cheapest simple system with styrofoam boxes

[davidl]

Today I've just put together the cheapest and simplest flood and drain aquaponics system I can imagine. The only simpler aquaponics system I can think of is floating some plants directly in the fish tank.

My motivation was 2 fold
1) have a system away from the chickens hungry beaks
2) demonstrate how simply and cheaply you can get in to aquaponics.

It is made from
- 2 broccolli styrofoam boxes free from supermarket or veggie shop
- river gravel left over from my main system. I can't remember how much this was, but I do remember it was cheap, and the landscaping place would sell it in any volume you wanted.
- a small 200L/hr 5Watt aquarium/pond pump you can pick up for about $13 from bunnings
- a timer I had laying around, or you can pick one up from kmart for $7
- pipe up from pump to grow bed, I had laying around. You could buy some pipe for $6 or less
- a rubber band as a pipe o-ring seal and something to fasten the pipe to pump as they weren't designed to fit together
- the optional pipe out of the grow bed overflow.
- a small hole poked in the bottom of the grow bed - free
- extension lead - not much $$
- drink bottle power plug outdoor protector
- some sticky tape
- I'll add a small goldfish later. they're about $3 when you only buy 1.

Tools used
- poking device (aka screwdriver) to make holes in styrofoam.
- utility knife to cut soft pipe

It has 2 holes poked in the grow bed, a small one in the bottom over the fish tank, and a big one nearly at the top on the side to overflow back to the fish tank underneath.

With such a small pump, it takes about 12 minutes for it to fill, then about 5min to drain. I have the timer set to pump for 15mins every 30mins in the middle of the day, every 45mins in the morning and evening, and every 60mins at night.

Because I'll only have 1 small goldfish and it has a fairly large surface area per fish + the grow bed splashing, no air stone is being used.

Here's some pics
vlcsnap-2012-03-21-19h24m29s57.jpg
see, it's a little pump

SAM_0170.jpg
very simple, water goes straight up to the grow bed. Note that I didn't wash the gravel, as you just do not need to. The water will clear up in a few days. Seeing as the flow of water out of the small hole in the bottom is slower than the pump puts it in, the grow bed fills up.

SAM_0177.jpg
until it reaches the overflow hole poked in to the side. See that little pump has enough flow to flood the grow bed, though it takes 12mins. Note the lid with cut out sections provides additional strength to the box. Also note the box on the bottom is a thicker and stronger box.

SAM_0173.jpg
Then when the 15min on the timer is up, the pump turns off and the water drains back down to the fish tank through the small hole in the bottom of the grow bed.

SAM_0179.jpg
my outdoor safe power cable connector enclosure. No rain gets in, and drips that travel along the cords drip off at the bottom and do not enter the container.

[toraman]

How awesome is that, top job... everyone should be able to give it a go using your design to learn the basics. Nice job on the power plug & socket too, smart

[RupertofOZ]

Don't think the styrene boxes will last long outside in the sun.. with water in them...

And I don't think it will be long before the weight of the top box bows, and snaps the sides fo the bottom tank...

It might last for a while... but eberyone else I knwo that has used styrene boxs for grow beds... has had problems with them...

[Walks-In-Storms]

I had the same idea for my hydroponic garden, which is three ten foot lengths of four inch PVC arranged in verticle echelon formation (like stair steps). I'm growing strawberries in the top two, lettuce in the bottom one. I don't have a timer, however, just an overflow on each of the two pipes which return water to the bottom pipe - where the pump is. It's a constant flow system, in other words, with water level determined by the level on the four-inch pipes of the overflow pipes. The timer is a great idea, one I'll try soon. Right now, though, both the the strawberries and lettuce (one pipe is Graviton-filled, one pea-gravel, and one vermicullite - that one for the lettuce) seem to love things as they are. I want to experiment, you see.

Thanks for the ideas. And, by the way, I think your set up is truly ingenious - that, however, while agreeing with "Rupert." I've had little success with anything like styrene of styrofoam - here in Texas (if you owned both Hell and Texas, you'd rent out Texas and live in Hell), it sags or melts swiftly in the heat.

[davidl]

Don't think the styrene boxes will last long outside in the sun.. with water in them...
And I don't think it will be long before the weight of the top box bows, and snaps the sides fo the bottom tank...
It might last for a while... but eberyone else I knwo that has used styrene boxs for grow beds... has had problems with them...

Hence, only the single goldfish will be going in once it is cycled.

I forgot to mention with a system of this limited size you don't need more than 1 fish to supply enough nutrients, even though the grow bed filtration could probably support 2 fish.

Without the lid on the top, the thinner box on top bows under its own weight. While I was building it I was half expecting it to just snap, sending water and gravel everywhere. I was also particularly worried about the bottom box, with water of its own + the weight of the grow bed on top of it + I'm not using a light media like expanded clay balls (aka hydroton) in the grow bed either + the box on the bottom was the one we discovered that chickens will peck at styrofoam boxes, so it already has bits missing, and is a bit old already.

On the + side for longevity it doesn't have full sun all day.

Though it held up for the build, so lets see how long it can last...

[davidl]

ps. the reason I used a timer instead of an auto siphon, was because
- I would struggle to build one with all the fittings for less than the $7 that a timer costs
- I don't think the tiny pump has enough flow rate to operate an auto siphon
- auto siphons look complicated vs simplicity of buying and using a timer such as one like this
timer for au.jpg

[toraman]

Its a cheap way to get people into the hobby and learn, what parents couldn't help their kids set this up.
Top job
Doesn't matter if it won't last for years.

[davidl]

If your little pump has a filter attached like this one

It fills up with crap and reduces flow rate of the pump and needs cleaning periodically. This is a pain in the backside to remove when it's at the bottom of the fish tank.

I advise taking the sponge out and putting it on the grow bed under the water outlet like this SAM_0224.jpg.
Put the sponge cage back on the pump, but without the sponge in it, to protect the fish from the spinning impeller in the pump. This allows you to easily see when the sponge needs cleaning and easy removal of the sponge for cleaning.

If you don't have a filter on your pump don't worry, the grow bed will filter the solid as well as liquid fish waste. Worms in the grow bed will turn solid fish poop in to liquid plant food so the grow bed won't clog up. If your system is outside the worms will make their own way in to your system when they are ready.

[davidl]

Time for some more pics. This shows the plant growth I've had, the picture dates are
30 Mar
9 Apr
14 Oct
However the plants have looked like they do in the last photo for a while now, and I've been harvesting the parsley. I did have some photos in between, but I cannot find where I put them. The coriander seems to have gone straight to flower and seed.

Note the foam boxes are still holding... so far.

[Rob]

That's awesome

And Coriander often does that - it suffers from transplant shock easily.
I don't think it has anything to do with the system.

AWESOME!

Rob