Aquaponics is an integrated agricultural technique that integrates fish farming and crop growing.
The water, which comes from fish tanks, helps provide nutrients and, in turn, excess plant waste becomes fertilizer for the fish tank.
The self-sustaining cycle creates a large amount of healthy vegetables and protein and doesn’t use any harmful chemicals or pesticides to achieve this.
A wicking bed aquaponics system (often referred to as flood and drain) uses gravity to pump water into beds that are elevated off the ground.
If you wish to develop your own aquaponics’s wicking bed system, this guide will help you to develop your very own system from scratch.
You’ll find everything you need to get started in terms of what materials you will need to use, to advice about how to best setup your system to ensure it operates well and in a successful manner.
We’ve also included useful links if you want to research more and have fun reading on an aquaponics concept. Let’s get you going!
What You Need
Establishing your wicking bed system means first gathering everything you will require to get started.
Most of the materials can be located at your home or are readily available for purchase.
Here is a quick shopping list if you don’t already have anything on it:
- 1 sheet 1/2 inch by 4 X 8 plywood
- 48 – 54 inches of 2X4s
- 3 feet of 5/8” PVC pipe
- 2 – 3 feet of 1/4 inch rope
- 200 ft of small diameter pond liner
- 8 x 1 gallon-sized plant containers
- 140 cups of potting soil
- 2 x 40-watt aquarium heaters
- 2 x 3” net cups
- Fish food
- 1.5 lbs of fish
- Size: 4’x8’ plus 2X4s
Preparing the Materials
Now that you have all of your materials, it’s time to start getting ready for construction:
- To start, you want to cut your plywood sheet in half so you have two, two-by-four sections of plywood.
- Then, build three boxes by screwing your 2X4s together.
- You want your plywood sheets to fit inside each of the boxes that you create. That means that you would have three boxes; one for the bottom and one on top of the other for both sides of the bed.
- You will take your PVC pipe and using a hot glue gun or silicone caulk, attach it to the center holes on either end of the net cups.
- Make sure that it is sealed very well using glue or caulk so the plant’s roots don’t escape through the holes and dirt doesn’t fall out when watering.
- Next you will take your net cups and with small screws or nails, attach them to the plywood top.
Setting up the Wicking Bed System
The next phase is placing the entire wicking system in place where you wish to set it up. This can be on a tabletop, desk, etc.
It would be beneficial to have a water reservoir underneath your wicking bed to catch all of the nutrient-rich water that drains from your plants’ root system.
You may want to consider: You can purchase a 20-gallon Rubbermaid tub for this purpose.
Building the Reservoir
Next, create a small water reservoir to catch all of the excess water from your wicking bed.
There are numerous possibilities of materials for a reservoir.
You can also use a plastic storage bin that you can buy for holding water for an aquarium.
You will need to cut a hole into the bottom of the plastic bin. Then, you will attach the plastic bin upside on the underside of the side board, beneath your wicking bed.
With the bin attached upside down, this allows water to drain out the hole you cut.
If you don’t have a container with a hole in it, you can always drill one into your container if you don’t have access to a container that has a hole.
Finishing Up
Now that you’ve constructed your wicking bed box and attached it to a water reservoir, you are ready to fill your box with soil.
Confirm that the soil is not so water-retentive that the roots of your plants drown in it.
Next, find your heaters, fill them with water, plug them in, and set them in the bottom of your water reservoir.
Heaters are best when they run on a thermostat, but heaters are not expensive so you always can buy another heater and run it your thermostat.
Lastly, cut some small holes in the top of the wicking bed box for each net cup to pass through, and support them from underneath. Fill each net cup with soil, fertilizer, and seed.
Then plug your heater into the electrical outlet, fill your water reservoir, and watch your system come alive!
For The Persistent: The whole project should take you no more than a couple of hours to complete (not including drying time for silicone caulk or glue). If you get started, you will quickly be surprised at how simple an aquaponics system is to build!
FAQs
1. How deep do I need to fill my wicking bed with water?
In general, you will want at least two inches of water over the topsoil in your wicking bed.
This will ensure that all roots are submerged and will absorb as many nutrients as possible from the system.
2. What kind of fertilizer do I need to use on my plants?
When using organic seeds or starter plants, the best fertilizer is organic.
If you’re using hydroponics, Plantex will work well (don’t forget to add more Plantex when your plants start growing).
3. What temperature do I need to keep the water at in my wicking bed?
As a general rule of thumb, you will want to maintain your water temperature between 75° and 80° Fahrenheit.
This will ensure you have the greatest amount of growth potential for all of your plants but is crucial for heat-lover plants such as tomatoes or peppers.
4. How many watts should I use to power my water heater?
The standard indicates one watt of power for each gallon of water.
This number can fluctuate depending on the water heater you are using.
For example, a flat aquarium heater rated at 50 watts would generally need only 25 watts, and likewise, a small water heater rated at 500 watts would up to nearly 100 watts of power.
5. How do I keep my reservoir at the right temperature?
It’s simple if you own an aquarium thermometer.
The appropriate placement is between your heater and reservoir to get accurate ambient water temperature.
If you don’t have a thermometer, but you’re room temperature is somewhere between 70° and 80°, then you should be fine.
6. Where can I buy a wicking bed box?
Most hydroponics stores have them, and you can also buy them online.
Conclusion
And there you have it! It’s easy to build and maintain your aquaponics wicking bed once you’ve learned the basics.
If you’re interested in growing without the use of chemicals or pesticides, then you should definitely look into building a productive, self-sustained wicking bed to give you all the food you will ever need!