Solar Powered Aquaponics

Bonk! That is how goats love each other! Give him a bonk. He has been bonked enough where he knows. Baby Goats! Urban Farmer since day one! Today, we are going to show you how to go off-grid with your aquaponics, to make an IBC tote aquaponics system, powered by the sun for under $400. This is scalable. This one will at least be 200 gallons when we are done with it. We are here with Alex, who is going to help us demonstrate just how easy this is. First, you will need to obtain a food-grade, 275-gallon, IBC tote. Get this off Craig's list, anywhere between $25-100, food-grade being very important. You will need to find out what was in it. Next, you will need to remove that top bracket on the top of your IBC tote. So, what are we doing next? Alright, we are going to flip this over and we are going to pull out the plastic so we can measure and cut out how deep we want our grow bed and then the outer rack to support that grow bed. Now that we have the plastic and the metal cage separated, we can cut the metal without cutting the plastic and we will have a better product in the end. Alright, we are going to take this bottom bracket and we are going to cut right above this bottom rung. So, that will be the top and we will flip the cage over and that will be the frame for the bottom to sit on. Okay, so, after you make your cuts, take your rack off and 180 degrees you take your bottom and now that is your top for your grow bed. So, what are we doing here? Alright, since our grow bed doesn't need to be that deep, we only need eight inches or so. We are using our frame as a jig and we are just going to make our cut line all the way across. So, we are just going to cut the top off right now and then flip it over for the grow bed. Like a glove. That is it right there: stackable aquaponics. Alright, we are going to be using a flood and drain system on this IBC tote, where the pump is going to be pumping in more water than this drain can drain. So, it is going to be draining slower than it fills on the low side. So, the water will fill up over the top of this drain and then then there is going to be another stand pipe next to it that goes up to this level. But, once it hits this level, it starts draining draining faster then. So, we have to install these two pipes into our grow bed. We're going to cut through the metal and then use a hole saw to cut through the plastic. Can I get up here for a minute? Why? So I can see your plants. Can I screw these together now? Can I screw these all the way together? First thing we are going to do, is drill two holes with this hole saw, which is just a little bit bigger than this drain pipe. uh, yeah, just a little bit bigger.. We drilled two holes here with the hole saw. We just did that here and here. Then, there is a litle rubber gasket here. These are five-dollar fittings, ten dollars for the set. You get them at a local hydroponic shop or online somewhere. So, you just slide this in here and go down underneath, tighten that up, tight as you can get it with your hands. And, you notice, you have two drains. One drains at the floor, the other one drains up high. And you can make these even taller: you can unscrew this, add a link, and then screw these in up top here. This is perfect aquaponic music. Right? You like it? Yeah. Hey, buddy! You going swimming? Yes! No! Yes! You are. Alright, our solar-powered aquaponics system is being powered by this solar panel unit right here. We have it turned away from the sun for demonstration purposes. I am going to show you just how simple this is. The solar unit is this. This plugs into a charge controller, this controls your charge. This is hooked to the battery right here. Now, this is hooked to your inverter. Here is the inverter. I have the timer for the aquaponics to fill and drain and the inverter. Now, you are plugged in just like regular electricity. This turns the D/C to A/C and powers the whole thing. And these are your solar panels right here. We were able to power this all day and all night. We have more than double the amount of solar capacity in comparison to the wattage of our pump. We have a small pump in here. What are you doing, Titus? I am trying to get a fish. Good job! Can I put it up there? Okay, you get it. Thank you. My new one, ha! You got one! Good job! He is getting better at this. Look at that--first try! Tell me about your invention. You hold the apple with a zip tie and a rubber band and if you want a bite, what do you do-- Swing it up to your face? Just like that? Let us walk around with it.