Got in the air pump, water pump, 6 in 1 aquarium test strips and ammonia test strips. Now to get my water going…

After a flurry of activity, two trips to Home Depot and two trips to hydroponics stores (Brite Ideas and Texas Hydroponics), I now have most of the materials I need.

 

I am following the instructions for the Nano System 2010 (8-tub, 32 square foot system) pretty damn closely.

To start off, I figured it best to get the seeds going, as they will take 1-2 weeks to germinate. While I initially purchased non-organic seeds from Home Depot, I later purchased organic seeds from Texas Hydroponics.

 

While these seeds are $2.75 a packet instead of in the dollar range, I made the decision to go organic for a variety of reasons. For one, in the Friendly Aquaponics manual I remember them mentioning the importance of supporting the organic movement, which is something that Chris, the helpful employee at Texas Hydroponics, also mentioned. I can’t justify building my own backyard system but buying seeds from a GMO monster like Monsanto. Additionally, I feel we will be aiming for high quality produce, and to have high quality output you need high quality input. Lastly, the seed packets from Home Depot only have a few seeds, while the ones I got from Texas Hydroponics are loaded with seeds, so maybe the Money:Seed ratio is not all that different… Anyway, that’s my justification for spending 16 extra dollars; perhaps I’m just a sucker and there’s no difference at all, time will tell.

I purchased 3.75 inch net pots from Texas Hydroponics as well. I went with these slightly larger net pots because when talking with Chris he said that you don’t want to have to transplant out of a net pot, as it gets too messy with the roots clinging to the pot and whatnot. It’s best to grow the plant in the same net pot that you seed it in.

After combining coco coir and vermiculite in a 50/50 ratio, filling the net pots with the soil, and then following the instructions on the seed packets, we now have Okra, Loose-leaf Lettuce, Red Rubin Basil, Rainbow Mix Chard, Tat Soi, Cascadia Snap Pea, Cherokee Purple Tomato and Red Russian Kale in the “soil.”

 

I have to buy Dow Blue Board (having a hard time finding it, keep on seeing too skinny foam, that I guess I could glue together but I think each sheet is 3/4 inch), and cut holes in it for the net pots. Chris at T.H. said that I don’t need a nursery table, it’s best to just put the plants into the water as soon as possible. 

Now I need fish! I’m hearing that you have to have a license to transport Tilapia, so it might be a bit difficult to get some quickly. I’ve been recommended to start off with easily accesible goldfish, just so the plants have some nutrients cycling in from the poop. For now I’ve put the “fish tank” in the spot where I think it will be located, filled it with water to let the chlorine off-gas, and am going to begin recording temperatures.