Let’s Get Nuts: 1100w LED With UV & IR, 5x5x6fr, CO2, Build-Up

The garden project. Kinda slummy right now but I'll put that right before the end, don't you worry.
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The beds are over 3 ft high because my back simply requires it. I'm not a glutton for punishment. I've got lots of old wood and junk to take up space and those two piles under the tarps are bigger than they look and packed down tight.
This one is a big L shape, the two pictured are connected. Because you can access from either side I could design it nice and wide. I'm putting in a second one sitting just opposite and should be slightly smaller and slightly shady. Only slightly. I get full-effect hot sun all day out here, it bakes, and food grows so well... I just finally pulled the trigger. We have rodent issues, thus the tight mesh and full wire bottom. Otherwise they'll steal my veggies unseen from below. Gonna have two big potato/sweet potato circles 3+ ft tall, and I've got 30 plants each peas, beans, courgette, cabbage, Chinese greens, green radish and cucumber of a good size ready to go in. Finally my own proper veggie patch...
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Finally… I ordered these in early December! So, here’s my two new Nearpow short duration timers - programmable down to single second. The one on the right has 2, 1800w outlets, one on either side, and I really like that setup (keep in mind I’ve only superficial opinions at the moment as I’m yet to use either for growing). One on the left is also rated 1800w. They each cost between 40-50$ CAD, pretty expensive. When your one of only two brands serving an entire market segment you have strong pricing power.
I bought a couple of the china knock offs look identical same ratings same function just no Nearpow name ( Left one ) been working good for the last 2-3 years paid about half
Use them for air extraction fans
 
I bought a couple of the china knock offs look identical same ratings same function just no Nearpow name ( Left one ) been working good for the last 2-3 years paid about half
Use them for air extraction fans
I just saw one of those for the first time on Amazon today. I've seen other copies but they don't offer one-second loop timing, however the one I saw today did, and it was 24$ CAD. Welcome Brewsterman. I'm gonna check out your cukes, I'm having a few issues with my marketmores in coco. Might've lock'd 'em out... again.
 
Got a good new product in the tent that I really like and think others would really benefit from. It’s a cheapish black and decker fan that has quite a bit of diy potential. Pics…
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It is dead quiet on all 3 settings, I bought two for 60$ CAD all-in on Amazon and figured, if they were junk, just drop ‘em at the return center a couple blocks away. Instead they are treasure. Two across would make an amazing bedroom window fan for those hot nights, or just to help you keep the ac for when you really need it and save $$. They draw less than any fan I’ve owned. You can see the obvious grow applications, an 8 inch duct mated to each side makes a very powerful booster or full-on makeshift exhaust/intake. It sits at a 10 degree (ish) angle standing and is surprisingly stable. Buy some before I snag the rest…. Canadian Tire might have em too, my local has lots of b and d stuff lately. Super quiet fan, great air movement. DIY potential. Skookum.
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Hello , where did you get that black &decker fan from , i am in ontario and i have been looking for a fan like that for my grow room also , i want to mount it to the wall .
I bought it on Amazon dot CA. Welcome, Nooobienot. I think it's a great fan. It moves a decent amount of air and is very quiet.
 
Yo yo just caught back up! Can’t wait until you get everything dialed in inside and out. Gonna be a hell of a year for you. I just started my veggie seeds yesterday hoping things go well this will be my first time growing veggies.
Great to hear from you again Don. Yeah, Last year I grew exclusively in containers and did surprisingly well because m y front yard gets so much sun and I watered every day. This year I'm going big, and tall, with the raised beds and I've got a basic dripper set up to deploy for watering. No timer, still manual but all I will have to do is turn the tap on and off. I've only been able to do hard physical work every other day for the last couple weeks, so the beds are going slow, meanwhile, my weed tent is filling with veggie seedlings, actually, there aren't many seedlings, they're full on plants now. I'm gonna deploy a 4.5ft square crappy PVC greenhouse on the back deck tomorrow to house my veggie starts in so I can reclaim the tent. I was planning to use that greenhouse only to fruit mushrooms but needs must, etc. The fungi will take over my closet and the clothes I've hung in the shower. Baths only for a while!
 
Yo yo just caught back up! Can’t wait until you get everything dialed in inside and out. Gonna be a hell of a year for you. I just started my veggie seeds yesterday hoping things go well this will be my first time growing veggies.
Hey DC, I thought I'd shoot this by you and get your take. I've come across a technology that seems might be more effective at adding dissolved oxygen to our dwc water but no-one I can find is using it to grow weed. I know that likely means the technology does not apply well to hydroponics, but I need to find out for myself. It's not the electrolysis tek, though I did have interest in that for a short time because I was comfortable with the science and understood it well from my time living at sea. No, this new (to me) method uses a Venturi tube or tunnel inserted into a pump's outflow line yet it doesn't interfere with the pump's primary function. It adds no electricity, and permits one to operate without an air pump, all those lines, and an air stone, altogether.

I run a small aquarium pump inside my rez in order to operate a low-pressure sprayer system that constantly whets new plant roots before they reach the reservoir's surface - think of it as having aero and hydro - ponics all in one reservoir. It's really only useful during the early stages, before the roots are long enough to reach the rez surface. I've often thought of it as a complication I'd rather do without but the alternative is hand watering and that has even more drawbacks.

Now, however, I'm wondering if maybe it's the air pump I ought to focus on making superfluous. Have you ever heard of using a water pump-driven venturi jet to aerate a reservoir?
 
Hey DC, I thought I'd shoot this by you and get your take. I've come across a technology that seems might be more effective at adding dissolved oxygen to our dwc water but no-one I can find is using it to grow weed. I know that likely means the technology does not apply well to hydroponics, but I need to find out for myself. It's not the electrolysis tek, though I did have interest in that for a short time because I was comfortable with the science and understood it well from my time living at sea. No, this new (to me) method uses a Venturi tube or tunnel inserted into a pump's outflow line yet it doesn't interfere with the pump's primary function. It adds no electricity, and permits one to operate without an air pump, all those lines, and an air stone, altogether.

I run a small aquarium pump inside my rez in order to operate a low-pressure sprayer system that constantly whets new plant roots before they reach the reservoir's surface - think of it as having aero and hydro - ponics all in one reservoir. It's really only useful during the early stages, before the roots are long enough to reach the rez surface. I've often thought of it as a complication I'd rather do without but the alternative is hand watering and that has even more drawbacks.

Now, however, I'm wondering if maybe it's the air pump I ought to focus on making superfluous. Have you ever heard of using a water pump-driven venturi jet to aerate a reservoir?
I saw a pump on an ad a few weeks ago and thought that was pretty cool. It was a normal submersible pump but also shot air out toads air to the water. Does that sound like what you’re talking about? I think it would be more used to keep your nutes fresh in a reservoir but idk if it’s enough to replace air stones.
 
We have a most auspicious date approaching quickly and with seeds finally in hand, *whew* I’m going to switch from build journal to grow journal on 4/20.

In fact this journal will be closed on 4/21 so I can start afresh. I actually had multiple posts removed on my page1 because… well I’m not allowed to say why, that’s what got at least one of the posts nicked. It was because I was brand new, an unknown quantity and gave too many details about my (non-supporter)lights. I read the rules and regs multiple times before starting and after warnings but for whatever reason I just couldn’t answers peoples questions about my lights without getting popped. So my page one is a cluster$(&) and makes no sense, has little introductory info etc because I couldn’t go back and edit or even explain the gaps. I’ve already said too much and am sure to raise attention but it’s impossible to not give my rationale for wanting to restart without bringing this up.

With one tent setup already and major seed acquisition snafus stalling the project my attention turned to building an outdoor veggie patch, as mentioned. I’m disabled and have a lot of difficulty physically and this has been a grind… but I love it. I’ve been able to work pretty hard on an alternating day schedule so I can recuperate the next day. I’m moving 12 sq yards of eart with shovels and wheelbarrow and have built a very strange garden design. My raised beds are 3’2” high and 5+ feet wide. They are at and above my waste so I don’t have to bed down when working and accessible from both sides, thus the width, I can reach out 2.5ft at waste height comfortably and those are the simple physics that dictated the design. Of course there’s no end to the physical contortions required to build this monstrosity, but it’s built to serve for many years, the wire mesh is rodent proof and heavily galvanized. Don’t be fooled by the use of cardboard an oddball posts, it’s built to take a west coast whalluping. The main bed is 2/3 done, so I can get it planted out with my overmature seedlings now and then finish the rest. I also built a 5ft diameter , 3ft high potato mound and a smaller beet/carrot mound. Lots of finishing work to go still and I gotta get my 420 SIPs built out to which I’d like to run beside my DWC. More pics before close out on 4/21.
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Obviously lots still to do but my health is being improved by this garden project, and the others, at a rate faster than I’ve experienced in a decade, so for that reason, may they never be finished! There’s a Chinese proverb that says “Man who finishes house, dies”. Succinct SOBs, huh? Smart as whips too.
 
Sorry I couldn’t keep my promises re: post dates. I wrecked myself trying to push through the (veggie) garden completion. Seriously, for the last 10 yrs I’ve spent the better part of my waking hours in bed and in pain due to incurable conditions and the related bullshit. I honestly didn’t know how much longer I’d be able to tolerate it, but I undertook another stab at improving my life with another new diet, modified my exercises, and made some efforts to make connections with people and learn some new things. It really got traction last fall and was pretty exciting and has led to today- I’m still pointing uphill. This forum has been an important social connector for me, humble though my efforts may be, in context it’s quite significant. Yeah, things really were that bad for me!

We’re gonna wrap this build journal up today. I’ve got some finished work to show, genetics to discuss and then we’ll close her up and on the morrow begin a proper grow journal, popping seeds and giving all the grow deets on 1st entry so when I get all panicky and ask for help it will all be easily referenced. Last item for this journal will be some requests for information about the strains I have avail (you wouldn’t believe how hard it was for me to get seeds, two orders no showed) ie are they suitable for quad lining (or?), are they hungry little so and sos, are they long bloomers, any recommendations for nutrients based on what I have on hand (I stocked up), cal mag consumption, light prescriptions (DLI’s in particular) how they respond to stress events, etc.

Ok, let’s start with the non 420 garden I’ve been bleating on about. I did a lot of finish work not visible in these pics and I’ll chuck in nicer ones on my next journal for variety so don’t worry.
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Got that whole parallel to the house finger “finished”. There’s a Japanese maple right in the middle of it like the birch on the other finger which is protected but this one more so. This finger is even bigger than the first and gets wicked hot. Perfect!
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Sorry, I’d just mixed in a layer of leaf mould and worm castings and needed to keep it protected from the sun. I’ve got it all filled now ready for planting.
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I got this 4.5ft sq. Pvc greenhouse up so I could get my 5x5 tent back and refurbed for you know, bud production, not dinner production. Is working out fine so far.
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The light is a cheap Amazon job I got for 13$ from a seller who owed me a refund and had two of these that were returned for minor imperfections. They really surprised me. 20w, good bloom Color, absolutely good mother plant lights. Nice, right? My Dutch background leaves me predestined to love greenhouses. Guess I’ll just have to buy another one for my mushrooms. Actually, I’m gonna stuff some blocks in my propagation closet and siphon off the co2 into tent #1, along with co2 from a wine fermentation project. I checked and I got 350 pounds of grapes from my vines last year that are now frozen must. I know I ate and gifted at least another 100lbs. Not bad for suburbia and no pruning, pesticides or fertilizers. Anyway, we’ll be able to see with my meter just what sort of contribution they make and I’ll likely top it off with the bottled co2 I have set up for tent #1.
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Speaking of, here’s my basic DWC setup. Don’t know how well it’ll work yet but looks to be decent. The pump in the reservoir is an inexpensive eco air 650lph with a manifold atop delivering nutrients to each basket on an intermittent schedule while roots have still not made splashdown into reservoir. I have two 32 w Vivosun air pumps, ones just a backup really because one has enough air pressure to feed two tanks with each housing two 5’ air stones, easily. I just saw prices going crazy and stocked up on some things while I had the funds avail. I like redundancy. Automation too, check this out… go ahead and make fun, I do it to myself!
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The unit on the far left, above the AC fan controller is an old smartphone I don’t use anymore, Samsung s8plus. It is mounted with Velcro alone (the others have zap straps and Velcro) and can be removed and mounted in the tent as a monitoring camera. Mounted on the panel it’s for checking all the wifi temp/rh/VPD probes I have sprinkled around my grow. I’m going to prioritize VPD, seems like a good idea and way to simplify environmental targets and I have most of the means to do so. The green one is a co2 controller/monitor connected to a co2 tank and regulator, the next are wifi enabled rh and temp controllers connected to a fogger and dehu, the other a DIY no-light heat bulb convection heater and an air conditioner. The power bar has the timer for my 1100w Kingbrite LED array and the added cooling fans I point at them (for longevity’s sake), and lastly, far right is a watt meter helping me set my lighting power and track running energy expenses which it calculates when I enter my rate.
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Back of the panel ain’t so pretty but it’s a sight for sore eyes if you’ve been dealing with nasty cable runs, random controller locations and tangled crap that eventually becomes a safety concern. I do plan to make a mounting screen of sorts at the back of my tent to mount a water temp monitor for the DWC tanks that I have. Other than that the electronics are finally where I want them and working real well together. My lung room is also my mixing room…
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That’s a fogger there in the small tote piping lots of moisture into the tent on command and easily meeting my set demands up to 75% rh so far. The pump lives having from that metal scaffolding/bench as this was kills a few more decibels. The long intake hose can be even brought outside and dropped into a 3 ft hole in the ground (in the garden) where temps are always cool. It’s also concrete under that Lino and my tanks will sit directly on them, hopefully helping out the temps. That 6inch ac infinity fan will exit through that insulated window frame terminating in a dryer output. It has a backdraft blocker in it ensuring my co2 doesn’t leave through the duct until I want it to. The room is small, only another 5x5 space outside the 5x tent but I’ve sealed it up well from the outside and in with expanding foam insulation and a few tricks and some tech. I also will install a co2 monitor/alarm in the connecting living space as a safety necessity. You must do this or risk suffocating in your sleep.
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Check out this 5’ fan I got on Amazon for 13$. Just had to check it out. Prob use for intake in another 5x or co2 evac for mushroom tent. Unless this system really needs a booster.
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This is a better look at those cheap 25 watt grow lights in my greenhouse. Looks like I need to make another entry to keep uploading… so be it…
 
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Another pic of the 25 watt lights I got cheap to show articulation and kelvin. Good supplementation and nice to have around. 13bucks… I mean….
This Company Really Wasn’t In My Top Choices But I Struggled With getting seeds for some reason and Sun West came through. They are part of crop king who’ve declined in quality according to some growers but I guess we’ll just find out what’s what. I just became exhausted by seed shopping and already flushed a few hundred down the drain with nothing to show by this point. Sorry if you can’t read those, strains are Gods Gift, Gorilla Glue #4, Super Bud and Banana Sunday - five of each all feminized. All hybrids, Banana Sundae has the strongest sativa genes, gg4 strongest indica, I think. Am sorry I didn’t order any Blue Dream, meant to but screwed up I think. Is fine, I’ve got lots to work with and to me, a dream setup. No complaints. I think I’m going to grow only two plants in this 5x5 and by giving them enough root space, great enviro and light, quadline them out into monsters. Whaddya think? Which types are suitable quadline plants? Banana Sundae alone?

I have Mega Crop’s new, clean, 2 part, 5-12-26 and 15-0-0 dry in 25lb sacks. I’ve also got GH’s flora 3 part in one gallon jugs and I have 1 kilo bags of GH dry all-in-one Maxigrow, Maxibloom and Koolbloom.

Avail additives are hydroguard and these bennies from NPK
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I also have some homemade Lactus Bacillus brewing.

I have a gallon of GH Diamond nectar, and some dry leonardite humid. Talking of the organics I ought mention my SIP planters that I’m keen to use. I will be launching a second 5x5 flowering tent in 4 weeks in a bid to have two flowering tents up and running and by setting up some mothers, my aero cloner, and a veg space, run a perpetual that harvests every month. Yeah? You and what army? Indeed, but, we’ll see how I go. Anyway, these SIPs will have large reservoirs and I want to treat them as hydroponics that can consume organic ferts. They are the same totes as used for my DWCs so same footprint. I want to feed and water exclusively from below. For a while I’ll be using the purchased items on hand, a mix of mineral and organics, but the intent is to make my own fish hydrosolate, grow and bloom ferts via fermentation aka Jadam/Korean Natural Farming and so just how cheaply we can create top shelf bud and then make sure as many people as possible can avail them self the method. I know I’m not alone or first or anything but there is good work to do there and I’d like to try.

Here’s my planter design.
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This tote manufacturer makes both a 17 gallon and a 27 gallon, so, instead of making a false floor that needs support from below, a 17 gal inside a 27 gal gets all the support it needs along the top rail where it rests leaving a huge 10 gal reservoir below.
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With the basket underneath (lined up better) filled with coir and perlite it will function as wick. A think landscape cloth will line the bottom here but not required to come up sides do to structure and hole placement. Grow medium will be a cocoa, rice hulls, sifted local soil combo with excellent wicking qualities. But I mean to compare matrix types in the system. It’s all about learning or my interest wanes. Finished planter Cont’d next post

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Sorry, dunno why those seed and microbe pics came out out of order. Wasn’t me. To finish the SIP planter intro here’s a pic with filling tube installed…
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Another 3/“ pvc pipe will run out the side, it’s top edge lining up with top of reservoir. This is meant to ensure that the absolutely critical element of an airspace between reservoir and rooting matrix is maintained, preventing runaway wicking and root rot, and excellent aeration. I may drill small aeration holes in the side of containers also. Concern over heating inside black plastic means I’ll have a perlite layer at top and poss wrap container in Mylar, like I’ve done with my DWC reservoirs- although they are insulated as well. Will test with thermometer. Ridiculously easy build using the 17 & 27 gallon containers. Have built similar to these before for tomatoes, works v. well.
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Funnel for illustration only, I shorten this filler tube and tape a DIY funnel out of coke jug. Have to cut bottom of pvc at angle so it doesn’t sit flat, I also drill a few holes. I also made two fillers in case one becomes less handy due to cramped spaces or plant growth. You don’t need the fancy net basket but I do reckon you have to limit actual contact between matrix and the wick material to 5-10% surface area of bottom. Really it’s a function of the height of the planter (the part with dirt) but unless your dimensions are really different I think the 10% max holds. I am just spitballing from one year’s worth on tomatoes so take it for what it’s worth.

I’m going to experiment in these, even put an air stone in the reservoir and see how well we can keep up to DWC. Of course the whole Idea is to be free of complexity and electricity even, and to be able to use organic additives and leave your plants for a few days if that’s your life right now. But I’ve wanted a 420 lab since I was a teenager so it’s pretty exciting to be ready to soak some beans…

I hope I’ll see you over at my new GROW journal and we’ll close up the old BUILD journal for posterity…..
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We’re gonna drop in a few more pics of what I’ve been working on outside here, so I can refocus on my inside 420 gardens in a new grow diary. I wouldn’t have thought building a big veg patch myself on the cheap would have been possible, but with some inspiration and motivation, in part from joining the fine folks at 420 this winter, A guy who literally spent the better part of the last ten years of his waking time in bed with awful pain and illness, and 100% his sleeping time, lol, now has a easy to use, large, veggie plot that cost less than 500$ CAD. 35-40ft long x 4.5ft wide x 2.75 ft high. And I shoveled every scoop myself by planning, being creative with materials (it’s built from cardboard boxes yet isn’t going anywhere) and working on it every other day so I could recouperate the days in between. Feels like a miracle. And I was able to build out a couple decent 5x5 tents for weed, that will be the focus of this journal and a small greenhouse outside to help me get plants ready for the garden while I built it, all at the same time. It happened because gardening reinstalled something in me that I had lost, alongside everything else of value in my life, due to my illness: the belief in tomorrow. That is gardening’s greatest gift. Forward….
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Keeping some cardboard on top still where haven’t planted or mulched to protect soil biology… all three foot deep of it!
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Important design feature was that I could access either side and not have to reach below my waist.
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Nice crop of peas planted in today that will be producing by next week. All my bamboo was grown on the property here in suburbia, coastal BC, Canada.
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Camera for shortens this part a lot but there’s over 15ft length there and 5 ft width. My tester greens are doing just fine so looks like all the worm castings and leaf mould constituting 80% ish of the top 14-18 inches isn’t too rich and all the rock dust I collected over the years is being munched on by happy microbes increased in number by the worm teas I poured on while building.
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Fancy shrubs and grass are one thing, but trees have to be literally threatening my safety to come down on this small property. I think I planted over a dozen. This little birch thingy and a Japanese maple got swallowed up but have protective barriers keeping their trunks in open air. I also plan on dropping my air pump’s intake tube in there for my DWC systems where the air is always cool and fresh 3ft “underground”. Camera for shortens again, overall length is over 35ft, avg width 4.75ft
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No more grass! Only well aged fir wood chips now. It’ll be my main mulch also. A slurry ph’d at 6.5. Pretty good.
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Bonus pics of a bunch of strawberries and succulents I (w/help) propagated out last year and left out to their fates all winter. Wow, happy plants. All the recent worm teas helped but the Color these succulents formed over winter are gorgeous.
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But now, time for something… completely different!

- fin -
 
Hey RD,

Interesting SIP you've got going on there. I'm experimenting the same but on a much smaller scale. The two I built last week were 1L containers. Lol. So the two you are using have the same foot print just different capacities? There is ceratinly an advantage to using two containers in that you get the full growing capacity of the upper bin rather than sacrificing part of it to your reservoir.

My two are one of each so I can see how they differ side-by-side.

Interesting observation about the 5-10% contact area. My experiments are based around testing that interface to see what I learn.

Looking forward to the new journal.

Azi
 
Have you ever heard of using a water pump-driven venturi jet to aerate a reservoir?
I did that on my aquaponics set-up. The water pump sends water through a tube with a venturi in it before the water dumps into the fish tank. I've never used an air stone/pump and it's kept the goldfish alive for the past 5 years or so, no problem. I have two plugs on my system, one for the lights and the other for the water pump.

Azi's Aquaponics set-up description
 
Hey RD,

Interesting SIP you've got going on there. I'm experimenting the same but on a much smaller scale. The two I built last week were 1L containers. Lol. So the two you are using have the same foot print just different capacities? There is ceratinly an advantage to using two containers in that you get the full growing capacity of the upper bin rather than sacrificing part of it to your reservoir.

My two are one of each so I can see how they differ side-by-side.

Interesting observation about the 5-10% contact area. My experiments are based around testing that interface to see what I learn.

Looking forward to the new journal.

Azi
Correct, planter bin has a volume of 17 gallons, the reservoir bin is 27 gallons of which 17 is displaced by the planter bin. The underwater planter basket used as my wick is about 1.5 gallons and will hold 1 gal cocoa/perlite .5 gal water, when installed, so I'm left with a reservoir capacity of 8 gal. after 1/2 to 3/4 inch air gap is considered. My camera's software is choosing some pretty heinous foreshortening and center ballooning algos making it almost useless as illustrative tool for "reality", because that wicking basket looks like it would never fit that space but it does, perfectly.

I think I'll try to build a couple of observation SIPs out of clear bins I have just to be able to understand the physics going on also. I've a few different sizes kicking around that I use for mycology. Thanks for the visit!
 
I did that on my aquaponics set-up. The water pump sends water through a tube with a venturi in it before the water dumps into the fish tank. I've never used an air stone/pump and it's kept the goldfish alive for the past 5 years or so, no problem. I have two plugs on my system, one for the lights and the other for the water pump.

Azi's Aquaponics set-up description
Wow. I have a an apprx. 200 gallon, I dunno, small, 'fish pond' (currently fishless for 1st time since I dug it out (with lots of help) 12-13 years ago) that I'm still hopeful this year will see me use as a hydroponic food/water source for a couple, few, PVC food towers, 4-5 inch, 6ft high, or something. My problem is I have river otters who know where I live and when a friend used my pond to stash his prize Koi for just a week, against my warnings (your bathtub would be better for the Koi, I said), well, it got expensive. He made me a t shirt with Koi in a bathtub on it to show no hard feelings. Ha.
 
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