I know aquaponics is technically different from hydroponics but I'm working off a theory that 'living system bacteria' is a missing piece of adding a strategic mix of nutrients to each plant.
What I'm going for is a mix of presentable tiny aquarium to start converstions with people that aren't growing herbs in their kitchen.
This one is 90% hydroponics and 10% aquaponics because I'm not eating the guppies or the beta (lol) but the fish poop and snails that are detrivors (eat poop) convert the fish flakes into bioavailable plant nutrients. So I posted to this channel in case people were interested. Im placing this post so others can repeat this experiment to verify my results – the fishtank Thai Basil plant is younger in maturity and does not flower/seed like my 100% hydroponic varieties after 5 months. [Repeat no seeds or budding, just veg].
I made some minor mistakes on the build but will post the components. Picture #2 is an empty mockup. There is an empty dollar store cordial plastic 'glass' (picture #5) placed upside down next to a plant site with a rope wick extending down into the aquarium. The plant site is offset from center to make room for the upside down cordial. The cordial has a hole melted on top to pass through a hose from the 5 watt sump pump ($6 fountain pump) and old pillow fluff is the filter to polish and clean the fish waste to make your water clear and gorgeous. Both items are inside a 4.5" netcup filled with hydroton clay balls.
Picture #1 is using a repurposed Costco Cheesy Poof container, 4.5" netcup cut into the lid, 5w pump, cordial & pillow fluff, 1 beta, 1 guppy, 3-5 androgenous snails, airstone and airpump. An Amazon Fresh insulated foil lined bag cut out as a shield from sunshine on the aquarium to prevent algae. A ($10) walmart LED usb thin puck light provides uplighting.
This will surprise people: the aquarium water is 1 large mason jar (1qt?) full of hydroponics solution that contains ocean water from Virginia Beach. I'll break it out but you modify: the ocean water I got from a milk jug filled up knee deep in water, the EC (electrical conductivity) is much higher than tap water so when mixing your particular brew of hydroponics solution you ease off the nutrient ratios to keep the same EC as you would normally use. It turns out freshwater fish catch "brownblood disease" if there isn't any salt in the water so yes its ok to add some salt to freshwater fish (ratios below). Plants are somewhat tolerant of salt as well.
What I would different on round 2: Target had (11/2/2015) a clearance sale on 17.5qt (4.5 gal) clear "Brightroom Stackable 8" containers with lid for $2/ea. So the aquarium is $2. Cut a 4.5" hole for the netcup and place your plant site there. Run your airhose, 5w pump and power through the netcup or notch in the lid.
Setup: fill your container with tap water and add an aquarium bubbler. Run 2-3 days to clear the chlorine and add 2-4 small fish. Add the 5w fountain pump and worm it through the netcup (or lid) and through the cordial filled with polyesther pillow fluff. Melt/drill a hole on top of the lid to place a funnel to feed the fish without disturbing the plant. I have a separate 5 gal bucket with nutrient solution – 2 cups ocean water, .13 tbsp epsom salt, 1.q4 tbsp calcium nitrate, 1.7 tbsp Jacks Professional, PH down to get it slightly acidic. 1 qt of that solution dump into the aquarium. The fish will be fine, the nutrients come from the fish food every morning, just a pinch will do. If your system runs away and gets too cloudy just use the pump to do a water change and feed your other hydroponic plants.
The theory: plants have 2 kinds of roots, air roots and tap roots. Fill up the tank to the bottom of the netcup. The humidity and air forced by the air pump will supply those roots with humid oxygen. The tap roots will follow the cotton wick into the aquarium where the fish will pluck them free of algae and infection. The snails eat the fish poop.
Picture #4 is my regular hydroponics which runs under a spiderfarmer light. It flowers for all my grows. My fishtank setup is in a southfacing window but isn't flowering so I can't tell if its the lights or water level or bacteria symbiosis level. I draw water from the aquarium to feed my hydroponic buckets.
Thanks for indulging in this post đ.
by DnArturo
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