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bajangreen
I was wondering why does no one use soil as a media am i missing something? if so i hope this is not a stupid questions but why not?
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SeaMaiden
Clogging? How and what would you recirculate with soil as the media?
Or, are you thinking more along the lines of a plenum or refugium kind of marriage here?
Or, are you thinking more along the lines of a plenum or refugium kind of marriage here?
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bajangreen
Whoa had to hit Wiki cause i wasn't familiar with the terms......
A Plenum grow bed is what i hope to achieve.
Clogging is what most people tend to think would be the biggest problem, i use 2 inch pipes, and a smart pot type fabric at the end of the grow bed to keep the current media "coconut husk" out of the fish tanks, it works. The water turns through the system once a day for one hour, the flow to the grow beds are low like 1gall a min so that helps with keeping the media stationary.
Currently i am using coconut husk but the problem is it stays too wet and it is too hard to source atm. so i would love a soil mix that stays dry enough to grow anything and be readily available. (I have lots of Bagasse @ hand so i would love if it could be incorporated as a major ingredient of this soil mix)
The drain pipes are 1in from the bottom of the grow beds so it keeps 1 in of water in the bottom always, this is something i MAY have to fix.
This is the research phase of this soil mix and i welcome all comments criticisms etc.. seriously, all ideas are welcome
a pic of the system............
A Plenum grow bed is what i hope to achieve.
Clogging is what most people tend to think would be the biggest problem, i use 2 inch pipes, and a smart pot type fabric at the end of the grow bed to keep the current media "coconut husk" out of the fish tanks, it works. The water turns through the system once a day for one hour, the flow to the grow beds are low like 1gall a min so that helps with keeping the media stationary.
Currently i am using coconut husk but the problem is it stays too wet and it is too hard to source atm. so i would love a soil mix that stays dry enough to grow anything and be readily available. (I have lots of Bagasse @ hand so i would love if it could be incorporated as a major ingredient of this soil mix)
The drain pipes are 1in from the bottom of the grow beds so it keeps 1 in of water in the bottom always, this is something i MAY have to fix.
This is the research phase of this soil mix and i welcome all comments criticisms etc.. seriously, all ideas are welcome
a pic of the system............
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SeaMaiden
Then I would go with a rock base, adding the soil on top. I would make the soil such that it drains fairly quickly, using a good bit of sand or similar.
That picture looks interesting. Can you explain what's being depicted here? And the row of what look like tanks on the left..?
That picture looks interesting. Can you explain what's being depicted here? And the row of what look like tanks on the left..?
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Guest 88950
im interested to see what you end up with.
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bajangreen
I use water lettuce as a suspended solid filter, normally the roots of this plant can grow 3 feet long when in deep water but if you put them in a shallow grow bed that has 2in of flowing water the roots form a dense mat that is a "living filter" for the water passing through.
A close up of 7-8 year old coconut husk used as a media.
A close up of 7-8 year old coconut husk used as a media.
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SeaMaiden
I love it. You've created what I know as an algal filter, using the plants and getting the water to flow through the roots. No clogging issues, then? I was going to suggest duck weed, but it can clog up a lot of pumps, etc.
I can't believe that husk still hasn't broken down. Even my rice hulls are beginning to break down and it's been 2-3 years.
I can't believe that husk still hasn't broken down. Even my rice hulls are beginning to break down and it's been 2-3 years.
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bajangreen
Duckhunter-DK
Member
I'm using a Ebb'n flood system, where the first 7 cm of the media is pure lava rocks, where the water runs. Over that is a mix of lava rocks, coco fiber (Almost as soil), organic matter, mineral magic, fungi and other good stuff.
The water runs with no problems, and that enables me to grow organic hydroponics.
My media is basically a big biofilter.
I've also been thinking about combining soil and DWC, which would be extreme.!
The water runs with no problems, and that enables me to grow organic hydroponics.
My media is basically a big biofilter.
I've also been thinking about combining soil and DWC, which would be extreme.!
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Guest 88950
^^^ Duckhunter-DK
basically a big bio filter.................reminds me of SuperPedro's thread and his use of a bio filter.
EDIT: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=143628 SuperPedro's thread. its a micro cab build but it uses a bio filter.
basically a big bio filter.................reminds me of SuperPedro's thread and his use of a bio filter.
EDIT: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=143628 SuperPedro's thread. its a micro cab build but it uses a bio filter.
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bajangreen
Sorry i missed this question, Sea maiden ,i will take some pics to explain the system better tomorrow!
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bajangreen
Its nice to shear info and i am ecstatic that SeaMaiden, Duckhunter-DK, And others are interested in this type of system, i wish more people would chime in with there experiences/queries, some of these growbeds been running from 1996!!! I think its about time this becomes main stream. Its so easy!
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bajangreen
Sorry about the longgggggg wait for a reply.
I have experimented with various drainage layers of different stuff from rocks to foam to hay, thinking that the bottom should allow water to pass through freely, but the problem with this is that the fine particles eventually sink and "clog" the bottom drainage layer, this means they work good for the first crop but after that you would have to do some manual cleaning of the grow beds.
To overcome this, first try keeping the media 14in or so deep, that dept helps with erosion by slowing the water down so it can trickle through the media. And bagging the bottom layer with mesh bags also helps allot in maintaining good flow. but the biggest factor is the plant roots them self once established they do a very good job of holding the dirt in place.
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bajangreen
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SeaMaiden
Thanks, baja.
Question about the tilapia, I assume you're keeping them as a food source not only for your plants, but for yourself, yes? If so, do you only feed them the pellets, or do you give them any fresh/wild foods? I ask because I can taste the difference between wild-caught and farmed fishes of all sorts, and I know that from the husbandry angle, we want the animals to get the best foods possible, which by default means a variety except in certain cases (Regal angelfishes, for example, can and will only eat coral polyps). I feel that the variety of food sources makes them taste much, much better.
Question about the tilapia, I assume you're keeping them as a food source not only for your plants, but for yourself, yes? If so, do you only feed them the pellets, or do you give them any fresh/wild foods? I ask because I can taste the difference between wild-caught and farmed fishes of all sorts, and I know that from the husbandry angle, we want the animals to get the best foods possible, which by default means a variety except in certain cases (Regal angelfishes, for example, can and will only eat coral polyps). I feel that the variety of food sources makes them taste much, much better.
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