If you could build your perfect aquaponics system...

[kellenw 822]

How would you do it?  Where might you do it?  What techniques would you employ?

No wrong answers here.  Just a chance to share our own ideas.  

[Old Prospector 77]

How would you do it?  

1. Hiring 4-5 key like minded persons, each having distinct operating skills, but also be able to do manual work, outside of their skills, plus have a open mind to new ideas.

2. Offer each a good starting wage plus a percentage of the profits.

Where might you do it?

1. Within 25 miles from a major North/South/East/West/ Interstate Corridor, and outside  20-25 miles from a Major USA city.

2. Within 20-25 miles from a major source of high quality water.

What techniques would you employ?

1. Employ better Hydroponic growing systems.

2. Sludge  re-mineralization integrated RAS system.

3. Climate controlled GH, and outdoor SH.

[remout 1]

On 9/26/2016 at 10:26 AM, Old Prospector said:

 

3. Climate controlled GH, and outdoor SH.

What's "SH". 

 

Thanks!

 

[Old Prospector 77]

24 minutes ago, remout said:

What's "SH". 

 

Thanks!

 

Has many meaning if you grew up in the era before plastic pots, we used clay pots, Qt oil cans

"Shade House" or  "Slat houses" made from 3/8" thick strips x 2 12" wide cypress.

By the way, a GH was made from wood and Glass, Shading on these were done using White wash.

SH can also mean the one holer behind every house with the Moon & Star cut out in the door.

[remout 1]

1 hour ago, Old Prospector said:

Has many meaning if you grew up in the era before plastic pots, we used clay pots, Qt oil cans

"Shade House" or  "Slat houses" made from 3/8" thick strips x 2 12" wide cypress.

By the way, a GH was made from wood and Glass, Shading on these were done using White wash.

SH can also mean the one holer behind every house with the Moon & Star cut out in the door.

Ah, okay. Cypress is near and dear to my heart. Here's a pic of my old house, almost all cypress. It used to have an out house

 

[Mark McMurtry 266]

On September 24, 2016 at 0:39 PM, kellenw said:

How would you do it?  Where might you do it?  What techniques would you employ?

No wrong answers here.  Just a chance to share our own ideas.  

1. No such thing as "perfect".

2. Everyone's circumstance is different  (environment, resources, ability, expectation, etc.).

3. What is your response  (as based on experience) ? - assuming that you have.

4. Personally, at my age, location and health status, the "perfect" system is the one that I do not have (= none).

5. Personally, if I was 40 again, the "perfect system" would be to operate one or more of every so-called technique still being hyped at light speed so that direct side-by-side real-world comparisons can be demonstrated/documented with the purpose of winnowing all the chaff from the grain (aka manure from the meal).

[Mark McMurtry 266]

  In Aug 2014 KellenW wrote:

Posted August 1, 2014 · Report post

I'll be doing a very small scale trial of iAVS as soon as I get the new greenhouse finished. I owe Dr. McMurtry a great deal of gratitude for reviving my interest in it.

Some of the things I really like about furrowed sand beds, and the iAVS method in general:

- Greater nutrient capture/utilization. Not just nitrogenous compounds, but all the other essential, and frequently overlooked nutrients required by terrestrial vascular plants... it's pretty rare for any system to be terribly deficient in N, and if it is, it's simple enough to fix that. It's the "other stuff" (trace elements and micro nutrients) that are often deficient, and iAVS is focused on fully retaining them to the greatest extent possible.

- Relative simplicity in build/assembly. Plumbing, pump and other requirements are drastically reduced in iAVS, as demonstrated by Mark.

- Reduced costs of build/assembly. Again, reduced plumbing, pump and other requirements, which potentially saves a lot of money.

- Reduced energy requirements (possibly significantly reduced) relative to most other AP "methods".

- I'm also well acquainted with the benefits of sand as a biological filtration media in an aquaculture context, and have designed, built and used sand filters for most of my life. It just works, and works very, very well.

Some things I still wonder about, and that also compel me to try iAVS out myself:

- How well will the sand beds continue to perform with a significant amount of solids over a prolonged period of time (mainly, will bio floc and sludge accumulation present any problems over time)?

- How well will the furrows stand up to flood/drain cycles over time?

- How will I keep the sand where it's supposed to be and not travelling where it shouldn't be?

- How will maintenance and labor requirements compare to other methods?

- Will biological oxygen demands be a limiting factor in any way regarding sand bed performance?

- I advocate against running any AP system without pre-filtering the grow beds  SO I like to challenge my own biases/beliefs, and this will certainly do that, and it seems to me that the iAVS method has excellent potential to be the "one kind" of AP system that may not require the requisite pre-filter to run in an optimal fashion. Then again, it may also benefit from pre-filter too (filtering solids and dosing back the nutrients in a controlled fashion). Who knows. I'll try both, and compare side by side.

Should be fun and extremely educational for me. I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks again for sparking my interest Mark! Take care of yourself, and I hope to see you around again. You're alright in my book. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SO ...  How's that going Kellen?

Edited November 12, 2016 by Toga
Flaming content deleted (see edit history)

[kellenw 822]

Hi Mark,

Sadly, I have been unable to find the time needed to work on the project.  I have all the supplies sitting in the shed, but that's as far as I've gotten I'm afraid.  Still would love to do it though.

Take Care,

Kellen

[Dave235 1]

As for me, just start small, start with a very small systems like an Aquaponics aquarium tank.

From there, you can grow larger and larger.

Putting the right system in place also can also help you success in building your own Aquaponics system.

 

Take action, rinse and repeat the profitable method. It is important to do it that way.

[Aufin 87]

If I'm wishing, wish big.   I would very much like to do the Circle of Life design VKN is going to trial.  In an elaborate all glass Victorian style greenhouse.