Ron

My dream tank would be floor to ceiling in the basement and would be a pond on the main floor, probably in the 50,000 to 100,000 gallon range. or, if Bill Gates left everything to me.

If anyone knows where I can get mulberry tree sucker or even seeds, please share. I would love to start one inside and eventually try it outside. It would be sweet to have a supply of leaves for my shrimp. Edit: Never mind, I found some dwarf and super dwarf mulberry tree seeds on eBay.

Good suggestion but from what I've read, the plant can grow 12" to 18".

Everything should work except for my lighting which is way too high for Wasabi. I am thinking of setting up another grow bed on the outside of my grow tent that I will put on a constant flow and light with a single T5HO. Maybe even a small raft right in the stock tank; I have pretty good flow in the tank when my powerhead is on and I can use a medium basket full of Hydroton. I know they haven't had any luck producing it hydroponically but maybe the secret is in the fish waste.

Sure, will do. After a little more research it looks like Wasabi is quite the cash crop if you can grow it efficiently. Might have to dedicate a grow bed and see if I can figure it out, not for the money but the challenge and the fresh wasabi of course.

The guys at IncrediGrow had a few plants newly transplanted into their system so I thought I would give it a shot. I did a little research and it definitely isn't the easiest to grow and I will probably be wating >2 years to harvest the rhizome. They also don't like direct light so if they end up going into my tent, I will have to shade them some how. Thanks for the heads up.

Here we go. I got seed from the grow shop stash so I don't know how old they are but I am starting with Cilantro, Wasabi, Mini Yellow peppers, Bolivian Rainbow, Basil and Kale. I also stuck one of my pitcher plants in there for a tan. Ron

Got some more gear. The regular digital timers at the grow shop can only be set for 8 cycles/day so I upgraded to one that you just set the on and off timers and it keeps going. Now the LED light I just purchased. It is a used Hydro Grow 336x Pro I got from a friend, he even grew watermelons with it, I can control the 2 banks separately which is good because I don't need all the light to start. And full blast. And finally off, my eyes are sore...LOL I got some rock wool and some seed so I'll be starting slow but since I'm not fully stocked, it's not a bad thing. Thanks for looking. Ron

Hey Ric, I am glad you are happy with them, I can always get you more . Ron

Thanks, I just sent out the funds for my LED light. Now to get growing.....

Decided to take this to the next level; I wasn't planning on taking the plant growth too serious but decided to give them the best I can provide so I got a grow tent Next is the lighting and if my wife will forgive me, it will be LEDs. Ron

Got another bag rinsed this morning and I went out to get a filter sock so I could start cycling water through the grow bed. Went to Concept Aquariums and Dave suggested a Vertex 300 micron nylon filter, so I got 2 and a couple more bulkheads...BTW Concept is the best place for bulkheads, $5 each. Dave didn't have any filter sock holders so I decided to rig my own up since it's only temporary. I used a spare piece of 1/2" plywood which was 48" x 24" and cut a hole for the sock. Got another 3/4 of a bag of Hydroton rinsed and my grow tub is full. Time to get lights and find some plants. Hmmmm probably not the best time to find plants, anyone have a suggestion of where I could source some herbs and veggies? Thanks, Ron

Finished rinsing 2 bags of Hydroton, I probably will need another 1.5 bags to fill this grow bed. Even though I rinsed it, I think I'll run the outlet through a filter sock for a while.

Well the Sterlets seem to be happy, on to the grow bed. The Laguna basins I am using come with a hole already through the side, I had to make the hole a little larger to fit the bulkhead I had. I decided on an Eheim Compact+ 2000, mostly because I had one lying around. I used Loc Line inside so I could adjust the direction of the inflow. Next I had to drill a couple holes for the discharge. I used an ebb and flow kit from a grow shop, it came with a hose barb bulkhead. Here is the stand pipe the kit came with. Here is a media guard to go around the stand pipe I made from some black PVC I had. Got everything flanged up so time for a leak test. Every seemed good, just gotta get growing something. Got a slightly better pic of one of my Sterlets swimming around his garden of moss balls. Now I have to start rinsing all of my hydroton and get my timer for my pump. Hope you enjoyed!

Awesome, congrats on the new pups!

That's what failed on him, he's looking for an alternative.

Here is a link to the place I got my 55 gallon barrel. http://www.calgaryplastic.ca/Barrels.htm I got 2 taps installed and I believe it cost around $120.

I would have if they had any. I am also planning another system for outdoors in the spring so I'm sure my 6 bags will be gone fast. I'm sure I can squeeze some more tanks in

Thanks for the suggestion Steve, it helps justify my decision to buy supplies a while ago. I actually picked up 6 - 50L bags last time I drove through Edmonton, same trip I dropped off your shrimp . The guys at the grow shops here mentioned that Hydroton wasn't available anymore so I got the last 2 bags at Hydro-Lite and 4 bags at All Seasons in Edmonton. I was even thinking of using Zoomed Hydroballs but that would have been very expensive.

Well it`s ALIVE!!! I used the media from my old Sterlet tank and added it to the rest of new media for the Eheim 2262. This thing is a beast; 5L of Eheim Mech, 2L of Eheim Fix, 10L of Eheim Substrat Pro all topped off with a couple layers of filter floss. I had to reconfigure the intake and discharge because I decided to place the filter in a Rubbermaid 32 gallon Brute. I was going to drill a hole in the intake to break the siphon in case of a failure but I my water level will change quite a bit depending on what cycle the grow bed in on. So instead in came the Brute; my logic is that if there is a containment failure, the garbage can will fill with water and the siphon will stop when the water levels are equal. I tried to get a good pic of my Sterlets in there but the water is cloudy, the system is moving over 4000 gph in the tank and they never stay still. I`ll start on the grow bed soon, thanks for looking. Ron

Well after seeing jvision's fishroom aquaponics thread I decided that I wanted to give it a go. So after a bunch of research on the net, it seemed like a good project to start while I am using up my vacation time. First the spot to put it in, my room is going to be pretty tight once it's set up. My wife said I can set up whatever I want as long as it stays in the room. I went with an Edsal rack, it happened to be on sale when I finally got off my butt to buy it, procrastinating worked out in this case. There was a slight delay on getting my basins due to last Friday's snow storm but they arrived on Wednesday night and I got them yesterday. I had to shut down one of my Fluval Ebi tanks because the stock tank would have been covering it up. I also shut down my PFR tank and will be setting it up for a soon to be released shrimp but that's another story. Here is a pic with the grow bed Now the stock tank is in place, time to start filling it....with RO water...ugh.... I also got a new 100 gpd RO filter. I was just taking out the DI portion to make plain RO but it's become a pain in the butt. My RO/DI on the right and my RO on the left with my 55 gallon storage barrel. My RO water seems to be a pH of 6.8 - 7.0, my RO/DI water is a pH 5.8 - 6.0. In the pic I have the DI cartridge removed as I thought I better get both systems going to fill this thing. I'm not totally trusting my grow bed to do all of the filtration, especially because it's going to be on a timed flood and drain. I am going to use an Eheim 2262 to supply most of the filtration. I used zip ties to secure the intake and discharge. 12 hours later and it's still filling, I am sure glad I got the other system going as well and I emptied my storage tank into it. Thanks for sticking around to the end of this post. Ron

If I was going to have a custom done, I would definitely contact Concept. The shop may be done by the end of the month but you can head down there and talk to Dave and see some of the stuff they're currently building.

Moved to journal.

Marbled crayfish are great; they clone themselves so you only need one, they eat everything so any vegetation from the grow bed will go into the tank for the crays to munch on. With the amount they eat, they have to produce alot of waste. I was looking at some shrimp farming stuff and they use PVC frames with layers or plastic bird netting to increase the area the shrimp can live. I am going to make a version of it, I could probably keep 1000 crays in my stock tank using it. I was at the grow shop today and a 4' sunblaster with the reflector is $40 so I would probably start with 4 and could expand to 7 of them if I found the light insufficient. Not keen on heating up the room with MH, I need to keep it cool for the shrimp. I am still quite a while away from planting but thank you for the offer of seeds. Next time I am on my way to Edson I may stop in and take you up on it. Ron

Thanks guys. For now it'll be my Sterlets and my Imperial Flower Loaches I have coming. Once my outdoor pond is done, I'll probably move them outside and stock my system with Marbled crayfish. Dunno about lighting, any suggestions? Lastly, none of your business......LOL. Probably just some herbs, lettuce, tomatoes and maybe some strawberries. Ron