Arduino-based backyard aquaponics (2013) [video] | Hacker News Reader

Arduino-based backyard aquaponics (2013) [video]

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53 pointsdatashovel10 comments

I have performed aquaponics experiments in my own apartment, parts of which were automated. The first thing I would say here is that anything like the setup you see in this video is a mammoth amount of work and is impressive from the sheer amount of investment done.

My experience with aquaponics was just that. High cost, where cost is time, worry and cash. The idea is that the costs are fixed, but that's never quite right. Creeping costs include tools needed, fixtures to make small changes, replacement parts, redundancy, pest management and surprises like HVAC.

After doing aquaponics for close to two years I moved on. It is expensive to do if you don't already live in a tropical area and can't work at scale. Even if there weren't planting, maintance, months to years of time to appropriately cycle and balance an ecosystem, labor to move and replace water, catch and feed fish and plant, replace bulbs, check water conditions, remove sick fish, etc, etc - the labor to merely deal with removing plants was startling.

I learned a ton and had even more fun - but boy are there decades of progress to be made on homestead style scale AP.

This project is a great example of harnessing one of the most powerful techniques for bringing down costs: multiplexing.

His idea is to build intelligent, networked, automated, mobile machines for the production of food. His goal is to be able to gain cheap access to land by striking deals with vacant lot owners that have costs associated with weed control/landscaping.

Thats the same kind of multiplexing that has let airbnb harness so much value in the form of unused real estate space.

I've been able to harness a lot of value through multiplexing as well. I rented a beach house for 8 months for the off season, and the owners are happy to have a responsible tenant that protects their house from the cold and would be there in case a pipe breaks. A pipe break while the owners were away destroyed the house next door.

By taking advantage of multiplexing I was able to have an entire waterfront house for less than the cost of just the property taxes on the home.

I'd love to have a good book or instruction manuals on how to do this stuff - I'd jump on it right away, although I already have a pretty decent garden, producing food for a family of 4 every year - salads and radishes galore at the moment, lots of great stuff (20 types of vegetables and fruits) on its way. Gardening is a lot of work - its true - but its also very rewarding work, and one thing I've noticed over the years is that the more you do it, the less you have to do. We have a full cycle going - kitchen scraps to the compost, new healthy soil from the compost into our beds, seedlings (heritage at this point) started at the start of season, beds in process and daily maintained, and so on.

But the point is: the more work you do, the less you end up having to do .. and this is where it pays to work smarter, not harder. So I really think this is a growth industry (pun!) for the near future: having the computer keep an eye on things, providing data and feedback, and eventually control over the key inputs into this complex system.

Anyone know where this gentleman in the video is getting his knowledge? I'd love to have some references to start getting our garden automated.

Here are some google queries that will keep you reading for literally weeks on end:

  * 'diy hydrophonics'
  * 'arduino garden automation'
  * 'computerized garden controller'
  * 'build aquaphonics system'

I live in the Netherlands and around my corner is a growshop - basically selling all sorts of technology for growing plants indoors, with the main intended audience being marihuana growers. The demo setup they have, contains chili peppers though, for legal reasons. Anyway, their book sales section has 3-4 meters of books on the subject (not marihuana specifically, just all sorts of automated/high-yield/indoor plant growing). Spending, say, 100$ on books from this result page http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?kn=hydrophonic... will get you 50 cms of reading, yourself (I see there's even a book called 'Chemical Gardening for the Amateur' from 1939 on there - I'm tempted to buy that one myself...)

"hydrophonics"? "aquaphonics"? might you not want "-ponics"? as opposed to something associated with sound? [shrug]

i was curious what the distinction was between hydroponics and aquaponics and here's what one source had to say on the matter: "Aquaponic and hydroponic systems both use water and share a few common parts, but that's where the similarities end. Hydroponic systems focus solely on plant growth, while aquaponic systems attempt to achieve a healthy life balance between both plants and fish." http://homeguides.sfgate.com/aquaponic-vs-hydroponic-31311.h...

""hydrophonics"? "aquaphonics"? might you not want "-ponics"? as opposed to something associated with sound? [shrug]"

Yes, that was a brain fart :)

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/ is one of the top forum communities for all things aquaponics.

/r/aquaponics is decent also.

In looking over this person's (Kirsten Dirksen) YouTube channel, it appears she has produced a large inventory of videos of interesting projects.

Yep, I just subscribed to her not too long ago. Mostly, it seems to focus on alternative and minimal housing solutions. It's wonderfully refreshing to see the unusual and simple ways in which people decide to live, in a world so often focused on financial success and extravagance.

there needs to be a wiki with a design for indoor systems in the living room areas that are aesthetically pleasing as a first principle, in addition to producing plants / fish for eating.

If good looking fish tank(s) and a facade for the other equipment are designed, this allows the living room to be very green and people can start individualizing it.

This will encourage a whole bunch of apartment dwellers to try it out.

Also, the custom towers need to be designed such that they can be fabricated by easily available 3d printers and stackable.

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