. You simply must feed the fish, put the seeds then wait for them to grow and harvest your crops.
• The system is simple to set up and can be placed anywhere in the home or garage, supplied which you have sufficient light for the plants to develop usually. It is possible to do it oneself from beginning till end, so there will be no fees associated together with the installment.
• You can plant virtually all varieties of plants, which means that regardless of what veggies you desire for dinner, you are able to harvest them on the spot, out of your aquaponic garden, with no any hassle. The greatest issue is that they are all all-natural, organic plants that will taste better and be far less expensive than the ones from the industry.
• Last, but not least, you will no longer must pay fortunes to cook your meal with organic ingredients. You will have them all at your hand, with no paying more every single time the oil price tag goes out of manage. You are going to be independent financially and since the method will spend off in no significantly less than a year, the crops and also the fish you will get will probably be just profit. You can use it for you personally or you are able to even sell the crops and make some extra cash. Does this not sound excellent!

There is no need to have to believe every single one particular from the words written right here, just attempt and you will see that this is the plain truth. Aquaponics can modify your life and enable you to have a balanced diet plan the straightforward way!

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Healthful Tilapia Fish Recipes

There are many tilapia fish recipes to select from, each and every providing a slightly distinct flavor and texture. Tilapia is a extremely versatile fish and one of the ideal cooking approaches for this fish is always to bake it.

All baked fish recipes are tasty but tilapia is also quite healthful and higher in nutrients. If youd like to eat a nutritionally balanced diet program, tilapia is a great fish to contain. Its mild in flavor, which signifies youll be able to use powerful sauces, spices, or marinades in the event you wish. Tilapia is accessible all year round and includes a selection of well being positive aspects.

Tilapia is offered in more than one hundred varieties but black and red tilapia would be the most common. Right after cooking, the flesh is completely white. Tilapia could be identified in both saltwater and fresh water as well as the taste is determined by the water kind because tilapia absorbs the flavor in the water where it was raised.

Why Tilapia Fish Recipes are So Healthier

A little portion of tilapia fish consists of 85 calories. A piece of salmon precisely the same size has 158 calories, that is virtually double! Tilapia consists of 1g of fat in comparison to 7.9g of fat inside the identical sized portion of salmon.

Tilapia contains no carbohydrates or fiber. Its low in sodium and a excellent source of phosphorus and niacin. Tilapia can also be a plentiful supply of selenium, protein, and vitamin B12. The only negatives are that it really is really high in cholesterol and doesnt include healthy omega-3 fatty oils but it is possible to make up for this by consuming oily fish including mackerel or salmon after or twice a week too.

Tilapia fish recipe nutrients differ based on how the fish is ready and cooked and what fats or sauces are added. You are able to marinate tilapia but you should only marinate it for any brief time simply because else the proteins is going to be broken down, resulting in mushy fish. Grilling is one more cooking technique despite the fact that tilapia does have a tendency to become thin and small, meaning it tears effortlessly if you are not cautious. It requirements only a few minutes grilling else it might dry out. Tilapia features a delicate taste and suits most seasonings. Grilling can be a healthier way of cooking tilapia. You may need to grill a complete fish with some seasoning added or you might want to marinate it very first.

You can use a baked tilapia recipe as well. You will must add fat by brushing on some oil or melted butter, to make sure the fish remains moist. This sort of fish can dry out simply because theres very small fat content, so employing butter or oil has wonderful benefits.

When utilizing baked fish recipes, youll be able to spot the fish on a bed of onion and celery or bake vegetables alongside it within the same baking dish. You are going to also must add oil or butter when sauting tilapia. Steaming this fish is a healthful approach to prepare it, because no added fats are added.

Cooking Tilapia Fish with Oil

You can saut or bake tilapia in melted butter or oil. In case you favor to make use of oil, sunflower oil or peanut oil are the ideal to utilize, considering that they may be virtually flavorless and will not interfere together with the flavor of the fish. It is possible to use canola oil or olive oil as well however they do contribute taste instead of just becoming utilized to cook the tilapia. Fats are a single of the vital meals groups so preparing tilapia within this way may well be a great selection.

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Theft!

Hello to all my friends!

A follower has let me know that he saw one of my videos posted on another user’s YouTube channel.  I greatly appreciate the fact that they brought this to my attention.  I am always happy to produce and post videos which are always free for you to enjoy.  What I don’t like is some scumbag ripping and reposting my videos under their own channel.  It probably won’t be a surprise to you, but I am a YouTube partner and do receive some ad revenue from my videos.  (It’s very little, but every penny helps!)

If you happen to see one of my videos posted, and it’s not from the Web4Deb channel, I would be very grateful if you notify me of this theft.  Thank you for your support and I look forward to providing more videos in the future.

-Rob Torcellini

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Revision to the Rocket Mass Heater

I made a design revision to the rocket mass heater.  It makes a huge difference with being able to remove the ash out of the burn tunnel.

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Cloning Tomatoes

Just a quick video on how I clone my tomato plants.  Only one plant was grown from seed in the greenhouse and everything else has been cloned.

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Groundbreaking for the dome

After many delays, we finally got the foundation hole dug for the greenhouse. Things should start moving along much quicker now!

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The end of the normal growing season

Today marks the end of the season for the “sustainable” greenhouse. Last night was the first night the heaters needed to run to keep the plants from freezing. (The heaters are programmed to turn on at 36F). My outdoor growing season ended just shy of 2 months ago so I’m still quite pleased with the extended growing season!

My definition of “sustainable” for this project is not having to add extra heat or lighting for the plants to grow, The other electricity for the pumps and automation is an integrated part of the greenhouse Aquaponics system and I classify that as part of the normal functions. ;-)

I still have peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce growing which should survive for the winter. Of course the cost to keep these plants alive will now skyrocket in electricity costs, but it’s still a nice treat to get a few fresh veggies during the winter.

Already looking forward for spring!

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Aquaponic Maintenance

Heres a few things that I do for general maintenance in the aquaponic system. There really is little work that I have to do on it!

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Complete Idiots Guide to Aquaponic Gardening it lives!

Today "my book," the Complete Idiots Guide to Aquaponic Gardening, was officially launched. Around 4 pm today I finally got a hard copy to look at.

A year ago I got a random e-mail, which read:

"I am a literary agent scouting on behalf of a major publisher for an expert to write an introductory book on aquaponics. I found your site and wonder if you have interest?"

I responded, saying something to the effect of "Heck yes!" and began a whirlwind journey creating the book I wish I could have bought, back when I started into aquaponics in the spring of 2010.

The Complete Idiots Guide to Aquaponic Gardening (CIG to AG as I came to know it) was a labor of love. I did get paid, but this was a work for hire deal, which means I dont get royalties on book sales. Given the way my head works, thats actually really great for my sanity. The book pulls heavily from the collective wisdom currently available via online forums, innumerable scholarly articles, conferences, and endless youtube videos. So I would have felt guilty getting royalties for this book. However, I did put many, many hours into crafting the book, and that labor deserved some payment.

Its been interesting today, reading the book. I havent seen it for four months, so its kind of fresh. I find several instances where I wish I could edit the English just one more time to make it read more smoothly. And the glossary includes one problematic typo - nitrite misspelled as nitrate in the definition of cycling (p. 306), but the definition in the body of the text on page 126 is correct.

It will be interesting to see what folks say. I read this book knowing the hours I spent gaining the knowledge contained in each paragraph, not to mention the additional hours it took to distill that knowledge into comprehensible prose. Only I and a few others know how many authorial "darlings" were killed during the creation of this book. If you were one who read an early draft, I think youll agree the final product is far superior to what you saw.

I hope the book helps people make the transition from hearing about aquaponics to confidently embracing aquaponics as part of their lifestyle. In the mean time, Im thrilled to have the book itself, with an index! What I would have given for such an index three years ago! Its fascinating knowing how much of that information was unknown to me in March 2010 when I first tumbled across the word "aquaponics."

Lastly, I have to acknowledge again the amazing generosity of this community, and how willing people were to share their experiences and photos. I am humbled to know such wonderful, innovative people!

Now back to enjoying my own garden, and actually getting to tend it, unlike the neglect that writing the book necessitated last year. Beets, bok choy, spinach, radishes, and turnips are thriving, as are most of the plants that wintered over. All the fish are alive, and despite the cold, ammonia levels are nearly zero (a great thing). Its great to merely have to do the simply daily visit I mention in the book, to check water temperature and level, feed the fish, and notice what plants need nutrients or organic pest control. Its my happy place, where the world is simple, life abounds, and the speed of "information" is the rate at which spinach seedlings put forth their first true leaves.

If you have been thinking about aquaponics but havent yet set up a system, I invite you to take the plunge. Its well worth it!

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Building the Aquaponic Geodesic Dome Greenhouse in TWO Minutes!

This is a time-lapse video of the complete construction project for the geodesic dome. There are 1555 images taken over the last 1.5 years.  What you cant see is all the work thats done preparing the pieces in the shop or any of the construction work done inside.   Overall, Im overjoyed on how well everything came out!

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3rd Party film by FairCompanies

Film maker Kirsten Dirksen produces videos on sustainability and better living and stopped by our place when she heard about the Aquaponic setup. Heres a video she put together about it.

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Aquaponic Association Farm Tour

In September, we went to the Aquaponics Association Conference and participated in the farm tours. The Association was kind enough to let me film the tours and share it with you. Just make sure you attend NEXT year!

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Home Fish Farming Tank Complete aquaponic systems equipment growing supplies information and training in aquaponics See Our Products

Complete Step-By-Step Instruction On How To Build A Fully Functional Aquaponics System Using Simple Components! Learn more..

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Aquaponic Gardeing - The Advantages

Aquaponic gardens can provide you with a lot of fresh vegetables and tasty fish, theyre fantastic for any sort of property as well as for any age and occupation you might have. Nonetheless, they are going to not take care of themselves! Its correct that they require extremely small care, however it is essential that you give them those couple of minutes per day each and every day in order to receive really excellent benefits and keep the farm producing for a extended period of time.

The key procedure in aquaponics is aeration. When the water is properly aerated, then your fish will probably be content and your plants will develop generally. On the other hand, in the event the water isnt effectively oxygenized, then you will find quite couple of chances that your farm will survive for greater than a couple of days.

The factors why aeration is so crucial are quite easy and simple to recognize for everyone. To begin with, the dissolved oxygen is needed for the fish to breathe. Although the fish live below water they still must breathe and just like in case of other animals, they need oxygen to survive. After they lack oxygen they die, therefore the balance from your aquaponic method is lost and in a matter of days your plants will commence to acquire yellowish and at some point die out.

As this was not adequate, the fish excrements are decomposed and transformed from toxic ammonia into helpful nitrates in the presence of oxygen. Therefore, in the event the water is just not correctly aerated the fish poop wont be transformed, the plants may have absolutely nothing to consume, although the fish will die intoxicated with ammonia. This isnt an incredibly pleasant perspective, is not it? That is why you may must monitor the good quality of ones water every single and each day and have a back-up plan in case the energy gets off and also the air pumps will no longer be able to function. This can be the only way through which you can save your aquaponic program and make it perform to get a lengthy time period. Your plants and your fish will thank you for that!

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The Reality About Mushroom Develop Box

Have you been searching for an alternative method to develop some meals on the inside for one more gardening season then its normal? Do you live in an area where temperatures drop very low regular? Trying to find an alternative strategy to enhance the equivalent level of meals you have in a mushroom grow box? If this is a difficulty for you personally then possibly this short article will be of some benefit to you.

As with any variety of plant you have to realize that the intensity on the light of the growing region is actually a function on the inverse square law. What this implies is half the distance light the plant will offer 4 times the energy of light is reaching the ground. In this regard, you need to often seek out plants that may successfully location closer towards the lights you installed. Examples could be the cabbages. The buds are effortless to grow and take up very small space. Usually do quite well with an indoor atmosphere, and give a welcome addition for your existing diet.

The only thing you should consider will be the amount of income spent on electrical energy to power the lights in your development. Even in places where they usually can grow vegetables inside the open never hurts to begin their plants indoors during the spring months.

A fantastic answer is usually to improve some fungi. Mushroom grow box cultivation might be accomplished in any climate at any time of year. They also supply an excellent addition to their usual diet.

The mushrooms are excellent to enhance the flavor of your kitchen and you are presented with numerous varieties to choose from. Will not demand a formal garden to develop then and because theyre a fungus that will easily be raised in dark cellars below the house. Fungi are one of the few plants that develop with out the benefit of chlorophyll. This implies that the plant need to get all of the nutrients of the material on which they grow. Among the ideal components for mushroom cultivation is according to a mixture of pulverized corn cobs or straw with supplements of nitrogen and gypsum added. If youd like to become what you yourself so it is possible to simply generate their very own environment by utilizing a bit rice flour and vermiculite. You simply must spread over his vessel containing.

Several retailers are offered on the net that will provide you with mushroom develop box, total with mushroom spores and all necessary supplies that would need to develop within the comfort of the property. When you select the selection to develop can be a collection of the ever popular Portabella, Crimini, Haya, enoki, shiitake, or possibly a large number of other mushrooms. From every single of them may have their very own cultural wants must study meticulously the enclosed guidelines. The development of the fungus is generally quite fast and also you must be capable of harvest your very own inside a matter of only a few weeks at most.

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Plastic Extruder for Growing Media

For several months, I’ve been developing a plastic extrusion system that has been able to take virgin HDPE resin pellets, or shredded milk jugs, and properly melt and extrude them into a shape that could be used as a low cost growing media for my Aquaponics system.

There was a lot of trial and error to get to this point. The biggest problem is that the plastic retains little moisture. If the seeds aren’t directly placed in the flood/drain cycle, they won’t get any moisture to germinate. I typically grow in stone and some of the stone above the water line is able to wick and retain enough moisture to provide water to new seeds.

Another issue with HDPE is that it’s extremely smooth (again, works well to repel water). Even adding texture to the media during the cooling process, the media still is smooth, which makes it difficult for bacteria to stick to it. I was also a bit surprised to see that the roots didn’t really care to grow in it and they would grow around the edge of the net pot instead.

On the plus side, the plastic is light, fairly inexpensive, clean, and easy to work with.

I hope some of the info in the video is useful to some of my fellow aquaponic/hydroponic growers in their quest to find a better, more cost effective growing media.

EDIT:  There is now a second blog entry with some more details about this.... Click on the "Newer Posts" link near the bottom.

Below is the transcript for the video…no need to read it if you’re going to watch the video… I just included it so some of the search engines could pick up on the keywords. ;-)



Hello Everyone. Today I’m going to show a plastic extruder system that I built. The end result was to produce a synthetic, cost effect growing medium for my Aquaponics system.

The extruder consists of a hopper for high density polyethylene pellets. An auger then forces the pellets through a dual zone heating chamber. The heated material is forced through a small die at the end of the chamber.

The temperature in each zone of the heating chamber is controlled by a Teensy AVR microcontroller which is monitored and adjusted through its USB port connected to a laptop.

The auger is driven by a windshield wiper motor and it is geared-down using an old bicycle sprocket and chain.

The hopper is filled with HDPE pellets where they are slowly forced into the heating chamber. It can also be filled with shredded milk bottles or shredded milk bottle caps to add color.

The heating chamber is covered in some fiberglass insulation to conserve heat. There are two thermal probes mounted near the middle and end which provides accurate readings to the controller as the material is heated. The heating elements draw around 16 amps at 12 volts.

The molten plastic that is extruded from the die is squeezed through a set of rollers which embed a texture into the material. A small tube blows air onto the pressed material to cool it, and to keep the rollers cool.

This is one of the rollers after I turned it on my lathe with a close-up view of the texturing.

And this is a close-up video of the material being extruded and pressed through the rollers.

Here is a close-up view of the finished material once it has been cut to length. There is a waffle pattern embedded into the plastic which provides plenty of surface area for bacterial growth. The media lies flat which helps to retain moisture during a drain cycle. The pieces have plenty of spaces between each other for water and root growth.

Most HDPE plastic is classified as food-grade. However, one problem is that nothing likes to stick to it. Even though a texture has been embossed into the plastic, a small amount of movement can disrupt anything that was clinging on it.

This is a time-lapsed video taken with my PlantCam over a 30 day period. There are 3 bean plants growing. I also planted lettuce seed which didn’t germinate, probably because the top inch of the media doesn’t retain moisture like stone or expanded clay.

After 30 days, I removed the beans from the aquaponic system. I had the net basket wrapped in foil to prevent the roots from wandering into the surrounding stone. The roots seem to have an aversion to growing in the plastic and mainly grew between the basket and foil.

Thanks for watching. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below. Also please subscribe to my YouTube channel to see future videos!

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Dipstick

I forgot to include a few video clips in "Aquaponic System Install - 3 of 3" so heres a mini-video about a dipstick. ;-)

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4 Installing Bulkheads

Exploded view of Bulkhead Components
You have to do something to let water drain from the grow beds.

If I wanted to just have a simple flood and drain system, I could pump water in the grow bed for a while, then let the water gush or dribble out a hole in the bottom.

But as soon as I want to control that water in any way, I need to install a bulkhead.

The bulkhead I use for the 365 Aquaponics System is constructed from inexpensive PVC pieces you can buy at any hardware store. I use ¾” PVC pipe and fittings. If using metric plumbing bits, the equivalent size is 19 mm.
For some inexplicable reason, plumbing bits in the US are designed with a rounded edge. So for the actual part that penetrates the tank, I use PVC bits designed for electrical conduit.

The male PVC coupling bit is screwed down through the thickness of the tank. Once the coupling is tight, PVC will seat itself against the plastic tank wall in a nearly water-tight fashion. Slip a #18 O-ring around the male threads, then thread the female fitting as tight as you can by hand. The O-ring will make this bulkhead water tight, given that none of these bulkheads needs to withstand more than a foot or 300mm of water pressure.

Credit for this bulkhead concept goes to Richard Kinch, who details this bulkhead design at "An Improvised PVC Bulkhead Fitting for Liquid Storage Tanks."

Here’s a short video clip showing installation of a bulkhead.

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Building Aquaponic Grow Beds Time Lapsed

This is a time-lapsed video showing me building a deep water culture (DWC) bed and a media bed. For details about the entire build, please see this video series:   Youtube playlist

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Testing Water In Our Aquaponic System

How we maintain good water quality in our AP system

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Rocket Mass Heater preview

Heres the teaser video for the rocket mass heater.  More details to follow!

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