This is a 400 liter barrel ponics that i built with two 200 liter barrels interconnected for the fish tank and 2 barrels cut in half to form the 4 growbeds. For the sump tank i used a 300 liter loft tank.
The system was set up some time ago. The build was simple with 40 mm square section of treated pine that was put together with a clever load bearing design the barrels sat comfortably on the frames.
The fish tank was placed strategically under the overhead tanks of the house to avoid direct sunlight and this gives the FT plenty of insulation from the elements.
Bell siphon was put in place and the plumbing was done using 19 mm cpvp pipes with control valves at every water exit point.
Once the system was all hooked up we ran the system for about 3 days for all the dust etc get settled down at the bottom of the growbed and for the water to get cleared.
3 days later I introduces 10 gold fish. This is very less number of fish for this size tank, but this was done because I was looking at cycling this system with fish.
Then I ran the system for a week and added a another round of 10 gold fish. By now a few seeds was also thrown into the growbeds. It took almost 6 weeks for the nitrogen cycle to get established. During this time a few tweaks was done to the bell siphion upstand to get the flood and drain cycle to set well. 8 weeks later the system was running fine and in three months time the system was well set and the tomato plant were already starting to fruit.
The system was set up some time ago. The build was simple with 40 mm square section of treated pine that was put together with a clever load bearing design the barrels sat comfortably on the frames.
The fish tank was placed strategically under the overhead tanks of the house to avoid direct sunlight and this gives the FT plenty of insulation from the elements.
Bell siphon was put in place and the plumbing was done using 19 mm cpvp pipes with control valves at every water exit point.
Once the system was all hooked up we ran the system for about 3 days for all the dust etc get settled down at the bottom of the growbed and for the water to get cleared.
3 days later I introduces 10 gold fish. This is very less number of fish for this size tank, but this was done because I was looking at cycling this system with fish.
Then I ran the system for a week and added a another round of 10 gold fish. By now a few seeds was also thrown into the growbeds. It took almost 6 weeks for the nitrogen cycle to get established. During this time a few tweaks was done to the bell siphion upstand to get the flood and drain cycle to set well. 8 weeks later the system was running fine and in three months time the system was well set and the tomato plant were already starting to fruit.
