Aquariponics!

[Soil]

Ok, so I'm not quite sure if aquariponics is actually a real word, but anywho.

I posted a small 30 liter tank a while ago, named "The brown tank". It was nice but the tank was beyond second hand when I got it and full of scratches and silicone. It has gone to tank heaven (storage).

I built this tank instead, inspired by aquaponics. In the bottom back there is a small pump pushing water through a hose to the upper level. It then rains down onto the lower box, gets filtered by sand and then back into the front of the tank.

Its about 8g, or 30 liters with the base measuring 43 cm wide,38 deep and 20cm high.

It has 5 zebra fish and a axelotl in atm, and Im looking for something very peaceful with a large bioload to add to the mix. Need alot of poo to substain the plants.

As for waterplants I have:

Hygrophila siamensis
Java fern
Echinodorus bleheri

Normal plants:

Nephrolepis exaltata
Chlorophytum comosum
Spathiphyllum wallisii
Mondo grass "kyoto dwarf"
"Plant to the far right I forgot the name of"

[secuono]

Love it!

Though, is the plant behind the light supposed to be so pale? If it's the same plant I had, which started out dang near white, then with time and good lighting it greened up.

[GOJIRADOR]

Awesome! I really wanted to set up my own aquaponic system and I actually got around to buying some of the materials but never set it up. Have you tried growing edible plants with it? As for bioload, plecos are notorious for their poop lol but that tank looks kind of small..

[ZLogic]

Aren't crabs known to be good poopers? How would they work in that setup? It's an awesome concept!

[STS_1OO]

Very cool.....very cool.

Crabs would work with that setup by climbing out that tank and wandering down the hallway

I've never really looked into poopy fish (other than goldfish), but perhaps the ones always munching on something and grow to reasonable sizes make sense? In that sense, I'd go for Cories. Won't outgrow that tank and they're always munching on food.

[driftwoodhunter]

That is very cool! I wish you had written a tank journal on it, I bet a lot of us would like to see how it's made!

[Soil]

Originally Posted by secuono

Love it!

Though, is the plant behind the light supposed to be so pale? If it's the same plant I had, which started out dang near white, then with time and good lighting it greened up.

I honestly don't even know what that plant is. Found it at the grocerie store.. there were a few dark ones and a few pale so I figured it was two sorts of the same plant. Anyone knows the name of it?

I thought cories too, but I think its too cool for them. Since the water is aerated it drops below 20C even if the room is warmer.. its quite tricky to fit anything in. Any cool water cories out there? I could put a fancy goldfish in there but it would probably outgrow it pretty fast.

Originally Posted by driftwoodhunter

That is very cool! I wish you had written a tank journal on it, I bet a lot of us would like to see how it's made!

I do have pics from the build. These are from the later stages, the early I dont know where they are.. Its built from left over marine plywood, coated with spray on Plasti dip (liquid rubber) and then siliconed. Turned out not even the silicone u see in the pics was enough so I had to scrape of the Plasti dip from the parts I wanted to silicone. Quite a hassle.

The upper level has overflow holes in the front, and the bigger box has the top of a soda bottle as an outflow, so I can seal it with a screw on cap and take it off / put in a window etc.












And some pics of the little poser:

[Azarakiah]

yep its not aquariponics, its aquaponics fyi

[GMYukonon24s]

Nice build and setup!

[Azarakiah]

i would def look for some plants with a lil more color to them to help brea up the green a lil bit though

[DogFish]

Soil welcome !

That is a nice system you have built.

You might enjoy this thread: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...ht=planted+HOB

Many of the members on that thread have created similar tanks on a smaller scale.

Your system and the the members on the Planted HOB thread are growing plants in an aquaponic method.

These two links are to a more traditional Aquaponic method. The 1st is true to the original meaning of Aquaponics. In this system the vegitables are food crop and the Fish eventually will also be food.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...light=nalu%27s

In the 2nd , my tank, the vegitables will be eaten, but not the fish.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=194158

[FisheriesOmen]

I honestly don't even know what that plant is. Found it at the grocerie store.. there were a few dark ones and a few pale so I figured it was two sorts of the same plant. Anyone knows the name of it?

Looks like it might be a potato plant. . .

Makes sense coming from a grocery store. Although they normally don't grow that high and narrow.

[jarvitron]

This is beyond awesome, I've been poking around at a aquariponic (this is a good differentiation term for me - aquaponics in which the water level in the display tank does not cycle/change) rack for a while and this is definitely a cool small build.

[lochaber]

Originally Posted by secuono

Love it!

Though, is the plant behind the light supposed to be so pale? If it's the same plant I had, which started out dang near white, then with time and good lighting it greened up.

I don't know what the name of the plant is, but (if it's what I think it is) it's a fairly common houseplant, and really damned durable. A lot of times you can just grow them in a vase of water (which makes them good candidates for aquaponics), and I've had one that had the root ball dry out completely, and the leaves all turn brown and dry, and about a week later after a bit of watering it sprouted new growth.

[Diana]

The plant is Syngonium.
There are several species with slightly different leaf shapes, and many varieties with different leaf colors.
One of them is almost pure white, with a few green speckles. Another is slightly greener, not really pure white, but close.
Another is sort of tinted red, not a lot, just a wash of red over the green.
Several are a blend of green background and various patterns of white, cream or yellow speckling and banding.

I have one that has more distinctly angled leaves. Like larger arrowhead shape, large back parts, then it got bent sideways like wings. The leaves are about a foot across. It is growing out of the top of my 72 gallon tank, and has reached the floor and is growing back up again. Really big! It started form a 4" potted house plant, just about the same as yours. Different species, though. Mine is pure green, deeper cut lobes.

I also have a tank with a set up sort of like that. The water runs the full length, though, not back to front. I have Heartleaf Philodendron in it now. At different times I have grown a really nice Prayer Plant (Purple veining, not the plain Rabbit Tracks species), and several other plants.