Aquaponics
After getting to the point where I can eat out of the garden on a daily basis I've decided to move on and have a go at an
aquaponics setup. Aquaponics is where you use both fish and plants in a
symbiotic relationship to produce more of each other. I feed the fish, the fish excrete ammonia into the water and then I run this water through
ebb and flow grow-beds. Bacteria grow in the gravel in the grow-beds to to assist with
nitrification which is the conversion of ammonia to nitrite then in turn to nitrate. The plants then consume the nitrate and the now less-toxic water is returned to the fish.
The end result is after a lot of setup effort you have edible fish and edible plants that grow like crazy. I will be monitoring this system using
Arduino micro-controllers and an Android app that I'm going to write.
It's a pretty simple system
First I need a raised greenhouse to grown the plants in that is higher than the fish tank. This is so I only have to pump water up to the grow beds and gravity can return it to the tank.
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| Frame getting constructed |
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| Big mission to get everything home! |
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| Building the base |
I've been bolting it all together rather than nailing it so that when I eventually move out of this flat I can unbolt it for transport.
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| Trying to work out how we get the greenhouse on now |
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| Finished base with tomato plants |
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| Tomatoes |
In the mean-time I have just put some very wind battered tomatoes in there for some shelter. In the next few days I will build the grow beds. I have also ordered a 1000 litre IBC tank - this will be the fish tank for the prototype.
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| Fish tank... 1000 Litres |
I will be posting updates as I make more progress.
