Bev; my aquaponics system is still up and running. It's designed
after Paula's system, but, like yours, mine pumps water to the beds,
then drains directly back into the tank (her's drains into tubs and
the water is pumped from the tub back to the fishtank). My growbeds
are 4x8', 1' deep, lined with heavy plastic, filled with stone (I
forget the grade, but it's one grade bigger than pea gravel).
My 'nozzles' are just holes drilled in the PVC pipe. In the beginning
I had problems with the holes clogging, so I made them a little
bigger.
after about 8 years, are getting clogged with dead roots and dirt. It
would help the system run better if I took all the rock out and
cleaned everything, but that isn't going to happen soon (tons and
tons of rock...)
My raft system never worked well. I floated styrofoam insulation
boards on top of the fishtank...I cut circles in the board that would
hold the little 'net pots' that they sell for hydroponics. I never
found a good medium to put in the pots (the same rock that is in the
beds is the best I came up with). The biggest problem was that the
fish ate the roots, and often pulled the whole plant though the
bottom of the pot.
The most important thing I've found with aquaponics is that the
simpler you can make it, the better. The more complications you put
in it, the more things can go wrong. My timer died this spring, so I
switch the pump on by hand once a day or so. Because of all the dirt
and decomposed roots, my beds hold too much water, so 5 minutes once
a day is all they need.
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