Office Aquaponics System Update ~ Aquaponics Get Ready

Happy Monday Everyone!! As some of you may have noticed, its been over two months since my last post. Ive been very busy getting the website / store ready to launch! Theres just a few more pieces of the puzzle that need to fall into place and we will be ready to launch. I am hoping to have it up and running by the end of the year. Until then, I promise to stop neglecting the blog! Todays update is a follow-up to my Office Aquaponics System [Design] post.

The overall system design stayed the same, I just made a couple of modifications to the grow-bed and the sump tank. Instead of building each out of wood and lining the inside with a HDPE liner, I decided to use a mixing tray for my grow-bed and a Rubbermaid Roughneck tote for my sump. I originally wanted to build the entire system out of spare parts that I had lying around but the grow-bed and sump together cost only $30 and it eliminated a lot of work and painting.

I planted the grow-bed about a week ago with some Red Acre Cabbage. I bought some seedlings from the local hardware store and thoroughly rinsed the roots and placed them into the grow-bed. They seem to be taking the transplant very well and are already taking off like crazy. I will be doing a weekly update on their growth every Monday until I harvest them.

The grow-bed only gets between 1-2 hours of direct, late afternoon sunlight a day. To supplement the natural sunlight I have a 600 watt LED grow light. It runs from 3 AM - 7 AM and again from 5 PM - 9 PM. I would go blind and be constantly vomiting if I had the light run during the day while I was in my office. Check out the pictures below to see how bright this thing is!

I would love to hear everyones feedback on this system. What are your likes, dislikes, if you have any ideas on how to improve the system or if you would have done something different please let me know in the comments.

Front view of entire system