Water cooling using aquaponics tank
- Thread starter Ken Beck
- Start date
SSGrower
Well-Known Member
Can you catch me up on your current lighting? Still one bar with 3 or 4 cobs? The bed looks bigger. Not knowing, but sounds like even though fish can survive, your nitrate levels are higher than yould like? Might be nice to have a system like what I eluded to before that could reduce (remove for future use or export) the available ferts. Does distillation work or would it be better to try and keep some of the fixing bacteria? Sure some big aqua farmer must have this? Unless aquaculture is geographically isolated to regions that support agriculture year round?
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I think indoor aquaculture is an industry in its infancy. I see no reason why it can't thrive anywhere a facility can be built it reprised to sit grouting other plants indoors, such as Cannabis- which means anywhere.
The water cooled lighting aspect of this makes the proposition even more cost effective.
Well the lighting is still one heatsink with 3 citi 4000k 1212's running at 96w each (288w total) on a 350w power supply. The bed is the same size, it just seems bigger when i take pics closer to it. 4ft by 3ft. Nitrate levels are pretty high, but if i didn't actually measure the nitrates i never would've worried because the system wouldve evened out anyways. Higher is better up to a point. 2000ppm is probably the max most plant can take during flowering and fruiting stages for maximum production. So where i had it wasnt too bad. But id rather play it safe and keep it around 1200-1600ppm to leave room for spikes or give me time to add more plants as the fish get bigger. Technically i should have more grow bed space for the amount of fish in the tank. Way more plant mass than fish mass. And id say keep all the bacteria as they will always be needed. Although i could use some of the grow bed media from the established system to jump start another system and skip the startup time. This type of indoor system is fairly new. Ive actually never heard of a commercial aquaponics system anywhere other than in a greenhouse in warmer climates. By making this system indoors capable with efficiency high enough, it could technically be used anywhere inside in cold places like alaska for year round food locally.
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ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I completely agree. Using both light and heat from the COB LED chips means no electrical waste at all. The radiator in the water can be small and simple, perhaps just a stainless coil, since heat transfer is so efficient.
The bell siphon and continuous fill and drain in the hydroton bed solves more problems before they happen.
It's a tightly contained and highly efficient food production system that can go anywhere, be operated anywhere humans can inhabit and provide continuous output of both fresh vegetables and fish protein, which make for a very healthy and complete diet.
SSGrower does have a point about automation. And i think i will tackle the more complicated things like that soon. The commercial side could definitely benefit from an extremely efficient growing space that requires very little attention and no outside power source. On a large scale like 1000sq feet of growing space you could easily feed a small town if done right. All baby steps but its going to get there.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I think that's stretching it a bit depending on your definition of 'small town' lol, but 20 sq ft per person isn't out of the question, maybe even less.
There are limits; cereal grains just take up too much room.
Well you gotta think 3d on 1000sq ft. You can stack in that 1000sq feet. So 1000 can become 3000-4000. Keep tanks to the side, leave aisles, and have beds stacked 3-4high with a couple feet between and grow short plants.
SSGrower
Well-Known Member
This is where seasonal and geographic advantages could be optimized systems would need to be tailored to provide supply of short shelf life produce vs the relatively long storage life of dried grain. Which there is typically at least one growing season in most populated areas. Hence the need imo to be able to extract (or add back?) the valuable fertilizer when the system becomes imbalanced.
The modern automator would replace the bell siphon (I think im visualizing ot correctly) with a series of float valves, level sensors and a mess of code and wires later you have the same functionality only with less reliability. I joke how do you fry an egg with an arduino? What ever the contraption looks like it won't be as simple as a flame, pan, and egg. We have lost much of our historic knowledge, why history continues to repeat itself with the demise of civiliztons and all. Hydroponics, aquaponics, whatever, it's not new. Since the scientific method we have had success figuring things out but sometimes, whatever reason, humanity does not go with the simple solution.
I guess what im saying is think of what your "automation" could be with a minimal number of inputs and outputs.
Aquaponics isnt new at all, the basic concept is old but the methods are new. I honestly dont know why it wouldn't have taken off by now. But my best guess is that our understanding of how it works isnt good enough nor is the concept of how to commercialize it either. By addressing any and all of the negatives of growing this way, i see a solution to the dwindling fish supplies and the way to have local foods that normally would only be able to be grown during a specific season all year round. It shouldnt require too much more to make it completely automated other than planting and harvesting.
SSGrower
Well-Known Member
I thunk it's the comercial aspect if it were more profit able (monitarily) more individuals would be involved, therfore more corpsrate money gets invested. As it stands we (the us) are hemoraging farmers at an alarming rate trick will be to convince ppl to do it of their own valition. To recognise we have 1 planet, sure we could live on Mars but only with 100 pct reliance on earth, with an ecological demand greater than the supply.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
But I like the taste of fish.I go back to get a fish that tastes like bacon and this shit would take off!
'that's what he said' lol
If only pigs could fly...er...swim. that reminds me of a major issue with regular farming. Run off from the farms. That ruins rivers, lakes, streams, and most importantly the ground water. And not much can be done about it except closing it off from everything else like aquaponics is.I go back to get a fish that tastes like bacon and this shit would take off!
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ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Pepper will take longer. Also, dragging it out of the substrate every day won't help.
True. I want to leave it alone, but i want to document it as well. It is definitely slower growing, but the plant looks well so thats good.