Aquaponics insanity...

Ive been banging my head against the wall with this one... If its not one thing... Its most definitly another... However, I have been having some success lately. This is week one trial... too many... In this setup, I am running a 500 watt hps,2- 10 inch bubble stones in the grow box, 55gal aquarium, 12-15 goldfish, algea eater, and a baby snapping turtle. If anyone has anything to add, in order to help me along, it would be greatly appreciated. Everything in the tank seems to live except for my MJ plants...

left side - right side - grow box - 1 week old MJ

I also have a larger plant, a little scared to put it into the system... Im kinda tired of killing them...

p.s. If anyone needs any more/ better pictures, please just let me know... I really would like to get this issue resolved quickly....

insane is right. why even do it?

What do you mean? Why even do it? I want to smoke some MJ, that I grew... Reason nuff???

You need to run it like flood and drain, find a tub that fits on top of the tank but not as long so you dont have to lift it off to gain access to the fish. Fill the tub with hydroton (its lighter than gravel) and run it as flood and drain. If the tank has been running for less than 3 months, you`ll need to cycle it for the sake of the fish. I guess you have NH4 and NO3 testkits to check ammonia and nitrate levels?

Why do you say I need to cycle the tank? I understand the flood/ drain... but I did a 30% change about 2 weeks ago... water stays crystal clear all the time... and no.... unfortunantly money is tight but im working on getting all the tests required for a successful grow...

Problem is simple, Amonia is killing the plant, my opinion too many fish in that tank. Three would be enough nitrogen to make it work. All those fish and the water may look clear but I would bet the amonia level is very high. Good luck I myself love to try new shit. Cool stuff man.

Well... the last one died from root rot... I basically have a drain system setup.... let me take a few pics and get back to you...

The first pic is the hose off the pump, pumping into the grow box... it then runs downhill, out of the bottom holes on the growbox... where it trickles back into the main tank, kinda acting as the filter for all the fish crap... I run this 2 hours on 4 hours off... and the last pic is of the whole setup.... minus most of the lighting....

I personally don't think its high ammonia levels... otherwise woildnt my fish start dying off??? And also I have to have all those fish cause Bowser (snapping turtle) has to eat...

I would recommend you placing both bubble stones directly below the basket. I would also suggest adding additional bubble stones. If you do manage to get the roots into the water and have enough gas exchange taking place to keep them healthy then you'll have no need to worry about checking levels nor cycling the tank - your MJ will be stripping out all the nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia much faster than the fish will be able to produce it.

How long have those fish been in the tank? Is there a filter? (I can't see one) If there's a filter and the fish have been in there longer than a week without dying chances are you're tank is already cycled.

for less than $20 you can build a 5gal dwc the way it should be. come on. that way the roots can grow in what they want, darkness.

No filter... 4 months up and running.... no dead fish other than what the turtle kills... two 10 inch bubble stones in the grow box directly in the gravel... you can hear them bubbling like crazy... no algae at all and that suprises me... everything works fine.... I also have live plants to combat the ammonia and n buildup in the tank...

But if all that works hunky dory.... why the f$#% do my plants keep dying... its really aggravating... and btw... the roots are in complete darkness.... you moron.... I enjoy tinkering and learning, trying to improve upon other peoples ideas... not follow suite... I could but a $20 kit but where is the fun in that????

Like someone else stated it's pretty cheap to make a 5g DWC bucket. But it seems you're doing it right - well done. I would warn you about very slow growth though. Your nutrient levels are going to be really really low and MJ is a voracious feeder. Most hydro guys run from 600-1200ppm. If you go above 25ppm nitrate or 5ppm nitrite you'll kill your fish. And your fish aren't making much or any potassium or phosphorous which means you'll need to dose the tank - but again at very very very low levels compared to standard hydro.

Phosphorus isn't an issue... I have a fireplace... lol.. but pottasium might be a problem.... so your saying its gonna be a slow grow? Any ideas to get proper nutes for faster growth so I can smoke already... lol

wtf is this.........

I came here to see an "insane" grow, but I all I'd managed to find was an epic fail from the OP.

I want my minute and a half back...

richardhocutt said:

Phosphorus isn't an issue... I have a fireplace... lol.. but pottasium might be a problem.... so your saying its gonna be a slow grow? Any ideas to get proper nutes for faster growth so I can smoke already... lol

Click to expand...

The problems is that even if you obtain proper nutrients you can't offer them in large enough doses without killing your fish. Most aquaponic operations focus on leafy greens which require only low levels of nitrogen.

I see... so I need to switch my setup around and have straight hydro instead.... damn... let me ask you this... do you think it could work on a huge scale???? Say I had a large pond.... think I could make that work a little better?

So large scale aquaponics works like this:

Large # of dirty fish (typically they use tilapia) in a small confined area. This creates HIGH levels of waste very very quickly - enough to easily kill the fish if there was no drainage. This water is constantly leaving the small confined area and fed to the plants while new fresh water enters the tank. There is no recirculation of water which how they maintain the higher nutrient levels to the plants without killing the fish. In this system supplemental nutrients can be added past the point of the tanks. If there is recirculation it is only after the plants have stripped out most of the N.

If you just had a large pond you would have a few issues. Again you can't maintain high enough nutrient levels without killing the fish. You won't be able to keep gas exchange levels up. ANd it's a pond... a natural biome that will settle at carrying capacity. It will only sustain the natural limit of fish, the fish waste will be broken down by the bacteria in the water and mud bottom, and the remnants ill be absorbed by the natural plants around the pond.

Why not just grow in soil and use aquarium water to supply the bennies and a bit of N.