Aquaponics Update

[Tookys]

The aquaponics system has been running fairly well since it was started in January.

I've recently cleared out some of the plants and we need to look at adding some more.

If you have any plants your like to see added to the system let me know and we'll see about getting the seeds going.

We do have one issue with the system however, the light fixture isn't bright enough for flowering plants. So we can really only grow non-flowering veggies and herbs.

The proper fixture light will cost about $600, if anybody would be willing to help pitch in for the light fixture please let me know. But with the light fixture we could do flowering plants too.

[john vanhoozer]

What are the requirements for the lighting?  Would a couple of Ott (full spectrum) lights work?

[Tookys]

Full spectrum bulbs do work as grow lights, the issue is with the light intensity.

Currently we are using a 400 watt led grow light fixture and we only get half of the light we need.

So we end up with the issue of needing 800 watts of LED full spectrum light.

$600 for led grow light

Which is the equivalent of 1600 watts of fluorescent tubing.

$120 for fluorescent tubes
$230 for fixtures
----------
$350 total


It would be cheaper to try and make the sufficient light using fluorescent tubes, however you would end up with 40 - 4ft tubes hurtled into a 4ftx4ft area

You would also use twice the heat and energy waste.

As a rough estimate on energy consumption.

We expect to spend about $600/year to power the led fixture

Versus $1200/year with fluorescent light.

With the cost estimate including operational costs of 1 year.

LED - $1200

Lights - $1550

And every additional year will add another $600 to the cost of fluorescent than the LED.

Plus the LED have about twice the life expectancy. With 24 hour/day use the LEDs should last 4 years, while the fluorescents would last a little over 2.5 years before needing to be replaced.


Tldr:
So this is the reasoning behind it, there are cheaper ways to try and use grow lights using fluorescents but the operational costs are massive in comparison and over whelm any cost savings there were in the equipment.

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[john vanhoozer]

have you considered light tubes?  There's an opening in the ceiling 4 feet in front of the tank...  Might work and and/or reduce the total light requirements.