First, let's just admire the lovely green concrete support blocks. There was some skepticism in the household about whether or not this was a good/feasible idea. I'm delighted to write that painting these was as easy as pie.
OK, now onto the important parts. A good friend, Dr. McNie, assisted with the plumbing and a good thing that was too, she definately prevented what could have been some costly mistakes!
I got all the parts from The Aquaponics Source Store to plumb a 3 IBC system.
It took a couple of days to get it all installed and tested.
and the beds filled with Coco-Puffs!
Just kidding, the fill media is called Hydroton. It is small balls of expanded clay. This kind of media is ideal for the system has it lots of tiny crevices inside the balls, which will eventually get colonized by the beneficial bacteria that keep the whole system running.
and Voila!
Now we wait for the beneficial bacteria to colonize the system and start doing their groovy thing. They turn ammonia (fish poop) into nitrates (plant food).
For the true geeks out there:
Nitrosomonas bacteria convert Ammonia (NH4-) into Nitrite (NO2-)
NH4+ + 1.5 O2 = NO2- + 2 H+ + H20 + 84 kCal/mol of Ammonia
Nitrospira bacteria convert Nitrite (NO2-) into Nitrate (NO3-)
NO2- + 0.5 O2 = NO3- + 17.8 kCal/mol of Nitrite
for everyone else:
Ammonia and Nitrite BAD, Nitrate GOOD