I have been asked for a list of parts and price estimates on them.  I never really kept track of this, but I wish I would have to further help others build their systems.

Off the top of my head, without being in front of it here it goes:
1 – Black Storage Rack (6′ wide-4 shelves) Lowe’s ~$90
2 – Under bed storage containers, Lowe’s ~$18 each
~4 – Flat Black Spray paint for plastic (make sure you get the stuff for painting plastic so it doesn’t peel off) ~$5 a can
1 – 29 gallon fish tank (I already had this) you can purchase from local pet store
1 – 4′x4′ 3/4″ sheet of plywood (painted black)
1 – Ebb & Flow fitting set (http://biggrowhydro.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=283&products_id=9024)
1 – Submersible Pump, I think this is what I bought (http://biggrowhydro.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=283&products_id=9990)
3 – 1/2″ Barbed 90 degree elbow fittings
3 – 3/4″ Barbed 90 degree elbow fittings
2 – 1/2″ Barbed T-fittings
1 – 3/4″ Barbed T-fitting
1 – 1/2″ Barbed Plug
10′ – black 1/2″ and 3/4″ hose
3 – 50lb bags of hydroton (expanded clay) ~$40 each
2 – 48″ fluorescent (4 bulb) light fixture ~$35 each
8 – 48″ fluorescent plant & aquarium bulbs ~$4 each

I would recommend searching online for a hydroponics store in your area, since they will have the parts for this.

Good luck and happy growing!!!

I have been asked a couple times within the last few weeks about the design of my system.  I quickly created a very rough sketch of my system, and emailed it to several people.  I am posting it here so that anyone can see it and view it at will.

Let me know if you have any questions regarding the system.

Eric Jensen's Aquaponics System

For the few of you that follow this, and I’m sure that it has dropped, I’m sorry about the lack of posts.  School has been consuming most of my time.

The move went ok.  I actually broke the nipple on the fill/drain fitting while disconnecting the hose to drain the tank.  So the bottom grow bed was out of commission for about two weeks before I made it to the store for supplies.  About a week after I got everything working properly the top grow bed decided that it didn’t want to get water to it any longer.  I think I have a back pressure issue but cannot figure it out.  I replaced some of the fittings, but that didn’t fix anything.  The fitting I used are a different style than the original and don’t fit as snug, so I think that may be part of the problem.

Upon transferring everything down to the bottom grow bed it was decided that the cherry tomatoes took up entirely too much space.  I transplanted them to a pot outside, they died, but I did manage to get about three cherry tomatoes off of it.  I think I put the tomatoes in to much sunlight, and should have slowly introduced it to the sunlight since they had never been exposed to real sunlight.

The basil has to be picked everyday, and I am constantly searching for new recipes with basil in it, or I add basil to things I normally don’t, like sandwiches!  The dill and cilantro continue to be lagging in the growth department, but have shown significant improvements after I changed the watering schedule to be farther apart.  THe cucumbers are starting to spread, and are flowering, but still no signs of any fruit.  The broccoli is growing at a very good rate.  The leaves are almost as big as two of my hands, and the stem is about 3/4 inch thick.  Hopefully they will start to show signs of a head soon.

It has been roughly a week and a half since my last video.  As you can see there has been some significant growth with all the plants.  I added a few more fish, actual goldfish vs. rosie feeders.  My hope was that my cat Kali, would be interested in watching the fish, but she shows no signs of interest whatsoever.

The cucumber plant is developing white-ish/yellow-ish dots on one of its’ leaves.  If anyone knows the casue of this please let me know so that I can address it.

As always leave comment, questions, suggestions if you want.

Well, the water quality just wasn’t good enough to add fish before.  I managed to get the water close enough to add some small Rosie feeder gold fish.  I am going to get a few larger gold fish and a crawfish, mostly to add some life and motion to the tank.  I bought some garden labels so I can label what each plant is once I figure it out again.

Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to see how everything turns out, and how it tastes.

Treehugger.com had a very interesting article on aquaponics that I thought I would share.   http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/biogas-aquaponics-efficient.php

Bins are painted, light are bought and painted, expanded clay pellets are rinsed and in.  Have to let the system cycle a couple more times, then I’ll do a water change and let it cycle a few times after that.  Then it’s time to start growing!

Here is my first video during the creation process of my aquaponics system.