Aquaponic Bean Pot

The second AP system is up in the greenhut.  This will be for our favorite green been, Kentucky Wonder.  It grows well here, and it's really tasty too!

For this system I used a single 55 gallon plastic barrel, cutting the top off at about 12".  This will serve as the growbed....

Then I took the lower part of the barrel and marked 3 areas for cutting.  Besides needing access to the lower barrel, the bottom of the growbed is only 22" across.  If we left the lower barrel intact it is 25" acrosss...the growbed would never sit on top of it.  To solve these problems, I cut 3 large access areas, which leaves the 3 upright pieces enough flexibility for the smaller base to fit.

By the way I do all of the cutting with a 4" angle grinder.  This is the best tool I've found for the job, and it leaves lovely smooth edges on all of the work.  Once the windows were cut, I assembled it to make sure that the growbed would fit securely....and it does.

Next I used PVC fittings and an O ring to create the standpipe for the bell siphon...

And underneath the downspout...

Then I cut notches in the end of a 2" pvc pipe and attached a cap.  This is the bell portion of the siphon...

And then last, the media guard.  I use a 6" flower pot...

I cut the solid end off, then sit the pot over the siphon assembly...and it's ready for growing media!

Next the gravel washing begins.  Ick.  My least favorite job...but it's necessary to keep the water clean and clear....once cleaned it's added to the growbed...

With the help of my able assistant, we filled the fish tank....this will hold about 25 gallons of water...

The greenhut is filling up!

By the way, the plants in bed 1 are growing like crazy....

And there have been no fatalities in the fish tank...

I've got several other ideas that I'm working on.  We should have a very nice harvest from our fall garden!