Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

SIZE: 9' 8" x 18' 6"
TANK SIZE: 300+ gallons
STAGE: Finishing greenhouse construction for 4 season use.

So this is the start of my greenhouse. It was slow progress for the first year and a half. I dug the two feet down all the way around and placed foam board in it. This last spring I got donated the gravel. And then laid the bricks for the lower portion. They sat un-level for about 5 months. Then I got a bug in my bonnet two months ago. And went through and leveled her out. And built the frame, roof, and walls. So what you see is where I finished up on the back wall this weekend. Next will be using the spray in foam to seal the outside wall from the inside. Then I will put in a wall on the inside of the greenhouse. The three crates you can see will be the water tank once I am done with the inside. I intend to cut a foot off the top of the crates and bolt the three together. once I have that finished I will place an 18 inch deep bed one foot above the tank. That way I can still get in and clean while keeping myself from losing space. I will place one more crate along the wall with it. And then four more 24 inch deep crates on the west wall. Looking to utilize the back wall with vertical towers. under the beds on the West side I plan to have a sump running half way under. And a low trickle into a duck weed pond that will run along the entire side of the north wall. I have read that duck weed does not like current so I expect this to need to be a balanced flow of water across the bottom of the duck weed tank without affecting the actual level of water. Haven't figured that one out yet, but shouldn't be to bad. For fish I'm looking to do either trout ( I hear they are finicky so maybe a year after the tank is well settled), or Blue gill. Both of which I can source locally. I also have just enough lexan left that I should be able to make the West side double panned. Seeing how that side is the most exposed to the wind and cold from the back field I want to limit as much heat loss as possible. All of the lexan I got for free when the company I work for shut down an old assembly line. I claimed every last piece All of the walls were once 2 dozen crate tops. Its a lot of salvaged material. I purchased from the Homedepot all of the roofing, and framing. Otherwise it was a lot of dismantling and organizing. I put on the siding in a clap board pattern. This way it will help with rain water and removing cracks. And I think it just looks nicer

So over all I'm hoping to have the crates all in place and ready for liner by the end of December.

Awesome job there! Looks very nice and neat and sturdy.

_________________
Redcap Builds A System

Thank you, I appreciate the sentiment.

This weekend I did the following:

Sealed the seams on all of the clapboards.
Added a ridge cap across the top.
Added Thermometers

Hind sight is 20/20 ... and wishing I had put up a vapor barrier before putting up the outside wall. But at least I have now foamed the whole thing. So I now plan to put up a plastic sheet from the inside. I will wrap the plastic into each sidewall so that it touches the backing on the outside wall. Then one more layer of plastic stretched across the inside studs. The thought behind this is that it will be a cheap way of creating a thermal bubble. In theory it should help to increase the R rating of the dead space. Thoughts?

Hunting season is over and its time to get back to the greenhouse. It was pretty odd to see it reach 100 in the greenhouse on Tuesday. So now that I know that the temps will climb quickly during the day I'll have no choice but to put in the ventilation before I can put in plants. Oddly I haven't even insulated the walls yet. I really don't want to roast anything during the winter lol.

So here is the layout I have been messing with today. I have tried to maximize the layout to include as many beds as possible. Each container that I'm using for a bed is 47 in x 29.5 in. The three beds connected will be the main fish tank. The two connected will be the sump. And above those two beds I plan for some vertical towers.

Yep, you'll definitely need ventilation regardless of the temperature, the plants need fresh air. All the water from the Aquaponics system will moderate the temperatures in the greenhouse so while it will still get hot or cold it won't be quite as hot or cold.

Yeah after working in it for a couple hours today I realized just how stagnate the air is. I will certainly need a fan on the back of the greenhouse to move the air.

So the initial plan was to use air pockets with plastic. But I really needed to do this right and forget about saving a few dollars when there is such an upside to heating/cooling. So I picked up 2" Foam boards to line the walls. Well I picked up two lol...get this done and then pick up three more boards to finish lining the lower portions. Hoping to get the insulation portion finished this weekend so I can put up the boards on the inside and get the FT/GB in and setup.

That's one way to do it. Another is to make sections of the glazing removable and replace them with window screens (this works well for flow through ventilation in the Summer). I use that trick and the same rigid foam insulation you're using where the foam covers most of the opening in Fall and Spring. In Winter I put most of the glazing back on with the rigid insulation on the North wall but not the South. I leave the door open all or part way on warmer days. My greenhouse is a tiny 6 x 8 Harbor Freight greenhouse and has lots of leaks so that's all it takes. The fan is just for moving the air inside the greenhouse so that condensation doesn't form where the warm moisture laden air meets the cold ceiling and wall panels. Bubble wrap or solar pool covers sometimes get used to allow light transmission and reduce temperature loss.

I may heat for just a few weeks in Winter and then only to keep the temp above freezing. Usually when it's overcast it's warmer than when it's sunny but when it's sunny the greenhouse warms up some on it's own. There isn't enough light to grow much during Winter here so unless you're going to light the greenhouse you're just maintaining the AP. My system is part outside and part in the greenhouse so what makes sense for you might not for me and vice versa.

Cheers

First, thank you Scotty for the input. I keep looking around the greenhouse to figure out where to put what. And I have settled on getting the self actuating hinges for the roof. As well as putting a vent fan on the back wall that will be controlled via an Arduino.

Otherwise here is a video update on the greenhouse. I'm not the best at the youtube videos...but sure I will get better the more I do them. Very excited to get this thing done. And going to try and do an update video once a week. Had a bunch of studying for a final this weekend so I only got about an hour in. Then Cub scouts, and girl scouts Monday/Tuesday. Wednesday for rest and back at it Thursday!

Looks really good, you've made a lot of progress. I know what you mean about the lack of sunlight, it's getting dark around 4:30 in the afternoon now and I'm sure it's earlier where you are.

Sounds like you've already got the mylar, if you haven't then Tekfoil is another options (kind of like mylar fused to bubble wrap).

Thank you sir, and yeah its usually dark by around 4ish. I already picked up a roll of mylar a couple months ago. Should be one of the easier things I install lol.

So a little more progress to date. I got in there this week and finished the lower boards all the way around. And this last weekend I got the sheet cover stapled to the ceiling. Also have the crates for the fish tank moved to where they will live.

Next will be getting the green beds cut, built, and put into place. I tried to get a couple more today but was late getting to a managers office...and they all left early for the holiday season. So I will see if any of them are in on Monday so I can keep moving forward on my momentum.





Some of the parts have come in for the electronic portion of the project. So far I have the temp/humidity sensors, WiFi receiver, Terminal blocks, and MicroSD card reader. Still to come includes the Arduino Mini, motion sensor, Real time clock module, relay module, and additional breadboards. Once they come in I can finish up the monitoring portion of this. my plan for the relay will be to control the water pump, and eventually dual fans. I plan to have the fans on opposite sides of the greenhouse so they can power on at different times simulating wind from opposing sides. It will allow the stocks to grow stronger and support more growth and transport of nutrients to the rest of the plant. I sat down couple nights ago and setup most of the program. I plan to make a secure service that I can access from my phone when not at home.
Total Cost $14.05 That doesn't include solder gun, solder, and wires. Which I have laying around my office...because I enjoy challenging projects a little more then wife would like

/*
* Arduino Mini Pinouts
* *******(lEFT SIDE)
* TX:
* RX:
* GROUND:
* n.c,:
*
* *******(TOP SIDE)
* IO7:
* TX: WiFi
* RX: WiFi
* +5v: WiFi
* GROUND: WiFi
*
* *******(RIGHT SIDE)
* +9v:
* GROUND: MicroSD, DHT11(1), DHT11(2), DS1307, HC SR501
* RESET: WiFi
* +5V: MicroSD, DHT11(1), DHT11(2), DS1307, HC SR501
*
* *******(BOTTOM SIDE)
* +5V:
* GROUND:
*
* *********(Digital)
* 2 DHT11(1) Temp and Humidity
* 3 DHT11(2) Temp and Humidity
* 4 HC SR501 Motion Sensor
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9
* 10
* 11 MicroSD
* 12 MicroSD
* 13 MicroSD
* *********(Analog)
* AD0 DS1307 Real Time Clock
* AD1 DS1307 Real Time Clock
* AD2
* AD3
* AD4
* AD5
* AD6
* AD7
*
*
* Need to add navigation buttons
*/

I figured I would knock this out and just throw it up for review. Is there anything here that I'm missing that I need to add to my design?

Good gravy it has been one of those years that just didn't stop So I had some medical issues that left me unable to move around for 6 months. Now finally back up able to move about, so I decided it was time get back to the greenhouse. I ordered the liners for the Tank, and the Beds this weekend. And I have been rethinking the design of the Aquaponics setup. I'll post up a new photo here in a bit showing the new layout. Not to much has changed. Mostly that I will have the tank against the back wall, and will use only two crates instead of three. So 320 gallons of water. and 450 gallons worth of grow bed. And I keep looking at grow bed media and torn whether to go with expanded clay, or vermiculite.

Ok so I haven't written down the design change but have it all in my head So I will have a sump under the the beds. That will feed to the beds and tank. And then the Tank will have a 1 1/2 inch bulkhead that will drain back into the Sump when the pump is running.

Todays progress: I cut the holes in the crates and connected them together. Then got the liner in to make sure it would fit properly. Once in I realized I forgot to put in the scrap carpet so had to roll everything to one side Will have more time next weekend to get the carpet in and the liner back in place. Then I can focus on the beds. Currently all of the piping is sitting in the house ready for connecting everything up. Getting close to cycle time! I have 11 days off around Christmas and the plan is to have this all up and doing the initial cycle by January 1st!