Planted Tank Aquaponics

[newpatch36]

Maybe this is a long shot, but has anyone on here experimented with aquaponics?

I enjoy cooking as much as I enjoy my planted tank and was thinking the other night that its gotta be possible to grow some herbs and lettuces using aquarium water as the main nutrient source. How awesome to have the herbs grown so close to home!

In my preliminary research I came across:

Windowfarms

And this article linked to their sight. The floating plants kinda remind me of what Hydrophote is doing. Devin any input here, you grown any edibles with your system.

Also a brief video of a vertical aquaponic set-up (as opposed to the floating style)

Any thoughts on how you'd set-up something like this would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Nic

[drlower]

ive thought about this as well. i grow a garden every year and also have a 5000 gallon or so pond. i have thought about using some sort of pots susperded in a tray that would have water from the pond cycled through it. i have experimented with watering plants with tank water and the results are great. have also thought about something inside like what you found.

[newpatch36]

drlower, ditto, I water house plants with my aquarium water, which is part of what got me thinking along these lines.

Just came across an art project Farm Fountain which accomplishes exactly what I'm talking about. Except I'd be designing mine a bit smaller scale, can't have 100 Gallon tank in my apartment...

Other thoughts?

[Baadboy11]

Someone on here sells reparium pots that stick inside the tank, that are basically net pots. Probably work really well for lettuce or something. I've thought about trying this too.

[yikesjason]

I had some oregano growing on my plant wall for a while. It got overgrown by the other plants, but while it was still going strong, it smelt good and I used some of it a time or two. There is some info in my journal linked in my signature if you want to look at it more.

[newpatch36]

Yeah I've seen Hydrophote's riparium pots, and I'd imagine that could work, though the reading I've been doing on aquaponics suggest techniques other than full submersion of the plant. Plus I'd like to have a bit more room than just the back edge of my aquarium.

Keep the ideas coming.

[kevmo911]

You get the added bonus of being able to use mulm collected during water changes. Whenever I squeeze and rinse filter media in tank water, I let the mulm settle, dump out most of the water, and dump the rest into ailing potted plants. Good results so far.

[newpatch36]

Thanks Yikesjason, thats a pretty rad plant wall and awesome looking tank in general . Is it still up and running. I wonder how lettuces and other herbs would fare in that setup?

Nic

[GoodwillTKE]

I would be concerned about additives. For example, I am pretty sure water conditioners for removing chlorine/chloramine say on the bottle something along the lines of they are not for use on water being treated for plants that will be eaten.

I would imagine same goes for any other med/chemical treatment you may do on the tank.

[Hoppy]

I found the biggest problem with using our ripariums to grow plants normally grown outdoors, especially plant that flower and fruit, is the limited light we have. Sunlight is many times brighter than any of our aquarium lights, and most flowering/fruiting plants need that light or they just don't flower or fruit. Lettuce might work, but I doubt it, because lettuce normally grows in full sunshine.

Edible plants normally grown in shade, and I don't know of any, might do fine in a riparium.

[majstor76]

I had some Mentha Aquatica in my mini pond (now its overwintering in the indoor aquarium). Never used it since i have mentha (terrestrial version) in some other place and have lost of leaves for tea. But , every time im at pond i pick up some leaves and rub it in my hands. Smells nice

[newpatch36]

Awesome, thanks for all the input everyone. I'm definitely gonna tackle this in the next couple months. I think I'll imitate the Farm Fountain system, just on a smaller scale. (See picture below)

I'll combine my 10 Gallon tank and probably 3 2liters stacked vertically.
From what I've read 10 Gallons can support 1 square foot of gardening space, and I think the 2 liters would get me close to that. Do you think an Eheim classic would have the power to pump water up to the top of the stack of 2 liters, or would it totally loose its vacuum?

Seems like leafy greens and herbs are the best bet. Root crops and fruiting plants (tomatoes, peppers, etc) are pretty tough in a hydroponic system long term, though it can be a good way to get your summer veggies started.

I've come across some pretty good resources if anyone else is interested in tackling something similar.

Still open to thoughts and suggestions.

[Baadboy11]

Keep us posted! I've been throwing similar ideas around in my head for awhile.

[majstor76]

Originally Posted by newpatch36

I've come across some pretty good resources if anyone else is interested in tackling something similar.

Post some links, just to see what is all about.
If Eheim would not push water so high i would just buy a powerhead. For 20$ you can buy Atman 500gph. Some of that would reach 2m mark

[HypnoticAquatic]

there shouldnt be a harder time with peppers or tomatoes its just about doing it right. there are a few ways u can do this flood and drain, drip line, aeroponicly, they all have there +/-. you can use gutters that are capped, a rubbermaid tub or just another tank it really is going to depend on how big you want this and what method are u doing to use to grow. the hardest thing imo is designing how u want it to effectively use the light source. go to your local hydro store and just talk to them they normally will help u even if ur just looking for ideas.