Building a Hydroponics System - Any Pointers

[pinger05]

Looking for help with my first setup. Couple of things I want to point out first. 1) I live in central PA. I wont be growing any cannabis plants until PA legalizes growing for personal use. 2) I have zero experience with hydroponics so I will be growing things like Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and other veggies until I can grow cannabis.

In my mind I am setting up a dual zone Hydroponics system. It will be a chop-in-flip using old IBC containers that are food grade. I plan to use goldfish right now. May use baby Koi and sell them – but that is a future endeavor.

Below is a diagram of what I am setting up. Nothing has been built yet so please give me pointers… The image is from RobBobs Aquaponics YouTube channel.

• My water is well water. I put it through a softener and a UV light. My PPM is roughly 250 at the tap. The water here is exceptionally hard. Will I need to filtered water after my first fill up? I am concerned about the concentrations of limestone slowly creeping up due to evaporation…
• The area the setup will be deployed in is an old sun room on the south side of my property. I am going to insulate it and replace the windows. Can I use LED lights and natural light? Or is it one or the other?
• Can I use lava rock for the substrate? It is much less for the initial cost. Will test for calcium carbonite with vinegar prior to use.
• With the use of bell siphons will I need H2O2?

Thanks everyone!!
--Dan

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

lots to consider when incorporating auqaponics into your hydroponic system. im finding myself switching fully from soil to hydro for flowering. I have experience in keeping koi in a 1000l tank and use it the feed my outdoor trees at my last house. I still have some koi but the new tank is a lot smaller. have you kept fisb in a pond/tank in the past?

 

[pinger05]

lots to consider when incorporating auqaponics into your hydroponic system. im finding myself switching fully from soil to hydro for flowering. I have experience in keeping koi in a 1000l tank and use it the feed my outdoor trees at my last house. I still have some koi but the new tank is a lot smaller. have you kept fisb in a pond/tank in the past?

My biggest fish tanks were a 50 gallon breeder and a 75 gallon tank. Both were fresh water tanks. One tank was for fresh water tropical fish, the other was fresh water semi-aggressive. To answer your question - no I have zero experience with Koi.

Are there any tips/tricks/research I should do?

Thanks GreenGalaxyFarm!
--Dan

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

My water is well water. I put it through a softener and a UV light. My PPM is roughly 250 at the tap. The water here is exceptionally hard. Will I need to filtered water after my first fill up? I am concerned about the concentrations of limestone slowly creeping up due to evaporation…

Greetings and well wishes on getting set up!

I cannot comment on most of what you are trying to do with the aquaponics and fish, but I can say you do not want to use a water softener, at least to grow Cannabis. Ideally, you want RO water with as little starting ppm as you can get. I'm on a well too and our water comes out as high as 900 ppm. My RO system is the backbone of my grow, without it, I would be shut down.

My other advice, keep it simple while you are learning. Once you get that foundation, then branch out and learn to fly.

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

I cannot comment on most of what you are trying to do with the aquaponics and fish, but I can say you do not want to use a water softener, at least to grow Cannabis. Ideally, you want RO water with as little starting ppm as you can get. I'm on a well too and our water comes out as high as 900 ppm. My RO system is the backbone of my grow, without it, I would be shut down.

depending on how much water you will need per cycle per year i can recommend filtration after pumped from well. this can be either inexpensive or very expensive depending on the amount of water.. so if you can figure out, considering many factor, how much water you need filtered you will be able to buy a unit specific to your needs.
for example a super inexpensive option that needs replacement after lets say 6000l would be sufficient for a small setup.

 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

love agriculture academy, here is a quick one on aquaponics

What is Aquaponics and How Does it Work?

Welcome to Agriculture Academy! In today’s video we are going to take a look at aquaponics. What is aquaponics? How does it work? What do you need to get st...

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consider the tips they give you carefully