Emersed Aquatic Plant Hydro/Aquaponics? Rack System

Hi all

Over the last few weeks I've been planning a new setup.

My last setup was going great with daily routines of misting and daily maintenance but as some of you know I had more important personal things to take care of.

Lack of these daily chores has made me want to setup a more advanced system that will allow me to leave my setup to run itself for a while without losing my plants.

Ok so my plan is this time its going to go in my garage this will also allow me to go bigger allowing me to keep a lot more than one tank.

As multiple tanks will cost me a lot I've decided to use RUBS (really useful boxes)

A list of my setup plans:

4x Shelf Rack 1800W × 1800H x 600D
12 x RUBS - 3 shelves of 4 RUBS all plumbed as one system.
1 X Pond Filter that has a built in uv light.
1 X Sump and Pump to the filter on a higher location.
3 x t5 lighting, 1 for each shelf
2 x aquarium heaters in sump to raise water temp for humidity, this will also prevent freezing water in the winter as the setup is in the colder garage.
1 x Air stone in sump

I've been busy planning this system and have a layout plan in the works that I will post later for any constructive comments and suggestions.

Based on the rub sizes each rub will allow me to have 15x 3" pots of plants x 12 rubs = 180 pots

A bit over the top maybe but this is my plan.

Please post any constructive comments that may help me in the progress.

 

The plan ive been working on for this setup.

 

you will notice that ive questioned marked the part in the sump that says Fish or Shrimp because im thinking about added some fish to make this more of a aquaponics setup maybe? meaning natural fertilizers?

water levels will be a max 60mm as the pots im going to be using are 80mm high

this setup will allow me to use the sump for any water changes / ferts if used

the small pond filter i have has a uv light already installed so ill be using to prevent algae if any in the water column.

some random pictures to give you an ideas of equipment ill be using.

The Filter





Floplast 21.5mm over flow fitting as these are cheaper than 22mm and its easier to fine 40mm(filter & pump) to 21.5mm reducers etc



The pump im unsure here but i need a min head height of 2m so im thinking a 3m head height pump thats adjustable?

 

slightly changed the design so that the flow into the lower next level / shelf is higher than the last revision, this will allow air in and also prevent backflow?

 

Thanks Keith, yes it's a lot of work but no rush and as you can see I've spent a lot of time planning this one.

Everyday I'm tweaking the plan after looking over and over..

 

a few more alterations..

 

Yesterday I ordered the pipe, connectors and RUBS

Pipework has Just arrived

 

And glue

 

Thanks Keith.

The tank connectors are threaded joints, the rest are weld joints.

I will leave everything to dry for 2+ days to be safe.

My first step will be to join the rub 2 rub connections.

Tank connector 2 tank connector + 50 mm of pipe gives me a 56mm gap between each rub, my max is 64mm if I need to fit all for rubs onto each shelf.

Once the rubs arrive ill double check 50 mm is long enough to allow for the over hang the lids create, going buy a rub I already have which is bigger it's enough but ill double check.

 

The shelving is now installed.

Industrial Shelving With 5 Shelves, 1780h x 1800w x 600d mm 265kg UDL

 

I have two versions of this shelving one with central supports 256kg load and one without the supports 100kg loads.

I tested both and agree the one without the supports bends and twists with weight.

This one with the same weight didn't.

The good thing about using rubs with a small amount of water in each is the weight.

Water weighs 1kg per litre, with my setup levels it works out about 50 litres (50kg) spread across per shelf so it will be fine, however if I was to fill each rub to its max it would be a different story. Per shelf = 4x48l = 192kg would certainly put the manufacturers specs to a test :/

 

A more detailed picture of the steel centre supports.



These actually made a big difference and prevented the shelf twist.

 

I've decided to try this pump as it's a third of the price of the equivalent from other manufacturers.



The reviews are not to bad either.

It will give me a head height of 3.5m so the flow will still be pretty good at 2+m, I hope. If not ill send it back

Submersible Aquarium Water Pump 3000L/H New All Pond Solutions 3000PP:Amazon.co.uket Supplies

Features:

Dimensions: 153 x 105 x 135mm / 6" x 4.1" x 5.3"
Height Max: 350cm / 137.8" - Cable Length 5M
Flow rate: 3000L/h
Tough and durable
Inlet and Outlet fits 25mm Flexible Hose.

 

To be on the safe side i will probably some angle brackets to the four corners, the shelving will allow me to add brackets.

 

Also added some aquarium sealant so i can add a small amount to the connectors as a extra seal, plus sealant is always handy to have at hand

25mm hole saw for the tank connectors that have a 25mm thread. A nice snug fit.

Once it's up and running ill check the flow to see if I can add a shrimp safe outflow filter to rub 9 and add some shrimp soil to this rub, later after checking water parameters add some shrimp?

Another option would be to add a Hamburger Matten style Filter using the inlet of this rub?

And a sponge on the outlet?

 

A few more items added to the shopping list

60mm or 80mm net pots

clay hydro balls as a substrate, going to try this method as the nutrients etc will be in the water column?

Plant labels

And as for the fertiliser im not sure so open to suggestions.