Although Aquaponics is a simple and efficient system there are a number of parts required to set up a fully functioning aquaponics farm. The kit list in this article will explain what is required for each poly tunnel and why.
Our design will be base on the CHOP system which stands for “Constant Height One Pump”. Here's a link to visualise what a CHOP system looks like, however we will use two main tanks for the fish.
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Minnow Tank This is where we breed the smaller trout until they get to a size where they won't be eaten by the adult fish.
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Fish Tank This one is pretty self explanatory the main tank where all the adult fish are kept. This will be a round tank as fish prefer to swim in round tanks rather than box tanks.
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Sump Tank The sump tank is to feed water to the fish and minnow tanks where the overflow from these tanks feed the grow beds.
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Water Pump The water pumps (with one spare) will be placed in the sump tank and as we are caring for fish we need to have a backup just in case one fails.
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Aeration Pump The aeration pumps (with one spare) is used to to permeate the water with air to allow the fish to breath.
- Temperature Regulator Trout are a cold water fish and prefer a temperature of about 15 degrees. This will require heating in the winter and cooling in the summer.
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Plumbing for irrigation and drainage The plumbing effectively connects everything together to allow the water to flow mainly using gravity once it has been pumped to the fish tanks.
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Grow Beds with media based filter and rafts xxxxxx
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Grow Lights The grow lights are LED lights; are very efficient; provide the two spectral ranges plants need for photosynthesis - Chlorophyll A (red) and Chlorophyll B (blue). These would only be used in the winter
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Fish, Plant Seeds and of course fresh water which hopefully won't require any further explanation.
