Garage Aquaponics
What I did
The first thing I did was purchase a 330 gallon IBC tank. These are used for shipping bulk liquids. I wanted a 275 gallon, but I could only find a 330 gallon IBC suitable for aquaponics. I am glad I got the 330 gallon as it made it easier to do what I wanted to do.
Before you buy an IBC make check the shipping documents to see what it contained. The tank shipping documents on the one I purchased said is held concentrated hydrogen peroxide... which is easily decontaminated and can actually be used to treat some fish diseases. You want to make sure that whatever was in the tank before was food or hydrogen peroxide.
I first filled it with about 100 gallons to dilute, drained it, washed down the sides, and then rinsed it many times. I then left it sit outside with the cap loose for a couple of months. It was summer time and my garage gets pretty hot during the day so I figured I would start it later. Probably not necessary, but I know that sunlight will neutralize hydrogen peroxide, if there were any traces left.
A couple of months later I proceeded to chop it up. I cut the depth of my grow bed based on the the rings in the IBC cage starting from the bottom then cut the top of IBC tank to match. I decided that using the top of the tank would be perfect for the grow bed because of the lid. I figured I could use the lid threads for my drain. I then cut a section out a of the cage and the tank for the fish tank section so it wasn't up so high. This worked out perfectly as now I had a horizontal top on the cage for the tank and the grow bed. One thing to not is that I had to cut about an inch off the top of the tank portion in order to have the grow bed stack on top.
I placed the top part of the cage, the part to surround the tank, on a pallet in my garage. I then placed the tank part inside and reinstalled the pieces that held the IBS in the cage. I placed the bottom part of the cage and the grow bed on top of this. It fits perfectly and I don't have the vertical pieces sticking up.
I made a bell siphon to fit the cap on the lid of the IBC. It came out to be a 3/4 inch bell siphon. It works... but I highly recommend not using the cap and going bigger for the bell siphon - This was a lesson learned. I added a siphon screen on this, it was a 2.5 inch pipe that I used my arm saw to make staggering cuts. I added grow bed media into the grow bed. Even though it says that it is pre-washed... wash it anyway, otherwise you are going to end up with some pretty dirty water to start off. Another lesson learned... I had
pretty dirty water to start off... it will eventually clear.
I plumbed out the pipes down to the pump. You want to use a stainless steel hose clamp to connect the hose to the pump. I converted the flexible hose to pvc, and then split it at the top of the grow bed. I ran that to valves and then to the center of the grow bed. I did use drinking water safe primer and glue. It wouldn't be high pressure, but I am the kind of guy that doesn't want stuff to come apart.
Next add in your air stone and make sure you have a check valve inline to keep water from siphoning out of the tank in case of failure. I added the water heater, in which I had to add a second one as the first one couldn't keep up with the colder garage.
I installed the two 4 foot garage lights above the tank. I put hooks into the rafters and used chain to connect to the lights, this way I could adjust the lighting as the plants grew taller. I ran the light cords to a timer. I wanted the lights to be on 18 hours a day, otherwise with no darkness the plants will start to yellow.
I filled the tank a few inches below the top with tap water... around 175 gallons. I have two whole house filters that filter sediment and chlorine. I turned on the system and made my adjustments to the water flow so that way the grow bed would fill and drain every 10 minutes.
Lastly, I added the ammonia to the system. A few cap fulls at a time until it was sitting at 8 PPM ammonia. It was November, so the system was a little cooler and it took about 2 months to fully cycle the systems. I would check the water every couple of days for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. This type of conditioning is call fish-less cycling. I didn't want to introduce pet store goldfish to my system... no idea what diseases they would have, so I opted for fish-less cycling.
Once the system is able to clear out the ammonia and nitrites completely within 24 hours, the system is ready. By the way, you can start growing in the system once you start seeing nitrates. You don't have to have the fish in there, but I did add seaweed extract with iron into the system - about a cup per month. I still add seaweed extract to the system for the trace minerals.
