Why pay someone when you can spend much more doing it yourself?

As a result of my major MTS (Multi-Tank syndrome, a mental illness suffered by many in the fish keeping hobby where you feel compelled to have more than one fishtank so you can try all sorts of different things at the same time) and the desire for a garden that Erin and I both have, we decided to set up an aquaponic system in our house because our Condo Association won't allow us to plant fruit/vegetable plants outside. It's been pretty expensive and confusing figuring it all out, but I think we're well-enough on our way now that I can pass on some knowledge to other people who may be interested and save them quite a few bucks in the process.

First thing to do, of course, is build a stand for the fish tank:

Yes, that's our dinner table and a borrowed chop-saw from my dad. You find, living in a condo, that rooms must have multiple uses. Erin's so good to let me do the cutting and everything on the table so that I can use the window behind it as a saw horse.



Emma left a message in the sawdust.






This is my favorite way to build a stand. It's simple and extra strong because each corner is reinforced . It also balances well when you're screwing it in. As you can see in that last picture, I didn't even need my wood clamps!

One of the major things I wanted to try with this setup is called a Reverse Flow Under-Gravel Filter. The idea is that instead of pulling the water down through the sand, to the canister filter, then returning it at the top of the tank like you would with an undergravel filter, you pull the water from the water column to the canister filter, then feed it back into the tank from below the sand so that there are more nutrients for the plants (particularly the root-feeding plants) to thrive on. I loved this idea and thought I'd try it. The first shot below is the empty tank with a layer of Sphagnum Peat Moss on the tank floor, then a do-it-yourself Filter made of 1/2 inch PVC that would connect to the canister filter hose with a Funny Pipe barb in the corner:



Each of those pipes has holes drilled in them and the holes are pointing down at the bottom of the tank so that the water running through them doesn't just shoot holes in the substrate I'd put on top of them.




The next thing I did was add Perlite. The Perlite and Moss are to add nutrients for the plants since I'd planned on using Pool Filter sand to plant the plants in. Pool filter sand is recommended as one of the cheaper Aquarium Substrates because it doesn't break down and crush the roots of plants very easily. It also allows the water to flow through it fairly easily so that you don't get any "stagnant" spots that develop harmful anaerobic bateria. That bacteria eventually forms a bubble, floats to the surface, then pops and kills your fish and plants.

What I should have done at this point:
1: Use some of the more expensive Substrate. (Eco Complete by CaribSea is what I eventually ended up going back to)

If the substrate is disturbed in ANY way (like planting the plants or adding water too quickly), the moss turns the water to mud and the perlite floats to the top of your tank and blocks the light from getting in. It also looks ugly and messy. I've skimmed the water with a fish tank net several times, changed the water, and completely changed the substrate in the tank now and there's STILL perlite in there.

In addition to those issues, Pool filter sand acts like sandpaper and has contributed to the erosion of a few layers of skin on my fingertips every time I need to re-plant a plant or move something in the substrate on the tank.