Aquaponics greenhouse

So we have finally gotten around to taking pictures of the greenhouse and aquaponics set up. The first picture is what it looked like while we were digging the pond. DH had everything going to a 55 gal rain barrel until the pond liner came and we dug out the bottom.



The other pics are as it is today. We have harvested a lot of the lettuce so it looks a little bare. Also we had a pump failure and didn’t catch it for a few days so we had some plants die off. That and the incredible heat has lowered our production. We could still add double the plants which we hope to as soon as cooler weather starts. DH built a bridge, and added 55 gal barrels along the bottom edge for additional growth areas. Currently we are growing in the greenhouse romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, two different types of basil, marshmallow root, cucumber, marigolds, unknown melon at this point we think honeydew, watermelon, 3 different varieties of tomatoes, some water plants to help with water quality and reduce evaporation, and duck weed. For those that don’t know tilapia and other fish will eat tilapia and has a very high protein content. DH heard that it was higher than soybeans but we really haven’t looked to see if this was true. In the pond we have frogs, tadpoles (mosquito control), couple hundred goldfish (test system until know will last over winter and not kill off tilapia),and crawfish (cleanup of dead organic matter on bottom. And they look cool.

If your are wondering about the stacked cat litter boxes…We were having difficulties with the pump and hoses clogging with sediment and organic matter. DH made this biofilter on the cheap. We had a bunch of these buckets around. Why go buy a 5 gal bucket at a big box store. These are free if you have cats and use this litter, and if not, there are tones in the recycle bin in your areas. So he drilled holes in the bottoms of the top buckets, filled with lava rock (surplus from yard) and places a pump in the bottom. We have a larger pump in the pond with better filters that feed the biofilter. The dirty water trickles down over the rocks where beneficial bacteria remove ammonia, and eat wastes. The water gets oxygenated and goes to the bottom bucket. That water is pumped to the top of the grow tubes. The grow tubes are 4” sewer drain pipes with 2” holes cut along the top. Overflow from the biofilter waterfall back to the pond for more aeration.


If you have questions or want a more detailed picture or description let us know. Do our best to help.