Aquaponic Cannabis Gardens

[Geometryka]

Cool, so it's always cycling then.
Great system.
Fair price for a piece of equipment like that too.

 

[chazbolin]

Day 30 Update. I added Co2 4 days ago which puts me up to ~900PPM in the tent. Temps have been not been kind. This area is well ventilated and never gets above 90 but during the last couple of days I've been dealing with mid 90's for the better part of the day. The weather is supposed to break today. One can only hope. Nonetheless I can added weight and there has been a noticeable increase in trichome and terpene production since my last update. I did add another 1/4# of Aquaponic Elements last Friday but other than that it's been just fish waste and the Co2 bump feeding the plants.

 

[Seamaiden]

Are you monitoring dissolved CO2 levels in the water column? I dig the koi poster.

 

[chazbolin]

I have not been monitoring dissolved Co2 in the water. Are you thinking that with the added C02 it could raise the levels in the fish tank to unsafe levels? Keep in mind I'm aerating the 4 x 4 media bed with 4 air stones and the fish tank with 2 air stones. I've not noticed the fish acting any differently since adding the C02. How would you recommend testing for this?

 

[Seamaiden]

I would monitor, if by no other method than pH. I would be more concerned with it causing acidification of the water column than causing harm to the fish, and how that acidification might affect what's happening in the root zone. Since CO2 acidification during winter is such a problem for reefkeepers, I've learned it can be an issue in certain scenarios.

I can't recall, but I think my Tetra Laborette kit allows for calculating CO2 saturation by making some calculations based off the pH and alkalinity tests (I'm thinking it's the dKH carbonate test). I'll have to pull out the test kit and see, but I do like colorimetric tests, because I love messing with tiny vials and drops and shit. :D No, seriously, it's a lot more fun than looking at a digital display!

 

[chazbolin]

Reefs are going to be finicky. In my case I am monitoring pH and it stays between 6.8- 7.0 which is a happy medium for both the fish and the plants. From what I've seen the plants become a buffer which helps regulate pH.

 

[Seamaiden]

Sounds very good! Since you're already watching the pH and observing no real effect it looks like you're correct. :D

 

[chazbolin]

Day 37. With the fish getting bigger and I wanted a veg bed anyway I took this opportunity to pull the tank back and add a new 30" x 50" tray which lets me gravity feed the fish tank water down through both media beds. I lit the bed with a single Pro-200 setup on an 18/6 photoperiod. For now I've got some basil's and kale that just popped as well as a pepper plant in there. Once they get a bit bigger I'll move them into the greenhouse while I setup for my next run of most likely Blue Dream.

 

[urbanfog]

subbed, my high school is taking aquaponics this year and we are going to be building one for a veggie greenhouse. Love the info!

 

[Purpz]

Awesome dude!

 

[We Solidarity]

looks pretty nice...aquaponics can be hairy though esp if your temps are getting high... e. coli loves fish poo and warm water

 

[chazbolin]

Thanks WS. The system is pretty easy to maintain and well within the range of the average gardeners capabilities. As far as the risk of developing e.coli I can say that while the room ambient did get over 100F during a stretch last week, the water temps never got over 84 which is a bit warmer than the 70F cold water fish like but they suffered no ill effects. The fish waste remains in the water so it isn't exposed to the high ambient air temps that e.coli or salmonella need to thrive in and I'm not feeding the fish untreated or un-composted warm blooded animal manure so establishment risks are low.

 

[Seamaiden]

E. coli covers a rather large group of bacteria, not all of which are pathogenic. IIRC, the vast majority are not pathogenic. I believe there's one species used as a probiotic.

 

[chazbolin]

Day 43 fish poop update! All the strains are super sticky and smell fantastic. The WW is 85% cloudy, 10 clear, 5% amber so I'm pulling it today. From what I'm told she's finishing about 10 days early. It looks like the AC/DC has started to cloud up so I'm thinking they might come down later this week. The Harlequin has a bit to go but based on how their stacking up these two ladies will be ones pulling the weight.

 

[McDank]

Cool dude, looking green and healthy!

 

[20kwDreamer]

In saltwater we use ammonia not nitrogen to kick start the cycle.

Wouldn't this system be more efficient by having a larger tank to breed fish (more concentrated nutrient run off?

 

[chazbolin]

Fishless cycling is really the way to go. We jump start the systems with a pelleted commercial ammonia before we put the fish in and that works beautifully. Less shock to the fish.

 

[Seamaiden]

When I was working the trade we peed in the new systems to get them going before we stocked with fish, then between shipments if the fish load was way down we'd pee then, too. Worked pretty good. :eek:

 

[chazbolin]

Day 60 and we're pulling our ladies up. Here's a shot of one of the Bluegill. We've got about 20# worth of fish in the tank now so growing larger plants means we'll have the fish waste to support them nutritionally. The WW and AC/DC we're ready and got pulled about a week ago. Compared to the two Harlequin we just pulled they were not that impressive. However the bud size/quality on the WW was top shelf quality. I'll post pics after they cure. I don't think the genetics were stable on any of these strains. Today we pulled both Harlequin.